Putting Together the Pieces of the Green Puzzle

Local Businessman Proposes Green Business Plan for Watauga County

Story by Kathleen McFadden

For Rob Holton, going green just makes good business sense.

The owner of Holton Mountain Rentals and chair of the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) and the Economic Development Commission, Holton presented a Green Business Plan proposal to the TDA last week for consideration.

Holton’s Green Business Plan calls for a market-driven approach to environmental stewardship.

“It should be in the best interest of businesses to voluntarily want to put in place good green standards and practice them,” Holton maintained. Implementing his plan, he continued, “would make Watauga County a greener place, be a wonderful marketing advantage and give extra encouragement for tourists and others to visit.”

Holton acknowledged that a number of local environmental organizations are working to make Watauga County greener, but “are each focused on a different part of the green puzzle.” The Green Business Plan, he explained, would incorporate many of the best green ideas, apply them in a commonsense manner and unify the many green-focused efforts in a comprehensive market-driven plan.

In Holton’s proposal, green certification processes would be developed for various business categories, such as lodging, attractions, restaurants and offices. All categories would share certain criteria for becoming green certified, but because of the different natures of the business types, some certification criteria would be exclusive to the category alone.

Holton’s proposal does not lay out the specific certification criteria; instead, he proposes that the Watauga County Board of Commissioners appoint a steering committee to hammer out the details. However, among his certification criteria suggestions are air protection measures, alternative energy, energy reduction, low-flow toilets, additional insulation and landscaping.

Under Holton’s voluntary plan, businesses could, with the assistance of a trained environmental mentor, complete a green checklist to quality for one of three green levels of excellence.

Green One Star denotes a good rating and means that a business has taken certain steps to meet environmentally friendly green standards. The dollar cost is minimal to moderate.

Green Two Star denotes a better rating and means that a business has met the Green One Star standards and has incorporated additional green standards. The dollar cost is moderate to mid-cost.

Green Three Star denotes a best rating and means that the business is dong an exemplary job of being a green business. The dollar cost is expensive.

Businesses would pay a certification fee, and the certification would be granted for two years. In exchange for becoming a Green Business Plan member, businesses would be able to advertise the business as a green business, to display the Green Business Plan member logo, to be listed on the Green Business Plan Website, to display a recycled wood plaque declaring that the business is green friendly and to participate in other advertising opportunities.

Under Holton’s proposal, a nonprofit organization would administer the program, and the target rollout date for the program is Earth Day 2008.

“The TDA can’t take the lead,” Holton said, “but does support the proposal.” On the TDA members’ recommendation, Holton plans to present the plan to the Watauga County Board of Commissioners at the board’s May 8 meeting.

Holton said he intentionally designed the program as voluntary and incremental. “You’ve got to crawl before you walk and walk before you run,” he said. Environmental initiatives are “often a big leap and people turn off,” he added. “The whole idea is to bring people on board and if we can get enough first adopters, I think a lot of people would come onboard.”

According to Holton, “This market-driven approach can show how, when it comes down to it, being environmentally friendly green is just good business.”