Call her a tree hugger or environmentalist, but one thing is certain: Daphne Dixon, co-founder of the nonprofit Live Green Connecticut and founder of the marketing business Conscious Decisions ”” both based in Fairfield ”” is a leader in the green business education and networking movement across the state. Rallying the support of municipal governments, community members and green business owners, she calls this trifecta the “magic mix.”
Through networking, organizing conferences, educating and now building a website to showcase local sustainability projects throughout various towns in Connecticut, Dixon is creating a virtual space for community members, local government leaders and business owners to come together and share green ideas. The website livegreenct.org will go live during a press conference Jan. 7 at the Fairfield University Accelerator and Mentoring Enterprise.
“We”™ll be showcasing multimillion-dollar projects in seven towns and cities starting in Fairfield County,” Dixon said. “Then we”™ll broaden the scope to include a Web page for every town in Connecticut. The point is to let people in the communities know about these case studies and learn from each other and start saving money and making towns greener.”
The Jan. 7 press conference at 1499 Post Road will start at 2 p.m. Several dignitaries had confirmed attendance at press time, including Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, Wilton First Selectman Bill Brennan and John Kydes, chairman of Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling”™s energy and environment task force.
At the conference, Live Green Connecticut will announce the dates and locations of three strategy meetings and workshops in 2015 that will provide opportunities for green businesses and local governments to collaborate on sustainability ideas and present their projects to the public.
“We did two workshops last year at Yale and Fairfield universities,” Dixon said. “These conferences provided case studies to municipal leaders on projects that provide economic payback and environmental protection. In 2015, we”™re inviting mayors, other municipal leaders, directors of finance, the public works department, task force leaders and community leaders to join us for three conferences. One of them will be held in Fairfield County in the spring.”
Each of the conferences brought more than 150 people. Collectively, 50 municipalities were represented at the two events in 2013.
Through Live Green Connecticut and Conscious Decisions, Dixon has developed a network of more than 10,000 people who are connected to her sustainable vision through social media and email lists. She said all of them have expressed an interest in supporting the sustainability movement in Connecticut in various ways.
One of her biggest business sponsors and clients in the sustainability movement is Xerox Corp. in Norwalk.
“They are market innovators and they help their clients achieve all types of sustainability goals,” Dixon said. “They work with universities and municipalities. Most people consider Xerox to be a mainstream business and they”™ve positioned themselves as a sustainability leader.”
She added that Westchester, N.Y.-based Frito-Lay ”” part of the Pepsi corporate family ”” is also a leader in sustainability through its use of electrical vehicles.
“Over the last eight years, I”™ve done a couple hundred events,” Dixon said. “I”™ve educated over 15,000 people. I”™ve worked with over 300 businesses and organizations and through events, hundreds of thousands of dollars of sales have been generated.”
Through events such as the Live Green Connecticut Food & Music Festival, which is held annually in September, Dixon has met green business owners, community members and families and provided opportunities for companies to share their sustainability projects and best practices with the public.
Attendance has risen year after year at the events, Dixon said. For three of the five years, the festival showcased Ford Motor Co.”™s electric vehicles for test drives. This past year a new company, Bloomfield Bikes, brought its electric bicycles. Next year”™s fair is Sept. 19-20 at Taylor Farm Park in Norwalk.
“Our strength over the years is that we”™ve just been open to all types of different partnerships and working with a lot of different organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and Sustainable America,” Dixon said. “At the end of the day what”™s important to us is that people understand we all share natural resources and we”™re all in this together. We”™re very accepting of businesses and people in all stages of their path to sustainability.”
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