Aaron Cohen

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Green on being green

Monday Nov 13, 2006

Warning: this is a rambling blog post.

From the look of my blog you might think I've been an eco warrior forever.

Far from reality.

In fact, only for the past 5-6 weeks have I been literally drinking from the green firehose -- from listening to Al Gore speak last Friday at the Climate Protection Summit, to listening to DuPont speak about how they've cut 50% of their GHG emissions from 1990 to 2000, to being part of a business thinktank on the issue of how businesses can affect change...

So when I had people over last night at my weekly Soup Sunday dinner party, and when I had friends over this weekend from Sacramento and Santa Rosa respectively, I just couldn't stop talking about my newfound passion for reducing my greenhouse gas emissions at home. I wanted everyone to join in on my new crusade. I feel enlightened, now shouldn't you?

Well, not so fast. People need to come to these things on their own terms. It's not too bad. It's reality.

I have had to, as well.

I have had a whole swirl of emotions that have gotten hold of me as of late, in part, thanks to Sun's own commitment, in part, thanks to living in a green city for a full year now, and in part because I'm part of tens of thousands across the U.S. that are starting to feel a real purpose and sense of urgency around this global issue. The emotions range from being motivated, sickened, scared, and inspired all at the same time.

But wait, if you're too passionate about something you can either annoy people or they think you're trying to convert them.

There seems to be a fine line with friends and colleagues in terms of what topic one can talk about and at what length and what volume. The good news is I am actually able to talk semi-intelligently to strangers about this topic and they all seem very interested in hearing more (and surprised I am the one talking). I just was passing around Cradle to Cradle yesterday and showing everyone the weight of the book, and sharing the fact that it wasn't made out of trees. That alone is a conversation starter..

I have been wanting to make this kind of rambling post for a while. This kind of post is about the green water I'm treading in.

First, it's about me as a person, and it's also about our company. I want to share things that I have learned with friends, but I don't want them to get turned off by my green rantings. But since it's such an important issue I want to encourage a healthy dialogue. Second, it's about my company. Clearly Sun is now taking a thought leadership role around the area of climate change and eco responsibility. But what about our customers? I certainly don't want to turn off our customers with all of this green talk, who, like Sun, have a mission-critical business to run. And so this is the green dilemma. Does Green really mean business for our customers? If it doesn't now, how soon will it?

And I think in part it (this uneasy feeling) comes from the fact that I'm green on being green. In another five years, I won't be, and many of our customers won't be, either. I won't be as uncomfortable partly because I've felt like I am making some differences, but also because the topic will be even more accepted. I will be more comfortable in my role and our company will be more comfortable with its role and our customers with theirs, and so on. It's going to take some time -- some getting used to--I predict five more years--but I still think we are approaching a real tipping point, and it's only a matter of time before we all come together on this issue. More on this to come.

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