Reprinted from:  Lighting and Sound America Online (20 April 2009), (6 April 2009)

Hartz Mountain Industries, owner of the building at 4 Emerson Lane, Secaucus, New Jersey, has given permission to its tenant, Rose Brand, the specialist in theatrical fabrics, fabrications and supplies for the event, entertainment, and display industries, to plant a communal garden in celebration of Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22nd.

The garden will occupy 360 sq. ft. on the west side of the building with planned crops including vegetables, perennial herbs, and some flowers. Rose Brand employee volunteers will care for the garden and ultimately benefit from the food and herbs grown. This year, over one billion people worldwide are anticipated in the 2009 Earth Day celebrations.

Rose Brand’s corporate headquarters and warehouse in Secaucus is considered state-of-the-art in terms of energy conservation, the company reports. With highly efficient lighting systems, occupancy sensors, and careful monitoring Rose Brand is actively reducing its carbon footprint. Hartz Mountain Industries has cited this building as being the paradigm of retrofit energy usage and a star in its portfolio of millions of square feet of commercial space. Rose Brand’s operations manager, Bob Bertrand, stated, “This garden is an important milestone in our continuing education of our employees about environmental issues.”

Earth Day has achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from both secular and religious leaders, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers businesses and labor leaders. The first Earth Day in 1970 lead to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the passage of The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. Earth Day is widely celebrated around the world as a collective expression of public will to create a sustainable society.

In a continuing effort to reuse, reduce, and recycle, Rose Brand will be earning money to be donated to The ESTA Foundation’s Behind the Scenes by collecting empty printer cartridges and used cell phones and recycling them for cash credit at Funding Factory, a company based in Erie, Pennsylvania offering nationwide free recycling. The fundraiser continues Rose Brand’s support of Behind the Scenes and the company’s commitment to the environment.

As Josh Jacobstein, Rose Brand’s sales director, said, “We have a long-term relationship with the entertainment industry and the hard-working people who make it all happen. With our recycling efforts we will create a benefit to Behind the Scenes and that’s a perfect way of continuing our ongoing support of the industry and people we work with.”

Rose Brand’s Deborah Sperry added, “Rose Brand is on a journey to find the types of eco-friendly behaviors and activities that are genuine and sustainable. As the coordinator for Rose Brand’s green journey I am pleased that our recycling of used toner cartridges and cell phones will result in a contribution to Behind the Scenes and our green goals.”

All laser and inkjet cartridges and cell phones collected through this effort are sent to Funding Factory. Items are inspected and the value for each collected item in Rose Brand’s account is then sent to The ESTA Foundation’s Behind the Scenes program.

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