We Have Met the Enemy and He is…a plastic bag?!

Okay, plastic bags are not the enemy. They are containers. Things into which we put things. They are legion and almost completely unnecessary.

Edward Norton has this to say:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/going-green-environment/conservation-in-action/norton-bag-env.html

One of many YouTube videos on the subject:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Nn-mUfSBU

It’s like this: use cloth bags, backpacks, nylon bags…whatever. Don’t accept plastic bags, don’t put yourself in the position where you need them. Help others do the same. 

Plastic bag makers: your business is in creating things that carry things. Find a more sustainable model or get left behind. 

What could possibly be easier? 

Rant over.

 

Tags: green consumerism, plastic bags, sustainability

Social Networking Synergy

Two very useful sites for connecting to people doing the groundwork in sustainability as NGO’s and NPO’s:

WiserEarth: http://www.wiserearth.org/

Currently they list the following:

• 109,119 Organizations
• 15,972 People
• 751 Groups
• 4,063 Resources
• 275 Events
• 457 Jobs

 

Idealist: http://www.idealist.org/

Among much more they have on offer:

Tags: NGO's, NPO's, social responsibility, sustainability

Update on Things that Matter

As I was doing some research on Natural Capitalism I was drawn in multiple directions by what I discovered. For those of you who don’t know of Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute you would be wise to check them out. They are leading practical thinkers and do-ers in energy efficiency, renewable and clean energy and eco-systemic design.

Paul Hawken is another name and constellation of activity and effect. The founder of Smith & Hawken, a catalog retail company specializing in garden and horticultural products, he has, since then, become the executive director of the Natural Capital Institute and WISER (World Index for Social and Environmental Responsibility). WISER is of  particular interest in it’s leveraging of Web 2.0 technologies to connect NGO’s, businesses and government.

There’s a lot to be done, people. There’s a lot of people doing stuff. The BIG QUESTION is: How can we intensify, magnify and speed up the effect of our actions?

 

 

Tags: amory lovins, hunter lovins, natural capitalism, paul hawken, sustainability, WISER

Evolving Sustainable Leadership

In my previous post on the evolution of sustainable leadership I wrote:

The evolution of sustainable leadership is commitment to a process of self development that begins with “me” but necessarily expands to include and transcend “me.” The deeper we dive, the broader we roam, the richer our understanding of our place and purpose.

So how does this process work? The short answer is it must necessarily work in different ways for different people. Though the aim may be the same, we start from different places, different life spaces and conditions. Yet there some constants. One of those is capacity.

To deepen our capacity means to target our capability to perceive and act from what we are learning. At Interkannections we view this as the journey of capacity evolution where G, I and T-shaped leaders become H, A and U-shaped leaders. Here, again, there are many paths up the mountain. However, it would be foolish to ignore some well-worn trails:

In “integral” speak this means being able to leverage what is called a 4Q perspective: deepening and balancing insight gained from perspectives on the self, the self and others, the world and our actions in it, and the systems and processes we create and in which we are embedded. 

Peter Senge has popularized systems thinking as a way to access the meaning to be made from inter-relationship. 

Otto Scharmer uses “Theory U” and presencing to take individuals and groups on learning journeys that allow them to access and leverage intuitive inter-connection and insight.

At Interkannections we employ all of the above-when necessary-to help our clients make the shift from their current patterns of thinking and behavior to a more sustainable, life giving, value generating way of living and engaging with the world. 

The key in evolving your approach to leadership and your life, in general, to a more sustainable one, in the end, is, of course: YOU. You have to want to take on the challenge, have the will, discipline and commitment to evolve. You must have the courage, wisdom and humility to learn and seek out experiences and teachers to help you evolve.

And, most importantly, YOU can start, NOW.

 

Tags: capacity evolution, Otto Scharmer, Peter Senge, presencing, sustainability, sustainable leadership, systems thinking, Theory U

Extrinsic Tides

For now the price of oil is falling. The air seems clear (except in Beijing). Here in Japan, food is plentiful (we even got our butter back!) and, from my understanding the developed nations are flush with commodities, foodstuffs and the spoils of wealth as well. 

The world economy seems to be slowing, yet, again, this doesn’t touch us too directly. Those of us who have gone green or are thinking about going green out of fear, conformity or a sense of duty/obligation may begin to waver. I mean, hey, life’s still good if you’re on the developed side of things, right?

What motivates? What sustains? 

Spend some time with these big, broad, open questions. Meditate. Observe what emerges. 

At some point, the price of oil will rise again. The air, though clear, already holds too much of us. Food is only plentiful now because our oil-based food production system is still chug chug chugging along. Wealth continues to accumulate in the same places it has been for quite a long time. As gaps grow so does the resolve to close them. 

So, as you ponder green, as you wonder green, ask yourself:

What motivates? What sustains?

Observe what emerges. And,

do what needs to be done.

Tags: food production, peak oil, sustainability

Green Mondays 2

Attended the second Green Mondays event on, well, Monday. Thanks go to Laurence again for putting together a great event. We had two speakers: Paul Sands from Virgin Atlantic and Darrell Nelson from the Kisho Kurokawa Green Institute.

Paul described Virgin’s diverse approach to greening their business including updating their fleet to more fuel efficient planes, offices powered by renewable energy resources, leveraging the presence and power of their visionary founder, Richard Branson and, a crowd favorite, off-loading all of the empty champagne bottles consumed by passengers before take off!

The highlight of his presentation, though, was his report on the successful test flight of a biofueled airplane. Virgin Atlantic Airlines, in the face of considerable skepticism, demonstrated jets can fly using a jet fuel/biofuel mix. Virgin is now sharing their findings with other airlines who will also run such tests. Look out for more news on biofueled flights in the upcoming months as New Zealand Airways, Japan Airlines, Continental and others step up and tackle airline CO2 emissions issues.

Darrell’s talk focused on the need to raise managers capable of handling sustainability related issues in business. Although short on details, he outlined the Kisho Kurokawa Green Institute/Anaheim University online MBA program which is designed to give future managers a much needed foundation in sustainable approaches to doing business. He emphasized that “green business” is a fast growing field and opportunities are plentiful. It’s a good start and kudos to Anaheim University for putting together this program.

Tags: biofuel, corporate, csr, green MBA, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable management

The Evolution of Sustainable Leadership

Sustainable leadership arises from being able to see the world as it is: in its infinite complexity and subtle simplicity. It requires deep capacity to know and reflect on yourself and the multiple implications of your actions. It also requires that you extend your concept of “self” to include much more than “me” and home to be much more than “my house.” As the poet Gary Snyder has written “home is as big as you make it.”

Leadership is a practice. One CEO I recently spoke with said that leadership is a performance. Indeed it is both. Leadership is the enactment and realization of our capacity as humans to engage others and the world around us and inspire thinking, reflection and action. At its best, leadership is transformative. Great leaders transform themselves and with the depth of their perception, the strength of their conviction and the beauty of their vision they help others transform as well. Often these transformations can be “spiritual” in their quality. Spirit being that which connects you to your self, your self to others, that self to the world, the divine and those mysterious, powerful insights that arise from these relationships.

Sustainable leadership is the practice, performance and enactment of a perception, conviction and vision that respects, nurtures and supports that which sustains us and, importantly, that which sustains that which sustains us.

The evolution of sustainable leadership is commitment to a process of self development that begins with “me” but necessarily expands to include and transcend “me.” The deeper we dive, the broader we roam, the richer our understanding of our place and purpose. From this process our practice: our words and actions arise. The greater the depth of our perception, the greater potential we bring for transformation, the greater our capacity to create sustainable approaches to living, community, innovation and business.

Sustainable leadership may, sometimes, be in response to something, however, at its best it is an inspiration and invitation for something. It comes from the inside. It is radiant and compellingly transparent. It is not easy and it is not what you think it is, right now.

This is just the beginning. More to follow soon…

Tags: leadership, sustainability, sustainable leadership

Our World 2.0

Brendan Barrett, Head of the UNU Media Studio is web publishing a nice looking, thoughtful and thought provoking magazine called Our World 2.0. Here’s a recent article I recommend checking out:

Peak Oil What does it mean to you? Excerpt:

Does oil priced at over $140 per barrel signal the arrival of Peak Oil? The experts disagree on the cause of the price jump but agree on one message: The era of easy oil is over.

How this affects you: Health: 

The rising fuel prices cause a lot of stress and worry for everyone. We all know that stress is not good for your health. One important point is to make sure to stay informed about why this is happening and then consider how you can put a positive spin on the situation, one that can actually bring about improvements in your health. For instance, by cycling rather than driving, which is good for you and good for reducing your costs associated with fuel consumption.

Brendan does a good job of making the current rise in fuel costs understandable. He does a particularly good job of connecting the systemic dynamics to everyday living. 

Good work Brendan. 

Tags: peak oil, sustainability, United Nations University

Vertical Farming…?

Just got a shout out from my friend Lance. There’s a captivating article in the NY times called “Country, the City Version: Farms in the Sky Gain New Interest”. It details the work of Dickson Despommier around creating vertical farms in the city-basically applying the skyscraper model to agriculture:

Dr. Despommier estimates that it would cost $20 million to $30 million to make a prototype of a vertical farm, but hundreds of millions to build one of the 30-story towers that he suggests could feed 50,000 people. “I’m viewed as kind of an outlier because it’s kind of a crazy idea,” Dr. Despommier, 68, said with a chuckle. “You’d think these are mythological creatures.”

Photo courtesy of www.verticalfarm.com

See his website http://www.verticalfarm.com/ for more info: 

The cons to his proposal:

“Why does it have to be 30 stories?” said Jerry Kaufman, professor emeritus of urban and regional planning at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “Why can’t it be six stories? There’s some exciting potential in the concept, but I think he overstates what can be done.”

and

Armando Carbonell, chairman of the department of planning and urban form at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Mass., called the idea “very provocative.” But it requires a rigorous economic analysis, he added. “Would a tomato in lower Manhattan be able to outbid an investment banker for space in a high-rise? My bet is that the investment banker will pay more.”

Mr. Carbonell questions if a vertical farm could deliver the energy savings its supporters promise. “There’s embodied energy in the concrete and steel and in construction,” he said, adding that the price of land in the city would still outweigh any savings from not having to transport food from afar. “I believe that this general relationship is going to hold, even as transportation costs go up and carbon costs get incorporated into the economic system.”

As we move into a post-oil economy and transporting food over long distances, potentially, becomes non-viable thinking and discussions like this are exactly what we need. There are empty buildings all over the place. Why not turn them into farms? If a community were to invest in a building it would be a tremendous source of community generating energy as well as a way for people to integrate waste and water management into the creation of neighborhood food security. Think about it: waste to compost to food. It works for me in my small garden and vermiculture compost system in Tokyo. Closed loop local solution to waste generation and food production. Think about it, now,

Do something about it.

 

Tags: agriculture, green buildings, sustainability, urban farming

Innovation & Climate Change Pt. 4: Alex Evans

As noted in previous posts, Alex Evans and others spoke on inter-related elements of the implications and science surrounding global warming and climate change. Present only for the first half, my impressions are recorded below:

Alex Evans ended his presentation with the pronouncement that he doesn’t believe that the G8 leaders can fully grasp, develop and relate the climate change story in a meaningful way. This begs the question, “OK, well then, who does get it?

Actually, it’s not so much “getting it” as it is the storytelling aspect that is eluding our leaders. Al Gore, certainly has no trouble getting his point across in An Inconvenient Truth. Yet his story is one that falls well short of relating the inter-related complexities of food production & distribution, food availability, energy availability, climate change. 

I think the problem is choosing what story to tell. Where do you begin? Where do you end? What do you leave out? What do you include? Evans pointed out that without shared awareness acting as an attractor for attention it’s very difficult to craft a moving national or global narrative. Also, with little causal fuel for creating a sense of urgency, getting the public or a leader’s constituency to support sustained action (and sacrifice) regarding climate change is also quite a challenge.

What Evans said we needed was a “shared OS” and “shared platforms” that would allow multilateral functionalism and cooperation on climate change issues. I would add that the OS and platforms should be “open source” to allow development of shared applications that can be localized and run “glocally.”

With the above architecture in place Evans implied that it then becomes more plausible to

• create systems level measurement and detection tools
• implement strategically targeted and transparent financial interventions
• refocus trade policy along systemically apparent needs and dynamics
• develop useful risk management and assistance programs

Tags: climate change, innovation, sustainability, United Nations University