In terms of sustainability, The Natural Step’s sustainability system condition #4 states that, as a society, we must reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution that systematically undermine people’s ability to meet their basic needs. I believe that working at Unity Gardens doesn’t undermine people’s ability to meet their needs; it offers them a way to… Read more »
Uncategorized
Community Supported Goodness (3)
I feel like I should describe community supported agriculture a little bit more since I’ve not in previous posts. The entire point of community-supported agriculture (CSA) is to get to know your farmer, while getting to truly know your food – where it grows and how it grows. While we shop the supermarkets, up and… Read more »
A Chance to Experience
The German novelist and poet, Herman Hesse, once wrote that “next to the hunger to experience a thing, men have perhaps no stronger hunger than to forget” And what does that have to do with a sustainability internship? Though this was not likely the context that Hesse wrote his words, I believe this perspective gives… Read more »
Do Something
What are you going to do about it? This is what a COPS (Communities Organized for Public Service) organizer asked Virginia Ramirez about what she was going to do about her widowed neighbor dying of a preventable illness due to no heat retention/lack of weatherproofing in her home. Despite paying her bills and taxes on… Read more »
People, Prosperity, and our Ailing Food System
In the list of system conditions that we learned and I’ve shared with you, system condition number four has always struck me as being the worst. System condition number four states that in a sustainable society people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs. I’ve seen first hand… Read more »
Practices Toward Becoming a Sustainable Champion
When thinking about Starfish and how far they’ve come (not just in terms of helping countless women but also creating a link of help from one country to another) I’m discovering ways they are working towards many principles outlined for becoming a sustainability champion as written by Bob Willard in his 2009 book, The Sustainability… Read more »
Transition of Sustainability
Combining this summer’s reading assignments (The Common Life by Scott Russell Sanders, Sustainability Primer by The Natural Step, Soul of a Citizen by Paul Rogat Loeb, Bridging the Green an interview of Van Jones by David Kupfer, and Tools for the Transition to Sustainability by Meadows, Meadows, and Randers) with my… Read more »
High-Visibility “Green” Civic Projects
Greening the Bend is an expansion of the Rain Barrel Project, my fellowship with IU South Bend Center for a Sustainable Future, which is now in its third year. Tapping on the popularity of the Rain Barrel Project, which connects the arts, sustainability, business, and educational communities as well as governmental entities, we are in… Read more »
Planet vs. Profits
So far the sustainability internship has provided additional perspective to my role at BWB. While I am familiar with many aspects of BWB, I now have more motivation to view my work and the business with sustainability in mind. As such, from the general sustainability perspective there appears to be many opportunities to improve the… Read more »
Raising Awareness
Reflecting on this past week, a couple things come to mind. The first…shipping. This week was a shipping week. Overstock is officially set up and surprisingly I was the one who was in charge of sending off and organizing the bought jewelry. Starfish couldn’t have their label on any of the Overstock boxes (apparently only… Read more »