A sampling of photos from Yosemite.
(To see all the pictures from the Tour, go to our Flickr Page)
Photos by: Bob Filbin
Showing posts with label Bob_Filbin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bob_Filbin. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Yosemite - In Pictures
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
The Natural Step (1,2,3,4; Cast Back (Way Back); Repeat)
If Portland, OR steps to different beat, Sweden steps to a different drum. For example, McDonald’s in Sweden serves organic milk and beef, recycles 97 percent of all restaurant waste, and powers over half of its 160 stores, as well as the national headquarters, with renewable energy. This puts the largest burger giant’s green wrecking ball squarely through the window of most American burger chains, even Portland, Oregon’s local environmental burger chain, Burgerville.
Given the fertile grounds for environmental change, it’s no wonder that Sweden gave rise to what I see as the latest and greatest environmental advancement: recognizing that the environment does not exist in a void (“oh yes, there are societies and economies!”) and using that knowledge to create metrics regarding true sustainability. Not sustainability as you find it described in a car commercial; rather, sustainability you can capture, put in a vial, and show to your freshman science class.
The bus tour crew was back in Science 101 on Tuesday, July 24th, when we received a 2-hour presentation from Duke Castle, one of the founders of the Oregon Natural Step Network, the largest chapter of the Natural Step in the United States. After showing us how all of the environmental, social, and economic problems humans face are interrelated, he hopped into the Natural Step, which I will attempt to re-describe below.
Developed in 1989 by Swedish oncologist Karl-Henrik Robert, the Natural Step is a framework that can help guide our actions. Robert, through a peer-reviewed process, determined four guiding principles, officially known as “system conditions,” that define sustainability in scientific terms:
In a sustainable global society, the ecosphere is not subject to systematically increasing…
1. Concentrations of substances extracted from the earth’s crust
Examples: Fossil fuels, metals, and minerals
2. Concentrations of substances produced by society (synthetics)
Examples: Persistent substances (DDT, PCB’s…), plastics, Freon
3. Degradation by physical means
Examples: Over-harvesting (forests, oceans...), eliminating biodiversity
and in that society,
4. People are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their basic needs
Examples: Overpopulation, unlivable wages, environmental and social inequity
We can define a system as sustainable if it does not violate any of the above conditions. Notice that the Natural Step defines sustainability in a negative way – by only describing what should not be done, rather than prescribing a specific solution, the Natural Step allows for innovative solutions. Innovative solutions for, let’s say, pressing environmental and Native American issues (Udall? Anyone?). As long as you do not violate the system conditions, anything is fair game. The Natural Step helps do for sustainability what the green movement has not: create a standard definition for environmental, social, and economic responsibility.
Of course, the Natural Step is not enough on its own. How can an organization, community, or individual using the Natural Step actually start to take action? Mr. Castle then explained the process of backcasting, a common technique, as applied to the Natural Step. This is also a four part process we can call ABCD.
A (Awareness): What do you know about sustainability and why it matters?
B (Baseline Mapping): What does your organization look like today?
C (Clear and Compelling Vision): What does your organization look like in a sustainable society?
D (Down to Action): How will you manage and prioritize steps to sustainability?
By following the backcasting process, an organization will be able to understand sustainability, assess their current level of economic, environmental, and social responsibility, define organizational sustainability, and determine the best course to reach sustainability. It’s important to note that organization’s sustainable does not need to be immediately feasible; it needs to be truly sustainable. As author Jeff Goodell said:
“During the slavery debate there was all this stuff: ‘Oh, you can't abolish slavery, the farms will collapse. What are you going to replace this labor with? We don't have people -- who's going to pick our cotton? Everything's going to fall apart.’ The great thing Lincoln said is, that's not the issue. The issue is, is it right or is it wrong? You make that decision first and then you decide how to do it.”
Just as the American economy survived and thrived after abolition, once sustainability is defined for an organization, that organization can innovate to reach its goals. Most businesses that are implementing the Natural Step are doing so at either negative, zero, or close to zero net cost. Sustainability saves money and in the long run, will save a business or community entirely.
As President Lincoln and Mr. Goodell did, the Natural Step Network believes in the creativity and ingenuity of humanity. There are many ways to build a sustainable society. Having a concrete way of defining what is not a sustainable society is the first step toward achieving sustainability. I am currently working for a sustainability consulting organization in Portland, OR called the Zero Waste Alliance, which uses the Natural Step as part of its framework. If you would like to learn more about the Natural Step and the organizations using it, visit www.ortns.org
By Bob Filbin
24 Hours to Smell the Roses
If you had 24 hours in the greenest city in America, what would you do? Sleep? I don’t think so. Instead, the inquisitive Udall crew decided to take to the streets of Portland and find out if the purported redolence of the City of Roses smelled true. Here’s an hour by hour itinerary of our time in Portland. Enjoy!
1700: Arrive at Portland State University dorms in downtown Portland. Pass out maps of city.
1705: Maps lost in depths of bags, under beds, in laundromats, or possibly down storm water drains. Udall scholars helpless in big city.
1730: Bob leaves with Savanna and Eli for the Hawthorne District, Portland’s hipster mecca, replete with tight jeans and square reading glasses. As Kayanna is out of town, all people with experience in the city have departed. The rest of the group groans in despair.
1845: Remainder of Udall crew departs for Roots Brewing Company using Bob’s directions, which manage to get them soundly confused. Group spins in circles hoping for guidance.
1930: Group miraculously arrives at Roots Brewery (shortly after Bob finds them wandering on the highway over Hawthorne Bridge),* Portland’s first all organic brewery. We rendezvous with Meg Matthews, Udall Scholar ’03. Group proceeds to drink organic beer infused with lavender, goes on a tour of the brewery, and drinks free organic beer. Yes! It’s local too.
2100: Some continue to drink. Others wander the streets, which happen to be very safe.
2200: Some people are in bed, others probably should be.
0000: Bret Muter and Eli work diligently by quill pen and candlelight, while the rest of the group sleeps, or doesn’t.
0700: Group awakes, then hits the collective alarm, falls back asleep.
0742: Udall scholars emerge from Portland State University dorms like butterflies from a cocoon - very tired, irritable, butterflies. Caffeine is their nectar.
0800: Nectar sighted at People’s Cooperative Grocery in SE Portland. Scholars meet with Fran Warren, mother of rider Kayanna Warren, who provides them with sweet nectar (so good when it hits your lips), local berries, bagels, and bottles of wine (most save this for later).
0845: Emily from People’s gives a brief overview of the community aspects behind running Portland’s only cooperatively-owned and collectively-managed grocery store.
0855: Bob demonstrates the skills he’s learned by volunteering as a bulk stocker at People’s for the past 6 months, such as the art of positioning his mouth beneath the organic chocolate chip funnel.
0900: Duke Castle from the Oregon Natural Step Network presents THE NATURAL STEP (ta da!). People’s socks are blown off. Duke recommends a local, organic sock company for replacements.
1100: Udall crew leaves for downtown Portland and the Pearl District, home of Portland’s fine art and chic shopping, not to mention Powell’s Books, the largest independent book store this side of the Mississippi (Darn you, Delaware!). Udallers, as any environmentally-sensitive intellectual superstars, blow all of their cash on used books.
1130: Bob and Jenny roll toward the Blossoming Lotus, an all-vegan, mostly local and organic restaurant with a specialty selection of raw foods. Oh yes, there’s a yoga studio attached. Ah, Portland.
1300: Some Udallers meet with Savanna’s friend, Amanda Peden, who is currently working in the Ecotrust Building, a LEED Gold building which is home to only environmentally and/or socially responsible organizations. Tenants include HOTLIPS Pizza (local, organic pizza), Patagonia (environmentally-minded outdoor apparel), Ecotrust (non-profit working to rebuilding the economy of the Pacific NW in a sustainable fashion), an environmental investment company, the first environmental bank in the U.S., the Portland Office of Sustainable Development, and Bob’s camping tent (he never leaves).
1400: On the road to Regence Boys and Girls Club, which opened on June 18th. Udallers meet with Dean Simpson, local farmer from Wildcat Mountain Farms.
1530: Udallers and Dean teach 50 youth from Regence and Meyer Memorial Boys and Girls Clubs about local and organic food, how to make sustainable pizza (Yum! Is that pizza that renews itself? Sign me up.), and hand out and discuss how to grow food plant starts (tomatoes, greens) provided by Dean. Specialty pizzas include apple, walnut, and blue cheese as well as corn, salsa, black bean, and tortilla chips.1630: Kids consume pizza, give us thumbs up, teach me what “phat” means, says it describes the pizza.
1700: Udallers make stellar pizzas of their own, garnished with love (as well as fresh basil, thank goodness – love only gets you so far in the culinary world).
1800: Udallers hit the dusty trail hard - so hard that the dust cloud blocks out all light and sight. Udall bus stops, waits, hits the trail less hard, rides for Grand Ronde.
Author’s Note: The pizza project was amazing. It was our first service project where we were directly teaching people about environmental issues. The fifty participants came away with more than great pizza; when questioned by the Regence Boys and Girls Club Program Director, several responded with clear and concise definitions of sustainability, local, and organic food, as well as why all of those aspects matter. I couldn’t have asked for a tastier treat.* Bob uses the Hawthorne Bridge in his other life (as a mild-mannered sustainability consultant, rather than a caped crusader of public service) to commute by bike to his workplace in downtown Portland.
By Bob Filbin
Picture This: A Bus, a Boy, and His Camera
Hello World! Welcome to my first ever non-pictorial blog post. For me, the past six weeks have moved in frames per day. As I have taken over 10,000 photos, that’s around a quarter of a thousand frames per day and 1 picture per mile. Whoa. According to the photographer’s greatest adage, that also equates to over 100,000 words. I’m surprised I don’t have writer’s cramp.
Though many days have passed without a written blog post from me, that does not mean I am not thinking important things. For example: Is every picture worth a thousand words? Or are some pictures worth 563, while others are worth over a million? Are we talking one syllable words? Coherent sentences? Correct grammar? How many words are my pictures worth? What’s the mean, mode, and median? At this point, these questions are unanswered, but don’t worry, I will have them chi-squished by Tucson. Rather than verbally explaining my problem-solving approach, I will let a photo do the talking:
Singing in the rain. 1,230 words, avg. of 2.4 syllables per word.
By: Bob Filbin
P.S. Actually, it’s the Foundation’s camera. I’ll give it back, I swear.
Monday, July 23, 2007
A Teton Picnic
Monday Evening July 16, 2007
After our two service projects, the group rejoined to visit the Indian Art Museum at Colter Bay. The museum had a stunning array of native art. I was amazed at the intricate bead work displayed on clothing, hand bags, and moccasins.
Following our visit to the Indian Art Museum, the group traveled to a cookout site within the Colter Bay campground. We made burgers, ate lots of chips and salsa, and really enjoyed a relaxed evening together. To top off the event, we used sticks to roast s’mores and toasted bananas. We sat around the fire in camaraderie. We are happy to have joined together on such a spectacular journey. This will be an experience we will never forget.
By Jessica Fagan
Friday, July 20, 2007
Denver and Boulder in Photos
A selection of photos from Boulder & Denver. To see all the photos from the tour, check out our Flickr page.
Photos by: Bob Filbin
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Chicago through the lens
Some choicier photos from Chicago... (many more Chicago pics on the Flickr page)
(click photo to read the sign)
All photos (except those with Bob in them) by Bob Filbin
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Ithaca in Photos
A photo essay of our time in Ithaca (If you like these, there are LOTS more on our Flickr site)
Controls for the slideshow are above and below the picture window.
About that first McDonalds shot... umm... it's an exercise in contrast... errr..
Photos by Bob Filbin
Controls for the slideshow are above and below the picture window.
About that first McDonalds shot... umm... it's an exercise in contrast... errr..
Photos by Bob Filbin
Monday, June 18, 2007
Alumni Meet-Up Photos on Flickr
Bob's recently posted some photos from the alumni meet-ups on our Flickr page ...
Check out the DC photos from Stetson's
And the Philly photos from White Dog Cafe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
