MI Retailers Give Environmentally Sound Business Practices the (Green) Thumbs Up

Retailers responded in great number and with enthusiasm to this month’s survey on the topic of “going green” and its impact within the world of MI.

As environmental issues are inexorably linked with politics and policy, some responses were fairly heated. Many went into great detail explaining the importance of adopting eco-friendly procedures and reducing one’s carbon footprint, but a few found the very subject of this poll to be irrelevant to musical instrument retailers and suppliers – and perhaps even offensive. “If people want environmental news they can go watch CNN,” one participant suggested. “Let’s get the music trade magazines to stick to what’s actually important: dealers, manufacturers and trends!”

A strongly held opinion, to be sure, but the metrics place such sentiment squarely in the minority: With a combined 81.2 percent of dealers describing an MI supplier’s involvement in “green” policies as being either “very important” or “somewhat important” when deciding whether to do business with that company, it’s clear that this topic is “actually important.”

Do you consider enacting environmentally responsible business practices to be an important issue?

Yes: 85.4%

No: 14.6%

Have you taken any steps to reduce your own store’s carbon footprint? If so, what?

Yes: 77%

No: 23%

“All statements are sent via email. We have recently changed all of our fixtures to energy efficient LED bulbs. We are currently working on going paperless with all contracts and emailing receipts.”

Matt Dixon

Playground Music Center

Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

“We recycle all cardboard, paper, glass, and plastics marked No’s 1-5. We turn off any electrical appliances not being used (we don’t leave display sound equipment, electric pianos, et cetera turned on unless they are being demonstrated to a customer). When we had to purchase a new company delivery van we bought a fuel-injected diesel. It cost more than petrol, but is cleaner, more efficient, and emits less greenhouse gases. We shred all our old invoices/receipts and give them to people to recycle into their compost heaps. Where possible we now try to use LED lights instead of traditional globes and bulbs.”

Keith Broomfield

Magpie Music

Bega NSW

Australia

“[We are] located on various public transportation options (train, bus hub, et cetera), we campaigned and finally got recycling for our building complex, we are using super-efficient lighting, and used building materials in recent remodel to reduce ongoing carbon footprint. Generally [we] try to be sensible and as environmentally responsible as practical. Our rental instruments are from VIR, probably the most ‘green’ provider.”

Alice Alviani

Family Piano Co.

Waukegan, Ill.

“We recently partnered with PG&E and California Lighting Technology Center to upgrade our showroom lighting, and now have a state-of-the-art, computer controlled all-LED system that utilizes: Daylight Harvesting (varying showroom lighting levels based on the amount of sunlight coming in through windows); Occupancy Sensors (to lower or even turn off light levels in areas of the store when they are unoccupied); Scheduling (to turn lights on and off automatically with our business hours); and fixture-specific dimming to allow raising or lowering the light level of individual lamps as needed to illuminate dark areas of the store without over-lighting other areas. We have also switched to paper-free billing and online payments with manufacturers who offer these services, installed water-efficient components on our bathroom and shop fixtures, and encourage all of our employees to bicycle to work (We are located in downtown Davis, The Bicycle Capital of America). Our main signage is backlit, but only turns on once available daylight drops below a certain level.”

Jeff Simons

Watermelon Music

Davis, Calif.

“We recycle and reuse everything we possibly can. We can’t compost, because it’s not readily available, but are working on it. Otherwise, we recycle all plastic, cardboard, glass, and metals. We even try really hard to not send things back to manufacturers (RMAs) because it burns twice the fuel, then they’re stuck with the problem gizmo. We have installed an Energy Star compliant ‘green’ spray foam roof that delivers R12 to our exterior envelope. We installed 30kW of TenK Photovoltaic Solar Panels on our roof to generate our electricity. We retrofit a new storefront on the front of the shop two years ago, employing Low-E glass that has cut our heating and cooling by almost a third! We replaced all lighting in the building with compact LED – going from 80 watts halogen to 13 watts compact florescent to 10 watts compact LED. We even retrofit our T8s and are working on the very last T12s (6). We turn things off, close doors, and count on our NEST to control our HVAC to the best of its ability. We change out furnace/AC filters monthly, too. It’s not just green; it’s fiscally responsible.”

Andrew Bell

Twin Town Guitars

Minneapolis, Minn.

When dealing with MI suppliers and other service providers, how important do you consider it to be that those organizations are adopting “green” practices within their own businesses and product manufacture?

Very important: 27%

Somewhat important: 54.2%

Not at all important: 18.8%

“Adopting a green approach is similar to voting in an election in that no one person will change the course of history, yet the outcome is the result of the sum total of each and every one of the individuals participating.”

Nick Rail

Nick Rail Music

Santa Barbara, Calif.

“It’s a bit ridiculous to talk about carbon footprints when China is the world’s largest, most obnoxious polluter.”

Anthony Mantova

Mantova’s Two Street Music

Eureka, Calif.

“Things to look for: green materials used to make the product; green processes in the manufacture of the product; and green packaging materials in packaging and shipping the product. I like to see the packaging for products to be minimal and what there is should be recycled/recyclable.”

Richard Frankel

Musical Offerings LLC

Derby, Kans.

If you’d like to provide any additional comments concerning the larger topic of “going green,” please do so.

“Manufacturers should try to use biodegradable and recyclable packing materials, sustainable woods, and less environmentally harmful finishes. Also, widespread use of e-mailed rather than paper invoices, et cetera.”

Claire Petsch

Maple Street Guitars

Atlanta, Ga.

“I have noticed many companies using excessive shipping and packing to send things like catalogs or a set of strings that didn’t make the initial order. This is a waste all the way around.”

Dustin Bryant

Planet Woodstock

Kingston, N.Y.

“I believe retailers and manufacturers could all benefit from sending PDFs or other electronic forms of shipment manifests, et cetera when shipping product. Nine out of ten stores do not file [those documents] and have no use for them. They tend to be immediately recycled or disposed of.”

Tyler Yager

Sounds Cheap Music

Pleasant Hill, Mo.

“As far as this topic goes, I would like to remind people that this issue should not be an issue of politics. It is about doing the right thing and creating a better world for everyone! One group of people is trying to save the Earth. The other group of people is trying to say that there is not a problem, even though you would have to be blind not to see it and it goes against the overwhelming consensus of 99 percent of the scientific community. The remaining one percent of scientists is probably paid off by companies that have a lot to lose should green initiatives actually gain momentum. Oil companies, coal companies, et cetera pay the few bad scientists without any scruples to say what they want them to say. Either that, or they lose their easy money. I have also been in debates with deniers who say that scientists do not know what they are talking about. To this pathetic argument I respond by saying that that is like a person who knows absolutely nothing about PA telling someone who has spent their entire life studying and learning about PA, running live events day in and day out for years and years, that that PA master knows nothing about PA. Would you rather get your advice about PA from a seasoned master with a lifetime of experience or from an idiot who doesn’t even know what an XLR cable is?”

Aaron Bunn

PC Sound

Greenville, N.C.

“Environmentalists have cost the consumer billions of dollars over the last 40 years via government regulations and court rulings. The latest scheme is so-called man-made global warming. We never seem to hear about the thousands of scientists with Ph.Ds that think it is a fraud via the media. How about a ‘fair and balanced debate?’”

Jim Hallwyler

J&K Keyboards

Eugene, Ore.

“I feel like as an industry we need to embrace green practices. We are launching a guitar line that is made in our hometown, and uses local materials. There is far too much coming across the pond, and the only ‘green’ that covers is some corporate guy with a tie in this industry.”

Aaron Rossmiller

Monument Music

Sheboygan, Wis.

“Good environmental business practices are not only the responsible thing to do, but with creativity manufactures can cut costs through more efficient packaging, and create amazing instruments. Just look at Taylor (using all ebony, not just ‘black’ ebony), and DW Drums who uses reclaimed logs and stumps to make beautiful instruments! On a smaller scale it can be a simple as just investing in more power efficient machinery or recycling packaging materials.”

Matt Duncan

Sweetwater Sound, Inc.

Fort Wayne, Ind.