The Super Coolest Thing Ever

Remember to step back and appreciate the grandeur of what you do.

Recently attending a conference by Textile Exchange in Portland, Oregon, I listened to an amazing Nike bigwig - Adam - talk about the merits of sustainability at Nike. But Adam also brought up a point that was too good to not share.

He told a story where he was on the plane. The guy next to him was reading an article in a magazine about Nike releasing garments made from recycled water bottles. Thrusting the magazine into Adam's face, his eager neighbor exclaimed, "Have you heard about this bro? Water bottles into clothing?? That is the super coolest thing ever!"

At this point, Nike had been working on textiles from recycled water bottles for several years. Adam had been integral in this process, dealing with the growing pains of whether 50% waste or 20% waste was enough of a hurdle - or if zero waste was the only acceptable option. Hours and years of struggles with this a topic inspired less than a "just do it" feeling in the pit of Adam's stomach.

A little put off by his seat-buddy's overzealous introduction and feeling unamused with the subject, Adam leaned forward to respond when words suddenly hit him a little deeper -

That is the super coolest thing ever.

He thought: We make clothing out of water bottles. Something that didn't exist not too long ago. We found a way to recycle something hard on the environment and creating waste in our world. We are making a difference.

"You know what?" Adam conceded happily, "you're right. That is the super coolest thing ever."

This simple anecdote reminded me of how often when we work so hard towards a goal, churning on the problems and obstacles standing in our way for too long, we lose sight of how amazing and important the work we are doing really is. When you are feeling frustrated by minimal progress, staunch opposition, or just being stuck - let's step back and give our journey a chance to speak for itself.

The work we do is important - it will take years, many people, and lots of energy to take the little steps that eventually carry us over the finish line. The work we do is not easy - but the struggle makes us stronger and teaches us lessons for a better future. And, who knows? The work we do, when shown to an outsider - say, an excited dude on a place - might just be the super coolest thing ever.

Find out more about Nike uniforms made from discarded water bottles: http://www.ecouterre.com/nike-outfits-world-cup-teams-in-jerseys-made-from-recycled-bottles/
http://www.ecouterre.com/watch-how-nike-recycles-plastic-water-bottles-into-football-jerseys-video/

By Design, Not by Default

For a long time, there has been a major assumption about Sustainability in business. Not always explicitly stated, but clearly communicated through actions taken by the majority of businesses: Sustainability should happen by default.

Whether through the power of intrinsically-motivated leadership or due to the nature of the industry, some companies just "get it". Outsiders assume these leading companies default to sustainable actions - seemingly at odds with stakeholder interests or other business goals. 

Other companies wait until their hands are forced, by bad press from negative consequences of unsustainable practices or other means. These companies ignore sustainable options until they are in the middle of controversy and must respond quickly, without preparation, and often under the scrutiny of the public eye. 

But as a whole, people are beginning to recognize that true sustainable business practice must happen by design and not be default. Those first companies succeed not because they stick to sustainability despite good business sense - it is because they have incorporated sustainability into the core of their business strategy. Sustainability is a lens through which we can view our business practices and make decisions not to the detriment of stakeholder value, but to enhance everything we do as value creators. 

The other kind of company may not have holistically implemented sustainability into its business strategy - but still is beginning to recognize the value of considering sustainability as a highly effective method of risk management, as a tool for capturing more customer value through marketing, as a longer term and truer financial valuation of the company not just in the snapshot of today but as it will exist ten years in the future. 

So, wherever you are of the spectrum of completely integrating Sustainability into your business strategy or just looking to explore how sustainability can enhance your business strategy, grab your drafting pencils and blueprint paper. As in building anything else, constructing Sustainability into your business strategy starts from the foundation. It is a material with which we use to build structure and strength into our businesses - not a coat of green paint we apply liberally to the outside whenever green is en vogue. Sustainability ensures we will succeed, sustain, and thrive well into the future. 

My sustainable home - kinda

It has been a dream of mine to have a home that was completely self sufficient. In that what we needed to run the house would come from the land itself.
Oh I was going to buy 10 acres of land - build a beyond eco house and become an advocate in my self affirming little home.
BUT - well lots of things happened. From not being able to get a building loan, to needing a home to live in, to a realistic evaluation of my time to "build" such home. SO... I know own a traditional home in the middle of town.

But the dream is not dead - there is so much opportunity in anyone's home to reduce your environmental impact - so the dream has been adjusted.
It has been a interesting journey to understand our impact as a family, what we have been able to change, what remains to be a challenge and what is in the pipeline.

WATER

Fortunately we live in a state that not only rains a lot, but one can capture your own water from your roof for use. The first thing we did was turn off the sprinklers.  They aren't needed 9 months out of the year. This alone along with our practices of full dishwasher, laundry, short showers and letting it mellow. means out water use is very low. In fact we don't come close to the minimum water charge on our bill thus paying only fees each month.

The next great project was putting in 3 - 50 gallon rain barrels off the south east side of the house. We were shocked to learn how fast they fill up - one rain storm and they were full. We use this water for watering trees and plants around the house.

ENERGY
This topic is in the pipeline list. Future projects include adding solar tubes to the bathrooms which have no windows and solar hot water... But that will be another year or so.

WASTE
This has been the most interesting topic for me. We have a great practice of reusing and recycling as much waste a possible. Such that we throwout maybe a 1/2 a garbage bag a week. And you know what is in it? Soft plastics... What I need to do is set up another bin for these and take them into Portland next time I go to recycle them since they can't be recycled here.

And we compost - we bought 2 composters so that one could be doing its composting thing while we use the other. Well with the yard work, the chicken shavings, grass and our kitchen compost - we have filled them both up.
We are lucky because Andy's parents live on a farm about 14 miles away and we end up taking all of our yard waste up there. But if we didn't we wouldn't have space for it.

FUN
We also got chickens for eggs and their manure for our garden.  We ripped up the front
lawn and put in raised beds and plants a fig and a plum tree.

All of these project have an impact for sure and we will keep going on other projects, but it is surprising, even to me, how reliant I am on the city for water, energy and hauling away my waste. It makes me think about how far away we are as a society from sustainability. BUT I like how it makes me think - what do I use, how can I use less, and how can my behaviors change to reduce my impact.
A work in progress and a journey worth taking. 

LOCAL

I have to start out this blog post by saying talking about healthy food systems is an incredibly complex topic. And I thought making clothes were hard.  Selling an apple can be even more complicated.

I am interested in the word LOCAL. Customers want local, restaurants and markets advertise local, but do we really understand what local means?

I spent the day today at a conference hosted by the Gorge Grown Food Network. The day brought together producers and buyers of local food and others interested in building a local food economy.

For me local is also a philosophy of understanding. For instance if I buy local, I also have to buy seasonally, this changes my diet and also my expectations of what a sustainable food system may look like.  You may have heard you don't eat fresh tomatoes in January because they are grown so far away that it take planes to get them too you.
So this means I have to prepare my food or buy from those who know how to can, dry, freeze my fruits and vegetables so I can live through the winter.

Local is also an opportunity to talk about sustainable.  It is fine if that pear was grown locally, but if it was sprayed with pesticide I should be more concerned because that is my backyard where that run off is going into the water where I swim or fish.

Local brings this idea of knowing where your food comes from, having a relationship with the farm and farmer. But there is a need to go to the next step - to ask yourself what does local mean to you? What values are your going to support?  Would you spend more for organic, for that CSA box - to make a difference in your local economy and for your local environment?

I've only been in the Gorge 9 months and it has taken a lot of questions to understand my food system and I am lucky because there is a passionate and engaged group of people who want to educate, to increase the availability and build the connections. It is the start of an investigation. But one that is so important to me and to the roots of sustainability - pun totally intended!