Environmental & Sustainability Blog

As I gaze into the crystal ball for the year 2013, I believe that there are multiple environmental and sustainability issues that will come to the forefront for the concrete and construction materials industries during the New Year. But here's five that I think that might really make a difference to you and your operation during 2013.

Recently Doug Ruhlin of Resource Management Associates got to sit down with some members of United Materials, LLC's environmental team in Buffalo, NY to discuss the benefits of the NRMCA Green-Star environmental management system (EMS) at their ready mix concrete plant. Some things mentioned were the tangible benefits of having an EMS, such as increased environmental compliance, increased process water management, and cost savings. Check out this short video to hear why having an environmental management system (EMS), specifically the NRMCA Green-Star EMS, can help your facility in real ways!

We tend to hear a lot of green claims today from manufacturers, vendors, and service providers. Some are specific, like Sustainability & FedEx Shipping, but many are vague and misleading. This leads to a loss of consumer confidence and a lack of credibility for those making substantiated, verifiable claims about environmental or sustainable performance.

I just finished doing some environmental management system training on EMS development, and once again I had to take time to explain what environmental aspects and environmental impact are for. They're EMS terms, but they kind of come out a bit confusing. Let's see if we can clear some of that up here.

I did some NRMCA Green-Star training this past week with a concrete company. In case you don't know, that's the NRMCA Green-Star certification program for ready-mixed concrete plants. It went great, and I'm always happy to show another concrete company how this program will help them. I've yet to work with a company that once they have an NRMCA Green-Star program underway, think anything but that it's a great thing for their company.

A few months ago, I had the privilege of moderating a panel discussion on sustainability and sustainable practices in the ready mixed concrete industry at the NRMCA ConcreteWorks Forum in San Diego, October 2011.

Two weeks ago, I was at the NRMCA Concrete Works Forum in San Diego, and heard a lot of interesting information about sustainability and sustainable concrete plant operations that I’ll be sharing in a four-part blog series about sustainable concrete plant operations and concrete plant management.

Want to know who the best concrete mixer truck driver in the entire US is?

Some of the talk about sustainability these days can get confusing. When people talk of the 3 P's of sustainbility, they are almost always referring to People, Planet, Profit. You might also hear triple bottom line. We understand the broad concept of sustainability, but how can we relate it to the concrete industries?

Last month I again had the privilege of traveling to Saudi Arabia. What an interesting and unique place! This was my second trip to Saudi Arabia, and I was fortunate enough to be able to share this experience with my son Dennis. Even though we were far from home, our hosts made us feel welcomed as if we were old friends. Saudi’s are friendly people who want you to enjoy yourself and their country. Like us, they enjoy shopping, a good meal, and family and friends.