Sustainability

Optimism and Opportunity

/ Meg Chatham / 2 Comments

Many of my posts reflect my outlook to err on the upside of life’s circumstances.  I try to drown out my inner (and often powerful) pessimism by surrounding myself with positivity and optimism.  I find that this is a careful balance of being hopeful while remaining realistic.  Today, when I was taking a break from my coursework, or the slightly negative part of my day, I watched an encouraging Ted Talk that I think demonstrates hopeful realism.

Johan Rockstrom suggests that the earth is at a point where major transformation must occur.  He optimistically recommends that we use and continue to use crises as opportunities and local initiatives to transform and sustain life.  Also, he makes a realistic statement that climate change is not our biggest problem only a symptom of our land use.

I found this talk engaging and thought-provoking.  I agree that I transformation is soon to happen and I look forward to being a part of it.

Blue Revolution

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The Utne Reader, long the aggregator of choice for news on a wide variety of topics from a wide variety of sources, has a great new life on the internet: bigger, better, faster. An item currently on their website (click the image above to go there) is worth a look because of the provocatively obvious (to anyone living in a location where water scarcity is already an issue) opening line:

It’s time to confront our long-held, deeply ingrained belief that water should be forever free, Cynthia Barnett contends in her new book Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis, which recently came out on Beacon Press.

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Needing Mr. Miyagi

/ Meg Chatham / 2 Comments

Anyone who has ever been to ski slopes may have experienced small, pint-sized, infant skiers buzzing down the hills.  As a veteran skier of 18-years, I proudly proclaim that I was once one of these daring children.  However, I learned this past weekend that through the years I have lost this fearlessness when I was challenged to try snowboarding.  I would love to boast that my first run was very similar to this video, but the aching of my entire body keeps me truthful as if to say, “Ha!  You wish, Meg!”

Several times I met the side of the mountain and regardless of the many parts of my body that hit, the solid surface was resilient to my attacks; in fact, the bruises that continue to surface would argue that it fought back with increasing firmness.  The absence of soft, powdery snow brought my awareness to this season’s lack of typical winter weather, and it drew my attention to the resort’s snow-making cannons.  Continue reading →

Schneider Electric: Saving Energy across Multiple Cultures

/ Timothy Chen / 1 Comment

Last week in my Facilities Management course at the Cornell Hotel School, Al Nels, Global Account Manager for Marriott from Schneider Electric, presented in class as a guest speaker. His presentation explored the energy-saving capabilities of various systems developed by Schneider Electric, as well as simple tips that hotels often overlook. Among the many insights Nels shared, one in particular stood out to me: the cultural divide between American and European hotel guests—and the steps that Schneider is taking in order to save energy in both areas of the world.

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Facts & Figures

/ Organikos / 3 Comments

Michael Pollan, whose ideas we have mentioned surprisingly infrequently relative to the impact they have had on our collective lives, made the wise decision to team up with one of our favorite illustrators (have we really not featured her here yet?). Continue reading →

Travel, Writing & Games

/ Organikos / 3 Comments

This series has always been worth reading, whether you are an American looking through the eyes of a fellow American, or otherwise intrigued by a niche of American perspective that is not quite representative of that culture as a whole.

First things first: sometimes a book, a music recording or other item is only available from the mainstream online retailers such as Amazon or iTunes, but whenever possible we promote the purchase from independent sellers.  So click the image to the right if you want a link to independent booksellers in the USA, provided by the ever-entrepreneurial American Booksellers Association.

Now, the side show: the series editor Jason Wilson is also a contributor to a site we refer to on occasion, and he wrote an interesting item a couple of years ago that began:

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Confidence in Dreams

/ Meg Chatham / 1 Comment

It has been a struggle to pick topics to write about for the past several weeks, and in my innate pursuit of perfectionism I became wrought with indecision.  I could write about sustainable facilities design; I could uncover the truth about many LEED-certified buildings; I could even write about the ecology-based dormitory where I am writing this now.  But among these various topics, I could not find one that I felt “good enough” to write about at this time.  So to dissolve some of my indecision, I chose to reveal some of my mind’s musings, many of which the perfectionist side of me deems crazy, but day-by-day I am learning to embrace.

Each morning, I wake to the sound of my alarm clock and the chime of my smartphone being flooded with emails.  A month ago I thought nothing of this activity, but lately I have found it unnerving.  The annoyance I am feeling developed over my winter break. Continue reading →

Europe’s Green Capital

/ Megan Currie / 4 Comments

So I’ve left behind the wild, lush landscape of the Costa Rican rainforest and arrived in Strasbourg, France, to find a completely different kind of green.

Costa Rica is one of those countries the climate change debate focuses on – it’s the epitome of natural diversity and everywhere you turn there is some species or habitat that could be gone in 20 years’ time. Or 10 years’ time. From the rainforests I hiked through to the sloth sanctuary my mum and I visited, everything there seems at once so wild and so fragile. The conservation efforts we see there are direct, tackling the specific problems the land faces: protected areas are being designated, turtle-watching programmes are being set up to monitor and protect the species, and the people at Aviarios sloth sanctuary provide education for locals as well as caring for the animals.

Places like the Manuel Antonio National Park have to concentrate on the effects of climate change.

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The Cyberspace Jungle

/ James Zainaldin / 3 Comments

Today, we are bombarded with information. Millions of bits–photos, text, video–stream by us every second we’re on the web. And we’re always on the web. Mobile devices on 3G (and now “4G”) and lightweight laptops able to access nearly ubiquitous WiFi hotspots mean that the modern age is certainly the information age. And the Internet continues to grow riotously; like a tropical rain forest, millions of unique niches exist, but they are inhabited here instead by users and data. And much like a natural ecosystem, the internet is also inextricably interlinked and interdependent: hyperlinks, reference pointers, and social media make the Internet a pseudo-organic entity that has its gaze turned not only outward (towards expansion) but also inward (towards connections). In its own way, the internet is an oddly beautiful thing. The freewheeling, ever-shifting topography of the web means that from second-to-second it’s never quite the same place.

But for all its seductive beauty and facile utility Continue reading →

Ever Clever

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Click the image to the left to go to Dan Ariely’s always interesting and insightful blog site, where a recent post highlights a grocery whose shoppers are committed to lifestyles of health and sustainability.  The opener contains the key point:

Jared Wolfe, one of the students working with me, took the following pictures at Whole Foods a few days ago.  They illustrate amazing creativity in defining what the term “a deal” means.

1) Regular price is $1.99 and the Sale price is?   Two of the same item for $5 — which according to Whole Foods’ quick calculation is a savings of $1.02.  Amazing.

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“They Aren’t Teaching These Issues At Business Schools”

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

Guest Author: Robert Frisch

Tomorrow I begin a weeklong course that precedes my second semester at the Johnson School at Cornell University called the “Sustainability Boot Camp”.  As a result, I have spent the last few days reading up on what some of the world’s greatest thinkers have to say about sustainability, development, energy, and poverty.  I came across this eye opening and inspiring speech by economist Chandran Nair online, and I’d like to highlight two quotes from the video.

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Why Don’t More Hotels Go Green?

/ Timothy Chen / 5 Comments

After I received my LEED Green Associate accreditation last week, I decided to browse online to see if there were any interesting LEED-certified projects related to hospitality. I came across a great interview video between SAS, a company known for their statistical software, and Dennis Quaintance, president of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels. His company is recognized as an industry leader in green hotels, and its flagship property–The Proximity–is LEED Platinum Certified. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at the 2010 Sustainability Roundtable two years ago. Check out the video below (skip ahead to 1:46 for the important soundbite).

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Carbon Emissions Series: Green Neighborhood Design

/ Timothy Chen / Leave a comment

With the close of the semester, I’ve had some time to reflect on the classes I took—and which ones provided the most value. One of best courses I took this semester at Cornell was called Green Real Estate, and it was taught by Mark Vorreuter, a passionate LEED AP who was eager to see students of all majors interested in green buildings. The course covered many aspects of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a certification offered by the Green Building Council for buildings, homes, and neighborhoods that meet a set of criteria. I remembered spending several nights cramming for a practice LEED exam in which I had to acquaint myself with many of its specific criteria, but not until recently was I able to see the real effects of green building and neighborhood design.

Suburbs in Pearland offer large houses, wide roads, and generous land spacing.

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A Complex Region Through A Thoughtful Lens

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The newspaper, back in its paper days (1908-2008), was always excellent.  As a web resource, we are glad it has found firmer footing.  And some stories and contributors make its Latin America coverage particularly worth watching. Continue reading →

Water Resources

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We are in constant search mode for methods to reduce the use of plastics in India.  Plastic water bottles are the big frontier to conquer for resorts–no matter how “green” they may otherwise be–in particular.  Travelers are educated from so many sources–guidebooks, travel agents, government advisories, etc.–to demand sealed plastic water bottles (or else not drink from any other source). Continue reading →

Lion King in Real Life

/ Katrina Lee / 2 Comments

As a kid, I loved watching the Lion King. Either on the Disney Channel, VHS or live on Broadway, I was hooked. For me, safari in the Masai Mara is story of The Lion King coming to life: The whole gang was there- Simba, Nala, Pumba, Timon and even Rafiki!

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World Development and South America

/ Organikos / 2 Comments

Guest Author: Denzel Johnson

The world is a big place, but each location is different and separated in such ways that can’t be explained merely by distance. What I mean by that is how people in the world are separated and so different yet so important to how each other person lives.

Let me introduce myself; I’ve lived in England for most of my life and have grown up in London. Life there has always increased my interest in travel, especially with my background in Geography. Continue reading →

The Meaning(s) Of Organic

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

At first glance, this article and others on this website appeared to be of the “denier” variety, but on close read of this particular item (click the banner below to go to the article) it seems clearly of the educational clarification variety.

According to Rodale and his acolytes, products created by—and processes carried out by—living things are fundamentally different from lab-based processes and lab-created products. The resurrection of this prescientific, vitalistic notion of organic essentialism did not make sense to scientists who understood that every biological process is fundamentally a chemical process. In fact, all food, by definition, is composed of organic chemicals.

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