On Becoming an Accidental Environmentalist

I just read David Gottfried's "Greed to Green" on the plane to and from Chicago this weekend. I was struck by the personal nature of how he tells his story of converting to conservationism. Here is my story, in the form of a blog.

Acknowledgements - I blame my wife fully for what I have become. She is the dreamer. These are all here ideas. That is her both her blessing and her flaw, she is just that, a dreamer, she really can't turn those dreams into sustainable endeavours, at least not by herself. Sure she is a very successful mother, wife, orthodontist, environmentalist, peace activist and more. But she accomplishes all this by nagging you, me, anyone with her dreams and visions long enough until someone else turns it into a "going concern". And so, her passion and dreams is my blessing and my curse. I have had the privilege of being nagged into action on several of those visions. If not for her nagging, I would still be on the couch watching a ballgame enjoying some ideal banter with no one in particular. Three of these visions have allowed me to become "The Accidental Environmentalist" - Calakmul, Casa Viva and now Playa Viva.

I first used the term "accidental environmentalist" in a meeting with Carl Pope, head of the Sierra Club whose offices are here in San Francisco. I was playing tennis with my friend Kevin Gottisman (x-manager of super models, now non-profit internet guru) and he pointed out Carl to me on the court next door. "Hey, that' Carl Pope playing tennis over there", pointed out Kevin between games. I had no idea who Carl was at that point. Sandy and I had just created "Friends of Calakmul" - I know, if I had to do it all over again, I would have picked a better name - and Carl would be a perfect person to talk to about our nascent conservation non-profit. Kevin and I finished our game of tennis and, luckily, Carl was finishing his match as we both walked into the lobby at the same time, he from the courts and me from the locker rooms. I gave Carl my elevator pitch and asked if he would meet me for coffee. He agreed and asked if I would schedule a meeting with his assistant.

A few weeks later, I found myself in Carl's office giving him my best PowerPoint. I told him that I was a sales and marketing guy, media and software were my terrain and I was new to all this conservation stuff, "I guess I'm the Accidental Environmentalist" is what came out next along with my story of how I ended up sitting on top of a conservation easement for 150,000 acres of pristine jungle in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

Carl liked the pitch. He said that we had a great project but that no foundation would fund us because the internet crash had devastated everyone's trust funds. We might get money in a few years after the portfolios were rebuilt but in the interim, all the decent foundations were hard pressed to meet the commitments they had already made, much less make new ones. I thought that was the best and most polite brush off I'd ever gotten until he finished by saying, "I think I can help you find some money to hold you over until things pick back up." That was it, FOC, it makes a better acronym than organization name, was on the map.

So why do a blog? Is it just because of David's book? I have been thinking about doing this for a while. Now that I'm working full time on a sustainable real estate project, I've been reading a lot more blogs, newsletters and general content about the green revolution. So what makes me qualified to write my own rag on the subject? My only qualification is that I'm the Accidental Environmentalist. So other than stumbling into this role, the core lessons that I have learned in this transformation are the same that apply to all of us - use less, spend less, make the most of what you have, tread lightly, make everything around you better than it was when you arrived, make a conscious effort to make this place better for our kids and their kids, set a good example for others.