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Types of Projects: A Rainbow of Green • 63

the steady-state operation of the end product. The product of the project’s
purpose is not directly related to energy saving, resource protection, and
habitat preservation among other things. The main focus of the outcome
of these projects is not sustainability or reduction in the Natural Step
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issues (i.e., biodiversity). However, built in to that operation handoff is the
process beyond the project’s end. It sounds like a contradiction to the defi-
nition of a project, a temporary endeavor with a definitive beginning and
end, but we feel that being environmentally responsible means going that
extra step to ensure that long-term impacts for the project are considered.
A great example of a project that is “green by indirect impact” is the
Beloit Casino Project. The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of
Chippewa Indians and the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin are
proposing a casino complex to be located in the city of Beloit, Wisconsin.
Proposed is a casino hotel entertainment complex. Along with the casino
itself, the proposal includes a convention center, theater, and year-round
water park. One of the more obvious indirect impacts of the project is the
fact that it would produce 1,500 jobs during the building of the casino,
and 3,000 permanent jobs when it was in operation. Additionally, it would
generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic growth for the area,
an area with a demonstrated economic need to both improve and sup-
port a better quality of life. That is an effort to improve people’s lives, or
at the least, “eliminate our contribution to conditions that undermine
people’s capacity to meet their basic human needs (for example, unsafe
working conditions and not enough pay to live on).” Additionally, the
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tribes’ application included a full environmental impact statement based
on years of public hearings and archeological surveys in an effort to pro-
tect the environment and any cultural heritage that may be disrupted.
Other green by indirect impact projects include projects like the major
expansion of a factory or building new facilities, as well as the introduc-
tion of a new disposable razor. In fact, one good example, which we’ve dis-
cussed on our EarthPM Web site, is that of the single-serve disposable-pod
coffeemakers, such as Tassimo and Keurig—the little nonrecyclable pods
or cups that go inside them and then are discarded after seconds of use.
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In an article by Scott Kirsner in the Boston Globe, the subject of the
Keurig coffeemaker and the “K-cups” is discussed. Green Mountain
Coffee owns Keurig (they bought it in 2005; to read more go to http://
boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2006/05/01/daily33.html). The
article discussed the quandary Green Mountain finds itself in as a “respon-