City of Madison purchaser Monette McGuire
Madison goes green
Madison goes green
| Heidi M. Pascual* Publisher & Editor * 2006 Journalist of the Year for the State of Wisconsin (U.S.-SBA) |
It is difficult to define “green” McGuire said, but that we know it when we see it. She then traced the term “green” from the social movement of the
early ‘60s. “Some of the cornerstone philosophies of the green social movement also include not just environmental concerns but grassroots
democracy, gender issue, nonviolence, human rights, social justice, indigenous rights, as well as sustainable development,” she explained, and
began to talk about issues in connection with sustainability.
“When you care for the environment and accord it the kind of respect and reverence that is appropriate, what naturally happens is that we
also care for the people,” she continued, adding that it means we care for the community and the economy. “All of these concepts are really
interrelated and it seems that at no time has the value of these concepts become more evident than today. When you see capitalist-inspired
economy trump everything including [the] people’s interest, … when we allow profits to trump and to triumph above everything else and we allow
our natural habitat trampled upon, we see that the health and social well-being of our people are at risk. Having said all that, I think that we are
still at a very opportune time to get through where a huge cultural shift is happening on a global scale.”
She said she’s curious as to what sustains the kind of behaviors that we want to change, and the challenges that we face in so doing. McGuire
even asked, “My actions on a small scale, how would it really matter?” but quickly answered herself, “Well, Annette (Miller) just gave us many
examples why it does matter! From the time we wake up in the morning, everything we touch, everything we do, until the time we go back to bed
at night, really have something to do with sustainability. So to think that your actions don’t matter is probably a myth.”
McGuire explored the ongoing efforts everywhere to attain sustainable development and keep the momentum going. “Government, as well
as educational institutions and communities, and even the business world , are coming to the realization that business as usual is no longer a
good thing,” she said. “And in places where we see these institutions beginning their journey, we see strong, courageous leadership; we see
habitat being restored in our communities.”
Efforts by the City of Madison to go green
McGuire informed her audience that the city of Madison, under the leadership of Mayor David Cieslewicz, has adopted the Natural Step as a
framework from which the staff discuss environmental issues.
[The Natural Step Framework is a creative new approach for addressing environmental challenges based on consensus and systems
thinking. Its purpose is to develop and share a common framework comprised of easily understood, scientifically based principles that can serve as
a compass to guide society toward a just and sustainable future.-NS Website]
“In 2005, Mayor Dave put together a Task Force to study these complex issues,” McGuire said. “The task force comprised of city employees,
city leaders, as well as community leaders to try and address these issues. And one of these recommendations that came out of their report was to
adopt the Natural Step framework. The Natural Step framework is the framework put together by a Swedish medical doctor, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert.
It is a science-based framework where everyone agrees and from there we begin to discover and unleash our creative idea. And it’s important to
have that common framework and place to start because that’s where we begin to really understand what it is that’s important to us.”
As the purchasing person of the city of Madison, McGuire knows her role in this effort. She said that government spending at the federal level
is about $200 billion dollars, while and on the local level, it’s about a trillion dollars. “That kind of purchasing power really wield tremendous
influence in the marketplace: for stimulating product research and development; for driving trends in the marketplace; for encouraging markets to
recycle products,” she said, and stressed, “ but we’re accelerating the change so that we can move forward.” McGuire was referring to the city
of Madison’s Green Cleaning policy.
“We’ve developed some policies such as the Green Cleaning Policy,” she said, whereby from purchasing 50-70 different chemicals, the city
of Madison is now down to 5 or 6., and they are all non-toxic. “We’ve standardized our cleaning procedures, so that really helped us quite a bit.
We now buy online furniture that carry the certification called ‘Cradle to Cradle,’ which passed the production/manufacture and recovery of the
material, so that nothing is disposed of it actually. All the materials that are in it really flow in a perpetual cycle.” She cited that all the furniture
purchased by the city are delivered in blankets , instead of being packaged in cardboard or plastic. “It may cost a little bit more, but what we’re
looking for is the long-time value of the purchase.”
As far as paper is concerned, McGuire said that they buy “only the highest percent of consumer waste paper.” In buying computers, the city
has an E-procurement and E-waste policy mandating that only EP-certified (EP meaning electronic products passed environmental assessment
tools, 60 different attributes that’s related to sustainability) products are considered.
E-waste to third world countries
“In terms of E-waste, this is huge, because we didn’t realize that just about 40 million computers and electronics are being discarded [in the
U.S.] every year,” McGuire said. “And unbeknownst to us, these products are being shipped overseas to third world countries under the guise of
bridging the digital divide, but 70 percent of them are non-functional. None of these countries are really equipped to manage the toxic waste that
comes from these computers.”
The city of Madison has partnered with a recycling company that disassembles the city’s computers and other electronics and recycles them
in 20 or 50 different waste treatments. “We’re guaranteed that our computers are not being exported overseas. “
Saving in the long run
The city of Madison also purchases compact fluorescent light bulbs, despite their higher cost compared to regular light bulbs. “Some cost a
dollar as opposed to 25 cents, but then again we save $45 dollars when used long-term – it’s a no brainer,” McGuire stressed. “This is doable, not
difficult; in medium term, it might cost a little bit more, but in the long term, there are real dividends.”
Greenwashing
Mcguire highlighted the fact that people get tired of listening to conflicting information on being green. “It’s human fatigue or green fatigue
or green washing,” she said. “There’s a lot of information out there and it’s really difficult to sift through all the contradictions: Should I wash my
dishes by hand, or should I use the dishwasher? I still don’t know the answer to that one. Should I buy milk from bottles or from paper or
cardboard? Should I buy a hybrid car or buy a used car because I might save all that energy used to manufacture a new car? So then you settled
in buying a hybrid and then your brother-in-law asks you, ‘Where are you going to bury the battery?’ And then, here’s the ultimate … when you
approach the end of that checkout in the grocery store, and then they ask you, ‘Paper or plastic?’ Well, my canvass bags are usually sitting
in my kitchen’s countertops.”
Greenwashing, McGuire explained, means buying recycled products or products that are recyclable. “ Do you buy eco-safe or you
environmentally-safe products? Do you buy natural or chemical-free? ,” she asked. “Greenwashing is a term that is supposed to help you evaluate
the environmental attributes of a product. In a recent survey by Choice Marketing, out of 1,700 green claims, all but one were misleading and
have made false claims.” She said it will take some time and will probably need some legislation and some standards to manage the labeling of
these products.
In the end, McGuire urged her audience to get all the information they can get about how to help protect the environment and conserve
natural resources, sift through them, act accordingly, and talk about them. “It’s important to understand that our voice matters,” she said. “Women’s
voice matters. Your ideas matter; and your actions matter. “
early ‘60s. “Some of the cornerstone philosophies of the green social movement also include not just environmental concerns but grassroots
democracy, gender issue, nonviolence, human rights, social justice, indigenous rights, as well as sustainable development,” she explained, and
began to talk about issues in connection with sustainability.
“When you care for the environment and accord it the kind of respect and reverence that is appropriate, what naturally happens is that we
also care for the people,” she continued, adding that it means we care for the community and the economy. “All of these concepts are really
interrelated and it seems that at no time has the value of these concepts become more evident than today. When you see capitalist-inspired
economy trump everything including [the] people’s interest, … when we allow profits to trump and to triumph above everything else and we allow
our natural habitat trampled upon, we see that the health and social well-being of our people are at risk. Having said all that, I think that we are
still at a very opportune time to get through where a huge cultural shift is happening on a global scale.”
She said she’s curious as to what sustains the kind of behaviors that we want to change, and the challenges that we face in so doing. McGuire
even asked, “My actions on a small scale, how would it really matter?” but quickly answered herself, “Well, Annette (Miller) just gave us many
examples why it does matter! From the time we wake up in the morning, everything we touch, everything we do, until the time we go back to bed
at night, really have something to do with sustainability. So to think that your actions don’t matter is probably a myth.”
McGuire explored the ongoing efforts everywhere to attain sustainable development and keep the momentum going. “Government, as well
as educational institutions and communities, and even the business world , are coming to the realization that business as usual is no longer a
good thing,” she said. “And in places where we see these institutions beginning their journey, we see strong, courageous leadership; we see
habitat being restored in our communities.”
Efforts by the City of Madison to go green
McGuire informed her audience that the city of Madison, under the leadership of Mayor David Cieslewicz, has adopted the Natural Step as a
framework from which the staff discuss environmental issues.
[The Natural Step Framework is a creative new approach for addressing environmental challenges based on consensus and systems
thinking. Its purpose is to develop and share a common framework comprised of easily understood, scientifically based principles that can serve as
a compass to guide society toward a just and sustainable future.-NS Website]
“In 2005, Mayor Dave put together a Task Force to study these complex issues,” McGuire said. “The task force comprised of city employees,
city leaders, as well as community leaders to try and address these issues. And one of these recommendations that came out of their report was to
adopt the Natural Step framework. The Natural Step framework is the framework put together by a Swedish medical doctor, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert.
It is a science-based framework where everyone agrees and from there we begin to discover and unleash our creative idea. And it’s important to
have that common framework and place to start because that’s where we begin to really understand what it is that’s important to us.”
As the purchasing person of the city of Madison, McGuire knows her role in this effort. She said that government spending at the federal level
is about $200 billion dollars, while and on the local level, it’s about a trillion dollars. “That kind of purchasing power really wield tremendous
influence in the marketplace: for stimulating product research and development; for driving trends in the marketplace; for encouraging markets to
recycle products,” she said, and stressed, “ but we’re accelerating the change so that we can move forward.” McGuire was referring to the city
of Madison’s Green Cleaning policy.
“We’ve developed some policies such as the Green Cleaning Policy,” she said, whereby from purchasing 50-70 different chemicals, the city
of Madison is now down to 5 or 6., and they are all non-toxic. “We’ve standardized our cleaning procedures, so that really helped us quite a bit.
We now buy online furniture that carry the certification called ‘Cradle to Cradle,’ which passed the production/manufacture and recovery of the
material, so that nothing is disposed of it actually. All the materials that are in it really flow in a perpetual cycle.” She cited that all the furniture
purchased by the city are delivered in blankets , instead of being packaged in cardboard or plastic. “It may cost a little bit more, but what we’re
looking for is the long-time value of the purchase.”
As far as paper is concerned, McGuire said that they buy “only the highest percent of consumer waste paper.” In buying computers, the city
has an E-procurement and E-waste policy mandating that only EP-certified (EP meaning electronic products passed environmental assessment
tools, 60 different attributes that’s related to sustainability) products are considered.
E-waste to third world countries
“In terms of E-waste, this is huge, because we didn’t realize that just about 40 million computers and electronics are being discarded [in the
U.S.] every year,” McGuire said. “And unbeknownst to us, these products are being shipped overseas to third world countries under the guise of
bridging the digital divide, but 70 percent of them are non-functional. None of these countries are really equipped to manage the toxic waste that
comes from these computers.”
The city of Madison has partnered with a recycling company that disassembles the city’s computers and other electronics and recycles them
in 20 or 50 different waste treatments. “We’re guaranteed that our computers are not being exported overseas. “
Saving in the long run
The city of Madison also purchases compact fluorescent light bulbs, despite their higher cost compared to regular light bulbs. “Some cost a
dollar as opposed to 25 cents, but then again we save $45 dollars when used long-term – it’s a no brainer,” McGuire stressed. “This is doable, not
difficult; in medium term, it might cost a little bit more, but in the long term, there are real dividends.”
Greenwashing
Mcguire highlighted the fact that people get tired of listening to conflicting information on being green. “It’s human fatigue or green fatigue
or green washing,” she said. “There’s a lot of information out there and it’s really difficult to sift through all the contradictions: Should I wash my
dishes by hand, or should I use the dishwasher? I still don’t know the answer to that one. Should I buy milk from bottles or from paper or
cardboard? Should I buy a hybrid car or buy a used car because I might save all that energy used to manufacture a new car? So then you settled
in buying a hybrid and then your brother-in-law asks you, ‘Where are you going to bury the battery?’ And then, here’s the ultimate … when you
approach the end of that checkout in the grocery store, and then they ask you, ‘Paper or plastic?’ Well, my canvass bags are usually sitting
in my kitchen’s countertops.”
Greenwashing, McGuire explained, means buying recycled products or products that are recyclable. “ Do you buy eco-safe or you
environmentally-safe products? Do you buy natural or chemical-free? ,” she asked. “Greenwashing is a term that is supposed to help you evaluate
the environmental attributes of a product. In a recent survey by Choice Marketing, out of 1,700 green claims, all but one were misleading and
have made false claims.” She said it will take some time and will probably need some legislation and some standards to manage the labeling of
these products.
In the end, McGuire urged her audience to get all the information they can get about how to help protect the environment and conserve
natural resources, sift through them, act accordingly, and talk about them. “It’s important to understand that our voice matters,” she said. “Women’s
voice matters. Your ideas matter; and your actions matter. “
Part 2
by Heidi M. Pascual
Environmental concerns focus of WWOCN fall conference
“What it means to be green”
The first installment of this article highlighted the keynote speaker at the Wis. Women of Color
Network’s fall event, MG&E’s Annette Miller, who shared her personal experiences on how she and her
family conserve energy, and her professional work at MG&E, the local energy company, that now has
several initiatives toward saving energy and cleaning up the environment through alternative sources of
energy. This last installment highlights the presentation of Monette McGuire of the City of Madison’s
Purchasing Services, Office of the Comptroller. McGuire’s presentation was a reflection of her
professional training, as well as her personal commitment toward contributing to the world’s sustainability
efforts and protection of the environment.
“When a group of women gather together in the same room, great things happen,” Monette McGuire
said, greeting her audience at the WWOCN’s fall conference. “I know that none of you are here because
of a mandate or because you’re forced to come. You are here because you chose to come to work
alongside your sisters, your mothers, your nieces, your aunts, your grandmothers, your friends, your
colleagues, and maybe even your enemies, to try to make this world a better place. How appropriate it is,
and it’s not a surprise that the topic of the day is about green, which for many experts and educators and
politicians alike, think that this is the greatest challenge that we face today in our lifetime. “
by Heidi M. Pascual
Environmental concerns focus of WWOCN fall conference
“What it means to be green”
The first installment of this article highlighted the keynote speaker at the Wis. Women of Color
Network’s fall event, MG&E’s Annette Miller, who shared her personal experiences on how she and her
family conserve energy, and her professional work at MG&E, the local energy company, that now has
several initiatives toward saving energy and cleaning up the environment through alternative sources of
energy. This last installment highlights the presentation of Monette McGuire of the City of Madison’s
Purchasing Services, Office of the Comptroller. McGuire’s presentation was a reflection of her
professional training, as well as her personal commitment toward contributing to the world’s sustainability
efforts and protection of the environment.
“When a group of women gather together in the same room, great things happen,” Monette McGuire
said, greeting her audience at the WWOCN’s fall conference. “I know that none of you are here because
of a mandate or because you’re forced to come. You are here because you chose to come to work
alongside your sisters, your mothers, your nieces, your aunts, your grandmothers, your friends, your
colleagues, and maybe even your enemies, to try to make this world a better place. How appropriate it is,
and it’s not a surprise that the topic of the day is about green, which for many experts and educators and
politicians alike, think that this is the greatest challenge that we face today in our lifetime. “
Monette McGuire is City of Madison
purchaser
purchaser
