I just returned from the land of llamas, salteñas and altitude that takes your breath away – Bolivia. Nothing beats traveling for fresh perspectives and recharging the batteries. But I also find myself feeling resistant to returning to the routine of everyday life. Upon returning, these three events came across my radar screen, providing me some welcome home inspiration. As the days get shorter, here are four uplifting facts to brighten your day:
- REI Launches #OptOutside
- Sonoma Land Trust Returns the Tide to Sears Point
- University of California Presents 10 Scalable Solutions for Carbon Neutrality
- New Book: Heart of Sustainability
REI Launches #OptOutside
I love REI’s announcement that they will close on Black Friday and pay their employees to get outside for the day. It has created a dedicated website with resources and ideas. The CEO’s video message about the announcement is darn funny. Some are arguing this is just a marketing ploy and a rip off of Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign. But it seems to be taking off with other outdoor companies joining the campaign.
Hard to complain about a company encouraging us to get outside more, as well as giving employees a paid day off over a big holiday weekend.
Sonoma Land Trust Returns the Tide to Sears Point
It always warms my heart to see projects I help start succeed. Hard for me to believe it was over 10 years ago that Green Impact was working to support the Sonoma Land Trust in the acquisition of over 1,000-acres of historical wetland at Sonoma Baylands. Last Sunday, the old levee was breached, returning the tides to Sears Point. A great reminder of the patience and persistence required on large restoration projects. Congrats to Sonoma Land Trust, one of my favorite clients because I can actually see and touch the results! And special kudos to Conservation Director Wendy Eliot who stayed the course over all these years to see this project to completion.
University of California Presents 10 Scalable Solutions for Carbon Neutrality
This week the University of California gathered experts at the UC Carbon and Climate Neutrality Summit at UC San Diego and announced 10 strategic solutions to global warming. I can’t say that I have fully digested the 23-page executive summary yet, but hard not to be impressed by the potential of the possibility if UC’s put their brainpower together. “This is a call to action. We put all of our best minds in California on this — a very formidable force. Nothing less than that is required,” said Governor Brown.
New Book Released: Heart of Sustainability
As a keep-your-day job artist and meditation student, I have recently been pondering the connection between mindfulness, creativity and sustainability. I look forward to reading Andrés R. Edwards’ new book: The Heart of Sustainability: Restoring Ecological Balance from the Inside out.
To the four Ps he adds the four Cs: conscious, creative, compassionate and connected. The summary says it will show us how to reconnect with ourselves, each other, and nature in order to tackle the challenges we face as a global community.
