EDITORIAL_Greer Tidwell, director of environmental management for Bridgestone Americas’ Wilson, N.C. plant, is not the first in his family to have an environmental career, and he won’t be the last.

“My father, the first-generation environmental engineer, got started in this stuff when they were just trying to stop raw sewage from going in the rivers. And I started my career when we were just trying to clean up Superfund sites. My daughter, who graduated as a mechanical engineer, is going to be helping us make and use things without waste. That sweep of progress …” he trailed off.

It may be difficult to remain positive and not get discouraged by apparent regression. Some states that once stepped forward with renewable energy portfolios and energy efficiency plans are rescinding them. Every other day, it seems, there are oil and toxic chemical spills from rigs, rail, trucks, and pipelines. Extremist organizations threaten to dismantle and defund the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Battles are being waged in the halls of Congress, courts, and political rallies over the Clean Power Plan and climate change. A few powerful billionaires and well-funded lobbies with self-serving agendas have far too much influence over outcomes affecting the health and lives of millions of people.

Yet, in Tidwell’s three-generational family, there is tangible evidence that environmental progress is being made. Each generation has fought and put behind him (and soon, her) a battle for a better environment. Subsequent generations have witnessed the accomplishments made before them.

Engineering Environmentalism

The next stage of manufacturing sustainability shifts eco-stewardship from the end of product processes to front-end engineering. Instead of taking retroactive steps to correct or undo what has been done, today’s environmental engineers and manufacturers are focusing on eliminating and minimizing environmental transgressions upfront. That is monumental progress.

Imagine a time when industry thinks about environmental ramifications of what they do at every turn. Imagine how that will change society’s view of manufacturing as a whole.

Industry-wide Leadership

What impresses me even beyond the Wow!! aspect of a plant that obsoletes its trash compactors because they send nothing to a landfill is the actions of a company like Bridgestone that takes steps to lead its entire industry to sustainability, such as its Tires4ward program for a waste-free culture. The program’s objective is to repurpose all tires and leave no waste behind in landfills and waterways.

“It’s an epic profession that we are engaged in; truly epic,” Tidwell said. Indeed. The movement to protect the environment that sustains human life truly is an exciting, epic story—and one which holds promise for a happy ending.

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Take on the Zero-waste-to-landfill Challenge!
Bridgestone Americas . Wilson, N.C. Sept. 22

Don’t miss Tidwell’s presentation at our Sept. 22 Take on the Zero-waste-to-landfill Challenge, hosted by Bridgestone at its Wilson, N.C. plant, which includes a tour. It, too, holds potential to be epic.

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