Second Nature Team

by Rima Mulla, Communications Associate, Second Nature

The theme of the recently released American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment 2009 Annual Report carries through in the latest Second Nature article published by Fast Company:Leadership for a Thriving, Sustainable World.

Here’s an excerpt from thearticle by Second Nature President Anthony Corteseand Senior Fellow Georges Dyer:

Gaby Rigaud recounts her experience as she wraps up a year of interning with Second Nature’s Advancing Green Building in Higher Education program. We’ll miss you, Gaby!

by Gaby Rigaud, Advancing Green Building Intern, Second Nature

We all have moments in our lives when we’re forced to adjust and make difficult decisions that we hope will change our lives for the best. One such moment for me came at the end of 2008. At that point, I had spent nearly four years working as a civil engineer at a Fortune 500 consulting firm in Boston, and I found myself at an impasse. Lacking both variety and a sense of purpose in my daily activities, feeling unsupported, I began to be unfulfilled in my professional life. My initial remedy was to go to graduate school to broaden my knowledge; I quickly found, though, that this would not be sufficient. I reevaluated the situation, asking myself the usual questions: “Where do I see myself in 5-10 years?” and “What am I passionate about?” This exercise resulted in a decision that most people who know and are close to me saw as irrational. My future was presented to me in a new light, and putting up new condo buildings and underground parking garages for the next 40 years was not part of it.

by Rima Mulla, Communications Associate, Second Nature

Fast Company has published two compelling web articles written by Second Nature President Anthony Cortese and Senior Fellow Georges Dyer:

Higher Education’s Purpose: A Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Society. This excellent introduction to the concept of Education for Sustainability argues that higher education can and must play a transformative role in leading society toward a more sustainable future.

Making a Sustainability Perspective Second Nature in Education. This article cites several examples of higher education institutions tackling sustainability in the curriculum and addressing one of the most important questions of our time:How can we as a global society continue to develop and prosper on such a small planet?

Watch for two more articles from Tony and Georges, all of which are part of aFast Company series entitled Inspired Ethonomics: Actionable Insights for World-Changing People and Businesses.

by Ilana Schoenfeld, Program Associate, Second Nature

Last week, Steve Muzzy and I attended an event hosted by E2/NRDC called “And A Child Shall Lead Us: How Students and Universities Are Leading on Climate Change.”

E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs) is a national community of business leaders and professionals committed to protecting the environment in ways that build economic prosperity. NRDC’s policy and science experts work in partnership with E2 to identify critical environmental issues, key players, and strategic actions. Members of E2 are called upon to work with public officials to influence state and national policy—leveraging their business expertise to highlight the economic benefits of environmental policies.

We were thrilled to hear the work of the ACUPCC highlighted at this event. The speakers at the event included:

by Alyssa Pandolfi, Second Nature Intern

Every year, Northeastern University puts on an annual Gingerbread House competition.  Out of the 100 or so students who enter the competition, only thirty get chosen to take part in the opportunity of a lifetime...

...to build the Gingerbread House of their dreams.

After the houses are built, students, faculty, and staff from Northeastern are allowed to vote to determine the crowd favorite.  The winner, besides winning a modest cash sum, will revel in eternal glory.

This year, Jess (a Second Nature co-op alum) and I were one of the lucky few who were chosen to build a Gingerbread House.  In our typical fashion, we decided to give our Gingerbread House a theme:  Sustainability.  Our house, which can be viewed in the image below, has an organic garden, vermicompost bin, wind turbine, fish pond, patio constructed with FSC certified wood, recycling bin, green roof, solar panels, and, oh did I mention the LEED certification button?

by Alyssa Pandolfi, Second Nature Intern

I've come to realize that this No Impact stuff is a lot harder than I anticipated.  Consumption proved to be pretty easy once I curbed my shopping habits.  Taking the T everyday and walking to when possible were things that I already do.  I buy organic, local food and I eat vegetarian, so that takes care of food.  Outside of work, I spend countless "volunteer" hours working with my student group (Husky Energy Action Team - HEAT) to move towards our ultimate goal of climate neutrality for Northeastern University.  However, when it came to yesterday's electricity challenge and today's water challenge, I am finding it a bit harder to lessen my impact.  To start, writing this blog entry is requiring electricity.  In order for our organization to function, we need to use electricity.  To do work for my student group I NEED electricity.  For Colin Beavan to publicize, promote, and further the significance of No Impact Week, he needed to use electricity.  To me, it is important to conserve electricity whenever possible, but renewable energies are the things that we need the most.

by Amy Hattan, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Second Nature

My participation in No Impact Week is a bit of a flip flop…I’m using the week to examine if my regular lifestyle fits within the concept of having “no impact”, rather than changing my habits for just one week.

For example, on the topic of food, I attended a screening of the documentary Food, Inc. this week, which was followed by a good discussion between the crowd and Gary Hirshberg of Stoneyfield Yogurt. Afterwards, I checked to see what I have in my fridge. I was glad to see that most of the foods I eat are natural or organic, low in corn syrup (corn is incidentally in almost every food you get in the supermarket), and low in antibiotics and hopefully E-Coli and all that other awful stuff that is in most factory-farmed meat. It also appears that I am keeping Stoneyfield Yogurt in business (again, see photo). The most memorable moments for me when watching Food, Inc. were seeing dead chickens lying among the live chickens in the chicken coops and cows covered from head to foot in their own feces. And we eat this! I learned that because we feed cows cheap corn and not grass, which is what they are supposed to eat, they get these diseases that get passed to us.  I could do better and not eat out so much, because who knows where the food originates from that is served in a restaurant.

by Barbara Koneval, Program Associate for Education & Training, Second Nature

No impact week started on an unfortunate day, the day  I flew back from California from Bioneers and a mini-vacation.  After being inspired by the Bioneers conference, my sister and I drove to Yosemite for some inspiration from nature.

A big part of personal sustainability for me is making sure to reconnect to these areas, disconnect from my computer and get outside.  The park was amazing and in addition to the physical rewards of hiking in Yosemite, the visual rewards were immense. Here are a couple of snapshots:

So I’m back in Portland and more in control of my choices for the rest of the week.  And Wednesday is food day, yay!  Lunch today was  “The Democratic Republic of Peanut Chicken” soup made by my friend Jed who runs a soup delivery business, by bike.  Soup Cycle was started in Portland as part of the growing bike delivery business, sourcing organic ingredients delivered only by human power.  I get a weekly drop off of soup and luckily, Jed was delivering Monday night just as I got home from the airport. Score. As much as I like to grocery shop, after flight delays and plane travel I was not in a cooking mood.

by Ulli Klein, Operations Manager and Executive Assistant, Second Nature

Wait.

Another day, another bag of delicious German licorice scolding by certain VP of our nonprofit after she tasted one of these heavenly creations... reminding me that something that was imported from Germany to a store in California, then sent to me by German friend in CA, is not appropriate to eat on a day like today.

FAIL on that front. Licorice has been safely secured out of mind sight.

Transportation yesterday wasn't as big of a challenge until I went out at night and totally blew it, because I helped someone move some furniture around, which required transportation. I am usually so GOOD, since I don't own a car and use almost exclusively public transportation.

Today...well...local food. I stocked up at the farmer's market, I continue collecting trash, trying to reduce the water I use, reusing things at home ect.

Just about that licorice....