Sustainability and the

Green Industry
GTLE January 5, 2009
Bob Dolibois
ANLA Executive Vice President
Foreword: ANLA
National trade association founded in 1876
Members: businesses that grow, distribute,
retail, install and care for landscape plants.
Two functions:
Represent the industry before

government
Improve the success and profitability of

its member businesses

Represent Industry Interests
Federal legislation and regulation
Four-person team of experts on staff

Hired consultants on labor, tax and

OSHA
Lighthouse Program: Partnership with
states to form a grassroots network of
15,000 industry businesses
Thank you MNLA!
Success and Profitability
Business development programs
Management Clinic

Sector tours

Garden Center University/Landscape Business

Management
Networking
ANLA Connect

Grower Connect
Sustainability...
Why this trend and why now?

What is sustainability?

What does sustainability mean for the Green

Industry?

Major initiatives affecting the industry

Why this trend and why now?
The bigger picture of consumer interest
Aging and wellness

Wealth

Environmental movement and life

purpose
Changing economic patterns and
globalization
Sustainability: What it is not...
Just a political term or movement
Just the Green Party
Just about stopping growth and human
progress
A soft, warm, fuzzy, do-gooder concept
(Beware of tripwire words!)
Sustainability is about:
Continuing many things were doing now
Discontinuing some things were doing now
Doing some things we do now, but doing
them differently
Overview
Why this trend and why now?

What is sustainability?

What does sustainability mean for the Green

Industry?

Major initiatives affecting the industry

Sustainability is...
A long-standing concept and a given in
most of history
Marrying of modern science and
technology with the historical concept
Grounded in the concepts of growth and
profitability
Definition of Sustainability:

Sustainability: The ability to continue a

defined behavior indefinitely.

Sustainable practices: Meets the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
Cradle to Cradle Doctrine
Hannover Principles - 2002
William McDonough, architect and visionary
Industrial revolution: takes, makes, wastes
Regulation:
A failure of design
Being less bad is not sustainable
Sustainability: includes growth and profitability
Sustainability Building Blocks
Planet
People
Profits
PLANET
Waste = Food
Terminal consumption: Throw it away
Dual Metabolism
Biological metabolism

Technical metabolism
PLANET (contd)
Re-engineer
Reuse
Revert
Recycle
PEOPLE
Human rights
Social responsibility
Local community
Labor protections
PROFITS
Growth is both essential and good
Defining economic value: eco-services
Challenge: Assimilating profitability into
accreditation programs and regulation
Dilemma: Organic vs. Sustainable

Which is the chicken, which is the

egg, and which comes first?
Overview
Why this trend and why now?

What is sustainability?

What does sustainability mean for the Green

Industry?

Major initiatives affecting the industry

Industry history
Fruit trees and windbreaks/Major estates
Post-WWII:
Middle class homeownership: suburbia

Garden center retailing

Disneyland

70s: Highway beautification

80s: commercial suburbia and office parks
The Last Frontier
Greening of the cities:
Parks & greenbelts

Urban villages

Green buildings

Bio-remediation

Landscape restoration and rehabilitation

Implications: Plant production
Leaders in agriculture already
Water recycling

IPM

Role of landscape plants

Controversial issues
B&B

Invasive plants

Plastic

Local-grown

Labor
Implications: Landscape
Role of landscaping
Cooling and air scrubbing

Green roofs and buffers

Interior plantscaping

Controversial issues
Water use

Yardwaste
Implications for Retailing
Appeal to customer base
Experience-based retailing
Attractiveness of employment
Controversial issues
Consumer use of pesticides

Plant palette/local-grown
Implications for Hort Distribution
All of the above
Re-engineering opportunities
Controversial issues
Those pots and flats

Some other product lines

Sourcing

Materials handling

More from our panelists

Overview
Why this trend and why now?

What is sustainability?

What does sustainability mean for the Green

Industry?

Major initiatives affecting the industry

Major Initiatives affecting us
Sustainable Sites Initiative (SSI)
Draft ANSI Standard on Sustainable
Agriculture
Valuing the Landscape: Economically and
Environmentally
Sustainable Sites Initiative (SSI)
Launched by ASLA, LBJ Wildflower
Center and U.S. Botanic Garden
Modeled after LEED Rating system for
Green Buildings
Rating system for building landscapes,
parks, transportation corridors and
streetscapes
SSI Status
Draft guidelines and criteria on website (
www.sustainablesites.org)
Draft report responses: January 20, 2009
Field testing in 2009
ANLA is involved in this program
ANSI Standard on Sustainable Ag
ANSI Standard Development Process
Draft standard introduced by Scientific
Certification Systems (SCS) and Leonardo
Academy Now shelved
Starting process over
 Valuing the Landscape:
Economically
Landscaping: increases in value over time
Challenge: Assessing monetary value of
installed plant material
Solution: Data base of plant price points
Now: Insurance is available!

www.liveassetinsurance.com
 Valuing the Landscape:
Environmentally
National green associations collaborating on
research and information
Defining the monetary value of ecosystem
services of installed landscapes
Best argument for access to water for the
installed landscape!
Overview
Why this trend and why now?

What is sustainability?

What does sustainability mean for the Green Industry?

Major initiatives affecting the industry

Questions?