January 2013
2 posts
4 tags
Weis Markets Closes Loop
This Spring, fifty Weis markets throughout Pennsylvania will roll out a new composting program. Customers will be able to purchase “Weis Choice Compost”, which is made in part from Weis’ food scraps and yard trimmings.
Partnering with American Biosoils & Compost, Weis Markets hopes to create “a coordinated, fully integrated, decentralized, recycling loop.”
...
Do We Really Need Industrial Agriculture to Feed...
Watch this video to find out why we don’t:
Fun Fact: Humans consume only 1% of the corn grown in the US.
September 2012
1 post
3 tags
Honoring Dr. David Suzuki
Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend a symposium at Case Western University in Cleveland, OH honoring Dr. David Suzuki with the Inamori Prize for Ethics & Excellence.
For those who are not familiar with Dr. Suzuki, he is a world-renowned environmental activist, sustainable ecologist, and Doctor of Zoology.
I’d like to share some of his thoughts through these quotes:
...
August 2012
1 post
Romney's Head in the Tar Sands
Thursday, Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced his ‘bold’ energy plan to achieve North American Energy Independence by 2020.
In his speech, he proposes the following:
Continued production of energy from “conventional” means - that is already established wells, drilling sites etc.
Expansion of offshore drilling
Procurement of “Tight” oil,...
July 2012
2 posts
Response to CNN's "The war over coal is personal"
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/us/embed-america-energy-war/index.html
An excerpt:
“If all coal mines shut down,” Amanda Sedgmer paused, “we would struggle … we would definitely lose our house. “
Sedgmer voted for President Obama in 2008 and she is not a particular fan of Mitt Romney, but she’s voting for the Republican because she believes he is the only chance...
6 tags
Vermont's Waste Management Advancement
Two weeks ago, Vermont legislators passed a law requiring all waste generators (commercial and residential) to recycle both traditional recyclables (plastic, paper, glass) and organic matter (yard and food waste). The first of its kind at the state level, the law requires, at first, high volume organic matter generators to separate their waste into three streams: landfill, traditional recycling,...
June 2012
1 post
4 tags
For the Greater Good?
There are so many ways to digest today’s Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Obama’s healthcare reform.
Spin artists, on both sides of the aisle, attempt to claim victory or incite anger in defeat, rallying support for November’s election.
Surely though, the average American will rejoice this ruling, as it brings us a step closer to a country that enables all of its citizens...
May 2012
1 post
4 tags
Pain Worth the Gain?
The juxtaposition of the three events in the NFL over the past week calls into question the future existence of pro football.
The timing of the NFL Draft, the year-long suspension of Jonathan Vilma, and the suicide of Junior Seau, point to a increasingly difficult juggling act of sustaining a business based on the dehumanization and sacrifice of its athletes.
Football finds itself in a precarious...
April 2012
1 post
8 tags
Connecting the Nodes
What do Monsanto, Philip Morris, the IMF, and Argentine farmers have in common?
Agricultural giant Monsanto continues to ruin the lives of agricultural producers and consumers - this time with a partner-in-crime, Philip Morris USA. This week in Delaware, a suit was filed against Monsanto and Philip Morris USA, among its subsidiaries, on behalf of Argentine farmers, who claim the alleged culprits...
March 2012
2 posts
9 tags
Climate Change and Our Future: Does Culpability...
Are humans culpable in climate change? Are the problems human-induced?
The following is a video from 2008 by Greg Craven, who challenges us to dissect the climate change debate and acknowledge we only have one decision: to try our best to counteract it.
Please watch:
The video is a phenomenally simple diagram of cognitive reasoning. However, I’d like to come to a similar conclusion, but...
5 tags
Redefining Business Success
Watch Benefit Corporations Aim to Make Profit, Positive Impact on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
One of my favorite initiatives, B Corporation, and its backing non-profit B Lab, recently got national television publicity. On PBS Newshour last week, Paul Solman investigated the assessment firm (B Lab) that certifies companies as B Corps, which are businesses that walk the walk and talk the...
January 2012
2 posts
India v. Monsanto
Last month, I wrote a post about The Agricultural Battleground and the dangers of ‘Big Agriculture’ to a wide spectrum of modern issues. One issue is the international reach of agricultural corporations like Monsanto.
Accompanying the saturation of overseas food markets from the combination of U.S. surplus production and international economic restructuring, corporations like Monsanto have the...
December 2011
6 posts
7 tags
Re-imagining our Consumer Culture
As I have explored before in some posts, minimizing waste, through either cradle to cradle and/or local economies, is crucial for improving our environment and our quality of life.
Our waste problems stem from the Consumer Culture in which we live.
The idea of ‘throwing away’ has been around for a very long time. When you think of waste, you think of waste as the...
6 tags
The Agricultural Battleground
Our age demands a paradigm shift, which can be characterized in a number of different ways - sustainability, green, the 99%, #occupy, human rights, human inequality, social innovation (…and the list goes on). These social expressions, in turn, create battlegrounds for the “future” in the form of industries, systems, and paradigms that must be altered or entirely revolutionized....
4 tags
“Is Your Marriage Sustainable?”
4 tags
Regenerative vs. Sustainable: "Is your marriage...
That was a hypothetical question posed in an evening discussion at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) Association in September. The panel discussion featured prominent figures in Sustainable Design: Robert Thayer, Sandy Mendler, and Sim van der Ryn. In the middle of the forum, the panel posed this question to the audience as a commentary on philosophy in the relatively new field...
8 tags
Amending "People, Planet, Profit"
The phrase “People, Planet, Profit” - coined by author John Elkington - promotes the idea for businesses to succeed in a number of different ways, rather than the traditional ‘bottom line’. Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line brought on a reluctant swell of Corporate Social Responsibility - the idea that corporations should embrace the TBL to benefit themselves, as well...
