Personal Responsibility in the Sustainability Discussion

When you think renewable energy and green business, you probably think of Portland, Oregon.  If you live in Portland, you may even think of Portland General Electric (PGE) and their commitment to renewable energy.  From now on, when you think of renewable energy and PGE, you should think of Thor Hinckley, Manager of PGE’s Renewable Power Program.  I recently had the pleasure of meeting Thor personally and discussing sustainability, the concept of “away”, why behavioral change is hard and why we need more “champions” to affect long-term sustainability.

**Thor had so many great things to offer that I’m breaking our discussion into two posts.  Consider this Part 1.  Part 2 (coming tomorrow) will address Corporate Sustainability Considerations.**

Thor’s been involved in the sustainability discussion for almost 20 years, way before it was cool to be “green” so let’s just call him the resident expert.  He’s proud of the fact that PGE’s customers have made its renewable energy program one of the top in the nation, with a full 10% of residential customers choosing renewables (the national average is 2-3%), even with its higher price tag.  He finds that even just offering consumers a choice in their energy source, even if they don’t opt into the program, increases public perception of PGE.

Sustainability = A No Brainer

An environmental engineer by trade, Thor realized early on that environmental remediation wasn’t the answer to environmental concerns.

“Choosing sustainably has always been a no-brainer to me.  In 2000, many thought renewable energy was a crazy idea.  Today it’s part of our identity.

The next 25 years will be dominated by a new ethic around electricity. We’ve been operating under the ‘more is better, cheaper is best’ mentality but that can’t go on much longer.  Supply will decrease, price will increase so we’ll need to find ways to control prices and make our electricity usage more efficient.”

There’s No Such Place as “Away”

Thor continues, “When God created the universe, he didn’t create an ‘away’.  You don’t really throw anything ‘away’ – that place just doesn’t exist.  We’ve developed a wasteful society and that must change.”

Technological vs. Behavioral Change

Thor’s philosophy is that technological change comes easy but behavioral change is much more difficult for us as a society.

“Trading in your SUV for a Prius is relatively easy.  That’s not that much of a stretch.  That’s a technology change.  The trick is getting people from their Prius onto a bike or into a carpool or on public transportation.  Trading in their larger homes for smaller, more efficient ones.  That requires a behavioral shift and it’s much more difficult.”

Sustainability Has to Mean “Stewardship”

Part of the sustainability discussion has to involve a commitment of personal responsibility on the part of consumers and end users.  Thor gave me a fantastic example of this stewardship concept using green buildings.

“Take green buildings, for example.  Here in Portland we have many green buildings but not all of them are realizing the energy savings they were designed to achieve.  It’s one thing to design and construct a green building.  The other part of the equation that’s often overlooked is how the building is operated and maintained.  Are the residents and maintenance personnel operating the building how they should?  Plug loads for laptop, PDA and other devices have continued to proliferate.  It takes a commitment on everyone’s part to ensure that building remains green.  And that often requires personal responsibility.”

Thor’s charge?  To continue the education process for consumers and businesses alike.  Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of my conversation with Thor…Corporate Sustainability Considerations.

@meganstrand

Photo courtesy of Torley Olmstead.