NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: Interview with Gennaro Brooks-Church, Founder of Eco Brooklyn

As I was searching online for interesting Green entrepreneurs, I stumbled upon the site for Eco Brooklyn, a company devoted to educating and helping the New York community build greener co-ops and Brownstones. Eco Brooklyn is a social enterprise not just for its Green philosophy; they also make Green building education courses part of their core value proposition.

I had the opportunity to interview Gennaro Brooks-Church, founder of Eco Brooklyn. His inspirational story is one that illustrates that many times entrepreneurship chooses the entrepreneur rather than the other way around! In addition to the interview, there is also a slide show attached that shows Eco Brooklyn's work.

To read the full interview, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m6d30-Interview-with-Gennaro-BrooksChurch-Founder-of-Eco-Brooklyn

Picture of the Year

The Today Show recently ran a contest to determine the "picture of the year". There were images of Obama, Michael Phelps, moving photos of conflicts around the world. But the theme that ultimately won out was nature. 3 of the top 5 photos chosen by viewers depicted acts of nature around the world, the top one being of a lightning storm over a volcano in Southern Chile. The photo is dramatic - so much so that you'd think it was doctored up or contrived. Rest assured, it is real and awe-inspiring. It was taken by photographer Carlos Gutierrez for the Patagonia Press. 

I think about the environment a lot, its beauty and power. I used to work for an environmental nonprofit and it is one of the main causes I donate to. I read extensively on the topic and am constantly working to lower my carbon footprint. I am certainly a green consumer and firmly believe that there are enormous public health implications if we do not do everything we can to protect our natural world. I am so pleased that Mr. Gutierrez's photo won - it shows that I am not alone in being inspired by nature, not by a long-shot. Of all the photos that were taken in this historic year, nature reigned supreme in inspiring people around the world.

  

I hope 2009 will be the year when green energy and environmental conservation takes center stage - in this country as well as in other countries around the world. I hope we put policies and regulations in place that halt the rapid disappearance of species and habitat. I hope that more people will be willing to pay a bit more now for green products rather than pay dearly for the consequences of not protecting the environment in years to come. As a society, I'd like to see us protect and treasure life.

There is a song that John Denver sings on the Muppet Christmas album that is one of my favorites. It's about a little tree named Alfie. At the end of the song, John communicates one small request from Alfie, and whenever I hear it I get a little bit choked up. It bears repeating. "You see life is a very special kind of thing. And not just for a chosen few, but for every living, breathing thing, not just me and you. So in your Christmas prayers this year, Alfie asked me if I'd ask you to say a prayer for the wind, and the water, and the wood, and those who live there, too." That's a request I'm very happy to fill. 

The photo above can be found at: http://breh.myncblogs.com/files/2008/05/volcanoupi_800x531-580x384.jpg 

Crows: Man's Best Friend? Possibly

Joshua Klein is a Principle at frogDesign, an incredible design and idea house based in New York City. I read their blog, frogBlog, religiously and everyday find new ideas and POV that give me new perspective. Klein recently spoke at TED about crow and corvid behavior, his unusual passion for the last 10 years. 

Klein explains that we seem intent on a handful of things when it comes to wildlife. We are very concerned with endangered species, particularly those that are endangered because of human destruction of habitat and hunting of the animals. On the flip side, we show disdain for those animals who have learned how to thrive in spite of a human desire to crush their species - rats and cockroaches are examples.

The most remarkable specimen of a species that seems to thrive on human existence are crows. They always live within a 5km of humans, on every continent except Antarctica. Like chimpanzees, crows use tools, reason, and logic, and then teach these skills to their young and flock. They have memories, particularly of physical human descriptions, better than most humans. They have trained themselves o understand human systems like traffic lights, and then use these systems to their own benefit. They adapt to challenges quickly and can even be taught to use vending machines. Unbelievable you say? Watch the video. You'll be blown away. 

Great observations, Josh Klein. So what? Who cares if crows are smarter than we give them credit for? What can crows do for us? Klein is asking these profound questions and he's wondering how crows and humans can form symbiotic, mutually-beneficial relationships. It turns out that crows could be trained to do a lot for us, if only we apply a snippet of creativity. Collect trash? Participate in search and rescue? Salvage valuable items from a landfill? After all, crows have proven one thing to us that we cannot refute - they thrive on human interaction and they aren't going away from us any time soon. And as long as they're here and willing to be a part of human society, then we might as well make them as useful as possible. 

The photo above can be found here. 

Take a peek at Josh's website: http://www.wireless.is/

Life dream: Rwanda

Real Simple Magazine recently asked their readers to write in with the top 3 things on their life's "must-do" list. I needed to think long and hard about this and I came up with the following short list, though there are many more things I'd love to do:

1.) Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef 

2.) Learn to play the piano

3.) See the mountain gorillas in Rwanda

Runners-up:

4.) Speak another language fluently

5.) Visit Sicily with someone I love

6.) Buy a home

Taking the Rwanda "must-do", I did a bit of research after hearing the tail end of a story about mountain gorillas on NPR. Many scientists have traveled to Rwanda to study the animals, and many conservation groups are working round the clock to save them and their habitat, in the face of poachers and a never-ending stream of wars in that nation. The gorillas grew used to seeing people, though once the genocide grew rampant throughout Rwanda, scientists withdrew from their work with the gorillas. The populations of the animals has been falling ever since, until now. 

It appears that the gorillas could sense the stress of the wars going on in their area, and their birthrates declined as a result. Another well-supported theory suggests that once the scientists withdrew, the gorillas missed them, became depressed, and stopped having as many young. Now that peace has been restored, even though tenuous, to Rwanda, the gorillas population is growing and birthrates are up for the first time in 24 years. 

The natural world often goes overlooked in war-torn areas. The human casualties of conflict are heart-wrenching, and there are other species that are also harmed in the wake of war. They suffer in silence. All the more reason to do whatever we must do to keep the peace - there i more at stake than our own existence.

Vanity Fair's misstep on the 2008 Green issue

While Miley Cyrus's photoshoot maybe the talk of the hallways over at Vanity Fair, I think they have bigger problems - that of leadership. This month every magazine had their version of a Green issue. Finally, it seems that the wake-up call to protect the environment and reverse some of the damage we've done is reaching the mainstream. Last year I was so impressed withVanity Fair's Green issue that I subscribed to the magazine. When this year's Green issue arrived in my mailbox, I couldn't wait to read through it. And now I'm completely confused.

In spite of all of the incredible innovation and creativity happening in the world of sustainability, this year's VF Green issue simply rehashed the same old topics and players that have been kicking around for years. I didn't see anything about entrepreneurs with green-collar jobs, young companies that are making a big difference (i.e., Method), the growing popularity of CSA's, or the locavore trend. All of these are timely, trendy topics in Green. Rather than the fine reporting I've come to admire in VF, this issue's features are pretty much the same as those found in nearly every mass media source. 

And then to add insult to injury, there's a double-sided, heavy stock coupon for cigarettes right in the middle of the magazine! I guess I'm supposed to feel better that at least the tobacco is "additive-free", the coupon is printed on recycled paper, and the executives at the tobacco company are "passionate about the environment" and have organic growing programs. Gross - the ad was an exercise in how many environmental buzzword the company could haphazardly throw together on one sheet of paper.  Their product still causes illness, and is not part of a healthy lifestyle. Healthy living is exactly what Green is all about! What was the VF advertising department thinking when they accepted and prominently featured that ad? Clearly, they weren't thinking at all. 

Here's to hoping that VF makes better choices in the 2009 Green issue and that the rest of us take-away the power of being genuine. The damage being anything less than genuine can cause is not something any company can afford.

Scruppies unite!

We couldn't let Earth Day go by without another new vocabulary word in the lexicon of sustainability. This one is actually fun to say! Scruppies is defined as "socially conscious upwardly mobile persons." Me (God-willing on the upwardly mobile part), for example.

I grew up in a rural area where being Green was just the way we lived. We'd never pollute the land we had to live on because, well, we had to live there. We bought food at the farmer's markets because we were friends with the farmers. We shut off lights and rarely had air conditioning because it was just too expensive. We used items until they wore out, and then had them repaired rather than tossing them because that makes economic sense.

So now that I'm college educated twice-over and have a good job, I want to be financially independent and successful while also hanging onto my roots of only using the resources I absolutely need and doing my part to make the planet a cleaner, healthier place. Simple enough. Apparently, I'm not alone. There are so many of us who fit this category that we have numbers large enough to justify our own demographic segment: scruppies.

Persistence pays. Happy Earth Day to all!

The photo above can be found at http://www.newworldbiomass.com/images/earthdate.gif

Google-Powered Search Engine Goes Green with Blackle.com

"Green is the new black" is all over NYC lately - t-shirts, bags, TV commercials, street posters. Saving the environment is coolest hobby these days. Now Heap Media has partnered with Google to take a creative bent on search making "Black the new Green" with Blackle.com.

Instead of Google's traditional white search window, Blackle.com's window is black with white type, saving about 15 watts per search. I learned about Blackle.com through the Centerfor Biodiversity's weekly newsletter that I receive each Friday. One blogger has estimated that if Blackle.com is widely adopted, it could save the world 750 megawatts / year. (This amount of energy would power 500 US homes for about 2 years!) In additional to savings energy, and ultimately money, the search engine is also a powerful reminder that protecting the environment is important. It keeps the cause top-of-mind.

Check it out at http://www.blackle.com/
To subscribe to the Center for Biodiversity's weekly newsletter, visit http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

Biomimicry - creative inspiration for designers

If we, a designers, truly inspect and respect what nature has to teach us, then the creative inspiration around us is limitless. Business Week's Green Design blog has recently published an enormous amount of new information, largely through pictures, to its site. No doubt that the contents are getting increased attention due to the U.N. General Assembly discussions this week around climate change.

The most fasincating posts to me are those relating to biomimicry, a new discipline that studies intently studies nature and then mimics nature's designs and processes to solve human problems. How much time do we spend trying to reinvent the wheel, and then in the process chase our own tails? We need look no further than out our own windows to be inspired by new and innovative thinking.

Finally, these sets of articles and the principles of biomimicry have provided me with the vocabularly to articulate why the environment is such a precious resource and why I am so passionate about its protection. To lose any part of it, be in flora or fauna, is to lose hundreds of thousands of years of design study. The wisdom encapsulated in a snail shell or the leaf pattern of a maple is irreplaceable. To lose that wisdom, in my eyes, is an awful as book burning or the banishing of the freedom of expression. As Mayor Bloomberg intimated this week, to not protect the environment is tantamount to terrorism.

Have a look at the Green Design site at http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/di_special/20080211sustainable.htm

The Everyday Environmentalist

I have been a supporter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Sierra Club and at one time worked for Conservation International (CI) because I am passionate about the planet and helping to protect it. TNC has launched a site called "Everyday Environmentalist" in an effort to create a central platform for people to share their green tips on-line. The tips range from the practical like taking the stairs rather than an elevator to the creative such as 101 uses for a bike trailer.

Have a look at what's posted, and then post your own eco-tips at http://www.nature.org/activities/everydayenv.html

Whales as a necessary casualty?

What I find fascinating about the U.S. military is their continual insistence that they care about preserving life and then with nearly every policy, the destruction of life on some level is considered acceptable. How is it possible that with all of the technology and funding that the military has at their disposal these days (and I truly hope that those days of unbridled spending are numbered), they are cannot help but harm or cause death in at least 30 species of marine life off the coast of California? There isn’t any other solution to this problem? Or is it just that it would require more creativity than the Navy can muster?

This brings to mind similar problems of a creativity void that I see, hear, and read about in today's corporations. Our ability to proceed with "business as usual" is becoming a crutch. Some one's in the way? Run them over. Someone has opinion that doesn't tote the party line? Fire them. Some one's best interests are in the way? Run them over. Or in the Navy's case, destroy them. I mean, it's just a few whales right? This is NATIONAL SECURITY we're talking about here. Or is it just inconvenience for the Navy to think different?

Creativity seems to only rise to the top as a driver of solutions when it is the only option left on the table. Given the current state of our economy, and our wold-wide relations, we may have no other choice now except to let creativity lead us to a better solution. Brawn is clearly not working. It's no wonder that the WEF in Davos chose Innovation as its theme this year. Innovation is the only way forward.

For a related article on this topic that appeared in today's New York Times, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/opinion/22tue2.html?th&emc=th.

The above photo can be found at http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/humpback-whales-singing.jpg

Control the controllable

“I kept myself calm by making sure I didn't concentrate on anything I couldn't control."
--B.J. Bedford, Olympic swimmer

BJ Bedford barely made the U.S. Olympic swim team in 1996 and then went on to win the gold at Sydney just four years later. If this mantra worked for her, I believe it can work for all of us. A lot of our anxiety as a society, and as individuals, is driven off the unknown fed by a focus on things we cannot control.

I worry a lot, as I have written about several times on this site. I worry about the economy, our environment, terrorism, about the states of education and healthcare. I worry that George Bush has damaged our nation so badly on so many levels that it may take all of the effort of the next administration, Democrat, Republican, or otherwise, four years just to get us back to where we were at the end of Bill Clinton’s Presidency. What do I control in these situations? What can I actually do to contribute?

The economy: I am an ardent saver. I live within my means, and most often below them. I do my best to make smart investments. I show up every day at my desk at work and do the very best I can in every moment. I look to buy products that make a difference, be that they are more environmentally friendly, healthier, or provide a benefit to those who manufacture them such as fair trade farmers. I watch the market, and I educate myself on the actions of the Fed and policy makers that can move the needle.

I try to propagate peace and tolerance in the environments I make my life in, hoping that I can inspire other people to do the same. I recycle, and I make every effort to always use less, whether it’s energy, paper, water, or any other natural resource.

And as far as George Bush – I do my best. I voted for the other candidates both times, mostly because I refuse to vote for anyone who is incapable of stringing five correctly pronounced words together to make a coherent sentence. Plus, I fundamentally disagree with his stance on nearly every issue. I control what I can control.

My politics aside, there is a lesson for all of us in BJ Bedford’s quote. What I do to maintain control is nothing extraordinary. They are choices I simply make by being aware of the world around me. It may be worth it to make a list of what’s in our control and what’s not in any given situation in which we feel stressed. The list can serve as a visual cue to help us refocus our energies and efforts so that we can generate a sense of calm both within ourselves and for those around us.

The photo above can be found at: http://www.colly.com/images/uploads/control_poster_420.jpg

Get your Vital Juice

One of the great benefits of my job is that it requires me to be tremendously well-read, and allows me time to do that. I spend hours a day trolling around on blogs and on on-line publications, as well as burying my nose into dozens of magazines a week. This is the perfect job for me!

One of my recent fabulous finds is a website called Vital Juice Daily. http://www.vitaljuicedaily.com/ It is a wellness site that is a go-to source for living a happy and healthy life. What I love most about the site is its easy and clean navigation, as well as its holistic view of wellness. They appreciate the fact that we are all busy and want to take care of ourselves and those we love as best we can. Their tips are entertaining as well as practical.

Posts are short and sweet and fall into the following categories:

Nutrition

Fitness
Healing

Beauty

Green Living

Social Responsibility

They also have a free daily newsletter that they will send that is very concise and very helpful. This juice is definitely worth the squeeze! Sign up here: http://www.vitaljuicedaily.com/signup-page/

On Green: Can the sun save Africa?

I have long felt that Africa was an economic giant who has laid sleeping too long. It's a continent that much of the world has written off as a charity case, a place that has too many tribes, too many dictators, and not enough resources save the few pockets of oil and diamonds.

And I could never understand this mentality. How is it that the continent where human life began has been rendered useless? The whole world that has doubted Africa's ability to save itself from itself may finally be proved wrong. And the sun itself may be the protagonist.

There is a concentrated solar project now being conducted in the African desert that has the ability to create enough power to supply 1/6 of Europe with all of its electricity, drastically cutting emissions and providing many African nations with a consistent stream of income. It's about time we let this giant rise and shine.

Read the full story at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/02/renewableenergy.solarpower

The above picture can be found at http://www.xemedia.com/africa/p_images/sun_lg.jpg

On Happiness: Together for the environment?

I am an environmentalist. I think about how my daily choices effect the planet, and I make sacrifices for the sake of future generations. I will pay more for eco-friendly products. I am the quintessential green customer.

And even I think that a story I read today goes too far. A scientist has actually conducted research and received money to arrive at the conclusion that marriages should stay together, even if unhappy, for the sake of the environment because people who live independently consume more.

I have never been married. I am not an advocate for the institution, and I am not an enemy of it either. I'd love to find a terrific guy to share my life with. And if I do, great. And if I don't, I think I'll be able to make it through. I believe that when most people get married they believe they have found the love of their lives, and before ever getting divorced, most people try very hard to work it out. At heart, I am an advocate of happiness and personal freedom. And if marriages lets you have those things, go for it! And if your marriage is ruining those two things for you, get out.

With all of the things to conduct research on, I have a hard time understanding how anyone can knowingly take funding to do a study that makes people feel obligated to stay in a bad situation. And with all the ways that all of us can contribute to a healthy planet, my should our happiness and daily fulfillment be compromised? That is one sacrifice I will never be willing to make.

Read the news release at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/04/divorce.resources

Innovation: Laundry minus the water

I love smart products - ones designed to fit my crazy life's schedule, make my days a bit easier, and make me feel good while using them. For example, I don't like house work. I do it, and the only thing I ever like about it is how it looks when I'm all done. So if a product quickly gets me through the pieces I don't like, I'm all for it. I've got places to be...

Voila - Swash! P&G developed a "smoothing" spray for people like me - I'm an infamous re-wearer. I'd prefer to wear my jeans about 20 times before I wash them. I don't because they just feel kind of used after just a couple wears. Same with heavy sweaters. With Swash I can get rid of stains, odors, and wrinkles with a few sprays of the can. No water required. And even better, the can is made of recycled aluminum and can be recycled again.

Check it out at http://www.swashitout.com