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Green 50, You Have Company

The innovative businesses, with their sustainable and environmentally responsible business practices, that Inc. featured in its Green 50 are truly inspiring ["The Eco-Advantage," November]. But I was disappointed that very few businesses in the hospitality industry made it onto your list.

Quite a few companies in the travel industry are making an impact on the environment as they teach travelers and communities that it's possible to build profitable businesses through conservation. My company, for example, has managed to conserve 1,000 acres of rain forest. I hope that Inc. will take a closer look at the companies in the travel industry that are working to protect the environment.

Millay Kogan
Sustainability Coordinator
Lapa Rios Ecolodge
Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Some of the articles about the Green 50 look at only part of the green picture. To determine if a product is ecologically sound, you must look at three factors: how it is created, how it is used, and how it is disposed of.

Consider the case of ethanol versus gasoline. Ethanol is produced from corn, which requires a lot of land and water. Petroleum products are needed to make chemical fertilizer to grow the corn. If these chemicals wash down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, they could destroy the fishing industries that bring us food. Processing and transporting the corn uses energy, too. We need to remember to look at the total picture.

Thomas B. Albright
President
The 21st Century Co.
Lewisville, Texas

The Green 50 is just too short. It should be at least 500. You could be instrumental in this green movement by recognizing all of the smaller green companies across the country, including those that have been at this a lot longer than many of those on your list. The entire community of green businesses is huge.

Colette George
Vice President
Ecowood Retail Displays
Mount Shasta, California

It was Great to read about the efforts of all the green businesses you profiled. I live in the Northwest, where these types of businesses are thriving. I was particularly excited to see that Burgerville made your Green 50 list.

I was surprised, however, that in the same issue you would include an article about the Cadillac Escalade ["The King Lives--and Even More Extravagantly," November]. Why review a vehicle that gets as little as 13 miles per gallon just six pages before your readers dive into inspiring articles about businesspeople who are injecting environmentally smart practices into their profitable ventures? As I was reading about recycled products and renewable energy, I was reminded that these efforts are continually threatened by greed. In this case, it took the form of a monster gas guzzler that represents the reckless use of energy we should be fighting to curtail.

John Calian
Founder
Movaya Wireless
Seattle

Good on Paper

What a treat to read that Inc. is now being printed on recycled paper [Editor's Letter, November]. I hope this will encourage other magazines to follow your lead.

Rebecca Ho
San Francisco

Congratulations on your switch to recycled paper. It is a very big deal. I work for a nonprofit that helps magazine publishers switch to environmentally responsible paper, and we've found that over 95 percent of all magazine paper is virgin fiber paper, often from endangered forests.

Frank Locantore
Magazine PAPER project director
Co-op America
Denver

Choosing a Partner

Though you highlighted many of the fundamental problems with partnerships, there's one that you missed ["Until Death--Or Some Other Sticky Problem--Do Us Part," November]. It often involves people who have a social relationship that predates the business relationship. As a result, the partners find it nearly impossible to be objective and give adequate weight to one another's strengths, weaknesses, and ethics. What we overlook in friends can be disastrous in a business partner.

Regarding the partners in the story, I believe that when Ariane Daguin tried to emulate her father and open a restaurant, it was an emotionally driven decision. This was exemplified by her expectation that her partner, George Faison, who was keeping their company, D'Artagnan, afloat, should also take time away from their successful supply business to help her at the restaurant.

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