09 Tuesday Sep 2014
Posted in best practices, communication, environment, sustainability, Thought Leadership
≈ Comments Off on SBC—People Planet, Profit
Last spring, when snow was still on the ground in sad little clumps, I began some conversations with Lucy Blake and Steve Frisch about Sierra Business Council’s beginnings, goals and the perspective they will bring to their 20th Anniversary Conference, Peak Innovation at Lake Tahoe’s Granlibakken October 8-10, 2014.
11 Tuesday Oct 2011
Posted in Book Reviews, environment, sustainability
≈ Comments Off on Searching for Radical Pragmatism
Bill McKibben describes Tzeporah Berman as ‘a modern environmental hero.’ I like to think of her as a radical pragmatist. “This Crazy Time” is an autobiographical memoir of an effective eco-campaigner who has spent the past 18 years evolving from a student practicing civil disobedience to a key negotiator, leveraging vital policies and agreements with global corporations, government and environmental allies. Berman has been recognized by Utne Reader as one of 50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World. This spring she assumed Greenpeace International’s co-head of the climate and energy campaign.
13 Monday Jun 2011
Posted in environment, Social Change, sustainability
≈ Comments Off on Green Teams and New Dreams
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqu1uG7e7gI]
I was invited by EcoMaven Alex Steele to participate in U2’s Green Team–Seattle was the 5th city on the concert tour to implement an on ground crew to encourage recycling and educate on green initiatives designed to reduce the U2 tour carbon footprint. Effect Partners, a Minneapolis, Minnesota company that is occupying the unique space of turning intentions into actions, orchestrated the U2 Green Team effort. Other Effect Partners projects include making recycled plastic shirts for the Black-Eyed Peas, “So Much to Save” initiative for the Dave Matthews Band and Jack Johnson’s “All at Once” encouraging individual action. Bono and U2 were even better than the real thing.
02 Monday May 2011
Posted in digital media, Social Change, sustainability, technology
≈ Comments Off on Loop this way, please
Net Impact and Colorado University Leeds School of Business with sponsor Ball Corporation created a sustainability competition this spring, awarding $12k in prizes.
Over 60 teams from prominent US colleges and universities tried to solve this problem: how can municipal recycling collection be increased? University of Washington Foster School of Business students answered this challenge by designing a mobile application which maps recycling locations and motivates users by showing where nearby recycling bins are located, adding facebook and geocaching quests and then completing the Loop with partnerships and mobile advertising. Their Loop mobile phone application took first prize, $7,200 and the bragging rights over the likes of University of Southern California’s Mendoza School of Business (2nd Place), DePaul University (3rd place) and other competitors including, USC, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Kansas, University of Virginia.
22 Friday Apr 2011
Posted in environment, sustainability, writers and writing
≈ Comments Off on Touching Ground
In January 2006 I interviewed Julia Butterfly at the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival in Nevada City, California. I walked away from this interview with hope and commitment to change that I still carry today, so this Earth Day, I’d like to revisit Julia Butterfly and her inspiring words.
21 Friday Jan 2011
Posted in Co-working, environment, sustainability, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on Learning to work where we live
For many, working near where they live is a long standing dream. Waving goodbye to commutes and starting one’s own enterprise is not something to be taken on by the faint of heart.
Bridging the gap between desires and knowledge, Sierra Commons is offering a six-week business course to help aspiring entrepreneurs launch new businesses in Nevada County, a scenic Sierra Nevada Gold Rush town. This course could become a model, contributing to developing, walkable, sustainable communities with local support services in many regions. Learn more about building local, living economies here
15 Saturday Jan 2011
Posted in environment, sustainability, technology
≈ Comments Off on Deeper Green
Spent some time yesterday learning about a new directory designed to bring the Pacific Northwest’s green education programs into a single, comprehensive online directory. Designed to let students interested in green careers learn about both careers and program options, EcoWiz.net is the brainchild of a team of professionals, all working in the sustainability space (more on this later).