Waste to Profit Network Launched

The City of Chicago and the Chicago Manufacturing Center (CMC) have just announced the official launch of the Chicago Waste to Profit Network.

This morning, Mayor Daley and Sadhu Johnston, the City's Department of the Environment Commissioner, gave their blessing to the new network, along with CMC's President, Demetria Giannisis. Baxter International and Cook Composites and Polymers also spoke, with great energy, about their successes with similar programs in the past and enthusiasm for what such a network can mean for both triple bottom line sustainability in Chicago.

The program is currently recruiting potential participants. Once a group of 25 companies have been identified, technical experts at CMC will evaluate the waste and value stream of each enterprise, and review data to identify synergies to share waste material, energy, water, and more. They have ambitiously set a goal of 3 synergistic projects among these 25 companies by the end of 2007.

For more information on how your business can participate, email Karen Wan at the CMC: kwan@cmcusa.org.

This is a very exciting opportunity for Chicago - It creates markets for waste materials, which has big implications for the amount of waste diverted from landfill or incineration, for cost saving and profit generation, as well as job creation.

The most exciting thing is the possibility for new innovation. This model can generate new ideas for incorporating possible waste streams into new product development planning, for existing businesses and new enterprises alike.

This is the first step to truly creating a 'waste = food' business environment in Chicago. Kudos to the City, CMC, and all parties involved.

Networking Breakfast debrief

The Alliance just recently hosted its first Networking Breakfast, and we were thrilled to have a wide variety of Chicago industries represented in 40 attendees: Builders, Real Estate Professionals, Consultants, Product Designers, Public Relations Firms, Interior Designers, Suppliers of green products, City officials and International representatives, Educators, Conservationists, and more.

In addition to networking, conversation, and great food, we also talked about Global Warming and how it affects Chicago businesses. Angela Leontis also spoke about the status of the Chicago Climate Exchange and Associate Membership for small and office-based businesses. Joe Shacter from the Environmental Law and Policy Center also spoke about their regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Registry program.

Resources that were made available at the breakfast are now available online: www.sustainablechicago.biz/resources.

We handed out a few Compact Fluorescent light bulbs to emphasize not only the need for all actions to reduce energy use- both large and small- but also that as a business community, we can have a much more significant impact on sustainability in Chicago when we aggregate our enthusiasm and our resources. To that end, the Alliance is currently developing other ways to challenge the membership to reach specific sustainability targets. We’re investigating a partnership that would allow members to offset carbon emissions, as well as other ideas.

We got a lot of great feedback about how we can make the next event even better. We look forward to seeing you at our next Networking Breakfast on November 17, where we’ll be talking about Selling Sustainability- how do you communicate your commitment to sustainability to potential customers when competitors are trying to send a falsely ‘green’ message?

See you at Green Drinks – Business Edition next week. The topic is “Learning from Sustainable Business Leaders: PortionPac”.

5:30-8pm
Jefferson Tap & Grille, 325 N Jefferson
$7
No RSVP required

Chicago-based Portion Pac embraced sustainability principles early-on in its development. A manufacturer of commercial cleaning supplies, it continues to aggressively integrate environmentally- and socially-responsible practices into their products, and services while also managing significant growth. COO Burt Klein join us for a discussion of where the company has succeeded, the challenges they still face, and lessons they have learned along the way.

First Networking Breakfast- Friday, October 13!

You've heard the news, seen the movies, read the stories, and attended the presentations, but it still isn't clear what global warming means for your business. Join the Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance at its first Networking Breakfast in a conversation over delicious food about: how global warming will affect your business local efforts to address the issue what you can do to reduce costs and risk, as well as your impact
Time:	8:00-9:30am; discussion from 8:45-9:30am.
Location:	Wishbone (1001 W. Washington Blvd.)
Cost:	$10 for members, $16 for non-members
Contact:	csba@foresightdesign.org ; (773) 271-1990

Please register online at: www.sustainablechicago.biz/events/breakfasts.php