Sustainability is a three-legged stool

BY NADINE ARMSTRONG

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

Are Nova Scotians really contributing to a greener, more efficient world or are we all just saving face?

Ask Scott Travers, COO of Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Ltd. in Hantsport, a local leader in sustainable energy. He was at Acadia University recently to explore the topic and share his experience as part of the university’s Bank of Montreal Lecture Series.

It was established in 1989 as an endowed fund to Acadia University and the payout from this fund is used to bring distinguished business people to campus to present lectures or seminars. The President of the University in cooperation with the School of Business Administration selects the speakers. “We've all heard about building a green economy,” Travers said, “a green Nova Scotia, and all the green initiatives the province has promised to promote.”

However, Travers says sustainability amounts to living in a glass house that is constantly pelted by rocks. “We are creatures of habit and I'm worried about our habits and our resultant behavior. Regardless of how you feel about those things I think you would all agree, the direction we have been going in is an uncertain one. “

For example, Travers said, when oil prices spiked, the sales of Hummer vehicles dropped to an all-time low. However, when oil prices lowered those sales are again off the charts.

Short-lived lessons “Lessons are unbelievably short-lived. Last year you heard things like, ‘how am I going to heat my home, how will industry make energy, how will I even drive my car?’”

That aspect may have improved, but Travers still questions whether or not it's s a trend Nova Scotians can trust. “No, we are not very sustainable at all,” and Travers fears it's a message that has never really hit home.

He said he’s not an economist, banker or an academic. “I'm a papermaker,” he said, “a run-of-the-mill kind of a guy,” one whose forbearer, R.A. Jodrey, was progressive in terms of the environment long before the fashion. “Minas Basin Pulp and Power diverts thousands of tonnes of corrugated cartons from Nova Scotia landfills every year; hence we are a paper mill that actually cleans up the environment.”

He admits, however, the company is also a major energy user. “We are the 10th largest customer of Nova Scotia Power. Sustainability then comes into question for all or our companies so we are concerned about things today. “I think we re all getting a little tired of people using the sustainability word all too loosely,” he said. “All too often people think it is sustainable if it is good for the environment.”

However, Travers notes that for any province to be sustainable it must first pass the other test; it has to be good for society and it has to be financially sound. “We see this as a three-legged stool, one that will still topple if a single leg is missing.”

This wasn't a lecture from the boardroom, but one from the heart, bringing with it a spirit of true conviction. “It isn't simply about motherhood and apple pie and taking risks,” he said. “It's a story about who we really are at Minas Basin Pulp and Power, what we've done, what we are doing and what we plan to do. “It's what I have learned working for a family business that truly understands sustainability. We, too, live in glass houses and our own sustainability will always come into question.”

Travers says we all must watch our energy Ps and Qs for a long time to come, despite any good report cards in-between.