Not So Easy to Green a Dem Convention

Organizer can't find hats that are organic and union
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:47 AM CDT
Not So Easy to Green a Dem Convention
In this Nov. 2, 2004, file photo U.S. Senator-elect Barack Obama and family are covered in confetti after Obama delivered his acceptance speech in Chicago   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

You can pledge to make your Dem convention “the greenest…in the history of the planet” (as Denver’s mayor recently did), you can hire a Director of Greening—but it’s still no small task to throw a sustainable presidential nominating conference. That's what the Journal discovered in a look at party preparations, which include a stymied search for organic, union-made baseball caps and participation by Coors—which has long been charged with discriminatory practices.

The convention will include biodegradable balloons, a trash brigade to enforce proper sorting , off-setting of meticulously tabulated greenhouse-gas emissions and no fried food; 85% of waste will be reused, recycled or composted. But it’s been no easy green road, as the Director has had to test each product herself (including composting)—all the while putting up with sniping from her less-eco GOP opposite. (More Democratic National Convention stories.)

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