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Green Project Terminology: The Language of the Green Wave • 37

causing untold damage to the physical environment and thus to the local
population. From the method of burning electronic components, there is
toxic air, and from the acid baths to remove precious metals, there is water
pollution. According to the EPA, more than 2 million tons of electronics
are discarded in the United States annually. All of that has to go some-
where. Even when companies like Sony, Dell, Apple, and others have the
best intentions by offering recycling programs for their products, the best
recycling effort is no recycling. But as we know, that solution is impossible,
so utilizing recycling as the least preferred method is the right choice.
We’d like to close this chapter with an inspirational word from Storm
Cunningham. Storm is an always-in-demand keynote speaker and author
of the recent books The Restoration Economy (2002) and reWealth (2008).
Storm is founder of the Revitalization Institute, whose mission is “to
advance integrated renewal of communities and natural resources world-
wide,” and the CEO of the Resolution Fund, which is focused primarily
on training the public and private sectors to be better partners in revi-
talization, and connecting the right private resources to the right public
projects at the right time. He’s also apparently quite a fan of our profes-
sion. In his chapter “Global Trends in Project Management” in Project
Management Circa 2025, Storm says: “Turning our damaged natural,
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built, and socioeconomic assets into revitalization is now the world’s
most complex and urgent challenge. The case can be made … that proj-
ect and program managers can and should be the lead profession for
the revitalization of our communities and the restoration of our natural
resources.” Storm actually closes the chapter with a direct invitation to
PMI members, encouraging project managers by saying that they are best
positioned to facilitate the renewal of the planet. “Grand words,” he says,
“but true nonetheless.”

endnotes

1. Joel Makower, Energy’s ‘Three Rs’: A Primer, June 2006, http://www.worldchanging.com/
archives/004522.html, pg. 1.
2. Project Management Institute, Combined Standards Glossary (Newtown Square, PA:
Project Management Institute, 2009).
3. EarthPM, EarthPM’s Five Assertions of Green Project Management, part of mission
statement, 2007 © http://www.earthpm.com.
4. William McDonough and Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way
We Make Things (San Francisco: North Point Press, 2002).