Excelsior businesses find going green good for business

Pine garlands spiral up the lampposts along Water Street in downtown Excelsior. Small Christmas trees in front of the businesses await whatever ornaments passers-by might hang on them.

But several dozen Excelsior businesses are celebrating green in another way, committing to environmental friendliness in a way they hope helps the planet, their community and their bottom line.

From the car dealership to the Lutheran church to the liquor store, more than 40 downtown businesses have joined UPonGREEN, a for-profit marketing strategy designed to make environmental claims sensible, cost-effective and attractive to consumers.

In the past week, the charter members began posting stickers in their windows announcing their pledges to implement at least nine green strategies and to post their progress at www.upongreen.com, where customers can critique them.

"It feels like a drop in the bucket when you're doing these things yourself," said Tom Anderson, co-owner of the 318 Café. "But by making connections, this helps. It starts to snowball. We can see savings, but it's also for the community to see itself making a difference."

Founder Michelle (Mitch) Hedlund, a marketer and former Excelsior restaurant owner who has put two years and $250,000 into the project, said that kind of neighborliness is why UPonGREEN is taking hold first in Excelsior.

'The best stimulus package'

The cozy community on Lake Minnetonka with an old downtown and few chain retailers probably isn't about to erect a wind turbine any time soon, she said. But businesses have taken a lot of manageable steps already, and more are within easy reach. A model for recognition, clear goals and customer response is what she's trying to provide.

Ultimately, she hopes to make it profitable by extending it to other communities, government and corporations -- and then buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle than the SUV she now drives.

"Environmental solutions could be the best stimulus package," she said.

Businesses qualify for a sticker by performing at least nine of 14 possible green strategies, from using recycled office paper to installing energy-efficient lighting to encouraging employees to use mass transit. That last item is unlikely in Excelsior, 20 miles west of downtown Minneapolis, so the list also includes options for installing programmable thermostats, cutting down on bottled water and buying locally.

Excelsior Bay Books co-owners Ann Nye and Ellie Temple earned a sticker by pledging to install new lighting.The 318 Café got its sticker for using recyclable carry-out containers, among other measures.

"Those to-go boxes aren't a bottom-line item, but they're something our customers are going to care about," said co-owner Mattie O'Reilly.

At Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, former facilities manager Carolyn Bevan said congregants demanded to participate not to help their market position but "to save the Earth and quit wasting our natural resources."

Ryan Mason, general manager of Bill Mason Chrysler Jeep, said he jumped into UPonGREEN primarily as a community-building effort. He admits a little bit of surprise at finding himself among the environmentally friendly. But the new energy-efficient lighting he's installed earned him membership, while saving money.

"I was shocked at the number of things the dealership was already doing," he said.

Growing up green

Hedlund, who grew up in a family of eight children, recalls her mother collecting reusable containers so she could buy bulk items at the co-op, growing a garden and even trying to convince her kids that carob was just as good as chocolate.

After selling her restaurant, Hedlund went into marketing, doing some work for a solar energy firm. Encountering conflicting information about green strategies, she started UPonGREEN as a way to simplify things.

With the website as its interactive hub, the project lists the green goals that a business needs to qualify, who members are and what they're doing. It offers links to green services and invites the public to review members' efforts. Businesses and individuals can join, too.

Hedlund wants to patent the concept, including the website.

UPonGREEN provides consumers a sort of grass-roots seal of approval not available anywhere else, said Neely Crane-Smith, community energy coordinator for the Center for Energy and the Environment, whose Minnesota Energy Challenge tracks efforts by individual and businesses to reduce their carbon dioxide output.

"The message in society we're hearing now is, 'You should do it.' But that's not really motivating," Crane-Smith said. "When a real person provides a model for people, it's incredibly important when it comes to creating sustainable communities."

Bill McAuliffe • 612-673-7646