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About the Green Museums Initiative
2007 and 2008 Greening the Conference: Walking the Talk
Sponsors Invitation
The Impact of the Green Museums Initiative
Future Green Museums Initiative Programs
Other Green Resources for Museums
Committee Members
2008 Sponsors
About the Green Museums Initiative
There is an exciting movement sweeping across the museum field in California: the Green Museums Initiative! The purpose of the Green Museums Initiative is to inspire California Museums to develop green business practices, eco-friendly facility management, and sustainable programming. We would like to share our vision with you and invite you to join our cause.
It is appropriate that the California Association of Museums (CAM) is spearheading this cause. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, as well as the protection of the environment, is a major priority in California. California leads the country in energy efficiency technology development and implementation, in ambitious efforts to shift energy production to renewable resources, and in adopting stringent emission standards for motor vehicles.
The initial goal of the Green Museums Initiative, established in 2006, was to "green" the daily operations, conferences, workshops, and events of CAM. By changing the way it conducts its own operations and programs, CAM provides a model for other institutions and decreases its own ecological footprint.
2007 and 2008 Greening the Conference: Walking the Talk
Innovations and new perspectives burst forth each year on what is “green”, how to be sustainable, and what the most environmentally sound solutions are for the museum field.
The Green Museums Initiative views the CAM annual conference as an opportunity to test these ideas and share them with the museum field. A truly green conference isn’t necessarily something you can readily see, so we work to make these ideas and our process visible, both at the conference and on our website.
The 2007 and 2008 CAM conferences were the Green Museums Initiative’s first steps in achieving this goal, with sessions on sustainability, eco-friendly practices, and a communication plan that made these steps transparent. With over $16,000 in restricted sponsorship support raised by the Green Museums Initiative Committee, CAM provided a breadth of green practices at the conferences, including:
- 100% organic cotton tote bags;
- the printing of conference materials on 100% post-consumer waste paper with vegetable inks;
- organic and sustainable cuisine at conference meals;
- recycling behind-the-scenes;
- lanyards made of recycled soda bottles;
- real tableware and linens to reduce waste, or made of biodegradable materials if not possible;
- green travel trips; and
- purchases of carbon credits to offset the greenhouse gas emissions for the travel of conference attendees.
In 2007, a booklet describing these steps was given to all conference attendees and was mailed to CAM members and state, regional, and national museum associations. In 2008, the booklet was published online and is in the process of being shared with the national museum field. The following are links to this booklet series:
Sponsors Invitation
Planning for the 2009 CAM conference February 25-27 2009 in San Francisco is now underway and we anticipate that 400-500 museum professionals from across California will attend. The 2009 conference promises to be even greener as we work to implement many of the same eco-friendly practices--as well as new strategies. These extra steps are oftentimes more expensive and sponsorships are needed to realize our goals. We invite you to experience first-hand how the Green Museums Initiative is creating a more sustainable conference model for the museum field.
The Impact of the Green Museums Initiative
The response to this information-sharing among museum and association colleagues has been overwhelmingly positive and inspiring. The following is a sampling of the leadership the Green Museums Initiative has provided the museum field thus far:
- Jack Nokes, former Executive Director of the Texas Association of Museums (TAM) posted a message on the National Alliance for State Museum Associations’ discussion list commenting on the booklet: “It is a great initiative and sets the standard for the rest of us to begin working on how our conferences can be more eco-friendly.” Nokes also claims that it was CAM’s booklet that inspired TAM to take steps to green their 2008 conference.
- The Green Museums Initiative has also impacted national associations. For example, communication with the American Association of Museums’ marketing department resulted in a designation in the Museum Marketplace for green vendors.
- An article in the San Bernardino Press-Enterprise in January 2008 mentions CAM’s Green Museums Initiative in conjunction with the local Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology’s efforts to green their building and operations.
- The Museum Association of New York features CAM’s Green Museums Initiative and “Greening the Conference” booklet on their website as a resource for greening museum programs.
- On Southwest Art magazine’s website, the Green Museums Initiative is referenced as an example of how “museums, curators, artists, and architects are all doing their part for the environment”.
- California Senator Alan Lowenthal, a member of the California State Senate’s Environmental Quality Committee, called the Green Museums Initiative “real leadership”.
Future Green Museums Initiative Programs
The goal of the Green Museums Initiative committee in 2008 and 2009 is to provide the California museum field with the information and opportunities to make a difference in their own operations, programs, and communities.
A new website is planned for GMI that will serve as an information center and a forum for museum professionals to communicate their green operations and programs by serving as a reliable, accessible source for inspiration, greening how-to’s, case studies and information sharing between colleagues.
Sharing our stories builds community and broadens our understanding of our world--join us in the "greening" of CAM and the museum community. Contact GMI at gmi@calmuseums.org with your story or ideas.
When completed, the new Green Museums Initiative website will serve as both a resource center and a forum for museum professionals as they green their operations and programs by serving as a reliable and accessible source for inspiration, sustainable resources, case studies, and information-sharing between colleagues. The website will be organized from the perspective of museum professionals and provide tiered “entry-levels” to accommodate individuals who are just starting to consider sustainable strategies as well as those who have already taken significant green steps. Another major component of the website is to moderate information-sharing among museum professionals so visitors can participate as well as learn.
Other Green Resources for Museums
The movement to green museum operations is gaining momentum at an astounding pace and museum professionals are looking to museum associations for information, guidance, and examples.
Even since the inception of the Green Museums Initiative, the greening of museums and sustainability has become a growing theme in periodicals and at conferences. The following is a sampling of recent green-themed articles within the fields of museums and historic preservation:
- “It’s Easy Being Green: Museums and the Green Movement”, Museum News, September/October 2006, American Association of Museums
- “The Greener Good: The Enviro-Active Museum”, Museum, January/February 2008, American Association of Museums
- “Going for the Green”, Connect, January 2008, Association of Zoos and Aquariums
- “Going Green = Mission: Impossible”, Connect, January 2008, Association of Zoos and Aquariums
- “The Green Issue”, Preservation, January/February 2008, National Trust for Historic Preservation
CAM is not the only museum association to launch special initiatives examining and exploring the role of museums and sustainability. For example:
While other associations have primarily focused on particular areas of concern or targeted projects, CAM’s Green Museums Initiative Committee members believe all these elements are interconnected and require a crosspollination between museum programs, services, operations, and facility.
Committee Members
The Green Museums Initiative committee members are leaders and experts in the implementation of environmentally-friendly strategies, policies, and programs in museums. The current committee members are:
CHAIR: Kate Davies, Executive Director, Downey Museum of Art - Kate has 30-years experience in contemporary art and cultural media as well as 20-years in the sustainability/ecology field. She attended the U.N. Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992. In 2009, the Downey Museum of Art will achieve the first of its planned projects, titled DMOA @ The Glidehouse. A major program of DMOA, it will be a demonstration site for sustainable design and green living. Deeply green, the new museum will also thread green living programming throughout the new museum and website. DMOA @ The Glidehouse will seek the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating, Platinum.
Alan Baker, Executive Director, Charles Paddock Zoo - Alan came to California to engage the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero in active conservation breeding for endangered species from around the world. The zoo’s entire master plan of Biodiversity hotspots is designed to maximize green technologies for their zoo. Alan also supervises a new project for the zoo that partners with local companies that use green practices for their products that are grown or imported from areas that the zoo represents. He just instituted the zoo’s first Green Committee and is involved in the design and use of green practices in the new front entrance/gift shop building that the zoo is constructing this fall.
Barbara Long, VP, Government Relations and Special Projects, Aquarium of the Pacific - Barbara’s work has included overseeing major projects such as the LEED platinum environmental education classroom. She is on the City of Long Beach’s Green Ribbon Committee, an appointed citizen group responsible for developing the city’s green building policy for private developers, and on the city’s Energy Efficiency Task Force. Trained in LEED NC, she oversaw the Aquarium’s efforts to register its greenhouse gas emissions with the California Climate Action Registry —the first museum in the nation to successfully do so—and is the executive sponsor for the Aquarium’s Green Team.
Adrienne McGraw, Executive Director, California Exhibition Resources Alliance - Adrienne is an informal educator and content developer, with experience in museums and environmental organizations. McGraw received her MA in Museum Studies with an emphasis in public programming from John F. Kennedy University in 2001, and was awarded the Gail Anderson Award for Social Responsibility. Her master’s project was entitled Acting Locally: Community Museums and Grassroots Environmental Organizations in Partnership. McGraw has a BA in Environmental Studies from CSU Fresno and is currently enrolled in an MS Ed degree program with a focus on Environmental Education at CSU East Bay. McGraw has published articles in museum journals, contributed to conference presentations, and organized exhibitions based on issues of environmental sustainability.
Tim McNeil, Assistant Professor and Director, Design Museum, University of CA, Davis - Tim is an influential advocate for the role a director plays in championing green initiatives within the museum environment. The Design Museum has implemented sustainable exhibition design practices that are intended to serve as a model for other museums to follow. Tim is currently researching green design methods and technological advances that are applicable to exhibition environments. He is also prototyping a range of interpretive exhibit tools to convey green building principles in LEED certified structures, with the goal of eventually promoting sustainable behavior in other residential and commercial environments.
2008 Sponsors
We would like to thank our 2008 sponsors for making the important work of greening California’s diverse museums possible. Sustainability includes strong supportive partnerships and we are pleased and grateful for the support of our Green Leader Sponsors:
Bon Appétit Management Co.
www.bamco.com
Frederick Fisher & Partners Architects
www.fisherpartners.com
Gaylord Brothers
www.gaylord.com
3M
www.3m.com
Atthowe Fine Arts Services
www.atthowe.com
Bonterra Vineyards
www.bonterra.com
Downey Museum of Art
www.thedmoa.org
Newman’s Own Organics
www.newmansownorganics.com
Whole Foods
www.wholefoodsmarket.com
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