So, what defines a green community? You may come to the same conclusion that I did: mindfulness about those resources that we share, and a commitment to do so more efficiently,  with a eye towards future generations’ access to these resources… natural and other.

As such, I invite you to join me in a multipost (and multiblog) exploration of green community. What are the models? How well do they work? What can we learn from them as we move towards a (natural) resource-constrained world? I don’t know that I can provide all of the answers to these questions… but, as an online community, I’m sure there are ideas we can share…

What is an ecovillage?

The ecovillage concept is a great starting point for this discussion because its likely the most radical, and most holistic, vision of green community out there. Tony Sirna, one of the founder of Northeastern Missouri’s Dancing Rabbit ecovillage, defined this admittedly broad concept as”..places that are aiming for a village-like quality…,” which he defines as

• places that allow for a full scale of human activity: “A village is … a place for work and play, birth and death, trading of goods and services, celebrations, and all aspects of healthy lives.”
• places that operate on a “human scale”: “…a population where it’s still possible for people to know each other as people and not as anonymous masses…”

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Started in 1971 by the EPA, this awards program “…recognizes young people across America for projects which demonstrate their commitment to the environment.” Awards are given for one project in each of the EPA’s ten regions. After 38 years, the winning projects have run the gamut — everything from peer environmental education to recycling efforts to wetlands restoration. Recent winners have included

• The Green Books Project in Lewisville, NC: Student Cory Adkins saw textbooks being thrown away at his school, and started his program to sell these books… and use the funds generated to support recycling in his community.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/20/presidents-environmental-youth-awards-recognizes-green-student-leaders/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/14/new-farmers-market-hours/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/14/new-farmers-market-hours/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:07:40 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/14/new-farmers-market-hours/ Have trouble getting up early on Saturday morning to get to the farmers market? Yeah, me too. And while more supermarkets are featuring more selections of local food on their shelves and in their stalls, there’s nothing quite like that straight-from-the-farm produce. What’s a late sleeper to do?

A new web service, Local Dirt, is out to make the connection between the local farmer and buyer more convenient. Say you’re looking for local peaches during the season. Local Dirt’s interface allows you to set search criteria based on location, product, and even venue (if you choose), and find a farmer from whom you can buy online. Sleep in on Saturday, get to the market late, and your peaches are still there… the service provides you with a purchase order to take to the vendor. Some of the farmers may even deliver…

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/14/new-farmers-market-hours/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/12/brooklyn-bowl-worlds-first-green-bowling-alley/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/12/brooklyn-bowl-worlds-first-green-bowling-alley/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:38:18 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/12/brooklyn-bowl-worlds-first-green-bowling-alley/ Picture a bowling alley, and you likely come up with images of tacky shoes, greasy food, and lots and lots of beer bottles. Energy efficiency, reuse and recycling, and local food probably don’t come to mind at all — we’re talking about The Big Lebowski, not Garbage Warrior. Brooklyn Bowl, which opened in July in New York City’s Williamsburg neighborhood, is out to change those associations, though. On Tuesday, the bowling center, music venue, and restaurant got a boost in those efforts from the U.S. Green Building Council, which awarded Brooklyn Bowl LEED certification.

So, what’s does it take to get a bowling alley certified as a green building?

Bamboo lanes? Organic cotton bowling shirts? Low-VOC antiseptic spray for the rented shoes? Nope… Brooklyn Bowl took practical steps to create a chic entertainment venue with a low impact.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/12/brooklyn-bowl-worlds-first-green-bowling-alley/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/10/green-books-campaign-from-seed-to-table/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/10/green-books-campaign-from-seed-to-table/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:19 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/10/green-books-campaign-from-seed-to-table/ Editor’s note: This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally-friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on the Eco-Libris website.

Thinking about giving gardening a try? While the traditional growing season has ended in most parts of the US for this year, it’s not too early to start planning for next Spring. You may want to check out books on starting a backyard garden, and there are plenty of them out there. You may also want to find some of the books that offer suggestions and recipes for the produce you grow. And, if you need encouragement to grow organically, there are still more books on that subject.

If you want a book that covers all three of those areas, though, your choices get much more limited. Janette Haase’s From Seed to Table: A Practical Guide to Eating and Growing Green* not only provides readers with gardening instructions and tips, recipes and menus, and essays on the environmental issues surrounding agriculture and food production, but does so in a month-by-month structure that gives you the information you need when you need it.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/10/green-books-campaign-from-seed-to-table/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/09/ray-anderson-a-revealing-chat-with-a-radical-industrialist/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/09/ray-anderson-a-revealing-chat-with-a-radical-industrialist/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:03:08 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/09/ray-anderson-a-revealing-chat-with-a-radical-industrialist/ Ray Anderson’s epiphany about his own role in environmental destruction after reading Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce has taken on mythic status in the fifteen years since. The “spear in the chest moment” he experienced transformed Anderson into a leader in sustainable thought and practice within American industry, and his company, Interface, Inc. (which manufacture modular floor covering primarily for business and institutional customers) is now recognized as a model of transformation. Named a “Hero of the Planet” by Time magazine in 2007, Anderson is constantly sought out for speeches, interviews, and even documentary film appearances (THE CORPORATION, and the new SO RIGHT SO SMART)

In September, Anderson (with Robin White) published his second book, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Planet - Doing Business by Respecting the Earth. This wide-ranging work not only tells Interface’s story in detail, but also provides a blueprint for how a large, well-established company can literally reinvent itself as both a profitable enterprise and a business that learns to operate in harmony with natural systems.

The word “confessions” in the title is very appropriate: Anderson is very frank about Interface’s successes and setbacks in its climb up “Mt. Sustainability” (a phrase he coined). He also discusses the efforts of other companies, and makes bold, and hopeful, cases for environmental and social responsibility as pillars of successful business strategy in the 21st century. The book is an engaging and thoughtful read for business people, environmental activists, and consumers concerned about the impact of industry on the planet’s future.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/09/ray-anderson-a-revealing-chat-with-a-radical-industrialist/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/04/eco-friendly-home-makeover-oprah/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/04/eco-friendly-home-makeover-oprah/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:26:05 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/04/eco-friendly-home-makeover-oprah/ Buying your first home is both nerve-wracking and exhilarating. Imagine the heightening of both of those emotions if you choose to 1) buy an older house full of character, and 2) jump right into green updates and renovations upon purchase. You’ll then have a good sense of what journalist, professor, and good friend of sustainablog Simran Sethi is going through right now… she recently purchased an 84-year-old home in her adopted home town of Lawrence, KS. Unlike the rest of us, though, Simran’s inviting the world in to watch the process of greening her new house: on Monday, she posted the first entry on a new blog at Oprah.com.

Home renovation isn’t a task for the feint of heart, and Simran readily admits that her own hands-on experience is limited:

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/11/04/eco-friendly-home-makeover-oprah/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/21/plant-hemp-seeds-go-to-jail/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/21/plant-hemp-seeds-go-to-jail/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:07:51 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/21/plant-hemp-seeds-go-to-jail/ Click here to view the full post.

Industrial hemp may be one of the most versatile and environmentally benign crops out there, but because of its relationship to marijuana, the cultivation of this crop has been banned in the United States since the late thirties. Last week, a group of farmers, along with David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, staged a protest in front of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Washington, DC, and were promptly arrested for planting hemp seeds on the agency’s front lawn.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/21/plant-hemp-seeds-go-to-jail/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/07/building-business-sustainability-from-your-cubicle-tim-sanders-saving-the-world-at-work/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/07/building-business-sustainability-from-your-cubicle-tim-sanders-saving-the-world-at-work/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:20:14 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/07/building-business-sustainability-from-your-cubicle-tim-sanders-saving-the-world-at-work/ What were you thinking about on September 16, 2008? Green business ideas probably weren’t at the top of the list… September 15 was the day that Lehman Brothers went belly up, and you were probably more focused on your portfolio and savings. As such, Tim Sanders’ book Saving the World at Work (released on - you guessed it - September 16) got buried under talk of a second Great Depression.

Sanders and publisher Doubleday decided to give the book another go, and relaunched it on September 16th of this year. I’m glad they did: while the title led me to believe I was going to be reading another “how to” book on greening the workplace (which is not a bad thing), Sanders goes well beyond tips on saving paper and electricity. There are ideas for “greening” a company, but Sanders contextualizes these action steps within an examination of the “triple bottom line,” and a broader “Responsibility Revolution”: “…a broad-based movement of people and companies taking a disruptive approach to making a difference - contributing to our quality of life, locally and globally, for current and future generations.”

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/10/07/building-business-sustainability-from-your-cubicle-tim-sanders-saving-the-world-at-work/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/22/is-taking-care-of-your-grass-making-you-sick/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/22/is-taking-care-of-your-grass-making-you-sick/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:04:47 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/22/is-taking-care-of-your-grass-making-you-sick/ Click here to view the full post.

When dermatologist June Irwin first stood up in 1985 to speak at a Hudson, Quebec, town council meeting about the potential link between synthetic lawn pesticide and herbicide use and human and animal illnesses, she was written off as a flake. Irwin persisted, though, attending “every single town meeting in Hudson for six consecutive years - each time reading aloud a different letter with new observations and facts.” Eventually, she got her message across, and Hudson (population 5000) became the first town in North America to ban the use of these chemicals.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/22/is-taking-care-of-your-grass-making-you-sick/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/save-on-electricity-and-get-rewarded/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/save-on-electricity-and-get-rewarded/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:34:22 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/save-on-electricity-and-get-rewarded/ Do you remember RecycleBank, the Philadelphia-based company that rewarded customers for recycling? I thought that was a great idea, and I’ve got a similar response to Earth Aid’s new rewards program for energy savings. Rolled out earlier this month in Washington, DC, Earth Aid offers a program to track your energy use and savings, and then to “pay” you for those savings through reward points that can be redeemed at partner companies.

In its press release for the launch of the rewards program, the company claims that its program “…creates a virtuous circle of local businesses providing incentives for households to save energy, and households re-circulating their savings on their utility bills into local businesses - benefiting both the local environment and the local economy.” All of this is on top of money actually saved by consumers cutting their energy use…

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/save-on-electricity-and-get-rewarded/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/green-porno/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/green-porno/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:08:51 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/green-porno/ If you’re a fan of the Sundance Channel’s series Green Porno with Isabella Rossellini, you’re probably already aware that the acclaimed show launched its third season on Monday (with a focus on marine animals). But how well do you really know the mating habits of various animal species?

In order to celebrate the new season, we’ve agreed to host another event with the show… this time a quiz (which you’ll find below the jump). Answer the questions below in the comments; if you score 80% or above (that is, only miss two questions), you’ll be entered into a drawing for a Sundance Channel prize package that includes:

• Ella Vickers bags, made out of recycled sails
• 1 Bag at a Time farmers market bags
• A Boku journal made from recycled paper
• Sundance pen
• Sundance Channel t-shirt (made from organic cotton)
• Sundance Channel hat (made from organic cotton)

Ready to get started? Here’s the quiz (and links to videos with the answers… this isn’t that hard)

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/18/green-porno/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/24/an-earthship-that-floats/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/24/an-earthship-that-floats/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:03:51 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/24/an-earthship-that-floats/ David de Rothschild’s Plastiki is a seaworthy boat made from reclaimed plastic bottles. Michael Reynolds’ Earthships (the subject of the documentary Garbage Warrior) are homes built from reclaimed materials, and designed to provide basic needs for the homeowner: energy, food, water, and waste disposal. Put the two together, and you get the Landlord Independent, a work-in-progress by Providence, Rhode Island-based artists and activists Dan Gladstone and Zachary Weindel.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/24/an-earthship-that-floats/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/21/cash-for-clunkers-car-bike/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/21/cash-for-clunkers-car-bike/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:53:38 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/21/cash-for-clunkers-car-bike/ If you’ve kept an eye on the federal government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program (which will end on Monday), you know that it’s been a huge success on a number of fronts: hundreds of thousands of people have traded in older, less fuel-efficient vehicles for new models with better gas mileage, and some auto manufacturers are even rehiring. Of course, the program’s had its downsides, also: dealers have complained about slow reimbursements, and some environmentalists have worried that the fuel economy requirements weren’t quite stringent enough.

Portland, Oregon-based businessman Joe Doebele has another complaint about the program: there’s nothing in it to get commuters to shift from four wheels to two. Rather than just throw stones, though, Doeble decided to do something about this shortcoming: he’s started his own “cash for clunkers” program at his cargo bike shop Joe Bike.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/21/cash-for-clunkers-car-bike/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/17/modeling-agents-green-model/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/17/modeling-agents-green-model/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:37:55 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/17/modeling-agents-green-model/ Are you a treehugging fashionista? A green glamor girl? A photogenic fan of photovoltaics? Summer Rayne Oakes has had this space to herself for quite some time, but now GreenLoop is hoping to give her some company. As a part of the launch of its Project Green Search, GreenLoop and its partners invite you to enter the first green model competition, and take your shot at a host of prizes… including a modeling contract.

So, what’s Project Green Search? It’s an educational platform designed to “… [inspire] young people to start thinking about how to align their careers with their environmental ethics.” As Greenloop sells sustainable fashion, a model search seemed like a natural fit: not only can fashion models have quite an impact on other young people, but the fashion industry has a pretty heavy environmental footprint. The sector badly needs great young minds with a sense of style to ensure that it addresses environmental challenges while still producing couture people want to wear.

Started on August 7th, the entry period for the model competition will run through September 16th. On the 17th, the public can vote on entrants, and ten finalists will be invited to Portland Fashion Week for interviews with judges, and a photo shoot with fashion photographer Courtney Daily. After a runway show, judge will choose the winner. She will receive:

• a contract with Option Model Management;
• a complete make-over and eco-fashion wardrobe;
• a professional photography session with Courtney Dailey; and
• a natural & organic beauty shopping spree.

Sound like the opportunity you’ve needed to break into the business? Head over to Project Green Search to enter.

]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/17/modeling-agents-green-model/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/08/12/dancing-rabbit-eco-village/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/08/12/dancing-rabbit-eco-village/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:32:10 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/08/12/dancing-rabbit-eco-village/

Unless you live in an eco village or other form of intentional community, you’re probably curious about the lifestyle. You’ve probably already got some images stuck in your head (I know the commune from Easy Rider always comes to my mind). You may even cling to a few stereotypes. But, as you’ve seen here at Planetsave, contemporary eco village life doesn’t necessarily conform to those stereotypes… it can be both hip and hippie, modern and simple, and, above all, deeply green.

Don’t take my word for it, though — I don’t live in an intentional community. Nathan Brown does, however, and today, he’ll be talking to folks at AwakeNow! Radio about his life at northeast Missouri’s Dancing Rabbit eco village (yep, the same place that PS contributor Brian Liloia lives).

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]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/08/12/dancing-rabbit-eco-village/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/11/has-michelle-obamas-garden-started-a-first-family-trend/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/11/has-michelle-obamas-garden-started-a-first-family-trend/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:53:23 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/11/has-michelle-obamas-garden-started-a-first-family-trend/ When Michelle Obama announced plans for a White House kitchen garden, local foodies, gardeners, and health advocates rejoiced: what better way to promote the value of home-grown food than get the first family involved. It turns out that the Obamas aren’t the only executive family growing vegetables on the grounds of the official residence: a number of governors and their spouses have taken up the cause of not just planting vegetables, but also implementing more sustainable landscaping practices at governors’ mansions and even state capitols.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/08/11/has-michelle-obamas-garden-started-a-first-family-trend/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/13/recycling-plastic-bags/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/13/recycling-plastic-bags/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:48:17 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/13/recycling-plastic-bags/ Got a collection of reusable shopping bags? Same here… but I’ll freely admit that sometimes I forget them, or decide to stop to pick things up when I don’t have them with me. You’re probably in the same boat: despite your best efforts to reduce your use of plastic shopping bags, you’ve still got a stash of them somewhere…

So what do you do with them? You definitely want to keep them out of the waste stream, so obvious uses, like lining trash cans or otherwise using them for waste disposal, aren’t the best choices. You’ve got other options, though… and, as you’ll see, your choices for responsible disposal are expanding.

How to Reuse Plastic Bags

If you’re not going to pick up the dog poop with them, or line the bathroom trash can, how can you put those plastic bags to (re)use? Turns out there are quite a few upcycling options…

• Make a sweater… or a scarf: You crafty types can turn those bags into yarn… and then knit, crochet or weave with it.
• Fuse them into “cloth”: Got an iron and some old paper? You can make cloth-like crafting material out of your bags, also.
• Protect and store food: Making a trip to the farmer’s market? Put a few of those plastic bags inside your reusable one to separate and protect the food you buy. You can also use them for storage once you get your produce and baked goods home.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/13/recycling-plastic-bags/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/12/sustainablog-turns-six/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/12/sustainablog-turns-six/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:54:04 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/12/sustainablog-turns-six/ Ever forget your wedding anniversary? Your spouse’s/partner’s birthday? Perhaps forgetting the anniversary on which you started blogging isn’t quite the same, but after six years and thousands of posts, I felt like a total dolt when I realized today that July 10th (not today, the 12th) was sustainablog’s “birthday.”

That’s right: six years (and two days) ago, I created a new Blogger account, and started wrestling with this concept of sustainability that I’d only recently discovered. There’ve been lots of twists and turns since then, but it’s really gratifying to look back and see the growth and development of my little blog in that time.

While most of us associate birthdays/anniversaries with gifts and celebrations, these dates are also the perfect time for expressing gratitude, and looking forward (as well as back). I owe many people thanks for their support, including

The folks at Green Options: sustainablog’s always been a little unique in the GO network: rather than narrowly focusing on a niche within the green world, we’ve always done a little bit of everything. That has its ups and down, and I’m grateful to my friends at GO (and new parent company Virgance) for their patience with and support of our model.

The green blogosphere: You can’t blog in a vacuum… or, at least, you can’t blog in a vacuum and expect to build much of an audience. From early on, sustainablog’s received a ton of support from both big and small players within the green online media space. Special hat tips to Grist (one of the first big sites to link to us), Treehugger (for the writing gig and frequent linkage), Worldchanging (for frequent early linkage and some guest posting opportunities), Triplepundit, HuffPo Green, Green, Inc., Greenbiz, Lighter Footstep… I’m just getting started. Whether you’re listed or not, know that I appreciate your support.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/12/sustainablog-turns-six/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/10/pope-benedict-issues-new-encyclical-calling-for-sustainable-business-development-models/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/10/pope-benedict-issues-new-encyclical-calling-for-sustainable-business-development-models/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:50:25 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2009/07/10/pope-benedict-issues-new-encyclical-calling-for-sustainable-business-development-models/

Pope Benedict XVI added to his growing reputation as the “green Pope” on Tuesday with the release of a new encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). A call for sustainable development in the broadest sense, the Pope’s letter addressed the human and environmental costs of “business as usual,” and established “doing well by doing good” as the business philosophy most consistent with Church doctrine and Biblical teaching.

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