I Left Condé Nast for Greener Pastures!

Photo: GreeNow

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COMMUNITY NEWS

I joined GreeNow after years of reporting on weddings for Condé Nast’s bridal publications. The creativity of the events we covered was astounding, but in most cases, so was the amount of waste they produced. I wrote an item about GreeNow’s biodiesel generators and was inspired by the fact that it is possible to make such a significant change to the environmental impact of an event, and that the change is so simple to make. And that’s the message that I’m hoping to share here. Because there’s never been an alternative to petroleum-diesel generators, the only challenge is to get people to think about their choices each and every day.

Pure-biodiesel generators represent one of the most important innovations in the greening of outdoor events, film and television shoots, and new construction. Just three years ago, concert producer Aaron Levinthal realized that though his efforts to make his events more sustainable (recycling, biodegradable disposables, post-consumer paper products) were certainly worthwhile, the biggest offender of the environment remained: power.

Outdoor events get the energy for their lights, sound, climate control, and catering from generators, which have historically been fueled by petroleum diesel, a nonrenewable fossil fuel that releases 22 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon burned (not to mention sulfur, and particulate matter, which has been linked to cancer and respiratory disease). Levinthal started looking into alternative fuels for generators, and experimenting with biodiesel. He found that with a few modifications, conventional machines can run (and run well, if not better) on 99, or even 100% biodiesel.

Today, GreeNow, the company Levinthal founded with partner, fellow producer and environmental activist Chris Wangro, as well as music-industry veterans Mark Friedman and Bob See, is the only provider of pure-biodiesel generators in the U.S. GreeNow has supplied generators for everyone from 50 Cent (the rapper) to Dan Barber (the sustainable chef).

The benefits of using a 100% biodiesel generator over a petroleum-diesel machine are many: Biodiesel fuel offers a reduction in life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions of 78% according to a study by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (life-cycle carbon monoxide is reduced by 35 percent; particulate matter is reduced by 32%). Gone are the unpleasant smoke and fumes released by petroleum-diesel; biodiesel is all but smokeless and gives off only a faint fried-food aroma when burned. Plus, GreeNow’s biodiesel is domestically produced, generating jobs and dollars for the U.S. economy.

So now you see how passionate I am about being in the green business, hopefully for your next event you’ll consider an alternative energy solution.

Brenna McLoughlin is GreeNow's Special Events Sales Director

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