An interview with ICEFAT Environmental Subcommittee Chairperson Greg Gahagan (Ship / Art International, San Francisco CA) by Jonathan Schwartz (Atelier4, New York) .

We live in an environment whose population is increasingly under siege by its own waste and by consumer and industrial by-products, and where there is news of governments stopping climate scientists from speaking out. Fortunately more and more individuals, companies and organizations are jumping on the ecological bandwagon in the hope of staving off the untimely demise of man as the planet’s top primate.

The conversion to cleaner energy is a specific challenge to the transportation industry that relies heavily on fossil fuel derivatives that are heating up the planet and melting the polar icecap.

JS     Greg, growing up, in suburban California, at what point did you start hearing about conservation and “save the planet” issues?

GG I grew up in a little rural town not far from San Francisco and I would say that I really started hearing about conservation issues by the time I graduated from high school. You see I grew up in what was a rural area next to a large nature preserve with several lakes. That was my backyard and playground. When my family moved to that area there were only two other houses in the neighborhood and the rest was farmland and the nature preserve. By the time I was in high school the area was getting developed and was looking completely different. The farms, hills and open spaces were being replaced by tract homes and pavement. Then I started hearing about the work of environmentalists and their efforts to save my little part of the planet. If they hadn’t stepped in, I am sure that my backyard and playground would be covered in houses. I am happy to report that I went home last weekend and the hills and mountains that I gazed upon as a child are still there. I am sure that there are kids today who still call it their backyard.

JS    When did you first notice a universal concern for the workplace to go green?

GG    To be honest I don’t know if I feel there is a universal concern just yet. Certainly over the last three to four years going Green has been a buzzword and has increased awareness about turning the workplace green. Since I have been working with the ICEFAT Environmental Committee I have found that many people are still just becoming aware of the issues and haven’t really developed a real concern for turning their businesses green. I think it is just a work in progress from raising awareness to getting people concerned and then getting them to act on it. I am very proud of ICEFAT for taking this issue on and making it a universal concern.
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JS     California’s government, and in particular the City & County of San Francisco, has always taken more seriously what was once considered to be a left of center political discussion on the environment then its counterparts across the country. Have you had any interaction with City and / or County officials regarding conservation?

GG    Local government agencies have been very helpful in our efforts to turn our business Green. In the early days of developing a program for Ship/Art there was limited governmental programs that addressed our needs. But even when a local agency couldn’t help they had people on staff that cared about the issue and were eager to help me find a solution in the private sector. It was that sort of support that made it easier to move our program forward.

JS    I have been noticing lately that there are firms actually utilizing the word green in their corporate name and logo. This is obviously a fad that is being exploited by the private sector. Your neighbor and friendly competitor Scott Atthowe (Atthowe Fine Arts, Oakland CA), someone who has been vocal about environmental conservation for decades, well in advance of the current trend, is on the sub-committee with you. Have you had a chance to meet with him to discuss practical applications?

GG    My meetings with Scott Atthowe have mostly been about what we can do to turn the ICEFAT companies Green as opposed to capitalizing on it. But as part of our monthly meetings we have definitely been discussing ways of using our Green efforts to promote the ICEFAT companies. The options seem to be endless at this point. Some of those include a downloadable green logo “Icefat goes Green“   for use on websites; web pages in general discussing companies green efforts; for each crate you buy from an ICEFAT company we plant a tree in an endangered rainforest, we can even adopt an entire rainforest. The truth of the matter is that the museums are looking at turning their institutions Green and it will only be a matter of time before they look outside their institutions and start asking that their transport companies be Green as well. What better marketing plan is there then to be able to offer them a network of Fine Art Transporters from around the world that have committed to be being Green.

As for Scott Atthowe and our meetings, I can say that he has a vast wealth of information on this topic and ICEFAT is lucky to have him on the committee.

JS    How dire do you take this threat to the environment and what steps is Ship / Art International taking to reduce its carbon footprint?

GG    Well, Jonathan, I don’t proclaim to be any kind of expert on this subject but it sure looks like the evidence is piling up. And it doesn’t look good. I think if we don’t start substantially changing the way we live our lives and conduct business right now, we are going to have a serious problem. An irreversible problem that our children’s children will have to live with. We should have been addressing this issue a long time ago. So based on what I have seen it’s pretty dire.

As for what Ship/Art has done to reduce its carbon footprint, I have a whole list of things that we have done. But really the most important part was to embrace the idea and take the concept of going Green off the back burner and make it part of the company way, part of everyday life. Once we did that, everything else fell into place. We are recycling everything; using biodiesel in the trucks; have had timers on our lights and changed our lighting system to more energy efficient systems; and the list goes on. Really the first step is to change your thinking from what is easy and convenient to what is smart for the environment.

JS    What is your advice to the individual to take home and apply in their domestic decision making on going Green?

GG    My advice is just to look at the whole lifecycle of the things you use, the products you buy and what you do in general. A lot of what we do in our daily life is very convenient but is just plain wasteful and not good for the environment. For example simple things like bringing your own bags to the grocery store. When I go grocery shopping I use my own bags, unload them into the house then put them back in my trunk so they are there the next time I go to the grocery store. That one simple change can make a huge difference if everyone did that. Imagine how many plastic bags go into landfills every day because people throw them away. It doesn’t have to be that way. Some little changes in our lives can go a long way to effecting change.

JS Thanks, Greg!