I had the pleasure today to talk to Josh Dorfman in Manhattan, New York. Josh is a radio host and has a show on Sirius Satellite Radio called the Lazy Environmentalist. Josh liked the Green Express story of switching to hybrid cars for better fuel efficiency and less toxins in the air.
I told Josh with our outlay of capital for the hybrid vehicles that I went from a lazy environmentalist to a broke environmentalist. I also told Josh about how we made a decision following Hurricane Katrina that we wanted to be part of the crowd that was doing the right thing for people and the planet.
Ultimately, we are in the business of helping people by being better stewards of the environment. We want to do our part.
Josh is an energetic guy and during the live broadcast, he would talk to me during the breaks about environmental stuff. Then I would hear like a crackling noise and he would go back on the air. It was kind of the ultimate in multi-tasking for him. I just kind of held back until he asked a question because I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. It was all good and fun.
We had a caller in Wisconsin ask if there were any hybrid vans on the market because she was a courier and delivered medical products. Josh referred her to a couple car websites.
It was a fun experience and our intent is to spread the word about "green businesses" so more people will get involved and become green entrepreneurs. He didn't mention a "Josh and Jay show" for the future but did say he would like to call back.
For more information about the interview, go to:
http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/pages/2007/11/green_express_m.php#more
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Food Shed Planet Interviews Green Express
The following article was recently published in Food Shed Planet.
Jay Holgate considers himself to have been just a regular guy who went about his business. However, his business is a van-based courier service, and when he saw what happened with gas prices after Hurrican Katrina, he had an "aha" moment at the gas pump.
"I was angry at what the gas companies were doing," he told me recently, "and I was shocked to realize how fragile our society really is."
Jay, the father of two children, also discovered that Atlanta is number one in the nation in childhood asthma. The city had 47 days of smog alert last year, which means the air quality exceeded both state and federal air quality standards. Yet more and more cars pile onto Atlanta's roads each and every day. Jay was concerned about being part of the problem.
"I decided right then and there that we were going to change the way we did business," he said. "I believe we gotta' do the right thing."
So Jay's company did a complete overhaul, purchased $100,000 worth of hybrid vehicles and emerged in January 2007 as Green Express, the first courier company in the nation to use hybrid vehicles in its fleet. Since then, Jay has aquired 135 new customers, mostly businesses that have made environmental commitments as well. He has converted 92% of his clients to e-billing, reducing his company's paper use by 82%. He has reduced carbon by 34 tons so far this year. And Green Express was just presented with the PACE Innovator Award by the Clean Air Campaign.
But Jay Holgate is not stopping there.
"We are using the daily routes our drivers already cover to transport recyclables from our clients' offices to recycling locations," Jay explained. "And we are about to launch a healthy snack program for breakrooms where we will set up, stock and replenish alternatives to high-fat, high-sugar snacks. In short, we have expanded our borders for a traditional courier company."
And so, I asked Jay how I can use his services. He told me that many of his clients are teleworkers like me and Green Express picks up packages and documents to deliver to home offices and clients every day. What's more, Green Express delivers personal packages as well, for an average cost of about $25 (you can probably get that down to $15 if you can give him a few hours). Need a holiday gift picked up from a store at the mall? Save gas, save time and save your sanity by letting Green Express get it for you, especially during that last week of holiday shopping when UPS doesn't guarantee delivery and you just need that one last gift from the overcrowded, nowhere-to-park mall.
I asked Jay if he felt as if he had changed as a result of his Green Express epiphany. He told me, "We started being more conscious of the products we use on our bodies and in the environment. I eat a lot better now. I really care about improving Atlanta's air quality. Once you get aware of these things, then you just continue to grow."
Jay's "aha" moment reminds me of 9/12/2001, when I stood there at Publix supermarket, picking out toasted oat cereal and powdered milk for my emergency food kit and wondering about the security of our nation's food supply. And in that moment, I decided to plant my garden, which has since fed my family something every single day for five years now.
Jay's "aha" moment reminds me of the surreal conversations we're having here in Atlanta now about this drought situation--there are those who think it's nothing (the majority of people to whom I talk, unfortunately), and those on the other extreme who think Atlanta is going to dry up and become a ghost town and we need to start thinking about hightailing it out of here.
Consider that it rained the other night and the level of our main reservoir, Lake Lanier, was down the next morning rather than up (one little rain and my rainbarrel is full again, by the way). I've read reports that say that we need three solid years of above average rainfall to get our water level back to normal. I've read that this winter and next spring are predicted to be dryer and warmer than usual, and that by next summer we will be in a truly catastrophic situation.
Federal and state authorities announced yesterday that we have 79 days drinking water left in Lake Lanier. 79 days, folks. This is not a little issue. If my calculations are correct, that takes us to exactly Ground Hog Day--or should I say Ground Dry Day. And that would be precisely when farmers in Georgia would be planting their spring crops. Theoretically.
And I want to tell you out there--Atlanta is a lush city in the eastern part of the United States, at the foothills of mountains. If we are having a water crisis, it could happen anywhere. The burning question, of course, is what are we going to do about it? How can we use this as an opportunity to showcase the very best of humanity with innovative solutions that truly work?
Click here to find out more about Green Express and the Clean Air Campaign. By the way, I have located only three other couriers that use hybrid vehicles--one in Portland, Oregon; one in Ontario; and one in London. If you know of any others, tell us about them!
As for the drought, we're not done with that one yet.
For full story, go to http://www.foodshedplanet.com/search/label/Green%20Express
Jay Holgate considers himself to have been just a regular guy who went about his business. However, his business is a van-based courier service, and when he saw what happened with gas prices after Hurrican Katrina, he had an "aha" moment at the gas pump.
"I was angry at what the gas companies were doing," he told me recently, "and I was shocked to realize how fragile our society really is."
Jay, the father of two children, also discovered that Atlanta is number one in the nation in childhood asthma. The city had 47 days of smog alert last year, which means the air quality exceeded both state and federal air quality standards. Yet more and more cars pile onto Atlanta's roads each and every day. Jay was concerned about being part of the problem.
"I decided right then and there that we were going to change the way we did business," he said. "I believe we gotta' do the right thing."
So Jay's company did a complete overhaul, purchased $100,000 worth of hybrid vehicles and emerged in January 2007 as Green Express, the first courier company in the nation to use hybrid vehicles in its fleet. Since then, Jay has aquired 135 new customers, mostly businesses that have made environmental commitments as well. He has converted 92% of his clients to e-billing, reducing his company's paper use by 82%. He has reduced carbon by 34 tons so far this year. And Green Express was just presented with the PACE Innovator Award by the Clean Air Campaign.
But Jay Holgate is not stopping there.
"We are using the daily routes our drivers already cover to transport recyclables from our clients' offices to recycling locations," Jay explained. "And we are about to launch a healthy snack program for breakrooms where we will set up, stock and replenish alternatives to high-fat, high-sugar snacks. In short, we have expanded our borders for a traditional courier company."
And so, I asked Jay how I can use his services. He told me that many of his clients are teleworkers like me and Green Express picks up packages and documents to deliver to home offices and clients every day. What's more, Green Express delivers personal packages as well, for an average cost of about $25 (you can probably get that down to $15 if you can give him a few hours). Need a holiday gift picked up from a store at the mall? Save gas, save time and save your sanity by letting Green Express get it for you, especially during that last week of holiday shopping when UPS doesn't guarantee delivery and you just need that one last gift from the overcrowded, nowhere-to-park mall.
I asked Jay if he felt as if he had changed as a result of his Green Express epiphany. He told me, "We started being more conscious of the products we use on our bodies and in the environment. I eat a lot better now. I really care about improving Atlanta's air quality. Once you get aware of these things, then you just continue to grow."
Jay's "aha" moment reminds me of 9/12/2001, when I stood there at Publix supermarket, picking out toasted oat cereal and powdered milk for my emergency food kit and wondering about the security of our nation's food supply. And in that moment, I decided to plant my garden, which has since fed my family something every single day for five years now.
Jay's "aha" moment reminds me of the surreal conversations we're having here in Atlanta now about this drought situation--there are those who think it's nothing (the majority of people to whom I talk, unfortunately), and those on the other extreme who think Atlanta is going to dry up and become a ghost town and we need to start thinking about hightailing it out of here.
Consider that it rained the other night and the level of our main reservoir, Lake Lanier, was down the next morning rather than up (one little rain and my rainbarrel is full again, by the way). I've read reports that say that we need three solid years of above average rainfall to get our water level back to normal. I've read that this winter and next spring are predicted to be dryer and warmer than usual, and that by next summer we will be in a truly catastrophic situation.
Federal and state authorities announced yesterday that we have 79 days drinking water left in Lake Lanier. 79 days, folks. This is not a little issue. If my calculations are correct, that takes us to exactly Ground Hog Day--or should I say Ground Dry Day. And that would be precisely when farmers in Georgia would be planting their spring crops. Theoretically.
And I want to tell you out there--Atlanta is a lush city in the eastern part of the United States, at the foothills of mountains. If we are having a water crisis, it could happen anywhere. The burning question, of course, is what are we going to do about it? How can we use this as an opportunity to showcase the very best of humanity with innovative solutions that truly work?
Click here to find out more about Green Express and the Clean Air Campaign. By the way, I have located only three other couriers that use hybrid vehicles--one in Portland, Oregon; one in Ontario; and one in London. If you know of any others, tell us about them!
As for the drought, we're not done with that one yet.
For full story, go to http://www.foodshedplanet.com/search/label/Green%20Express
Friday, November 16, 2007
Atlanta Courier Company Helps Deliver Recycled Electronics...
Green Express is doing our part to help with the environment. With the recent water shortage, a lot more people seem to be interested in environmental stewardship. Our belief is that everybody can do something to help our environment and no step is too small. It all adds up and we all can agree that a better quality of life is good for everybody.
Below is a list of items that we can pick up from your home or office and take to the closest recycling center. It is better for our environment if we are taking these items to recycle center where they can be reused and recycled. Atlanta already has to much trash going to landfills and many electronics are harmful when disposed of in this manner.
For pick up, please call 770-394-3131. There will be a delivery fee.
COMPUTERS
MONITORS
PRINTERS
TYPEWRITERS
STEREOS
CD PLAYERS
CELL PHONES
FAX MACHINES
COPIERS
PROJECTORS
VCRs
CB RADIOS
CAMCORDERS
CAMERAS
EIGHT TRACKS
UPS / BATTERY BACK-UP
TELEPHONES
CIRCUIT BOARDS
NETWORK EQUIPMENT
RECORD PLAYERS
RADIOS
COMPUTER PARTS & CABLES
Recycle your electronics so that steel, glass, plastic and precious metals can be RECOVERED, RECYCLED and REUSED.
Thanks for doing your part to help with the environment.
Go Green!
Below is a list of items that we can pick up from your home or office and take to the closest recycling center. It is better for our environment if we are taking these items to recycle center where they can be reused and recycled. Atlanta already has to much trash going to landfills and many electronics are harmful when disposed of in this manner.
For pick up, please call 770-394-3131. There will be a delivery fee.
COMPUTERS
MONITORS
PRINTERS
TYPEWRITERS
STEREOS
CD PLAYERS
CELL PHONES
FAX MACHINES
COPIERS
PROJECTORS
VCRs
CB RADIOS
CAMCORDERS
CAMERAS
EIGHT TRACKS
UPS / BATTERY BACK-UP
TELEPHONES
CIRCUIT BOARDS
NETWORK EQUIPMENT
RECORD PLAYERS
RADIOS
COMPUTER PARTS & CABLES
Recycle your electronics so that steel, glass, plastic and precious metals can be RECOVERED, RECYCLED and REUSED.
Thanks for doing your part to help with the environment.
Go Green!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
How do you get Recycled Items to an Atlanta Recycle Center?
They don't make it easy to recycle. We needed to get rid of some older computers, printers, and other computer components. Our goal was to get the items in a place where they could be recycled and potentially re-used for some other neat product.
We didn't want to send more junk to the landfill and see another report on TV of how our landfills are over filled and toxins are finding their way into the drinking water.
So as we searched the internet, we found all the locations in Atlanta that take older electronic equipment for use in recycling. Then I realized I have three computers in my basement that should be recycled and our staff members said they had old equipment stored away.
Another business opportunity. If you help people, you will always have a successful business. So Green Express decided we would provide a service for Atlantans who want to recycle electronics but don't have the time to wait around for a once a year event. Many of us want to send our stuff to the right place but we just don't have the time to find out where to go.
For a reasonable delivery fee, Green Express will pick up electronic equipment from your office or residence and deliver it to a recycle center. We provide this service year round and customers can even pay with a credit card.
It doesn't get any easier than that. You just make a phone call, our courier picks up your recyclables and we take it to a recycle center so you can go back to doing other more important things. If you have any questions, please call Brent at 770-394-3131.
We are excited that November 15 is National Recycle day. For more information about recycling, go to http://nrc-recycle.org/americarecycles.aspx
We didn't want to send more junk to the landfill and see another report on TV of how our landfills are over filled and toxins are finding their way into the drinking water.
So as we searched the internet, we found all the locations in Atlanta that take older electronic equipment for use in recycling. Then I realized I have three computers in my basement that should be recycled and our staff members said they had old equipment stored away.
Another business opportunity. If you help people, you will always have a successful business. So Green Express decided we would provide a service for Atlantans who want to recycle electronics but don't have the time to wait around for a once a year event. Many of us want to send our stuff to the right place but we just don't have the time to find out where to go.
For a reasonable delivery fee, Green Express will pick up electronic equipment from your office or residence and deliver it to a recycle center. We provide this service year round and customers can even pay with a credit card.
It doesn't get any easier than that. You just make a phone call, our courier picks up your recyclables and we take it to a recycle center so you can go back to doing other more important things. If you have any questions, please call Brent at 770-394-3131.
We are excited that November 15 is National Recycle day. For more information about recycling, go to http://nrc-recycle.org/americarecycles.aspx
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