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Sustainability Superheroes blog

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​Using Entrepreneurial Thinking and Decision-making
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​Created by:
University of South Florida Stavros Center
With generous funding from:
​The Coca Cola Foundation and Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC
USF Stavros Center

Florida Manufacturers Still Struggle to Comply with Environmental Responsibility. Featuring Patti Gander of Florida Makes

6/15/2020

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Sustainability Superheroes is giving you another special look into the world of sustainable manufacturing! This is part 2 of our sustainable manufacturing series. View part 1 here.

​Today, we’re featuring Patti Gander, Business Advisor with
FloridaMakes. Located in Orlando, Florida, this manufacturing, industry-led partnership center works with small to mid-size manufacturing companies and helps them advance to their greatest potential. Their mission is to “improve the productivity and technological performance of Florida’s manufacturing sector” (FloridaMakes).

​As they are constantly strengthening and growing these companies, they consider several different factors, with one of them being sustainability. Find out how Patti Gander tackles the controversial situations that many manufacturers continue to struggle with!

What sustainability issues or concerns does Florida Makes have?

Left: Deborah Kozdras (USF Stavros Center) Middle: Patti Gander (FloridaMakes) Right: Marilyn Barger (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence)

​Patti has worked with many different manufacturing companies and has even been a leader in a manufacturing organization for most of her career. She has noticed some continuous sustainability issues in this industry. The predominant manufacturers in Florida are rather small with 50 employees or less, and these organizations tend to lack compliance and understanding for sustainable responsibility. Patti says, “It’s not that they don’t want to comply. It’s that they lack knowledge in what compliance is. They believe that environmental policy and recycling are a cost to the organization and don’t understand that there are things they can do that satisfy both sides of the balance sheet.” This is why proper sustainable education and awareness is so important.
​

Although social responsibility cannot be legislated, it’s essential to help recognize global issues. Awareness and improved social consciousness can help the whole world think greener!

Could you give us an example of a company that you worked with in Florida?


​Patti was once the plant manager in an organization, and they were planning on switching from a five-day work week to a four-day work week in an attempt to save money and energy. She says, “The overall cost savings in utility went significantly down. From an environmental perspective, you’re also using less energy.”

​In addition, the company even added timers to the air conditioning units, so the temperature would increase after a work shift, then gradually decrease before the start of a work shift. This strategy was beneficial to the company, the environment, and even the workers because they wouldn’t have to drive to work one day. Taking a day-off, saving money, and helping the environment? It’s a win, win, win!
Patti also shared with us about her visit to a company in the Everglades that uses waste from the sugar cane industry to create biodegradable products. Entrepreneurial and design thinking truly are strategies to improve the future of our planet!
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What are some sustainable problems you want to solve in the future?


​Some industries still need to catch up on being more sustainable. For example, the electronics industry continues to generate hazardous waste with the use of toxic chemicals. Patti believes that we still need more research in the inputs and the fabrication of products to be more environmentally friendly. She hopes to discover more ways to recycle materials and eliminate toxins. Substituting damaging operations into more sustainable methods can avoid a depletion in the limited resources that we have.

Test Your Knowledge!

After reading about Patti Gander's work or watching the videos, take this quiz and find out if you've got what it takes to be a sustainability superhero! If the quiz does work on this page, you can also take it here.

#SSRethinkTank

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Rethink the traditional circular flow economics model by bringing in entrepreneurial thinking to create solutions to externalities that cause harm to people and the planet. Check out some of our resources on the new ideas of a Circular Economy. Global business leaders are trying to find ways to replace the Take-Make-Dispose resource model with creative entrepreneurial solutions for the future. Conduct some research on the Circular Economy and find ways to rethink the way we currently make things so we can have a sustainable future!
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    Created by Deborah Kozdras, USF Stavros Center

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  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Resources from Workshops >
      • Sustainable Cities and Communities SDG11
      • GLOBAL LITERACY: INDUSTRIES, INNOVATION, AND INFRASTRUCTURE
      • Buy The Change You Want to See
      • Save the Ocean
      • America Recycles Day
      • Ask the Right Questions
      • Birds, Bees, Flowers, Trees
      • Circular Economy
      • SDG 101
      • Earth Day Every Day >
        • Text Sets K-2
        • Text Sets 3-5
      • Energy
      • Frozen
      • Garbage Solutions
      • Gardening
      • In Kindergarten >
        • In Kindergarten Bees
        • In Kindergarten with Peter Rabbit
        • In Kindergarten with the Lorax
      • Rethink Tank
      • In the Shark Tank >
        • Business Model Canvas >
          • Ideation
          • Value Proposition >
            • Customer Segments
            • Value + Customer Testing
            • Channels
            • Customer Relationships
          • Revenue
          • Costs >
            • Key Resources
            • Key Activities
            • Key Partners
      • Industrial Revolutions
      • Meet the Lorax
      • Practice Sustainable Manufacturing
      • Secondary Science
      • Solve Problems and Make Decisions
      • Use Design Thinking
      • Use Text Sets >
        • Text Sets At-risk Turtles
        • Text Sets Adopt a Road
        • Text Sets Recycle
      • Sustainable Development Goals >
        • SDG Ask the Right Questions
        • Good Life Goals
      • Toy Story: Trash to Treasure
      • Use the Arts to Inspire Change
      • Waste Not Want Not >
        • Waste Not Food Waste Lessons and Websites
        • Waste Not Composting Resources
      • Water
    • Decision Making >
      • Nearpod Lessons Part 1
      • DecisionMaking2
      • DecisionMaking3
      • DecisionMaking4
      • DecisionMaking5
      • DecisionMaking6
      • Peter Rabbit Decisionomics
  • register