Sustain Our Schools

Apparently “Greenliness” is next to Godliness. According to the Sundance Channel Greenzine yesterday, the Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, Wisconsin, held its first mass in a new 30,000 square-foot building that may be the greenest in the country. The sisters believe their new building has a “high probability” of receiving 63 of 69 LEED points which would beat out the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center (also in Wisconsin), the current top dog of the US green building scene.

That’s really a great thing because sustainability is probably our salvation.

Carolyn attended a PTC meeting at our son’s high school this week and was told of  soon-to-be-fired teachers and nurses due to budget cuts and she came up with a solution. Do an energy and sustainability audit of all the area schools and see how much money could be saved by employing energy and sustainability efficiency. As we have said before, Wal-Mart saved $7 million last year just by changing their light bulbs. School and public institutions have to adopt sustainability if they want to sustain themselves. So instead of turning away teachers, turn off the lights. It’s not just good ecology but good sense to make the most out of every dollar spent.

The New SOS: Sustain Our Schools

Why not make it a national school event where every school takes the Footprint Challenge where they can measure their ecological impact through a comprehensive footprint calculator? Now they know exactly what they’re wasting and can set up systems to monitor and improve their energy efficiency and ecological footprint. The winner gets a nice big scholarship. It would not only be a great learning opportunity and educational experience for students and teachers, it would end up saving the school systems of America much needed money.

What if we could reduce the heating costs, our lighting costs, our water usage?  What if we created a revenue producing recycling program? (Talk to us, we know how.). What if our buildings were healthier, the food in our school cafeteria fresher and better? What if we instituted a “use less paper” drive and studied every way there is to conserve resources and save money doing it?  How much more would then be available for that endangered species we should all be worrying about — quality teachers and nurses.

There’s a bumper sticker I love and it says something like this: “What if schools had all the funds they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber?” Maybe the day is coming when economics forces promote ecological causes.  In the end, the true purpose of sustainability should be the sustainability of our people, our way of life and the planet we all live on. 

This message needs to be written 100 times on the blackboard. “Sustainability and Ecology Save Money.” 

Get your chalk out Senators, Legislators, Congressmen, Administrators. Because that’s something everyone needs to be educated about.

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An article in Sustainable Brands Weekly reported that Starbucks is now rebranding. They are opening the first of a series of coffee shops with a local handle. The first one is 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea and it will open this week on 15th Avenue in Seattle. The next two will have names that reflect their local address. What could be more local sounding than that?

Except that they’re not.

If the CIA were running Starbucks, I don’t think they could have come up with a more deceptive plan than this.  One thing is for sure, it’s not rebranding in any way, shape or form. They are merely trying to capitalize on the “go local”, anti-corporate wave that’s growing across the country. For what other possible reason could this launch be taking place?

They won’t look like Starbucks, they won’t taste like Starbucks, but when the green leaves the cash register at the end of the day it’s going to be heading right to the Starbucks corporate offices and there’s nothing local, small scale or Mom & Pop about that.

I’m not saying that it isn’t a smart business move. I am saying that it’s a sheep-in-wolves-clothing move. And it’s certainly anything but green or locally sustainable.

The whole idea of going local is to keep jobs, revenues and profits in the local community.  To give small entrepreneurs a chance to make a living by delivering a local product.  It’s the chance for a whole string of individual business people to secure a market for their locally-made and locally-sold goods from bakery items to bagels to office supplies to restaurant supplies. But when the Big Guys don the mask of being a little guy, watch out. 

Personally, I go out of my way to do business with the local Java Joes or small green grocer or hardware store, and I try to hit the Farmers Market every chance I get. Maybe now I have to insist on proof of residency, a driver license or something like that to make sure the guy in the local store is a local. Not just someone masquerading as such. To me, it’s the same kind of thinking that created derivatives and credit swap that almost brought down the U.S. economy and banking system.

Here a little thought.  Hey Starbucks, if you really care a hill of beans about local coffee shops then leave a piece of the market on the table for them and don’t pretend you’re local when you’re not.   

Is Starbucks full of beans or not? What do you think?

Irv

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