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At a5, we aim to do great work—for our clients and for the environment. In addition to making a5 a sustainable business, we actively work with clients who want to learn how to be good for business and good for the environment. We worked with Steelcase, the world's largest office furniture manufacturer, on Green by Design (a sustainability conference produced by Sirius Resources), the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (also with Sirius Resources) and with the City of Grand Rapids to produce the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative annual conference in July, 2007. We consult with Technical Concepts, a maker of washroom products, and Wonder Works Children's Museum, on their environmental efforts. And we work with architects, landscape architects, governmental agencies and non-profits to develop better environmental practices. One organization, Seven Generations Ahead, a Chicago-based non-profit, asked us to revamp their graphic identity, overhaul their web site and promote their annual fundraiser. We did so gladly, because Gary Cuneen and his organization are working to make people think in new ways about how we live.
Is it good enough to be less bad? Is it good enough to be carbon neutral? Is reduce, reuse and recycle really the right way to live?
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We think the paradigm should be positive, not punitive. Listen to Bill McDonough, perhaps the world's leading sustainability architect, who says it's time to eliminate the concept of waste. In the Next Industrial Revolution, McDonough proposes that:
- Buildings that, like trees, are net energy exporters, produce more energy than they consume, accrue and store solar energy, and purify their own waste water and release it slowly in a purer form.
- Factory effluent water that is cleaner than the influent.
- Products that, when their useful life is over, do not become useless waste, but can be tossed onto the ground to decompose and become food for plants and animals, rebuilding soil; or, alternately, return to industrial cycles to supply high quality raw materials for new products.
- Billions, even trillions of dollars worth of materials accrued for human and natural purposes each year.
- A world of abundance, not one of limits, pollution, and waste.
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While we know change does not occur over night, a5 is working to create a sustainable business and work with others to improve our environment. If you are interested in learning more, click here.
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