Sustainable food

I am currently up in Hood River Oregon where the valley is just glorious in all of the blossoms.  I am loving the conversations of all the fruit that is starting its growing process and keep asking when are these crops going to be ready to harvest?  You might notice I can't wait.

There are so many aspects to sustainable food and for this post I wanted to think about how much I really need to stay alive, thus sustain my existence.  And couple this will how much food I want to eat.  I could eat and do eat a lot more than I need to stay alive.
The balance of calories is a micro example of a sustainable system.
First you have to determine how many calories you need.  There are all kinds of website that can help determine this.  It gets a bit complicated when you factor in your exercise and lifestyle.  But the average person needs about 2000 calories a day.  So if you break down your meals into 3 a day that is about 667 per meal.  And some of us eat snacks, so move some calories over to snacks and take them away from meals.

Well we all can attest to not eating enough, or eating too much and finding that balance.  Maybe you eat too many calories at one time because you know you are going to be with less at another time and you are planning.  Also what happens when the calories we need are not available - pretend you can't just go to the grocery store and buy apples from around the world?

This has been a neat exercise for me, because it made me think how much I rely on connivence and what kind of changes I would have to make to plan out my food in take and caloric burning if food was limited.  Ultimately this is the kind of level of detail we should know to truly incorporate sustainability into our daily living...

Metrics on less

The world of sustainability is deeply rooted in metrics.  There is the saying "you can't manage what you don't measure".  And the big push is what you are doing less of.  Because less means you are more efficient, you save more, you use less stuff or consumption of goods.  And all of this is about sustainability because we need to live with less in the future with a growing constraint on resources.  But that's not a bad thing - people do well with less.  Because less means - less things to stress about, less stuff to trip over and clean and put away, less means more time for the things you love.

When you have a baseline of one behavior it is relatively straight forward to show how you measure less of something.  For instance, your home uses 10 mega watts of energy a year.  You change some behavior, change out some light bulbs, unplug electronics and soon you are using less energy.  You can measure this and track it.  This is the core of so many sustainability programs across the world.  To take their existing business and keep producing, but with less.  And it is not just energy, but water, materials, chemicals, maybe even people.

What will be interesting for companies of the future is to show their commitment to sustainability, but are already starting out with less.  For instance, a new company builds their building with the latest in design and technology such that it doesn't use any energy off the grid - this company starts with less.  Maybe another company doesn't use any packaging for their products - they don't have less of anything because they started out smart and didn't need to reduce.

Your current business now, and especially new businesses can really set themselves up for a bumpy future if they are relying on less to still offer their products and services.  The idea here is to offer more if the things that have a positive impact, like trust, authenticity, care, and respect - this makes the customer happier.  And actions like these create a connection and build a story stronger than more stuff. 

Shop like you give a damm

I am teaching at the Art Institute in San Diego.  It is the first course on sustainability and fashion for the school and it has been an amazing experience so far.  Firstly I am shocked how much work it is to teach. (So props to all you teachers out there!) Secondly it is so inspiring to watch my students start grasping at how they can make a difference as the next generation of fashion designers.

This last week the course was about the impact of design.  We talked about how much control a designer has to incorporate sustainability into the products that they make. We looked at a lot of new ideas around sustainability and how they are being implemented in the market today.

To get a sense of what is going on we surveyed a bunch of really cool companies that are making significant shifts in the way they think and design products.  SO those of you who are at a loss for who is a good company to shop your values with - check out some of these companies.

The ones you probably know already

Patagonia - (Outdoor clothing) offers only organic cotton for its cotton products, includes many recycled content products and has a take back program to recycle or upcycle old products.

NAU - (Urban and Outdoor  Lifestyle clothing) offers recycled and organic materials.

prAna - (Lifestyle and Outdoor Clothing) offers some recycled and organic products, pioneer in Fair Trade Certified - one T currently.

Levi's - (Lifestyle and Denim clothing) offers a water less denim jean that reduces water use in the manufacturing process.

Stuart & Brown - (Lifestyle clothing) offers organic and other responsible materials.

Loomstate - (Lifestyle and Denim clothing) offer organic cotton for all of their products.

Some other companies that are doing some cool things

Edun - (Fashion Clothing) offers products with the intent to increase capacity and trade with Africa.

Linda Loudermilk - (Fashion clothing) offers products with sustainable materials and political messaging involving the wearer to connect to a cause.

The Arbor Collective - (Surf/Skate clothing) In an industry that has not integrated sustainability well - the arbor collective includes organic and recycled materials in its product line.

Alabama Chanin - (One of a kind fashion clothing) offers reused, organic or recycled materials in a wide range of products, all garments are manufactured by artisans in Florence, Alabama.  Company also has DIY clothing options.

Looptworks - (Casual clothing) offers clothing upcycled from excess fabric and trims.  Unique because no new material is required for the manufacturing of these garments.

These are just a few of some of the companies out there who are pushing for new ideas around materials and design.   Our relationship with our clothes and how we connect to the designer or the company is important because we as consumers are a part of the cycle and it means something to buy clothes from companies who are trying to reduce their impact on the planet and/or improve worker's lives.

Fear of the Positive

Last night I was reading about human behaviors and this article mentioned that we tend to default to the negative.  This made me reflect on what kind of person I was both personally and professionally.  Usually I am a pretty positive person.  BUT - often I do default to the negative. Personally I often have self doubt or fear that has me being negative.  Professionally I find myself looking at all that is wrong in the world and how we need to fix it quick.

The negative can be a motivator, but is it as strong as the positive?  There are two sides to every coin, so I thought about how to approach some of my sustainability work with a positive perspective instead.  (Note, this was not as simple as one would think.)
In trying to "sell" sustainability to companies and clients I rely on some pretty negative tactics - things like risk, fear, government regulations, losing consumer trust, or inefficiencies.  I get some takers, but it has been limited. So I started working on the positive sides to the work that I do.  It felt strange, kinda fluffy in language - but strangely it hit a cord within me that said "this feels better".

So for instance - we were struggling at one company I work with to come up with something for Earthday which is this Friday.  We ended up doing a celebration of everything we already do, using the stories from all of the employees to inspire each other.
Another project for another organization has been focusing on all the positive impacts of the work that they do, again to inspire engagement and involvement.

The positive taps into a part of us that makes our work meaningful, that makes us feel significant.  I need to remember this more, personally and professionally being more positive is just another way of approaching a challenge or subject, but a lot more fun. 

Poisoning the pond

I FINALLY finished writing my white paper (which will be available on my website soon). In the paper I took my thoughts and experiences doing social and environmental responsibility and distilled them down into some talking points that will hopefully help people and companies see sustainability in a different way.  The reality is we have the ability and the resources to make a difference, but the way current business is structured we get stuck.

So what is up with the title of this blog post?

One of my main concerns that I address in my white paper is the backwards way many companies approach sustainability and that is to cause harm and then invest in cleaning it up after the fact.  Companies poison the pond and then fund clean ups of that pond thus looking like heroes.

Annie Leonard alludes to the same idea in her video The Story of Stuff - when you look at all the energy, water, toxins, and waste created in the production process, let alone the product in the end, you have to ask yourself how can this system sustain itself.

I began to notice the dichotomies with various companies who would donate vast amounts of money, employee time and resources to save the world for after-the-fact problems rather than invest in not causing the problem in the first place.

Some examples for you to think about:
The company Dawn who manufactures petroleum based soaps and has a philanthropy campaign "How Dawn Save Wildlife" donating Dawn soap to remove oil from birds and animals from oil spills. (Maybe they should stop relying on oil to make their product in the first place?)

Or Tide, whoʼs parent company P&G donates to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the product contains chemicals like Ethyl Alcohol which is suspected of causing cancer. (Maybe P&G should invest in preventing carcinogens from getting into daily use?)

There are so many examples of business practices that just don't make sense when you look a layer deeper.  But it is SO much easier to write a check, than to change your business operations. Fortunately I am seeing a new generation of businesses coming into the market using their opportunity to start from a place of authenticity.  The cost and effort to change the poor business practices of many companies today will put these companies not willing to look under the rug of their operations at a disadvantage. 

Guest blog - The H-Word

I think the word “habits” has a bad reputation. It seems to carry with it a sort of negative connotation. Makes you think of “smoking” and “addiction.” Or maybe that’s just me, because I have some experience with bad habits. When I read Nicole’s latest blog, “You May Ask Yourself…” at the bottom she questions the formation of habits, how they come to be and why we get stuck in them and how we stay clear of those unhealthy ones. It inspired me to pursue the conversation because I have a few thoughts to share on that subject.

There’s a saying that a ladder of success has three rungs: unconscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence. We can move through being unaware of our inability to being unaware of our ability – or, in this context a bad habit versus a good one where, eventually, it won’t even be a habit anymore but just a positive piece of your life.

I spent most of my 20s in unconscious incompetence. Since this is a "family" rated blog I won’t go into the gritty details but suffice to say I enjoyed living a life of excess, of a lack of responsibility, the sort of perennial teenage dream. Credit card? Nope – bad credit. Nest egg, or savings account? Nope – spent it going out with friends to the local watering holes after work. I basically thought the term “mutual fund” was actually “mutual fun” and had no concept of thinking about my goals beyond getting to the party on the weekend (despite the fact every day was the weekend in that state of mind).

I don’t really know how I got out of it, but I did. It was tricky. I had to say goodbye to some close friends who, ironically, I’ve never seen again. I moved. I started to focus on my career. I stopped drinking – that was the big one because everything else was attached to it… every night of overindulgence always started with just a few beers.

Making the decision to stop was the hardest part. But once I’d said to myself, “This isn’t working anymore” and moved into conscious competence, I started to look at my options. I figured out what I needed to do to break the bad habits and the easiest part, by far, was just sticking to the plan.

A year and a half later I’ve learned a lot about habits. Old, bad habits can be broken if you just stick with it. And you know what else? There are a ton of great, positive habits out there that can be learned. Habits are a way of acting that can be adapted – sure it’s difficult at first but if you keep repeating the action one day you won’t even notice what you’re doing. I’ve since made a habit of walking to work and back every day. I’ve made a habit of recycling, buying organic/local foods and paying attention to green cleaning products. I’ve made a habit of taking my vitamins and drinking water throughout the day. They were all small changes on their own, but with each I’ve watched them change from conscious effort to second nature. Just like the metamorphosis into unconscious competence that was breaking my worst bad habit - the destructive course of my life - and finally growing the hell up!

So I guess at the end of the day, I would answer Nicole by saying: no, we don’t need to just wait for our bad habits to consume us, and yes we can avoid them. We just need to get to that first level of consciousness, and be aware of what we want to change - like she has done with her decision to stop driving to yoga class. :) Once we take that first big step toward our goal, the rest will fall into place. 

Emily Kendy lives in Vancouver, BC. She is the Project Coordinator of Renewable Energy Projects for Eaga Canada. She likes to write fiction (and sometimes non-fiction) in her spare time.

You may ask yourself "Well, How did I get here?"

I have expanded...
And not in a good way.  As Parkinson's Law states - the work expands to fill the time allotted - the same can go for - the stuff expands to fill the space.
Two things I have noticed about my personal expansion.  That makes me scratch my head and ask really - how did i get here?
In 2007 I bought a car, I had owned a car back in University for a year to help take my grandmother around, but didn't like having the overhead of the car and sold it.  I survived for 8 years without one after that. (For full disclosure, my significant others during that time own vehicles or had friends who lived close).  But I didn't own a car and I would take public transportation, bike or even walk.  I was surprised how little I relied on the car.  I also was in pretty good shape.
But in 2007 I bought a car - I was living in Ventura CA and well, you really need a vehicle in Southern California as distances are far and public transportation is spotty.  Now 4 years later I cannot believe how reliant I have become on that car.  I have now fit my life around the convenience of jumping in and getting somewhere in 5 minutes.
So this month I had to say to myself - ENOUGH - you are becoming so lazy, I was driving to my Yoga class that was 1.5 miles away.  Riding my bike would add 10 more minutes to the commute and burn about 50 calories. So no more convenient driving - I have to ask myself, do I NEED to drive?  If I planned better could I walk, bike or carpool?  90% of the time the answer is yes. So that is the new plan.

The other area of expansion is in my home.  When we moved to Encinitas we found a home larger than the one we were living in Ventura.  Once everything was moved in we have two completely empty rooms.  Well 18 months later - we have a full house.  I will say most of the new furniture has come from Andy's woodworking projects.  Regardless I did have a hand in filling up the space - Parkinson was right, I could not let that empty space sit there empty for long before I added a plant, a chair, whatever the space needed.
Now I look around at all of the stuff and think - how did I get here?

Are we just destined to grow into habits or is there some way of steering clear?  Well at least now I see my behavior and maybe I can try and change it?