Tag Archives: Shifting the Balance

Water, Water Everywhere, in San Francisco Bay….But a precious resource, indeed

Posted on by annandmeg

It’s a beautiful part of the world. San Francisco Bay has become our new home this last year, and we’ve loved exploring the area. Last week we took the Larkspur Ferry into the city, and seeing the water and beautiful views reminded me of why I care so much about the health of the environment and protection of our natural resources.

Many of our dinner conversations lately have circled around one of the most precious natural resources: water. With all the water that surrounds us here…the bay, the ocean, the rivers…it is easy to forget how important it is to conserve water. In California, our water bill is by far our highest priced utility. It costs so much because there are so many people in California who draw from a rather limited water supply. It makes me wonder, do people really pay attention to their water usage? When taking a shower, does someone turn on the water and wait 5 minutes for it to get to just the right temperature? What about landscaping. When designing the layout for the front yard, does someone in California choose local plants and landscaping that doesn’t require an excessive amount of water, or lush grass that requires water every other day? These have all been on my mind lately.

I imagine this will be an ongoing discussion for me, so I encourage you to include your thoughts. I am also interested to know how people feel about water usage in different parts of the U.S., or even the world.

I encourage you to take note of the amount of water you use in a day, and see where in your routine you might be able to save a gallon or ten. If everyone made an effort to conserve water, and only use what they needed, surely we could better protect such a precious resource.

Life in an Old Tree

Posted on by annandmeg

“Life In A Dead tree” reads the sign abutting the nature trail at Sea Pines, Hilton Head. While others may consider a dead tree to be–well, dead–at Sea Pines, the tree is viewed differently, as teeming with life, nurturing life and protecting the environment.  Dead trees are considered to be so valuable that you may need permission to remove a dead tree.


What possible benefit is the protection of a dead tree?  Read the sign!  Dead trees provide a nesting place for birds and small animals while providing building material for their nests.  A fallen tree provides ground cover and shade.  It can provide a breeding area for insects (for good and bad). It provides shelter for small animals and birds from predators, large and small.  It creates a barrier to wind, protecting the soil from erosion.

At the end of the process of decay, it fertilizes and nourishes the earth, providing the nutrients that constantly renew the forest.  A tree submerged in the water provides a place of safety for fish and other aquatic life.  All things considered, there is still plenty of life in that dead tree as it supports and protects new life around it.


The Beautiful Sights of Fiji

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

One of the first things you see when you land in Nadi airport is the Mountain of the Sleeping Giant. You can see the outline of the Giant’s face, the mouth, the nose. It is quite an amazing sight.

After a few days of enjoying the Fijian culture and hiking through the jungle to see the caves previously used by local tribes in the 1800s, Jake and I decided to do a little driving tour of some of the local sights. We visited the town of Lautoka, went to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant to see all the beautiful orchids, and covered ourselves with mud at the mud pools and hot springs.

Our first stop was the town of Lautoka, where we visited the market. There were not many tourists here, so it gave us the opportunity to see what a normal day in the market in Fiji looks like. We saw the fruit and vegetable stands, the spice stands, and even the “fish room.” It was quite fascinating to see the giant room dedicated to the market. I don’t know if it operates every day at the same level, but there certainly were a lot of merchants there on a Friday morning!

Next, we drove to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, which sits at the base of the Mountain of the Sleeping Giant. In this garden, there are over 200 species of orchids. They are stunning. At every turn you see some new flower you never new existed, all with a backdrop that is positively breathtaking. We saw ponds, walking paths into the hills, and huge clusters of bamboo trees. There was also a little hut at the top of a rock staircase, which looked perfect for ceremonies and special gatherings. Below, a lawn surrounded by lush green and tropical beauties.

Upon finishing our enamoring stroll through the Garden, we continued on to the mud pools. To the people of Fiji, these pools are believed to have healing powers. The guide at the pools told us a story of a man in a wheelchair who was told he had no chance of walking again. He came to the pools in hopes of being healed. Sure enough, after sitting in the believed healing waters of the pools, he stood up, climbed out of the pools, and never used his wheelchair again. I do not know if it was the power of the water or the power of faith, but it was an inspiring story nonetheless. For us, it was a way to recharge after a few very busy days. I probably wouldn’t cover myself in mud again, but the hot springs were quite nice.

After returning from our day of exploring, we decided to take a walk on the beach. We found a little place by the water and had dinner on the sand. We watched the sunset, reflected on our day, and we continue to be in awe of the beauty and culture of this country. Fiji is such a magnificent place, you never know what natural beauty you may stumble upon next.

The Islands of Fiji: “Bula!”

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

My husband and I went to Fiji for our honeymoon in May 2010. It was an amazing experience. Not only is it a beautiful place to spend a relaxing holiday, but it is also a country filled with generosity, hospitality, and a commitment to family, friends, community, and mother nature. We stayed on Denarau Island, which is a resort-style community outside of Nadi town, on the west side of the main island of Fiji, Viti Levu. Denarau is more Westernized than I’d like to admit, but it is also a perfect jumping-off point for touring the main island and nearby island chains.

For our second trip, we knew we wanted to experience more of Fiji’s culture. See the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. Visit one of the many traditional villages. Hike through the jungle. We were able to do all of those things, and still come up with a long list of things to do for our next trip. Visit the “big city” of Suva. Hike the Mt. of the Sleeping Giant. Visit the island where Castaway was filmed. Lots of things.

Every morning when you wake up in Fiji, you can’t help but walk out your door and smile at the world. The people take such pride in the land, they take care of each other, and every single person you see will greet with a cheerful, “Bula!” and a smile. “Bula” is a lot like “Aloha.” It means, “Hello,” “How are you,” and “Great to see you,” all in one simple word. I will miss hearing that word until the next time I am able to visit that magical place.

Green Begins With You

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

There are so many different ways to be “green” nowadays. Being green can mean anything from reducing the miles you drive in your car every day to growing your own food. For many people, recycling is the first big step into reducing waste and helping the environment.

Most people are familiar with the phrase, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” The idea is that reducing waste is the most important step. Reusing items also helps reduce waste but still allows for consumption. And then comes recycling. If you are unable to avoid consuming products that will cause waste, it is important to consume products that are recyclable (or at least the packaging is recyclable). While recycling still has a higher carbon footprint that reducing or reusing, it at least prevents waste from entering our already overflowing landfills and allows us to reuse those materials in another form.


Recycling is easy. In most places, it’s ridiculously easy. Many refuse companies like Deffenbaugh, Unicycler, etc. offer curbside pick-up of both trash and recycling. In Petaluma (and other parts of California), our waste management service also provides a green waste bin for compost and yard waste. Between recycling and compost, we rarely have more than a single bag of trash in the week. Often times, we don’t even put out the trash bin every week because there’s hardly anything to put out.

Green bins can be found all over the place. In parks, airports, office buildings. Where do you see green bins? We’d love to know!

Beauties of the Country Club Plaza

Posted on by annandmeg

Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza is renowned for its holiday lights in the winter and fountains in the summer. But, it is February. The lights no longer brighten the sky and the fountains will not flow until Spring.

However, do not despair. Beauty still abounds. The Plaza is nothing less than a world-class museum, holding even lifelong residents in awe. Art is everywhere. There are statues cast in places such as Seville, Venice, and even-Utah! There are lovely murals. Even the Spanish architecture itself is beautiful.

We are all drawn to the massive fountains that dominate the environment. But it is winter. Time to focus on the wonderful small treasures, nestled in unexpected places. No less elegant for their diminutive size, they are waiting for the alert tourist or knowing resident.


Made in the USA Series: The U.S. auto industry gets a well-earned nod during the Super Bowl

Posted on by annandmeg

It has been a tumultuous 4 years in the automotive industry. The bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler as well as the near bankruptcy of Ford Motor Company shook Detroit to it’s core. Stock prices plummeted as we watched what appeared to be the end of Detroit’s influence in the industry. It was a roller coaster ride. But, that was then. This is now.

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. It seems that everyone watched the game. Even people who don’t care about football watch the ads. I loved the Volkswagen ad focused on a dog’s motivation to become physically fit, and was bemused by Chevrolet’s spoof of the Mayan calendar’s 2012 doomsday predictions. But it was Clint Eastwood, in Chrysler’s ad, “Halftime in America,” that inspired us to envision a new era of national rebirth.

http://youtu.be/_PE5V4Uzobc

Released before the Super Bowl was Chrysler’s new advertising campaign, “Imported From Detroit.” The message of the ads is that we don’t “have to cross an ocean to obtain luxury.” But is this message accurate? We did some checking and found that there seems to be a rebirth of the U.S. automobile industry. In addition to manufacturing plants throughout the world, foreign and domestic automobile manufacturers have significant operations in the U.S. Here are just some of the companies with manufacturing and/or assembly operations in the United States—

Domestic Companies 

Ford Motor Company—Ford, Lincoln and Mercury in Michigan; Missouri; Illinois, Kentucky; and Minnesota.

General Motors–Buick in Michigan; Cadillac in Michigan and Texas; Chevrolet in Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana and Louisiana.

Chrysler—Chryslers in Michigan; Dodge in Michigan and Ohio; and Jeep in Detroit, Ohio and Illinois. Chrysler announced on February 3, 2012, that it will add 1,800 jobs at its plant in Belvidere, Illinois, where it assembles the Dodge Dart, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Compass.

Foreign Companies 

Honda—Ohio, Indiana and Alabama.

Mercedes Benz—Alabama.

BMW—South Carolina.

Infiniti—Mississippi.

Acura—Ohio.

Suzuki—Georgia and Tennessee.

Volkswagen—Tennessee. Its new plant in Tennessee employs 2000 workers and was recently recognized for its commitment to environmentally responsible manufacturing.

There is a lot to celebrate for the U.S. economy in the revitalization of this industry. We had a rough “first half” in our economy, but we are rebuilding. The economy is growing. And we are going to have a much better “second half.”

Made in the USA Series: Clothing. What to do when there is no “Made in the USA” Choice?

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg and I are pretty careful with our shopping choices. So we took the challenge and rummaged through our closets.  Almost none of our clothing is made in the U.S.A.  More than 50 % of my clothes are made in China with a smattering from SE Asia, Mexico and countries I have never heard of before.  Only a few things from St. John Knit, Eileen Fisher and Talbot’s, plus some really old clothes were made in the U.S. Meg’s clothes are primarily from China and SE Asia, with a few things made in Italy. The occasional “off” brand will be made in the U.S., but otherwise, the majority of our closets are filled with shirts, sweaters, shoes, bags, belts, etc. that have “Made in China” stamped somewhere.

So the issue for today is what to do when you shop for clothing or other items not made in the U.S.A.  It is really important to understand that all clothing made outside of the U.S.A is not the same.  One of the most important terms we had never heard about before this week was SA8000, a tool to implement UN conventions already in place. It has been described as the “first universal standard for ethical sourcing”.   Designed to advance human rights among workers on a global basis, it is a voluntary program based on setting standard for businesses. It was developed, and is overseen, by Social Accountability International, a non-profit organization.  It accredits and monitors organizations for the purpose of setting standards for ethical working conditions. SA8000 standards include:

1)    minimum age 15; 14 in developing countries;

2)    prohibits forced labor;

3)    provides safe and healthy work environment, access to bathrooms and potable water;

4)    respects the right of workers to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively;

5)    prohibits discrimination based on race, caste, origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union or political affiliation, or age; prohibits sexual harassment;

6)    prohibits corporal punishment,  mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse;

7)    limits work to 48 hours per week with overtime at premium wages up to 12 hours per week;

8)    requires living wage, no disciplinary deductions from wages.;

9)    requires companies that want to gain and maintain certification to integrate the standards of SA8000 into their management systems and practices.

Worldwide, as of 2010, companies in 62 countries were participating in the SA8000 certification process.  These companies employ more than 1.3 million people in SA8000 certified facilities, in countries such as China, India, Turkey, Viet Nam and Brazil.  Many U.S. companies are committed to contracting only with suppliers who are SA8000 certified, including such companies as Levi Strauss, Nike and Eileen Fisher.  We are struggling to find a list of U.S. companies that support SA8000, so if you can’t identify immediately whether a company is in compliance, we encourage you to ask.  We sure will!

UPDATE on 2/10/12: If you would like to see a list of Member Companies and Brands, please visit the following link:

Member Companies and Brands for Social Accountability Certifications

What is the United Nations Global Compact and why does it matter?

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

Anyone who cares about global competition and free trade, will also care about the United Nations Global Compact. Like SA 8000, a global social accountability standard for decent working conditions, it focuses on the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.  There are many prominent U.S. businesses that have committed to the principles of the compact: Levi Strauss, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Price Waterhouse auditors and Nike are all participants.

Each business that joins the UN Global Compact is expected to embrace the 10 fundamental principles of the Compact, to the best of their ability and within their realm of influence. As listed on the organization’s website, here are the 10 principles:

Human Rights:

1)             support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

2)             protect against human rights abuses.

Labor:

3)             uphold the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining

4)             the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

5)             the effective abolition of child labour; and

6)             the elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation.

Environment:

7)             support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

8)             undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

9)             encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption:

10)          work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.

The Compact is designed as a forum for businesses globally to collaborate within a practical framework to exchange best practices and facilitate the development of sustainable business methods. According to its website, www.unglobalcompact.org, the Compact has over 8700 corporate participants in 130 countries. With this kind of participation, there is certainly hope that businesses can start working together on a global level to infuse human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption ideals at a global level, and that those ideals can have an impact locally.

It should not surprise us that companies that take to heart the provisions of SA 8000 are often committed to a broader range of compacts focused on global equity, protection of the environment and protecting our natural resources.  We believe the principles of the UN Global Compact and SA 8000 are important in “shifting the balance” toward a healthier planet.

To Kill a Mockingbird Re-released 1-31-12

Posted on by annandmeg

One of my favorite gifts is an autographed copy of the 35th anniversary edition of the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, first published in 1960.  In the Pulitzer Prize winning novel authored by Harper Lee, she writes about racial injustice, human tragedy and the impact individuals can have through triumph and failure.  It is studied in high schools, college class rooms and law schools.  It teaches us about justice, integrity and the best of family values.  It motivates us to be better people, to fight against injustice and to respect and value diversity.

 My favorite quote from the book is when Atticus gives advice to Scout:

           First of all…if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks.  You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.

Gregory Peck starred in the 1962 movie by the same name.  He portrays Atticus Finch, a small town lawyer, who defends an African-American man wrongfully accused of rape.  His daughter, Scout, is
portrayed by Mary Baddham, who narrates the story through the eyes of a child.  The movie was nominated for 8 academy awards.  Gregory Peck won an Oscar for Best Actor.  He was later honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his lifetime humanitarian efforts.  Perhaps, like many others, he was motivated by the character he portrayed.

The movie is being rereleased today, the 50th anniversary of the movie.  It has been digitally remastered and restored.  Perhaps it is time for all of us to reread the book or watch the movie as a reminder of committing ourselves to being the best we can be.