Deloitte has just released a whitepaper on developing corporate responsibility and sustainability strategies. The paper offers information on the risks and rewards of such strategies.

As a consulting firm, Deloitte offers a variety of services. It has relatively recently began advising clients on the benefits of sustainability.

With business practices under increasing scrutiny by regulators, analysts, media and stakeholders, corporate responsibility and sustainability (CR&S) is fast becoming a critical issue for companies. Yet confusion exists over CR&S and the best approaches to it. Is CR&S mainly about charity? ‘Green’ business? Human rights? Pro bono work? All of the above?

This paper offers insight into why a strategically driven CR&S program is critical to a company’s survival — beyond the ‘feel good’ factor of charity — and outlines a suggested CR&S approach.

Among the questions addressed in the paper:

• Where should companies focus their CR&S initiative?
• What activities should they be reporting on?
• What impact will CR&S have on their bottom line?
• What are the major risks?

The whitepaper is available for free as a PDF you can download from Deloitte’s website.

Last night, Corey and I took my little sister to see WALL-E. We had agreed that Batman looked too violent for her, and Space Chimps wasn’t going to cut it. The WALL-E trailer looked entertaining, and the animation looked pretty cool. Who would have known that we were going to be treated to a dystopian masterpiece.

In the film’s first half, a lifeless post-eco-apocalyptic Earth is overrun by toxic garbage. The film’s robotic hero, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth-Class), scurries to endlessly collect, compact, and stack the garbage.

In the second half, WALL-E travels through space to an ‘Executive Starliner’ created by the megacorporation Buy ‘N Large as a seeming paradise for humans on board. These humans have been on the ship for hundreds of years after what was supposed to be a brief exodus while Earth was cleaned up, humans have become ‘a flabby mass of peabrained idiots who are literally too fat to walk.‘

I totally enjoyed this film. The quality was great, the humor kept me laughing, and the social message was powerful. The social commentary on our society of consumption highlighted that there is a growing awareness of the need for a cultural shift. This movie highlighted exactly how bad things can get, and precisely how fooled people can become, if society doesn’t wake up to the catastrophe that is building.

We can all learn something from this satirical gem.

Though criticized by some conservatives as anti-capitalist, WALL-E is perhaps best described as one of the most anti-consumption movies ever made. That’s why even Michael Gerson, a Former Bush speechwriter known for his evangelical moralism, loved the movie and saw it as a daring attack on ‘a culture of consumption.’

As a final note, if you see WALL-E and want more of the same. Check out the 2006 Mike Judge classic film, Idiocracy.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - With the old gas-guzzler in the garage, you’ve got your bicycle ready and your sneakers laced up. Now all you need is a map of the quickest, safest routes for riding around town. Well, not so fast.

As more commuters consider ditching their cars to save money on gas, Internet mapping services, cities and community groups are being pushed to lay out the best routes for biking and walking - just like drivers have found online for years.

Technical and practical roadblocks stand between such a network becoming ubiquitous, but there are signs of progress in this world of $4-a-gallon gas.

Google just launched a walking-directions service. MapQuest is reporting more use of its “avoid highways” function and offering a walking directions service on cell phones. And some cities have developed detailed online maps to help walkers, bikers and transit-riders find the fastest routes.

“They haven’t yet reached the Holy Grail of ‘I want to go from here to there, show me my options,’” said Bryce Nesbitt, a walking and biking advocate in the San Francisco area.

The first challenge: how to account for factors that make bicycle and walking routes different from driving paths.

Pedestrians need sidewalks, but don’t have to abide by one-way streets. Walkers and bikers can cut through paths or trails not meant for cars, but they must avoid highways. Bikers, unlike walkers, need to think about whether a road is paved, and are prohibited from sidewalks in some cities.

All these variables mean the fastest, easiest route for a driver may not be the same as for someone on foot or riding a bike. And developing a comprehensive system for non-drivers requires a tricky step: collecting huge volumes of local metadata and getting them on national databases used by mapping services.

“In the U.S. we are primarily a driving country, or have been for a very, very long time,” said Christian Dwyer, MapQuest’s senior vice president and general manager.

Advocates believe making electronic walking and biking directions available on the Internet could help change that culture, especially in urban areas.

The technical challenge involves overlaying detailed information for walkers and bikers onto existing online maps, and then applying it to algorithms used to lay out the quickest routes. If some path, walkway or shortcut is on a map but not accounted for in the algorithm, it may be useless.

“There are some horror stories of the past of people being routed onto the Appalachian Trail or a couple driving off the ferry dock,” said Jay Benson, vice president of global strategic planning for Tele Atlas, an international mapping company that supplies data to Google, MapQuest and others.

But if these tweaks are done right, the Internet mapping services could tell a biker to use, say, a riverside trail to avoid congestion, while showing a walker to dart through a parking lot to cut off a corner - or at the very least to head against car traffic on one-way streets.

Some local efforts are already having some success.

In Atlanta, a nonprofit group set up a Web site last fall that lets people punch in whether they are walking, biking or using transit - and then get specific directions. New York also has a site that helps bikers avoid roads that aren’t meant for biking and make maximum use of roads with bike lanes and greenways.

In Broward County, Fla., planners are working on a project that would let users factor in things such as speed limits, traffic volume, lane widths and shortcuts.

The project, shooting for online launch by next summer, has programmers looking at aerial maps and punching key factors into the route-setting algorithms. They also incorporate things like where people or bikers can make left turns but cars can’t.

“I get a lot of calls from people, especially now with gas prices being up, looking for routes for how to get to work,” said Mark E. Horowitz, the county’s bicycle/pedestrian coordinator.

This week, Google Maps launched a feature that offers walking directions for trips shorter than 6.2 miles. That is being added to a feature already helping visitors find the best mass transit routes.

Mapmakers and route planners say they need to capitalize on existing community knowledge. That would be a change for companies like Tele Atlas, which typically goes out and test drives road routes itself. But it is open to accepting bike and pedestrian route information from cities and community groups if it can be verified from multiple sources.

In Philadelphia, for example, regular walkers and bikers know many shortcuts that save time. A bicycle commuter traveling from the northern edge of downtown to residential and commercial areas to the south knows he doesn’t need to meander through the congestion of Center City; taking a paved trail along the Schuylkill River takes time and heartache off the trip.

Such “secrets” could be shared with newcomers or tourists if they were added to online maps.

“The easier you make it for people … the more they’re going to do it,” said Joe Minott, executive director of Philadelphia’s Clean Air Council.

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Omaha has a fantastic Commuter Map for cyclists and pedestrians that is available online, I recommend you either download it as a PDF or visit your nearest bike shop to pick up a copy. Also, there is a bicycle commuter challenge happening right now which you can sign up for at the Midwest Cycling website.

Article written by PATRICK WALTERS

Marriott hotel has just introduced a series of eco-friendly meeting products to help reduce environmental impact of the company and its guests.

According to a company press release, the average three-day meeting at a Marriott hotel attended by 1,000 people produces more than 12 tons of trash, uses 200,000 kilowatts of power and consumes 100,000 gallons of water.

Beginning this summer, Marriott will introduce a series of meeting products that are eco-friendly and will help guests and meeting planners reduce their environmental impact.  Marriott is building on an aggressive environmental strategy by adding new elements to green its meetings.

Products and Services include:

• 100% post-consumer fiber writing pads
• Bic Ecolutions pens made from recycled content and biodegradable (Marriott purchases 47 million pens per year)
• Access to recycling containers in or near meeting rooms in many of the hotels
• Meeting rooms set with water service in pitchers or coolers rather than plastic bottles
• Boxed lunch containers made of recycled content, including biodegradable cutlery kits and napkins
• Organic, sustainable and natural food and beverage options in many hotels to include Fair-Trade teas and meeting room chocolate options
• Organic flower options
• Linen-less banquet buffet tables made of 49%-recycled aluminum and are 99% recyclable at many hotels
• Safe-to-donate food given to America’s Second Harvest’s network of food banks

According to Bruno Lunghi, CMP, Marriott’s vice president for event management, “Our customers have been demanding greener meetings and we feel we can make a difference in the world by taking steps to reduce our footprint on the environment.  This is just the beginning of an evolving program that continue to add ‘green’ products and services as they become available.”

Marriott has a comprehensive environmental preservation program, which you can learn more about at the company website. If you are using a hotel convention space in the Marriott family, make sure you ask about these options. And be sure to save this page, because several of these ideas you can implement in your own meetings.

(Reprint from Alternet.org) For the first time in nearly two decades, I am no longer a driver. A few months ago, facing spiking gas prices and much-needed repairs, I donated my car to an organization that takes care of foster kids.

It’s an odd feeling to be on this side of being green. Without a car, my sense of time and space have been immediately altered. What was once a matter of expediency is now an effortful navigation.

“I’ll be there in 15 minutes!” I used to tell a good friend who once lived nearby but who now resides, without a car, at an inconvenient distance. Going to my favorite Asian food market suddenly has turned into another arduous chore: Once a 30 minute event, it has become a two-hour ordeal, with bags in hands, and bus transfers.

Owning a car has always been a luxury in the Third World, something beyond the pale of the middle class. In countries like Vietnam, Peru and Bangladesh, just to name a few, only the very rich owned cars. When I came here from Vietnam with my family at the end of the war, I remember such delight when my older brother bought his first car. We were still sharing an apartment with my aunt and her children, but as we cruised the streets at night, it felt as if we were becoming Americans.

The automobile, after all, is intrinsically American, and owning one largely determines how we Americans arrange our daily lives — it is as essential to us as the train and metro are to Japanese or Europeans. Indeed, a car is the first thing a teenager of driving age desires; to drive away from home is an established American rite of passage. Even the working poor are drivers here.

For immigrants, the car is the first thing we buy before the house. Vietnamese in Vietnam marvel at the BMWs and Mercedez Benzes that their relatives drive in America, and no doubt the sleek photos sent home cause many to dream of a life of luxury in the United States.

It seems a natural progression that the housing crisis should quickly lend itself to a car crisis. Both were readily available at one time, with easy loans and cheap gas. But now, with skyrocketing gas prices and faltering mortgages, many have had to give up one in order to keep the other.

Not surprisingly, the car is often the last thing that downtrodden Americans let go. “I can see losing my house, but I can’t imagine losing my van,” one unemployed friend told me. “I can live in my van. But not being able to get where I need to go would be worse than not having a house.”

Mobility defines us far more than sedentary life, thus the car is arguably more important than the house. Americans, despite accepting global warming as de facto, are still very much in love with the automobile. On average, we own 2.28 vehicles per household.

Our addiction to the automobile is as much a symptom of our nomadic culture as it is a matter of necessity: Urban sprawl, combined with little public transportation, makes the car essential. A job seems almost always to require it. The distance between here and there is daunting without a vehicle at one’s command.

The car, culturally speaking, is mobility and individualism combined. It is sex, freedom and danger. Thelma and Louise escaped from urban ennui by hitting the freeway with the wind in their hair, the horizon shimmering chimerically ahead. They found romance on the road. Indeed, their final moment approaches the mythic, as the blue Thunderbird Convertible flies across the Grand Canyon, taking the notion of freedom beyond any open road.

Our civilization, too, is driving toward an abyss. The covetous American way of life — in the age of climate change and dwindling energy resources — has become unsustainable.

On TV recently, former Vice President turned eco-activist Al Gore called for a radical change in our collective behavior. He wants us to completely replace fossil fuel-generated electricity with carbon-free energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal by 2018. “The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk,” he said. “The future of human civilization is at stake.” We are now being called upon, the Nobel Prize winner told us, “to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes.”

Going greenI wish he were exaggerating, but my gut tells me that the green guru is pointing us in the right direction. How and if we’ll ever get there, how we’ll find a collective will to act, I have no idea. But I do know this: Humanity has arrived at a historic juncture and it now seems that a drastic shift in the collective behavior is called for. If this means finding the will to be frugal and give up certain luxuries, then so be it.

America was built on the premise of progress and expansion. Yet our vision of a future of unimpeded opportunities and comfort is now in conflict with the health of the planet. The consumer culture requires continuous acquisition, and it is built on the concept of disposable goods. Our way of life — which is copied the world over — has created an unprecedented crisis on a planetary scale.

I can tell you from experience, however, that being on the right side of the green divide is not easy. As I trudged to work this morning, a 40-minute trek, I dearly missed my car. As I budget my time and memorize bus routes and timetables, it seems as if I am returning to my humble immigrant beginnings, repudiating some notion of being an American. But I’m not. Giving up the car is my new American responsibility.

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Reprint of article from Alternet.org written by Andrew Lam

The reign of Toronto’s legendary Igor the Bicycle Thief has ended. He seems to be personally responsible for the City’s reputation as the bike theft capital of North America. This picture shows just some of the 2,000 bicycles police have pulled out of houses, garages and warehouses.

Igor Kenk, 49, was the owner of the notorious Bicycle Clinic bike shop in Toronto. The shop had a long reputation for selling stolen bikes.

Armed with a search warrant, pry bars and rubber gloves, officers raided a tumbledown garage in a muddy back alley on Elm Grove Avenue, one of three more that police cleared of bicycles yesterday after previous raids at Mr. Kenk’s shop, home and a pair of rented garages.

Police uncovered a chaotic mess comprising not only bicycles, but an array of orphaned items including a dead Coke machine, a stack of roofing shingles and a female mannequin sporting an X, made of electrical tape, on each breast.

Katherine Vettese, who lives on Elm Grove Avenue near Igor, said he and his junk-laden pickup truck were a frequent sight in the alley behind her home. “He would always be here with a big, huge pickup truck full of odd stuff,” she said. “All the time.”

I got turned on to LinkedIn when I started Harvest. This site is an online social network for professionals in over 150 industries. I immediately connected with people that I had worked with in my previous career, especially people from the bike industry. But then, as my business started to grow, I connected with more and more local professionals.

Social networks are an important resource for any professional tasked with promoting their business in a sustainable way.

The network has helped my business grow quickly, and I recommend that you check it out to learn more. Watch this video for a quick overview. And if you are already LinkedIn, let me know if you want to connect.

Over half of Americans ages 15-34 are actively using online social networks (e.g., Facebook, MySpace), spending on average more than seven hours per week on such websites and driving the growth of overall time spent online.

For those 35 and over, the percentage of social network users drops, but is still tens of millions of people. Participation in social networks continues to grow, though more slowly than in prior years, as more people seek to connect, share and collaborate with sometimes far-flung family, friends, business colleagues and other likeminded individuals online.

Today, hundreds of millions of online users have already joined at least one social network, with an increasing number belonging to more than one. About 40% of all social networkers say they use social networking sites to learn more about brands or products they like, with 28% saying that a friend has recommended a brand or product to them.

For marketers, social networks represent a unique and potentially more personable way to communicate with customers in a environmentally responsible way. Those users can be found across a wide variety of social networks, including both general interest and vertically focused networks that connect people interested in environmental and social responsibility.

In addition to the list of over 50 notable green social networks we’ve identified, there are hundreds more that pop up with the term ‘green’ in their names that use platforms, like Ning, that allow anyone to create their own social networks. Probably hundreds more with terms like environmental, sustainable, eco, etc.

There are a number of ways marketers can integrate social networks into their marketing mix. Among them are to (1) create profiles or pages, and start groups on existing social networks; (2) integrate marketing campaigns with social profiles and tools (e.g., video, podcast, fanbase); (3) start their own social network; and (4) advertise on social networks.

With any of these tactics, some real effort and/or budget are required for success. That’s why rather than a scatter shot approach, it’s important to choose the right social networks for your organization, brand and objectives, and then commit the time to give your efforts a chance to work.

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Source: SRB Marketing

Yesterday I rode my bike over to the UNO campus and the KVNO studios to record a podcast for the Pollution Prevention Regional Information Center (P2RIC).

P2RIC is federally funded and tasked with providing information and resources to businesses, agencies, and P2 specialists in EPA Region 7 (Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri). They find ways to encourage resource and information sharing in the P2 community.

The ‘Success Stories‘ project at P2RIC aims to tell the stories of businesses who are going green in a viable manner in order to provide models and encouragement to other businesses. I met Rick Yoder, one of the key player in the program, through the Green Omaha Coalition. After sharing information about Harvest, he asked me to submit a company profile for consideration as a ‘Success Stories’ feature.

Over this last month I went through a submission process and preliminary interview. My approach to sustainable marketing was apparently interesting enough that it was worth sharing. So yesterday I met with Jennifer Korrell in the studio and recorded an interview that will be featured soon by P2RIC.

When the podcasts are online I’ll post a link.

Forbes reports, that business and government executives from across the U.S. gathered in Washington to exchange ideas on energy efficiency. The forum was a run-up event to the annual energy efficiency conference hosted by Johnson Controls, a Wisconsin-based company specializing in improving auto and building efficiency.

The focus of the gathering was to share ideas for improving energy efficiency that didn’t necessarily require a significant in technology. One of the primary focuses was on resource reduction in order to get the most out of what is available. This is also the strategy that Harvest uses in helping clients implement sustainable marketing programs.

UPS was noted as an example of using behavioral changes to reduce resource use. “Two years ago Big Brown established a policy instructing its drivers to save energy and gasoline by turning off their vehicles at even the briefest stops. Through a specialized computer system developed by UPS itself, the company discovered that by not idling their trucks, drivers ran their engines an average of 24 minutes less per day, for a savings of $188 per driver each year. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but with more than 90,000 drivers worldwide, that translates into a cost savings of close to $17 million annually.”

Forbes wrote up a list of 10 money-saving efficiencies that the group came up with:

Lighting Improvements
Compact Fluorescent lamps, which lasts up to 15,000 hours longer than the standard bulb, can save up to 75 percent in energy costs.

Reducing Vehicle Idling
By not letting vehicles idle, UPS saves about $190 per driver per year. And with more than 90,000 drivers under its wings, that about $ 17.1 million in savings.

Building Orientation
Buildings facing north-south instead of east-west can reduce energy consumption by as much as 20 percent. “E” or “H” shaped offices maximizes sunlight and window area, reducing light costs. While long, thin buildings maximize natural ventilation.

Green Roofing
Reduce cooling costs by planting green roofs to soak up sunlight during the day. Light-colored roofs can also reduce cooling expenses by about 40 percent because it reflects light.

Water Recycling
Industrial cooling to irrigation can be taken care of with reused or treated water.

Maximizing Thermal Efficiency
Save as much as 40 percent on thermal heating costs by maximizing the efficiencies of the entire production line instead of individual components. Operate furnaces and boilers at or close to design capacity. Restricting loose air used for combustion will lead to heat savings.

Bicycles
Use bikes as a form of transportation. This will reduce traffic and carbon emissions. In 2007 Paris made more than 20,000 bicycles available to subscribers, similar pilot programs are also planned in the U.S.

Energy Auditing
Have your building audited for wasteful energy to determine what efficiency improvements are needed. Reducing drafts alone can save around 30 percent in energy costs per year.

Driving the Speed Limit
Drive slow, fast driving wastes gas. Keeping tires properly inflated could also improve gas mileage by about 3 percent. Keeping the car light by emptying out unwanted items from the truck can also improve the car’s efficiency.

Lobbying
Lobby congressmen to renew policies such as the federal tax credits for residential energy efficiency improvements, which expired at the end of 2007.

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Source: Environmental Leader

Last week I was talking about fireworks in the street, this week I’m captivated by an explosion that changed the world.

I picked up the book Hiroshima at a garage sale over the weekend. It is a short book, so I cruised right through it this week. Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey traveled to Japan while the ashes of Hiroshima were still warm. He interviewed survivors of the world’s first atomic bombing.

The book is a series of personal accounts of city residents, describing their lives before, during and after the bombing. This is the most compelling piece of literature that I have read in recent years. I was driven to tears a couple of times during the book. It was just such a horrible tragedy, with so much pain, suffering and loss.

I enjoy reading about history, so I’ve got some historical perspective on what led to the development and use of the bomb. And I’m positive that my grandfather, who lived through the war, would balk at my criticism of the use of nuclear weapons to end WWII. But I know that Truman struggled with the decision, rightfully so. This was a man-made destructive force on a scale that humanity had never seen. In an instant, this weapon would kill thousands. Of course, in the immediate aftermath, roughly 100,000 people were killed by the bombing.

I’m saddened that our post-war freedom was won by the use of such violence against non-combatants.

Last night Corey and I went to Filmstreams and watched a documentary called Sputnik Mania. It was about the race to dominate space between the Soviets and the United States. In the days following its launch, Sputnik was celebrated by Americans as a groundbreaking human accomplishment. But, according to the film, politicians began to fan the flames of nationalist pride and fear in order to drive the public into a frenzy.

Americans began to worry that the Soviets could now fly satellites over American cities and drop nuclear weapons at will. There was a public demand that the US respond with satellite launches and nuclear tests. The film documents the nuclear and space saber-rattling that took place in the year after Sputnik. The film was a disturbing look at nationalism and political manipulations.

The bright spot in the film was the perspective of President Eisenhower. The former general had a proven perspective on war and violence. He advocated for prudence and peace. He made back-room and public appeals for calm and patience. I need to learn more about the man and the controversy of his beliefs.

Nuclear power is being debated as a solution to global warming, it is important to maintain perspective on the origin and capability of this technology.

Today I wrapped up my second sustainable workplace presentation. Offices across the city are starting green teams to help transform organizational practices. Because of my connection with the Green Omaha Coalition and my company’s sustainable objectives, I was invited to share information and tactics that I have learned.

On Tuesday I was at the Child Saving Institute. They have a brand new building in Midtown, which I was stoked to get a closer look at. The design is fantastic, and it is a great environment to inspire future-thinking. The group that attended was enthusiastic and well-informed. When went a full hour, and several people hung out afterwards to talk more.

Today I was joined by Dale from Firstar Fiber to present at Pioneer Investments. They have a 70 person office in Regency Court. The group was smaller, but they were thirsty for knowledge and full of energy for change.

I try to keep things fun and interesting, putting the need for change into societal context. I share techniques that utilize the 3-pronged strategy of reduce, reuse, recycle. The focus swings from paper use and energy savings, to transportation and lunch breaks. I think that there is something in there for everyone, with practical tips for any office.

I’m feeling pretty good right now, but it feels like Omaha is moving in the right direction.

If you are starting a green team in your Omaha area office, please contact me and we can see if it is feasible for me to give the presentation at your company.

Despite the best efforts of large and small companies, one of the biggest obstacles to going green remains this: significantly reducing or eliminating the huge amount of paper, toner ink, and other materials needed to produce legal documents, invoices, and other critical communications.

What is more, many companies striving for greenness rely on overnight delivery services to ship such documentation, when in fact they could dramatically reduce this expense.

So leave it to current market conditions, driven by record-high energy prices, to force company management to rethink the manner in which official documents and communications are produced and delivered. And now, a fast-growing 5 year-old green company, DocuSign, is working “to make electronic signatures as ubiquitous and simple as email.”

According to the company’s website, advantages include:

• Eliminate unnecessary costs
• No more overnight shipping, faxing delays, or signing errors
• Increase revenue
• Use the web to close deals in seconds and lock out competitors
• Competitive edge
• Grow business faster and more efficiently

By employing electronic signature technology, any company could eliminate thousands (or millions) of dollars in administrative expenses, and in the process save a forest.

At Harvest, we are currently researching electronic signatures for proposal approvals and proof sign-offs. It will help us improve the speed of our operations and improve our overall quality and service.

Once again, a simple and sustainable innovation can save waste and expense.

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Source: Sturdy Roots

It’s the Fourth of July again, and after watching our neighborhood look like a war zone I’m compelled to do the unpatriotic thing by pointing out how bad fireworks are for the environment.

As Salon’s resident eco-expert Pablo Päster points out, all the fireworks purchased in the United States in 2006, would, if detonated, emit 60,340 tons of C02, the equivalent of what is produced by 12,000 cars running for a year. He also notes that the compounds used to create fireworks’ bright colors contain heavy metals that contaminate soil and water.

What’s more, most fireworks contain potassium perchlorate, a chemical thought to pose health risks to humans and wildlife. Last year the Environmental Protection Agency discovered a definitive link between fireworks and surface water perchlorate contamination. But perchlorate levels returned to normal after a month or two.

One way to solve this problem is to invent a greener pyrotechnic. That’s what the Walt Disney Company did in 2004, replacing black powder with compressed air.

In addition to the noise pollution and copious amounts of litter strewn from one end of the block to the other, fireworks do pose another significant environmental hazard in wildfires. As MSNBC reports, a number of cities and towns in California and other states have banned fireworks displays out of fear that they may spark brush fires. Polluting the environment is one thing, burning it to the ground is another matter altogether.

I don’t mind celebrating our fabulous nations birthday, I just wonder if shooting bombs into the air and hollering drunken cheers after the explosion is the best way to do that. But I’m just sayin’.

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Much of the content contributed to Christian Science Monitor

I’m just finishing an amazing book by David Wann called Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle. Mr. Wann is an avid organic gardener, and he sings the praises of growing your own food. I was totally on the program, but then the storms hit and challenged my resolve.

It just so happened, that today I read a chapter called The Currency of Nature. In it, he has a section called Ten Rules of Thumb for Those Seduced by Gardening in which he inspired me to replant.

“If at first you don’t succeed, keep planting. Wipe the slate clean by burying the evidence or hauling it to the compost pile.”

“Gardening is best practiced without shame, doubt, regret, envy, or dread. The only good garden is a no-guilt garden.”

“Harvest the intangibles. This may be the most important rule of all. It’s not just food we’re after, but knowledge, serenity, and a sense of purpose. Remember, what gardens fdo best is help gardeners grow.”

Inspired by this selection, Corey and I set out to replant. We tore out the ruined plants and tossed them in the compost bins. Then we grab the leftover seeds from earlier in the year and started the planting cycle all over again. We even took the opportunity to make some improvements. So in a way, the loss of the garden has some advantages. We got to innovate for an extra crop this year.

This book is an amazing source of knowledge and inspiration on all aspects of a sustainable lifestyle. I recommend that everyone interested in building a better future for yourself and our world read it.