Tom Barrett to speak at IICC 2010 Summer Field Day conference
Danville, IN – Local environmental expert Tom Barrett will be the featured speaker at the 2010 Indiana Irrigation Contractor Council’s 2010 Summer Field Day on Thursday, August 26. The event will be held at the Hendricks County Conference Center & Fairgrounds, 1900 E. Main Street, Danville.
Barrett’s presentation, “Developing a Resource Efficient Landscape Irrigation System,” is a hands-on field session where contractors will learn to conduct a water audit. Attendees will even be able to learn about the equipment needed to run a water audit first hand in a working test area.
“An irrigation audit is one of the best ways to ensure that water is being used efficiently,” said Barrett. “Most irrigation systems use more water than they really need to maintain a healthy landscape. The savings in water is well worth the time and effort of an audit.”
About Indiana Irrigation Contractor Council
The primary goal of the Indiana Irrigation Contractors Council (IICC) is to promote professionalism throughout the landscape irrigation industry. The Indiana Irrigation Contractor Council provides legislative advocacy, educational sessions, and networking opportunities in order to advance the success of the professional irrigation community. The Indiana Irrigation Contractor Council (IICC) is a section of the of the Indiana Professional Lawn & Landscape Association.
For more information or to register, please call 317-575-9010.
Green Water Infrastructure announces new strategic partnership with April Hensley
Westfield, IN – Locally-based Green Water Infrastructure (GWI), an environmental consulting company, has announced a new strategic partnership with April Hensley of Leech-Hensley Architects, Inc. Hensley will bring her expertise in landscape architecture and design to GWI on an as-needed basis.
“April’s unique talents and experiences make her a great addition to GWI and our clients,” said Tom Barrett, owner of GWI. “Participating in this partnership enables GWI clients to participate in a more collaborative design approach.”
As President of Leech-Hensley Architects, Inc. April oversees the site planning, space planning, architectural design, and interior design aspects of landscape architecture. She is an active member of the local community serving on the Board of Directors for The Historic Ambassador House & Heritage Gardens.
About Green Water Infrastructure:
Green Water Infrastructure is a consulting company, which integrates water resources for sustainable site development. Green Water strives to utilize one hundred percent of the water resources on a site at the site. The company saves communities money by combining green infrastructure with gray infrastructure, new technology with existing technology, creating sustainable growth – sustainable growth environmentally and socially. For more information, please visit http://thinkgwi.com/.
About April Hensley: Hensley received her Architecture and Environmental Design degrees from the Ball State University. She is a certified landscape architect with the Indiana & City of Indianapolis Certified WBE and serves on committees such as Fishers Town Center Steering Committee, Fishers Town Center Design Review Committee, and Fishers 116th Street & Olio PUDCommittee.
charity:water What’s wrong? It’s so right.
charity:water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe water to people in developing nations. Sounds simple enough, but it’s hard to put a finger on which part of this charity is most amazing. The founder, Scott Harrison, is a former self proclaimed New York City social “influencer” making thousands of dollars a night encouraging the rich and famous to purchase the products he pushed – typically beer and vodka. After tiring of his over the top lifestyle, and coming face-to-face with real world poverty, he decided to make a difference and give back. Join the club, right? Trump, Madonna, and anyone else with billions to spend will throw money at a less fortunate area of the world and smile and nod as they breathe a sigh of relief when the tax man leaves. But this is different. Way different. Scott Harrison and his team are doing far more than throwing money at a problem. After spending some hard time with other altruistic volunteers in Africa via a humanitarian organization called Mercy Ships, Scott decided to really make a difference.
…more than water
charity:water does more than “provide” water to the over 1 billion people who go without clean drinking water on a daily basis. Most Americans cannot fathom going a few hours without running water or a clean shower, when most of the world would be happy with less than one thirtieth of what we use ON A GIVEN DAY. According to the many statistics available on the charity:water website (www.charitywater.org), unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses. Ninety percent of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. While the statistics are staggering, the photographs of victims of unclean water are beyond what many of us in the Western World could ever imagine or feel comfortable seeing.
…brilliance
The brilliance of this charity is both in its acquisition of money and its use of those funds. Private donations provide 100% of the cost to run the organization. Everything from plane fares to paper clips are donated or paid for by private donors. That frees up 100% of all public donations to actually go to the source. The water source. As if that weren’t phenomenal enough, once at the source, men and women are taught how to create their own well systems, install them, implement their usage, and govern the rights to them, empowering many (most significantly women), to find themselves for the first time in their lives in a place of significance in the community.
Everyone — rich or poor, happy or sad, regardless of where or how you live, if you are a living thing, you need water. This hits home very quickly. Water is the great connector of human life. Knowing that, everyone can help. There is no donation too small, because even a penny, nickel, dime, or $20 bill is more than nothing, and relatively insignificant compared to saving a human life. Want to know exactly where your money goes? No problem. When you raise enough money to purchase a well, ($5,000 to be exact), your well will be mapped online, and you can actually see where in the world your money went to help not just one human, but an entire community. Add to that the most cutting edge marketing strategies and technical social networks available, stir in some personal challenges to make a difference, and create ownership with donors by encouraging creativity and stewardship, and you have a real success story.
The old saying goes, give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. Give a community the opportunity to help themselves discover their value and help them survive and thrive through the ability to access clean water and a healthier lifestyle, you’ll change the world.
Did you take a shower today? Did you brush your teeth? If you enjoyed the benefit of clean water today please help…
Reflections on American Clean Energy
I was recently lucky enough to speak with legislators in Washington, D.C. as part of the American Clean Energy Now Tour. I’ve put together a few thoughts on the experience to share:
Why did I go to DC?
I went to represent green businesses in Indiana, and I felt so strongly about going because I want Indiana to step up to the plate. Currently, we’re 49th in the nation in green initiatives. I want our representatives to know that green development is environmentally crucial, but also that it is an economically viable form of investment that strengthens the whole nation.
Why is it so urgent to have Clean Energy Now?
The US currently has the largest per capita carbon footprint of any country in the world. We’re even behind such emerging powerhouses at India, China, and Brazil. We just can’t go on like this. We have to do something different and make a change.
What is the main opposition to Clean Energy?
Cap and Trade suffers from a misconception that it will cost jobs. But I believe that it will actually create new jobs—just in different sectors. The green industry creates the most sustainable jobs for the least amount of money of any other industry.
A Report from Capital Hill
Although the Senate has decided to delay any legislation that fully addresses some of our most pressing environmental concerns, the recent trip to Washington D.C. was a positive step in accomplishing this goal. Led by Jesse Kharbanda, Executive Director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, we met with our Congressional delegation and shared with them in person some of our greatest personal and social concerns regarding the environment and the government’s stewardship of these crucial issues.
While there is still a long road to travel as we work to improve and renew our environment, it became abundantly clear that regardless of any partisanship, we seem to want the same thing: a cleaner, healthier environment. It was important for the delegation to hear that green development is not only environmentally crucial, but that it is also an economically viable form of investment that strengthens the whole nation.
Initially we discussed the importance of pushing a “Cap and Trade” concept forward; it became evident that we needed to address the most immediate pressing environmental issues with lifestyle modifications and alternative energy strategies. The US currently has the largest per capita carbon footprint of any country in the world putting us behind such emerging powerhouses at India, China, and Brazil. Deciding how to overcome that issue is tantamount, but we must also keep in mind the need to re-emerge as a leader by example as we begin to develop and utilize a more responsible awareness of the by-products of our social conveniences.
Some Thoughts on the Trip to Capital Hill
Through sweltering heat and suffocating humidity, a diverse group of over 250 business and community leaders from 25 states descended on Washington, D.C. this past week advocating support for a Clean Energy Bill eager to make its way through the Senate before the August recess in a mere two weeks. The bill, which never made it off the ground, was to be an amalgamation of policies and regulations that would reduce carbon emissions from the atmosphere, prevent oil spills, clean up the environment, and address a plethora of other needs to band-aid our ever deteriorating environment.
The Democratic catch phrase of the week was “Cap and Trade,” a term that sends oil companies, auto companies, coal conglomerates and farmers alike running for cover. The idea is that companies emitting pollutants would be responsible for their unhealthy emissions by paying a fee for any percentage of emissions that rose above a government regulated standard. If companies were unable to reduce their emissions by a certain percentage, they could also “buy” more emission” legroom” from companies that were able to produce less poisonous byproduct and therefore have percentages to trade or sell.
Unfortunately, on a per capita basis, the United States has established itself as the largest producer of carbon emissions. The world needs the United States to reduce her carbon emissions if there is any chance of reducing global warming. If this is the best we can do as a country to clean up our act, we may as well embrace the quagmire of biohazard that our children will inherit because if they make it to adulthood, it is hard to predict what they will recognize as an environmental inheritance.
Tom Barrett to Speak with Members of Congress
I have recently been honored with an invitation to join a group of Hoosiers traveling to Washington D.C. this week (July 20-22) to talk with Indiana’s Congressional delegation about the importance of federal climate and energy legislation.
I will be traveling with the Indiana Businesses for a Clean Energy Economy. The IBCEE will be focused on building support for comprehensive climate and energy legislation on the federal level during their time in Washington D.C.
I’m quite excited to sit down with some of the brightest minds in the sustainability movement. Here is the agenda for our trip:
Wednesday:
10:30 am – Emily Hayden (Ellsworth)
12:30 pm – Nathan Bennett (Carson)
2:00 pm – David Bond (Hill)
3:00 pm – Senator Richard Lugar (himself)
3:15 pm – Rep. Pete Visclosky (himself)
Thursday:
11:00 am – Neil Brown (Lugar)
1:00 pm – Scott Morrison (Bayh)
3:00 pm – Andy Boland (Donnelly)
Local environmental expert traveling to Washington D.C.
Westfield, IN – Local environmental expert Tom Barrett has been selected to join a group of Hoosiers traveling to Washington D.C. next week (July 20-22) to talk with Indiana’s Congressional delegation about the importance of federal climate and energy legislation.
Barrett is traveling with the Indiana Businesses for a Clean Energy Economy. The IBCEE will be focused on building support for comprehensive climate and energy legislation on the federal level during their time in Washington D.C.
“I am honored the IBCEE has invited me to meet with Indiana’s Congressional leaders,” says Barrett. “Environmental issues are an important topic in Washington D.C. right now and I am looking forward to working with everyone.”
Green Water Infrastructure founder to speak on Rain Gardens & Bioswales at the Chicago Center for Green Technology
Tom Barrett, owner of Westfield, Indiana-based Green Water Infrastructure, will present “Constructing Rain Gardens and Bioswales: New Tools for Sustainable Site Development” at the Chicago Center for Green Technology on July 29 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
In the presentation, Barrett will discuss how rain gardens and bioswales protects, restores, and mimics the natural water cycle, and how they can help develop a natural approach to water efficiency, and relieve storm water management issues.
“The American Society for Civil Engineers gave the United States’ water systems a grade of
‘D-,’ the lowest of any America infrastructure,” said Barrett. “Through increased use of rain gardens and bioswales, we can improve our water systems and create a better environment for plants, animals and people.”
This program is presented free of charge as part of the Chicago Center for Green Technology’s Green Tech U program. Registration is required by calling 312-746-9642 or by emailing your requested class and contact information to greentech@cityofchicago.org with “Green Tech U” in the subject line.
About Tom Barrett:
Tom Barrett is an accomplished corporate growth and change agent with over thirty years of landscape industry experience. Tom’s leadership experience, holding executive level positions, drives corporate revenue growth through change and innovation for business start-ups, corporate expansions, and divisional turnarounds.
Tom Barrett has been delivering energetic, dynamic presentations and training for over twenty years. These presentations empower people to become masters of change rather than victims of circumstance by developing tools for transformational thinking. For more information, please visit www.thinkgwi.com
About Green Water Infrastructure:
Green Water Infrastructure is a consulting company that integrates water resources for sustainable site development. Their goal is to utilize one hundred percent of the on-site water resources at a site. Green Water saves communities money by combining green infrastructure with gray infrastructure and new technology with existing technology to create sustainable growth — environmentally and socially. For more information, please visit www.thinkgwi.com.
About the Chicago Center for Green Technology: The Chicago Center for Green Technology is the first rehabilitated municipal building in the nation to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ™ (LEED) Platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. Mayor Richard M. Daley dedicated the building in 2002 and it has since become a national model for sustainable design and technology. The Center serves as the most comprehensive green design and educational resource in the Midwest.