Share Your Stories on The Changebase

Hi Readers, As you know, one of my goals for The Changebase is to open this forum up for you to tell your own story. After all, you're interested in creating change and making a difference in your community - which, by default, means you have your own tales to tell.

With that in mind I'm thrilled to announce that Alicia Conway - MBA student, world-traveler, and a dear friend of mine - has written The Changebase's first Creating story, and it's a great one.

We talk about social entrepreneurship; that is, innovators looking to create new systems and programs that solve pressing problems. But what about people who see value in making change from within existing organizations? These social intrapreneurs are doing great work, too, and Alicia's post highlights some of the "internal changemaking" learning she's doing through conferences and other events at her business school.

Thanks, Alicia, for contributing your thoughts and enthusiasm to The Changebase! I hope everyone enjoys Alicia's post, The Value of Change from Within, as much as I did.

-Ashley

Local Sustainability in Action

Recently I had the chance to attend the Island Creek Oyster Festival in Duxbury, MA. While being a fan of oysters is reason enough to go, this time around I was lucky enough to score a VIP/backstage pass through my husband Dan, a budding chef (and blogger!) who was helping out the nice folks from East Coast Grill for the day.

Interestingly, the event caught my attention not just for the long "who's who" list of local chefs participating, but also because it was billed as a sustainable, or green, event:

This year, the Island Creek Oyster Festival is attempting to go as green as possible. The Festival plans to donate all oyster shells to the New Hampshire oyster shell recycling project; chefs and beverage sponsors will use compostable plates, glassware, and utensils; and attendees will be asked to participate by lending a hand in all recycling efforts.

There were some things that this festival did really well. These included:

A table at the entrance with lots of great sustainability information for local residents...

...and details on the New England Wind Fund.

Perhaps the other most noticeable indication that this was a green event was the presence of multiple recycling containers throughout the festival grounds. At each recycling station (there must have been at least 10 stations set up), there were separate bins for oyster shells (being recycled for fertiziler - so cool!), compost, single stream recycling, and all other trash. There were a ton of volunteers at the event, and I saw them regularly swapping out full containers of recycled material with fresh, empty ones. Given the sheer size of the event (with almost 3,000 people expected) and the fact that all cups, plates, and utensils were recyclable, you can imagine that they collected quite a bit by the end of the night.

That said, there were some indications that this green event didn't quite get everything right.

First of all, as terrific as all of those recycling bins were, the number of choices one person had to make in order to throw away his or her trash was just too overwhelming for some to grasp. Here you can see one guest trying to figure just where to put everything:

While the education aspect of this recycling experience can't be overlooked, I do believe there are some issues with asking people to do too much. When you combine good food and drinks with long lines for oysters, you get a crowd that's more interested in dumping their trash wherever they can, not making sure they sort things correctly. In fact, I saw numerous volunteers just standing by the bins trying to direct guests where to put their recyclables - and even that didn't stop them from having to dumpster dive regularly to re-sort plates that had gone into the wrong bin.

Yes, education is crucially important - but I wondered what the event committee could have done to streamline this so that it was easier for everyone to participate?

Also, even though all of the materials used were recyclable, there seemed to be no coordination among chefs to get them to share plates, utensils etc. This meant that at every food station guests received a new plate, new napkin and new utensils - and from my observations it appeared very few guests used their plates more than once. What good is a plate made from recycled materials if it's not used more than once?!

Finally, perhaps the most embarrassing green mishap of the night: Water Bottles!

All night long this table was stocked with water bottles - and with no opportunity to refill them, they were used once and tossed. Just trying to stay hydrated, I went through 3 bottles myself! For a green event planning committee that had gone so far as to recycle oyster shells, you'd think they would have considered something a bit more earth-friendly...

In all, it really was a terrific event - and it did raise money for a great cause (the Island Creek Oysters Foundation). I was personally very proud of their efforts to make this event as sustainable as they could. In the end, I think it's a great case study of how hard it is to "do sustainable" the right way. Their intentions were good, but they just missed the mark on a few key things.

#1 Takeaway for next year's event? Give everyone their own reusable cup!

Update: Summer of Social Good

Hi everyone, I just wanted to provide a quick update to my post from a couple months ago about Mashable's campaign, Summer of Social Good.

It sounds like the campaign, raising money for World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam America, The Humane Society and Livestrong, was a big success - raising over $33,000 in just a few months. I've been checking Mashable's site since the campaign ended on August 28th, and unfortunately they haven't yet posted any information on what's coming next. However, given the trend toward using social media for social change, I'm guessing we can expect more news from Mashable and their partners in the near future.

Keep checking The Changebase for updates - I'll let you know as soon as I hear more news.

-Ashley

Nature's Entrepreneurs

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the challenges when talking about sustainability is wondering how you (or I) could possibly do anything to help the dire situation our planet is facing. One of the most exciting parts of my Global Sustainability class from last week was the discussion of how entrepreneurs and innovators are looking at sustainability not as a problem, but as an opportunity.

An opportunity to make a difference, yes. But also an opportunity to make money.

Last week my classmates and I were asked to cull through various news sources to identify how entrepreneurs are developing new and innovative technologies to create both "quick wins" and "game changers" in the field of sustainability. We identified a variety of ideas that are already in-use or on their way to launch, including:

• Using algae as a renewable source of fuel for jet planes and automobiles
• Building wave energy farms off the coast of Portugal
• Creating synthetic trees to capture carbon almost 1,000 times faster than real trees
• Developing point-of-use water purification straws that allow anyone, anywhere to have access to safe drinking water.

In short, sustainability is an area filled with opportunity for both social changemakers and profit-driven entrepreneurs (or, if you're like me, someone looking to do both).

One area that's particularly inspiring for entrepreneurs to look for opportunities and solutions is nature itself. In fact, the field of Biomimicry looks to nature as a source of inspiration, innovation, and answers for our current sustainability challenges.

I recently came across an interesting talk by Janine Benyus, president of the Biomimicry Institute, about looking for answers from our planet's first entrepreneur: nature itself.

I hope you enjoy it.

It's Too Late to Be a Pessimist

This week I jumped into the 2nd year of my MBA with a weeklong, intensive course called "Global Sustainability". A relatively new offering at Boston University, the course promised to cover a broad spectrum of ideas and questions relating to sustainability:

"Global Sustainability" explores the underpinnings of today’s global sustainability challenges and how entrepreneurial thinking can be applied to government, NGOs, multinational corporations, small startups and the capital markets to address these challenges...Students will gain deeper understanding of both root cause, the interconnected and interdependencies across sectors such as energy, the environment and the global food and water supplies along with entrepreneurial thinking, methods, models and practices being employed by innovative individuals and organizations at the forefront in the search for solutions.

While that description does scratch the surface, over the last week my class covered an incredible amount of content:

• History's impact on today's world, including the Industrial Revolution and classic economic theory (ala Adam Smith)
• Population growth over time, the expected explosion, and the effect population has on every other aspect of our lives (with an amazing look at the World3/Limits to Growth Simulator)
• Water usage, future concerns over supply, and the conflict that has arisen (even in the U.S.) over who controls precious water supplies
• Agricultural practices and policies around the world, as well as the issue of famine in developing countries and obesity here in the U.S.
• Environmental Policy, specifically the Kyoto Protocol and the Waxman-Markey Bill currently being debated in Congress
• Current uses of Energy and the technological innovations taking place in renewable sources like wind, solar, and biofuels (hint: this is a great business to get in to!)
• Migration into urban areas due to climate change and the resulting tensions that arise when too many people live one space
• Corporate involvement in sustainability, including the cases of WalMart and Millipore
• Exploration of the economies of BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - and how they are addressing sustainability issues
• The paper and pulp industries, including a look at International Paper
• Public Policy strategies for creating change, including the importance of stakeholder analysis
• Social entrepreneurship as a means for grass-roots change, with an inspiring look at one entrepreneur who's seeing an opportunity, not a problem in Peru.

It was an amazing week of learning, and while I can't possibly reproduce it here on The Changebase, I did want to address one major takeaway from my time in class. And, oddly enough, it starts with a confession:

Until this week, I tried to pretend that sustainability wasn't "my" problem.

Now, let me explain. It wasn't that I didn't know our water resources were scarce, our livestock was factory farmed, or our environmental resources were being depleted. I did. And, when I had the courage, I tried to inform myself and be a conscious and responsible consumer. But that's just it: when I had the courage. 

Case in point: this summer, convinced I needed more information, I bought "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" by Thomas Friedman and began the arduous task of reading about how our world is on the wrong track. Over 6 weeks or so, I slogged through the first half of the book, absorbing information but feeling more and more depressed as I turned the pages. After a while, things got so heavy I just had to put it down. I know that at some point he starts talking about solutions, but I found myself so overwrought with concern and dread that I couldn't continue reading it. I still don't know what he proposes as our way out of this mess.

But this week in class, things changed. I couldn't get away from learning about where our planet and our people are headed. I couldn't escape the inevitable worry and fear that comes through being informed. And believe me, it's scary stuff. Just a few statistics:

• The International Panel on Climate Change predicts that by 2080, 33% of the world's coastal wetlands will be eroded and become open water. What happens to the millions of people who benefit from the water, food, and livelihood these coasts provide? Where will they go (hint: urban areas) and what strain will that put on our world's cities? 2080 may seem far away, but believe me, this is our problem to address now.
• I learned this week that water, food, and energy are inextricably linked. For example: While globalization has led to an increase in standard of living for many people worldwide, it also accounts for an increase in meat consumption in people's diets. Amazingly, it takes 7 times more water to produce 1lb of meat than 1lb of grain, and yet, demand for meat in countries like China and India is expected to rise by 25% by 2015. If we look at the U.S. alone, it's not surprising that Confined Animal Feedlot Operations (CAFO's) are so prevalent, especially given how cheaply we want to buy our meat. But at what cost? 
• Population growth and the strain it puts on our natural resources is perhaps our greatest concern: in the 1950's, there were 3 billion people worldwide. Today, there are roughly 6 billion. By 2050, world population is expected to grow to 9 billion. Just think of how these 9 billion people will use and deplete our planet's resources.

Yes, these statistics (and the questions they raise) are scary - and like me, I'm guessing a lot of people would rather pretend that these issues are not their problem. After all, it's easy to go about our daily lives, using all the water and energy we want and not really thinking about the consequences. Plus, I thought to myself, "if the world is on such a depressing and irreversible track, how can I really do anything to have an impact on the problem?".

Thankfully, my professors (Paul McManus and Kristen McCormack) knew that by the end of the week, we'd be looking for answers to this question. And so they left us with a clip from this video, entitled "Home", that I'd like to share with you too.

(Ashley's note: unfortunately it's not currently possible to embed the movie so I've instead embedded the trailer. If you visit here, you can see the entire video. Also, while the whole movie is worth watching, I suggest you fast-forward to around 1:16:00 - in the final 15 minutes of the movie they really do a terrific job of summarizing the issues and inspiring us to make change. Sorry for the technical difficulties - but trust me, it's worth the effort.)

As the narrator in the movie suggests, in fact "it is too late to be a pessimist". We must act, and we must act now.

It is everyone's responsibility to make changes in our behavior, in our lifestyles, and in our beliefs about the world and how we use it. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's easier to pretend it's not my problem. But it is my problem, and yours too. I encourage you to also have the courage to inform yourself, and then ask: "What can I do to inform others?".

In addition to the links above, here are a few other terrific resources to learn more about global sustainability issues:

• Gapminder.org: Wondering how countries stack up according to themes like population, energy, disease, education or transportation? This is a fascinating site and definitely worth checking out (After checking out the homepage, click on Gapminder World to get started).
• Worldmapper.org: Like Gapminder, this site is an amazing illustration of the disparities and differences that exist between countries.
• Limits to Growth: A 30-year Update: Learn more about how three scientists staked their reputations on an unpopular and pessimistic (but increasingly realistic) view of our world's future.
• Monsanto: Whether you're for or against genetically modified crops, Monsanto is a powerful force in agriculture today that everyone should know about.