From the Editor: Green dream teams

First, to dispel the rumors: Oregon Business’s glamorous editor Robin Doussard has NOT entered rehab. Nor is she planning a return to the Broadway stage — at least not as far as I know.

First, to dispel the rumors: Oregon Business’s glamorous editor Robin Doussard has NOT entered rehab. Nor is she planning a return to the Broadway stage — at least not as far as I know. She’s been busy working on a cover story for our July issue, which means I’ve been busy editing the green issue. Part of the job involves continuing Doussard’s proud tradition of waiting until the last minute to write the editor’s column.

We decided to pull the old editorial switcheroo a month and a half ago just to shake things up. Little did we know that our experiment would coincide with a major reshuffling that’s got us changing four key names on the masthead to your right. First, the Boston Globe woke from slumber and ruthlessly snagged our art director, Martin Gee. Then we lost writer Adrianne Jeffries to the Bend Bulletin, online editor Kevin Manahan to digital advertising and web video editor Cameron Asmussen to who knows what. (Cam? Are you out there? Hello?)

That’s a lot of talent to lose in a month. Fortunately (and unfortunately) the pool of talented applicants in this economy is large. On that note, allow me to introduce our new art director, Jon Taylor Carter. Not only does J.T. bring years of magazine experience from Bend Living and Performance Racing Industry, he actually has acted on Broadway. He’s been in a reality show, too. You’ll have to get the details from him yourself.

Thanks to J.T., our second annual green issue looks great. It is also packed with good reads. Jeffries investigates the hidden environmental costs of the digital revolution and what brainiac powerhouses such as Google and Facebook are doing to tread more lightly on the planet. At the other end of the word count spectrum, there’s Amanda Waldroupe’s sharp piece of a PSU professor’s ideas to bring down heating and cooling costs by incorporating wax into walls. That’s right, wax.

Sandwiched in between the deep and the quirky are the second annual 100 Best Green Companies to Work For in Oregon. This year’s list ranges from perennial standouts Gerding Edlen and Sokol Blosser Winery to lesser known but equally innovative newcomers such as Portland YouthBuilders and Research into Action. What are these organizations doing to achieve better workplace sustainability? Read the article to find out.

Whether we’re talking about Intel’s breakthrough research on data farms or Sanding Stone Brewery’s plan to heat a restaurant with waste vegetable oil, the name of the game is steady improvement. Oregon has high standards when it comes to green innovation, but this year’s winners show you can always get better.