Week 3 - Sustainable Carpets

Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, the world's largest commercial carpet manufacturer, had an environmental epiphany and re-organized his $1.4 billion company on sustainable principles. I first heard of Ray Anderson from the movie, "The Corporation" and his part/interview was really good. You could clearly see that this guy got it. And what I mean is, he saw corporations for what they were - to generate profits at all costs - regardless of degradation to the environment or the amount of non-renewable sources consumed to make a buck. He not only disapproved of the greed and disregard for nature but he found a better way to run his own business through sustainability. Ray Anderson was also in the movie the 11th Hour, another great movie on the state of the planet by Leonardo Dicaprio and again, what Ray had to say was very valuable.

I recommend that anyone who cares about the Environment and is concerned about the role corporations play in society and the impact they have on our lives to watch the movies The Corporation and the 11th Hour and pay attention to Ray Anderson's parts.

For those business owners who may ask themselves how can I make my business sustainable or what are the benefits of sustainability - visit Interfaces website and take alook at one of the first corporations to transform its ways to reducing its impact on the environment and becoming more profitable. http://www.interfaceglobal.com/

Ray Anderson had his epiphany in 1994 after he read "The Ecology of Commerce", by Paul Hawken, who argues that the industrial system is destroying the planet and only industry leaders are powerful enough to stop it.

Ray Anderson also wrote his own novel Mid-Course Correction...which I found out researching this blog and intend to read.

Please watch this short 9 minute video of Ray Anderson in The Corporation.

Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcRDUIbT4gw

If the sustainable movement is going to happen, CEOs and business owners are going to have to have their own epiphanies and act as Mr. Anderson did back in 1994. If leaders of the corporate world cant be convinced to value the environment, hopefully they will at least value the cost cutting measures of sustainability.

Week 2 - Salt Spring Naked Ladies & Sheep

Whats else can I say but, I was intrigued by this picture of the two naked ladies with sheep on their laps. I got introduced to this picture during a PowerPoint presentation by professor Chris Ling in my Sustainability and Community class.

The picture (to left by Howard Fry) was taken in protest to environmental concerns on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia as an example of community action for sustainability. My interest was peaked for two reasons. One, what was the protest about? Second, how do naked girls holding sheep helping to bring awareness to a protest other than 'sex sells'.

First, to solve this mystery of what is behind this photo, I googled Howard Fry. For more of his photos click the following link http://howard.frygallery.com/. I suggest the black and white section of his photo gallery site to view an alternate photograph of the two naked ladies with sheep. In fact I like the one on the site better versus the one you see now. Unfortunately, more photos did not bring me closer to the actual point of the 'protest' at hand. The only conclusion I can draw so far, is that Howard Fry is a unique photographer that can combine nakedness and the environment/nature in an eye pleasing way.

My second attempt to solve the mystery of the naked girls with sheep, I again googled "protests on salt spring island." Pay dirt! I found an January 23rd, 2001 article from the Vancouver Sun called 'Lady Godiva' protest assails Saltspring logging by Glenn Bohn.

This article explains the protests were against Texada Land Cooperation. Texada recently purchased approximately 5000 hectares (one-tenth of Salt Spring Island) from a German private land owner for $50 million. Texada immediately began to log (clear-cut) this land for new home development. This land is home to the largest remaining Garry Oak woodland in Canada as well as rare animals, insects and plants. Orca whales and porpoises frequent the island's bay and salmon spawn in its streams.

The community of Saltspring Island, lobbied governments, informed the media, held rallies and even locked themselves to logging trucks but their voices were not heard until lady protesters took their clothes off. Briony Penn, dressed as Lady Godiva wearing a wig & panties and rode a horse through the streets of downtown Vancouver accompanied with other bare-breasted women and protesters to raise awareness of Texada logging of Saltsprings.

Briony Penn has a PhD in Geography but her other attempts to raise awareness (as mention above) of the logging and destroyed ecosystems until she took her clothes off with others. This action resulted in a dozen new cameras, news paper photographers and reporters. Briony Penn later ran in the last federal election for the Liberal Party but was defeated in a close race by the by Conservative, Gary Lunn now Minister of Natural Resources.

You may ask, what is the significance of Lady Godiva? Lady Godiva rode the streets of Coventry of England to protest the greed and taxation that she felt was ruining her community. Briony Penn felt that Lady Godiva was a lovely metaphor to protest the logging of Texada.

What about the naked babes holding sheep? Well, like Briony Penn were of the community, protesters of Saltspring that wanted to raise awareness of the logging practices. A calender was made in order to raise money to buy back the private land from Texada (at a much higher price, of course). This calender was photographed by Howard Fry and includes the above picture. The inspiration for this calender came from the Women's Institute of Rysdale in Yorkshire, England, of the 1999 calendar showing female members (husbands with leukaemia) in the nude fundraising for leukaemia and lymphoma research.

For further more info, check out these links for the articles I read for this blog:

http://www.savesaltspring.com/godiva.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6685/is_/ai_n28859386

Week 1 Green Collar

In the article, "Green-collar industry ready to fly", from the Hamilton Spectator by journalist Jay Robb explains how "clean and efficient technologies can transform our local economy." Hamilton, Ontario was my home of 5 years prior to moving to Victoria B.C. Hamilton is a predominant blue-collar steeltown. The article suggests that Hamilton has the ability to transform its aging blue-collar community into a pilot city to implement new green technologies. The steel industries of Hamilton peaked decades ago and have slowly declined to date. Dofasco and Stelco were the two well known steel industries of Hamilton. Now they are owned by Arcelor-Mittal and US Steel and their fates unknown. The manufacturing jobs were the leading employers of Hamilton; now those job positions are half the size with cut backs, downsizing and technology to replace labour intensive positions. The infrastructure of Hamilton is hurting. The pollution of steel industries have taken their toll, and the overall quality of life is dwindling with increased crime rates, teen pregnancy, illiteracy rates and unemployment. In an economic crisis, the future of Hamilton looks bleak.

Van Jones of Green for All (U.S. non-profit dedicated to building inclusive, green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty), has hope and a plan for steel towns like Hamilton. Jones is a 39 year old Yale Law School graduate that envisions green jobs that solve pollution and reduce poverty simultaneously. His solution is getting at-risk youth to install solar panels, insulate and weatherize buildings and improve the energy efficiency of inner-city neighbourhoods. As building codes change and green technologies for retrofitting homes become more applicable; green-collar jobs will be available. "Low-income homeowners get a break on their energy bills, teens get jobs and neighbourhoods turn around." (Robb, Hamilton Spectator, 2009) Jones also explains retrofitting buildings in cities like Hamilton can not be out-sourced to place like China and have to be sourced locally.

Another example from the article is Erie, Pa where GE Transportation has become very profitable making diesel locomotives providing much needed manufacturing jobs in the "Rust Belt." Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and author Thomas Friedman is quoted " A combination of great engineering by a traditional American company in a traditional American town, a global market looking for cleaner locomotives, and a U.S. government that demanded higher and higher standards." Its win, win.

If only Hamilton could be so lucky to implement a green technology that could transform the city. In times of economic and climate crisis, creates opportunities for companies, communities and countries that are "quick off the mark," to provide much needed clean energies and green technologies. The world is desperate for green technologies and there is big money and lot of jobs for those who are first to answer the call. Friedman is convinced that, "the ability to develop clean power and energy efficient technologies is going to become the defining measure of a country's economic standing, environmental health, energy security and national security over the next 50 years."

The article ends with asking the question, "what sort of Hamilton would you like to see?"

Keeping in mind that the steel industry of Hamilton is still the leading employer and if the steel industries were to move or fold; Hamilton would be in serious trouble. Its hard to imagine Hamilton worse than it already is, but is not to hard believe that the once powerful steel company's (the backbone of Hamilton) may be no more. I agree with the article "that Hamilton is steadily losing more and more blue-collar, labour intensive manufacturing jobs and scrambling to fill the void." (Robb, Hamilton Spectator, 2009)

I would like to see a green Hamilton that is investing and building towards green technologies (green buildings, vehicles and power sources) creating high-paying green-collar jobs, reducing pollution and becoming the industry of the future. Unfortunately, I believe Hamilton is a city of old technologies and old ways of thinking. I predict Hamilton will try to save its sinking steel industry rather than invest in green technologies and go down with the ship.