LOHAS 11

LOHAS is an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. Read more about it on the LOHAS website. To me, it represents our target audience for much of what we are doing now including Playa Viva, Casa Viva, Calakmul, Rainforests2Reefs and more. I call them the "Whole Foods Shopping, Prius Driving, Yoga Class taking" consumers. The conference reinforced my belief that this group shops based on their values first.

Two big highlights from this conference:

1. TerraCycle - You got to love these guys. Their product is Garbage (Worm Pop and Worm Tea used as organic plant food. Their packaging is garbage (recycled plastic bottles). They develop a recycling program with schools and other organizations to raise money by recycling bottles for them. We hope to work with TerraCycle to develop a recycling program in Mexico. Mexico has a huge problem due to the cultural habit of burning trash. Now that PET Plastic bottles are part of the trash (rather than traditional all organics), the burning of PET releases poisonous and cancer causing dioxins into the air and ground water supply.


2. LivingHomes - We visited with Steve Glenn - founder and user of LivingHomes. His house is the model and it is a model. It is a prefab green home, so green that he achieved Platinum LEED Certification. Steve has thought of everything, from xeriscape roof garden, solar radian heat, denatured alcohol fume free fireplace, undersink composter and my favorite system of all is his computer system for tracking energy usage in real time. I thought watching and working the MPG meter in my Prius was a challenge befitting the Accidental Environmentalist, try monitoring and optimizing all the electrical use in your home. It woudl be nice to create pre-fab, modern green beach home project...maybe we can convince Steve to join us on our next project.

This was my first LOHAS conference, it was VERY LA (sitting in on Mariel Hemingway pitching her new book was just one example). Looking forward to this event moving back to Colorado next year.

SVN 20th Anniversay

So I joined SVN, Social Venture Network, a few months ago and attended my fist SVN member gathering, which happened to be its 20th anniversary. This was one of the best decisions of my life and one of the best events I've ever attended. What made it so great. First the people, the quality of people and the work they are doing. Second, the inspiration, just when you thought you were doing everything right, these folks show you what it really means to "do it right". So you want examples of what I mean by this, I can give you two:

1) Judy Wicks and White Dog Cafe - Not only is Judy a pioneer but she keeps on innovating. It was not enough to be organic, she had to be local, and then when she was local, she provided those resources to her competition to help the local community farmers. Her commitment is to the health of the community.

2) Bernie Glassman - and then their is Bernie - he truly is a Zen Master. But his commitment to socially responsible ventures is in one word, "inspiring". Here is just a slice of his story, more on his website:

Greyston Bakery. Founded in 1982 in the southwest corner of Yonkers, a poor neighborhood beset by high unemployment, violence and drugs, the bakery began to hire people that conventional businesses had deemed “unemployable.” It trained its employees in bakery crafts and soon they were producing some of New York's most expensive, high-end cakes and tarts sold in the city's fanciest eateries. In 1990 it began to produce brownies for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and its revenues shot up dramatically. Since its humble founding, the bakery grew into a successful $6 million business with more than 75 employees. Its hiring remains to this very day "First come, first served," and much of its profits are recycled into seed money for its sister not-for-profits, thus making the entire network more sustainable and financially independent.




I am looking forward to more of SVN.


More on SVN to come.

Johnny Appleseed - Permaculture Near and Far

Back at it, no excuses. I spent the morning with Farmer Mike getting supplies to fill the newly constructed planters at my son, Ilan's, school - organic planting soil, herbs, veggies, some flowers, etc.

We first met Michael Yoken at Camp Tawonga during the Peacemaker Camp. Mike was tending the organic garden at the camp, and while I headed to the pool with Ariela, our daughter, Ilan would take off on his own for the secret garden to work with Mike to pick vegetables, make veggie pizzas in their brick oven and just get his hands dirty.

So after camp, we invited Mike to join us for dinner. He also gave us a consultation on how to make our garden grow better. Like every other resident of this area, we have a "mow and blow" gardener, but that gardener really doesn't garden, they just trim and clean. So Mike was the perfect addition to the gardening team - enriching the soil, planting edible garden and teaching us all something new. Since then, our winter ground cover is in full green bloom as fave beans, common vetch and barley grow strong and add needed nitrogen to the soil. We added volcanic rock to the garden to lower the pH and added mulch to keep the roses warm over the winter. Last week, Mike returned from Israel and came by to help plant a small herb garden. So when Ilan's school sent out an email asking for financial help on the filling the new garden beds that were constructed, I figured it was time to call in Farmer Mike. That was the morning.

This afternoon I got a call from Bill Wolf. Bill was introduced to me by my old college friend Gregory Kats. Bill was telling me about a project he is working on outside of Charlotte, NC - Kanawha. Of particular interest was the work they are doing in setting up Organic Farm on this 340 acre development. Part of the plan was to put in an organic agriculture teaching program and provide consulting to new residents in planting edible landscape. I could only think of our friend Gabriel who lived in Charlotte and is originally from Mexico. Gabe had set up a small landscaping business on the side hiring hard working Mexicans to provide mow and blow services around Charlotte. These same Mexicans probably came from small villages in Mexico where they spent their days helping their parents working on farm. These farm boys would end up crossing the border to become industrious "mow and blow" specialists. And then Bill Wolf would set up a school at Kanawha to teach these same guys to be farmers again.

What are the economies of scale of turning everyone's mow and blow lawns into edible gardens? What are the economies of scale of putting solar power on all of their roofs? Is this a step towards reversing the progress of the industrial revolution? Or a step towards the next revolution?

Tomorrow, we actually work with Ilan's 16 or so classmates to create an organic, edible garden. These poor kids, do they know that they might be part of a revolution?

What Happened to November

November was jam packed with travel and conferences. I attended the 1st Mexico Sustainable Conference and Expo held in Monterey Mexico. The big take-away was that CFE, the national utility, had some projects where they were "buying" back solar power from customers. This is big news for us, it allows Playa Viva to be net neutral or even positive energy producers while still leveraging the grid.

This event was followed by US Green Build Council in Denver. 13,000 attendees demonstrated that green building is not a fad, but a full fledged movement. Lots of great products on display at the expo. The highlight of the show was William McDonough co-author of the book "Cradle to Cradle". Also worth the price of admission was bumping into Gregory Katz who I last saw when I was a freshman in college.

I was able to fly home in time to be with my daughter for her 4th birthday party and then it was off to Santa Fe for the Regenesis Alliance meeting to discuss the future of the Regenerative Design Process with the members of the Regenesis Group. Playa Viva has hired members of the Regenesis Group to assist with the design of this project. We even managed a quick visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum.

David Miller, our project manager joined me in Denver and in Santa Fe. We were able to make great contacts including Michael Ogden who "wrote the book" on Constructed Wetlands.

November ended with a great Thanksgiving Feast at Mom's in Scottsdale, AZ.

The Next Greatest Generation

Hurray Allison (Arieff in her article in the NYTimes - The Green Market - October 4, 2006) you nailed the irony of sustainable marketing - sustainability is about using less not buying more. The irony of a luxury sustainability magazine being sustainable only if its readers buy the goods from the advertisers that support it is sublime. On the other hand, the notion of sustainability is in its infancy and yet to reach its tipping point. Sure, we don't all wake up in the morning making decisions on what we can do to lower our footprint.

I am currently building a Luxury Sustainable Resort Community and in talking to partners, investors and potential guests, the questions that inevitably comes up is, "How can a resort be both 'Luxury' and 'Sustainable'?" To that question I answer with this short story. We have two Prius cars in our driveway, one is the original, now 5 years old and it has very few extra's in it. When we went to buy our second Prius, now 3 years old, it came with many more amenities - Navigation System, 6 CD Changer, Voice Control, etc. Our project lawyer just drove up to a meeting in her brand new Prius, guess what, they now come with Leather Seats! Seems that Toyota made an initial assumption that the market for a green car would be people who want to save gas, but it seems that it is the other way around. The Prius is the car for people who can and want to make a conscious effort to reduce their footprint.

So now, when my lawyer wakes up in the morning, she doesn't have to think about lowering her footprint when she is worried about getting her girl to school on time. That is how Sustainability will hit the tipping point, a large lifestyle decision like buying a green car will make smaller decisions about reducing your footprint integrated into your day to day lifestyle - one decision and decision maker at a time. Sure the "Greatest Generation" built our "modern" society based on the idea of plenty and boundless resources. Now it is time for the Next Greatest Generation that can create a new society around the ideas of scarcity and sustainability. Hurray Allison, keep speaking and writing about this topic and lets create a new vision of modern living that makes sustainability commonplace and effortless.

Life is a Holiday

This Sunday's New York Times Magazine on Travel, one of the first articles was on EcoTourism. The title "Easy Being Green" and the main point "guilt free luxury" and "green is becoming the new normal in luxury hotels". So now for the self-serving message, the Accidental Environmentalist is either jumping on the bandwagon or driving, we are not sure which, the later giving us more credit than the former, either way the message is the same...We are building a "Luxury Sustainable Resort Community". What does that mean?

Luxury is defined both by design and service. Quality and attention to detail in both construction and design as well as in the details of service delivery. Attention to detail is both sublime and subdued, noticed and yet integrated, it is artistry and common, it is architecture simple and natural in form and function. And service is both attentive an unobtrusive, it is expected yet integrated, it is polite and not overt, it is pleasing and soothing, transparent and personal.

Sustainability is honest, it is true to its origins and location, it is by nature cost efficient yet it requires a significant investment. It creates an environment of plenty and demands restraint and conservation. Sustainability is conscious of its surroundings and transformative in nature.

Resort is a haven. It too is transformative, it takes you from where you were to where you want to be and where you ought to be and back. It can be a subtle change through imperceptible changes to the entire infrastructure around you or it can make you cry, overcome by emotion over the slightest nuance.
Community is about interactions and creating connections with people and places. Connections may last a lifetime or the duration of a holiday, they may continue on or they may end with a simple goodbye. Community in a resort is harking back to that lake house you went to year after year with your family and the memories that stay with you like the stuff you take with you from house to house and never throw out.

The combination of these cardinal elements creates a powerful brew with think is irresistable - it is Playa Viva, the evolution of Casa Viva.

Hot World and Cool Cities

In the back of a greasy hamburger joint in San Mateo, about 9 people gathered, all had received an evite from Rafael Reyes with the Sierra Club. The topic was vague, "come talk about San Mateo, energy and climate action". We went around the table and introduced ourselves, some were retired, some out of work, two educators, two writers, one engineer, one city worker and me and Rafael. Turns out the Rafael has been pretty involved in the Sierra Club, including local chapter president and now elected to the board, good for Rafael.

Each person told their story as to why they came to this meeting. Several mentioned having seen "An Inconvenient Truth" and wanted to do something. (I'm so glad that Al made his movie and that it is motivating people to take action.) The engineer had put solar panels on his house and wanted to do more to make San Mateo a Green City. The city worker had actually helped the city develop a sustainability plan, a copy of which he had in this hand. The retired guy was available to write proposals, position papers and other documents. Some could dedicate more time, others would commit to be a show of force when needed.

As for me, I had just done a tour of the new San Mateo Public Library by the architects who were showing off the Green design elements of the building. Having just finished the book "Greed to Green", the idea of a city making a commitment to becoming green was not foreign. Now I found myself smack-dab in the middle of a group that was actually forming to forward this same cause. Seems that the Sierra Club is embarking on a city by city campaign called "Cool Cities". I am not sure what my level of commitment will be at this time, but I am interested in what we can do at the local level to promote a sustainable community.

Where this will go, I don't know, but it looks like the group has some key elements for success: good people, good cause, good knowhow and a specific target and goal. So the Accidental Environmentalist is now going local. More to come, hopefully, on the success of this new endeavor.

Greening the Desert - Solving All Your Problems

This just in from Tim Murphy, the Permaculturist (is that word in Wikipedia yet?), on our project in Playa Viva. It is a nice little inspiring Flash video on how permaculture is greening the desert of Jordan. You can't miss the exhuberence of our host who will promise to solve the world's problems with a garden.

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.