Last night I attended a concert at the Comcast Center in Mansfield MA.  The Steve Miller Band was playing and the crowd was a good mix of people from teenagers to 60-70 year old.  In my opinion the diversity of the crowd was perfect in order to see how many people used the recycling bins next to every garbage can.

My observations were somewhat casual since I did not have a team of people monitoring every garbage can and recycling bin with scales and other scientific tools.  I could only use my eyes to determine how full the recycling bins were in comparison to the garbage cans.  My entire “survey” consisted of 4 trips to buy bottled water and two other random walks, in total maybe 6 trips past 10 or so garbage stations.

The end result was that not one recycling bin contained more recycled cups and bottles than the one in the picture.  The garbage cans were about 1/3-1/2 of the way full—-WHY?   The trash cans were side by side with the recycling bins, I can’t think of an easier way to provide people with a way to recycle other than manning the garbage stations with recycling Nazi’s.  The concert had ads on their giant TV’s requesting that people use the recycling bins so I feel that they did everything in their power to promote recycling.

Instead of an informative blog post, I will close this with a list of questions:

What more can a concert venue do to promote recycling?

Why do people choose to place their recycling trash in garbage cans?

Why do people recycle at home but not in public?

Earlier today I posted my plans to attend the “Think Green” home show in Providence RI. After my post, I called the shows management to inform them I was reviewing the show and that I needed a press pass. I assumed that they would post pictures of me and prevent me from attending after my less than favorable review of the Boston green home show. To my surprise they reviewed this site and extended a free invite! Erica from the shows management called to let me know how much planning they put into the show and how they really put forth an effort to make it green. They went as far as ordering a “green billboard” and paper bags instead of the plastic bags that are the norm for home shows. After talking to her for a while I got the impression that her heart was really into having a great green show.

Upon our arrival at the show, we were greeted by Nicole who walked us around to meet a few of their primary green vendors and she provided us with a long shopping list of booths to visit. After 30 minutes or so we were set free to walk the green carpet and explore the show.

Show Standards

1. Does the show promote a green theme? Yes, green carpeting on most of the floor surfaces kept the green theme on our minds as we explored the show. There were a good mix of green table coverings and backdrops behind some of the vendor’s booths.

2. Are all of the signs and handouts informing people about the green theme and the benefits of going green? Most of the signs promoted the green theme and the show guide promoted a long list of green seminars.

3. Is the show holding classes or providing the public with an education about why they should buy green products? Yes, the show is offering seminars on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in order to educate people about green building and green products.

4. Is the show actively seeking green product vendors or are they just looking for vendors with money?

The show had a bunch of vendors that were offering green products and services. A fair percentage of these vendors had some mention of green on their booth or on their signs. Some of the vendors that sold green products failed to market the idea at all. On one hand I can’t blame the show for some of their vendors failure to market their green products as green products. On the other hand the show could of instructed the green vendors to include some sort of green signs or a list of why their products are green.

Overall I would consider the show green and I can understand how not all of the booths are selling green products. In a few years when homeowners are making their shopping decisions based on how green a company is, the market will be flooded with green vendors. At this point the green home shows can hand pick their vendors and turn away any non- green vendors. Due to economical factors and the lack of demand for green products, green home shows still need to sell empty booth spaces to anyone with the money to fill them.

5. Are the vendors being held to any standards when they promote their product as a green product?

I did not see any vendors that were selling non green products as green products so either the show got lucky or they had some good “green police”.

6. Is the show asking vendors to promote their green products with signs or hand outs?

While I was impressed with the number of green vendors I think the show could of worked with their vendors to promote the overall theme. If I ran the show I would order a bunch of these think green bumper stickers for the vendors. If green vendors failed to market the green theme they could be given or sold some green signs. If I wasn’t tired from walking the show floor for 2.5 hours I would have some signs printed that I could sell to the vendors.

Hopefully I will post some product reviews on Friday if I can shorten the list of products that impressed me. The above picture shows a warm air solar heating panel and my 6 year old that got tired of me talking to the vendors at length about their products. I might return to the show on Friday to interview a few of the vendors that I missed today.

Overall Show Review

On a 1-10 I would rate the show a 9/10 on providing the public with a “Think Green” show like they promoted. The green carpet, overall green theme and signs really delivered what they advertised. I can’t think of any vendor category that did not have at least one company that promoted green products and some had several green companies. If you live in New England and you are looking for green home improvements, I would not hesitate to recommend the show!

Green Home Show Website