Archive for Julie Gabrielli

We don’t always remember that social justice plays a key role in sustainability. One of the underlying assumptions of the modern world is that we can throw something we no longer want “away.” Well, there is no “away.” This planet is designed as an exquisitely intricate, interconnected web of life. And we are as much a part of that web as eagles and mushrooms.

As Van Jones, founder of the green-jobs advocacy group Green for All, has observed, there are no throwaway people, either. Our modern criminal justice system has not exactly gotten this message. One of the unexamined assumptions in this complex system is that some people are just too bad to be in society; they need to be locked up and forgotten. Essentially, thrown away.

Lauren Abramson, founder of the Community Conferencing Center, doesn’t buy it. Their work is based on the simple premise that people have the wisdom and compassion to resolve their own conflicts, given the right setting and subtle guidance. In fact, as you will see from watching this video, Conferences have a very high rate of success and the parties involved have quite low rates of re-offending. Conferences are also profound for the participants, binding them together through shared experience.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_6iTCo5Ci8[/youtube]

FOUR YEARS. GO. is a campaign to catalyze and empower a fundamental shift in the direction of humanity, inspiring collaborative action, connecting individuals and organizations, and amplifying best practices and successes.

This campaign is inspiring an awareness of the urgency to shift humanity’s trajectory by 2014, before our destructive trends make that shift impossible. They are empowering individuals and organizations to set and reach goals that will cause a positive global tipping point by 2014, setting humanity on a new path toward a socially just, environmentally sustainable, and spiritually fulfilling future.

This may sound like pie-in-the-sky, but — IT’S NOT. It’s entirely possible — as long as we think in terms of possibilities, rather than probabilities. (To paraphrase Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Movement.)

Take a look at this site. Get connected. Join a campaign. Become an allied organization. We just did.

Week 21

Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand. ~ Confucius

As a teacher, I find this humbling. Given my own education and experience, these three actions and results are listed in order of difficulty. Telling and showing come naturally, but are not very effective to catalyze lasting change. This week, what are some ways you can involve people or at least show them, rather than just tell them what you see?

More: “Switch” is a fantastic book about the power of experience to shape change.

Read the Weekly Green from Week 20 here.

We always love to hear from you! How juicy is this quote for you?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S49d-U5r3Hw[/youtube]

We’ve long been huge fans of Annie Leonard’s brilliantly succinct “The Story of Stuff.” Now, she’s turning her focus on bottled water, cosmetics, electronics, and cap and trade.

She tells it like it is in The Story of Bottled Water. (Follow this link for the full version.) Get the inside scoop on that old advertising trick, “manufactured demand.” And, did you know that a third of all bottled water actually in the US comes from municipal taps? She also explains the difference between recycling and downcycling. And check this quote from Pepsi’s chairman: “The biggest enemy is tap water.”

Take back the tap! Make a personal commitment to not buy or drink bottled water. Then, take the next step by joining up with an advocacy organization to improve access to clean, safe water for everyone.

“Carrying bottled water is on its way to being as cool as smoking while pregnant.” Go, Annie!

Guest post by Hunter Richards, Accounting Market Analyst at Software Advice.

Greenwash (verb, \ˈgrēn-wȯsh\) – to market a product or service by promoting a deceptive or misleading perception of environmental responsibility.

Businesses have been launching major marketing campaigns to promote eco-friendly products, but many of their environmental claims end up being questionable at best. Green products are beginning to lose their credibility as consumers become more suspicious of greenwashing. To restore the reliability of environmental marketing and prevent greenwashing from getting out of control, we need to increase corporate transparency and adopt a clearly measurable method for determining the environmental record of a business. It turns out that new accounting technology could be a major part of the solution.

The U.S. is a leader in financial accounting, but we need similar strength in environmental accounting to prevent misleading green marketing campaigns.  The recent development of Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software enables companies to track their carbon emissions and identify opportunities for waste reduction. The full development and mandatory adoption of ECA software will make it much more difficult for businesses to cover up their environmental records. As carbon footprint transparency becomes more widespread, carbon accounting could become the new measure of a company’s environmental impact. When the information is released to the public, green marketing campaigns can cite concrete evidence to regain consumer trust.

But for ECA software and environmental accounting adoption to effectively make greenwashing obsolete, we need constructive action in five main categories:

• Clear government action on regulations – like increased coverage of the EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, which requires companies that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases annually to disclose their emissions figures to the EPA;
• Adoption of carbon accounting principles – stricter requirements for disclosure of standardized corporate emissions for a precise way to examine a company’s environmental record;
• Expansion of Scope 3 emissions accounting – mandatory inclusion of suppliers’ emissions and other indirect sources (Scope 3) in environmental reports would prevent under-reporting <http://gizmodo.com/5120854/dells-carbon-neutrality-is-really-a-bunch-of-cow-poop>  of emissions and more quickly spread general adoption of carbon accounting throughout the supply chain;
• Better green business incentives – using ECA software to identify more eco-friendly savings opportunities – like tax incentives – can make it cheaper to truly go green, making greenwashing less tempting and putting real sustainability initiatives in the best economic interests of a business;
• Demanding, informed consumers – demanding the numbers, while boycotting the greenwashers, forces businesses with green marketing campaigns to prove their sincerity. Greenwashers won’t be able to hide any longer when consumers take this final step.

To learn more about ECA software and greenwashing prevention, read the full article, Software to Hold “Greenwashers” Accountable

Week 20

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. ~ Albert Einstein

I am more convinced than ever of the power of creative expression – images, story, movement, song – to catalyze creative problem-solving. Brain science confirms this: we have two hemispheres, right and left. By holding only to the rational, linear, and analytical, we treat the right brain as a poor step-child. We need to get over thinking of right-brain pursuits like art, poetry, music, and storytelling as mere “entertainment.” How can you open to new possibilities by honoring the gift of intuition this week?

More: View the fascinating and exciting TED talk by Jill Bolte Taylor.

Read the Weekly Green from Week 19 here.

We always love to hear from you! How juicy is this quote for you?

Week 19

When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

Beauty is love made manifest. Approaching a problem with such open-heartedness brings in all the inspiration, creativity, and quantum leaps that are available to us. We are all born geniuses, so when we admire genius in someone like Bucky Fuller, we acknowledge that potential within ourselves. This week, how will you choose to tap the fullness and flow of your natural genius?

More: Bucky Fuller was wonderfully quotable. Read more quotes here.

Read the Weekly Green from Week 18 here.

We always love to hear from you! How juicy is this quote for you?