Sustainable WNC

Good Monday morning to all here in beautiful WNC.

A soon-to-be-published special issue of Fortune magazine contains the following article about the mainstreaming of sustainability in business, with a list identifying the “Green Giants” of industry: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34754.

Like me you probably run into nay-sayers who begin anti-green arguments with, “When business adopts these practices then REAL change will happen, and not before.” Well, that day has come and that real change is here, now. Happily, such articles and ‘evidence’ are presenting themselves everywhere these days - not so long ago they were few and far between. Put them to good use as you advocate and model sustainable business practices.

Personally, I’m especially thankful for the day, today, having just received heartbreaking news of the death of the wife of a long time friend and colleague, back ‘home’ in Washington DC. She was killed crossing the street Friday evening on the way to synagogue. She leaves a wonderful husband, son and daughter - in fact their son’s bar mitzvah was scheduled for next Sat., March 31.

Thanks for letting me share this private sadness in this public place.

The ‘family’ aspects of this tragic news does have a sustainability link. In many talks with diverse groups about instilling a sustainability ethic I often use the following snippet, from an article I wrote some time ago for Warren Wilson College’s Heartstone journal, published each year by the College’s Environmental Leadership Center (http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~elc/):

“…I had occasion to meet Christopher Uhl, a professor of Biology at Pennsylvania State
University and author of the book, “Developing Ecological Consciousness”. He defines sustainability in a simple and moving way – as love. We sustain what we love; what we love we consider worth sustaining.”

More to come….Steve

Hello fellow Sustain-ers of the Southern Appalachian bioregion, and welcome to my on-line corner in the “Economy” shop of the Sustainable WNC blogosphere.

Thank you MAIN, and especially Richard Fireman for making this resource, learning place and on-line community possible. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to contribute a few thoughts on Sustainability and the Economy; I’m especially pleased to share this space with my friend and colleague Ian Booth - Mr. ‘Green Radio Bistro’ himself. We should provide an interesting ‘right brain-left brain’ perspective on things - with my contribution definitely from the left!

I’m passionate about the topic of sustainability and the economy because I have come to understand and believe that an effective sustainabiliy ethic is necessarily anchored on the firm foundation of a vibrant economy that is itself sustainable. This ‘economic prosperity’ is absolutely critical to the empowerment of people - the ’social responsibility’ leg of the stool. When people are empowered by a sustainable economy, they can make the active choice for ‘environmental stewardship’. As much as I would like it to, it doesn’t work the other way around. A friend recently described this thinking to me as “Reaganesque Trickle-Down Sustainability’. Hmmm….not quite ready to go there.

More to come - hopefully on a daily basis. For now, welcome, and especially THANK YOU for your leadership, caring, and action for a more sustainable community, region, nation and world.

All the Best - Steve