BCW’s Green Business Partnership Facilitates Statewide Library Sustainability Initiative

Front Row – L-R: Rebekkah Aldrich Smith, Mid-Hudson Library System; Jill Davis, Hendrick Hudson Free Library; Jane Solnick, Con Edison; Dani Glaser, Green Business Partnership; Tara Seeley, Westchester Community Foundation; Claudia Depkin, Haverstraw King’s Daughters Public Library; Jeremy Johannesen, New York Library Association Back Row – L-R: Peter McCartt, Westchester County; Rebecca T. Miller, Library Journal; John Ravitz, Business Council of Westchester; Scott Fernqvist, Green Business Partnership; Teresita Wisell, Westchester Community College

While much of the conversation about “going green” usually focuses on helping businesses and organizations lessen their impact on the environment, this most recent Leaders in Sustainability event was all about making more of an impact.

More than 70 attendees joined the Green Business Partnership for a thought-provoking panel event that made one thing clear: sustainability isn’t just about using fewer resources and limiting damage, but doing more with less.

So where do libraries come in? With 756 public libraries in New York that employ 31,00 people and serve 10.6 million cardholders – they are a tremendous resource, a large employer, and a place where New York’s future business leaders and workforce learn. A perfect example of this is the “Repair Café” at the Gardiner Library, where kids are taught by a volunteer “repair coach” to fix broken electronics, rather than just throw them away and get new ones. This reduces waste and helps youth develop valuable analytical and problem-solving skills.

With so much opportunity and possibility, we were thrilled to hear Peter McCartt, who attended the event on behalf of George Latimer, call the Green Business Partnership “one of the best programs in Westchester,” and express the County Executive’s support and enthusiasm.

As panelist Rebecca Miller said, the Green Business Partnership provides the framework to accelerate the work of becoming sustainable. To learn more and get started, visit www.greenbusinesspartnership.org.