GULF SHORES, Ala. — Learn how to "go green" and how it can be good for your business, as the leading expert on corporate environmental practices and green technology, Joel Makower, speaks during the 2007 Sustainable Tourism Summit: Business, The Environment, The Bottom Line.

The summit will be held tomorrow (Nov. 1) at the Erie H. Meyer Civic Center in Gulf Shores from 8 a.m-1:30p.m., and is co-sponsored by the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce.

Makower, the so-called “guru of green business practice,” will present “How Companies Can Harness Environmental Thinking to Create Value and Competitive Edge.”

He has almost 20 years of relevant experience, and is the founder of Greenbiz.com. He’s currently a Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. In addition, he’s the co-founder of Clean Edge Inc., an environmentally aware research firm and is a senior consultant to GreenOrder, a sustainability strategy firm.

In addition to the keynote speaker, summit attendees can take in additional sessions: “Up and Coming” (a local update), “Talking Trash” (a panel discussion about recycling and other green practices), and “Turning Green” (a discussion of the best practices for existing facilities).

Contributing to the program’s funding are the Alabama Department of Conservation, State Lands Division, Coastal Section, from a grant from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Office of Ocean & Coastal Resource Management; Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. Reservations are required; contact Susan Brush at the CVB, 251-974-1510, or e-mail sbrush@gulfshores.com) to reserve your space.