While escalating conversations on topics such as climate change, carbon legislation, energy independence, and growing consumer eco awareness generate forward eco movement for some it simultaneously creates confusion and skepticism for others.   To address these complex issues, it's going to take all of us demonstrating eco awareness in our daily lives.  Some eco actions are easier than others.  In fact, at Taiga Company, we promote green cycling as a means to make a difference. 

What is green cycling?  It is bike commuting or riding your bike and it is a win-win on many different levels.  For businesses and individuals looking to reduce costs, embrace eco awareness, and adhere to business and personal sustainability programs, bike commuting benefits everyone.  How so?  even if you don’t ride a bike, we all enjoy the benefits of bicycling infrastructure. Every cyclist on the road is one less car, which means there is less need for expensive road projects that take money from other important government programs. Bicycle and pedestrian improvements cost a fraction of what it takes to widen streets and highways and improve the livability of our cities, attracting new businesses and development. 

As we are mid way through National Bike Month.  We encourage you to read and gain eco awareness of the many benefits green cycling has to offer.  Enjoy! 

• David Suzuki: The benefits of cycling go beyond reducing climate change 
• Transportation and Young Adults: Driving is Down, Biking and Public Transport Way Up 
• Bicycle-Friendly Businesses Are Booming: 67 New BFBs Announced 
• New Report: Americans Driving Less, Especially Youth 
• If You Build Bike Lanes, They Will Ride 
• Bike Commuting Trends are UP: Here's Why 
• Bikes are Good for Business 

Happy National Bike Month When people ride bikes, good things happen.  Why? Because bike riding is a win-win for both businesses and individual looking to reduce cost, embrace eco awareness and adhere to business and personal sustainability programs.  But wait! There's yet another reason to use your pedal power for good! May is National Bike Month! In this newsletter edition you'll find all the reasons and resources to kick off a National Bike Month!  Ride ON!  May is National Bike Month  When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. ~ H.G. Wells Mark your calendars! Bike to Work Week is May 14-18and Bike to Work Day is Friday, May 18. Green Cycling: Resources & Tips to Get You Riding Top 10 Benefits of Bicycle Commuting Programs for Business  Get Paid to Bike to Work  Easy Ways to Become a Bike Friendly Office  10 Reasons to Bike Commute to Work  The Bike Commuter's Guilde to Stay Fresh and Clean at Work  Eco Resources to Gear Up for Bike to Work Week      Download our Free Green Cycling Whitepaper learn more Promote your cycling event with our social media services learn more Ways to get involved for National Bike Month:    Become a two wheeled friend!PeopleForBikes.org is dedicated to channeling that velo passion to improve the future of  bicycling.  Their goal is to gather a million names in support.  To date, they are at 500,000. Sign the pledge to speak one, powerful voice to promote cycling and bike commuting.  Take the National Bike Challenge! Sponsored by Kimberly-Clark,the League of American Bicyclist, and Bikes Belong, the National Bike Challenge runs May 1 - August 31 with the goal of uniting 50,000 people to bike 10 million miles.     Cycling Inspiration!  Need Inspiration? Check out Taiga's Race Pictures on Facebook!

Like what you see?  Get Taiga in your Inbox - subscribe to our newsletter here!  

When people ride bikes, good things happen.  Why?  Because bike commuting is a win-win for both businesses and individuals looking to reduce costs, embrace eco awareness, and adhere to business and personal sustainability programs.  

In recent years, the bicycle industry has stepped up to support bike advocacy and education programs like never before. Much of that leadership has come from Bikes Belong, the industry's advocacy and education organization.  In fact, just over two years ago, PeopleForBikes.org was launched with the goal of collecting one million pledges for a better future for bicycling.  As if the timing couldn't be better, May is National Bike Month and to date, PeopleForBikes.org stand 500,000 riders strong.

While only halfway to their goal of one million supporters, there is still time to get involved, contribute to making our nation a better place to ride, and to send a powerful message to our elected leaders, the media, and the public that bicycling is important and should be promoted.

At Taiga Company, we are no strangers to the bike community.  We have the opportunity to work with individuals and businesses to integrate sustainability concepts into the workplace and daily life.  We refer to it as green cycling and naturally view how bike riding and commuting benefits the needs of both worlds: business and individuals.  Clients commute to work; businesses provide resources and incentives for cycling commuters.  So, why is bike commuting so wonderful? 

• Bike commuting helps the environment by reducing your carbon footprint.
• Bicycles emit no pollution when in use; they require far less materials, energy and waste in their production than even the ‘greenest’ car. 
• Cycling offers a certain connection to the open air and the surrounding trees.  It's amazing how usual surroundings look different when on a bike.
• Cycling can be done by toddlers, teenagers, youngsters and adults as well.  It can be used as personal time to reflect upon your day or a means to unite friends for regular rides.
• Regular participation in a cycling routine naturally shifts your focus to include thoughts of the weather, areas in your community to ride, road safety, and traffic.  Thereby increasing your awareness of the link between the environment and your community.
• Enjoy the freedom your bike gives you- go places your car can't.
• National health statistics show that when you're more active, you decrease your risk for cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
• Bicycle commuting allows you to include your workout in your daily schedule and helps to meet fitness goals.
• Bike commuting saves you money:  reduce car maintenance, reduced gas bill, reduced parking cost.
• Cycling is a good exercise for overall fitness of the body.  It improves health and reduces stress and tension.
• Cycling contributes to a positive work/ life balance.
• Bicycles can be produced and maintained locally by local bike shops contributing to local job opportunities as part of a sustainable economy.
• Increased cycling commuting reduces air pollution generated from motorized vehicles.
• The bike industry is getting involved.  Check out Action Outdoor Bike Magazine for resources.
• Bike riding is FUN!

Express your passion and commitment to our two wheeled friends.  Please take a moment to visit the website and sign the pledge. It is quick and easy. You will help the future of biking and ultimately you will be enhancing the work of the League. All the campaign needs is your name and email address: www.peopleforbikes.org/signpledge

How do you connect with nature?   Does it matter?  Actually it does.  According to Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better. As sustainability consultants, we can't see a better connection between the natural world and eco inspiration.  Inspiration is a source of life.   What fuels our souls and calls us to become more in our lives differs from person to person in as much as how one chooses to fulfill these needs. At Taiga Company, green cycling is what inspires us to ride our bikes outdoors in nature.  

When people ride bikes, good things happen.  Why?  Because bike riding is a win-win for both businesses and individuals looking to reduce costs, embrace eco awareness, and adhere to business and personal sustainability programs.   But wait! There’s yet another reason to use your pedal power for good!  May is National Bike Month.  Kicking off National Bike Month, we share pictures from our recent 60+ mile mountain bike race in Castle Rock, Colorado.   

Enjoy! 

April showers bring May flowers and…National Bike Month!  May is recognized as National Bike Month and as sustainability consultants, we couldn't be happier!  Bike commuting, or green cycling as we call it at Taiga Company, is part of a sustainable lifestyle, alternative transportation, helps the environment, and also raises eco awareness.   It seems that most people think of bikes as recreation but in our sustainability consulting with business and individuals, we encourage employers and workers to consider cycling as alternative transportation as well as part of a sustainable business strategy.  Cycling to work is an easy way to integrate sustainability concepts into the workplace.  

Kicking off National Bike Month we will be posting educational resources on bikes, cycling, and gear as well as sharing mountain bike race photos from our Taiga Cycling team exploring the great outdoors in Colorado.  

Here’s how you can participate in National Bike Month. 

Begin by marking your calendar:

• Bike-to-Work Week 2012 from May 14-18
• Bike-to-Work Day on Friday, May 18.
• Do you want to know how many people ride bikes in America , who's riding, and how many miles of bike lanes there are? The Census Bureau collects American Community Survey (ACS) data from a sample of the population in the United States and gives us this insight. Find out who's riding bikes  in the largest 244 cities in the U.S.

Resources and worthwhile reading: For Business/ employees:

• Bike Commuting Trends are UP: Here's Why
• 10 Reasons to Bike Commute to Work
• Easy Ways to Become a Bike Friendly Office
• Top 10 Benefits of Bicycle Commuting Programs for Businesses

For Commuters:

• The Bike Commuter's Guide to Stay Fresh and Clean at Work
• Get Paid to Bike to Work
• Green Resources for Bike to Work Week
• Live Green! Ride a bike!

Want to get more involved?  Get Up & Ride- Take the National Bike Challenge!  Launched  by a powerful alliance between Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong and Endomondo, the National Bike Challenge aims to inspire and empower millions of Americans to ride their bikes for transportation, recreation and better health.  The Challenge is simple: Sign up as an individual or as a team, log your miles, share your stories and encourage others to join you. Riders will compete for prizes and awards on the local and national level, including a Grand Prize trip through California wine country from Trek Travel.  

What are you waiting for?  Pump up your tires, lube your chain, and put your pedal power to good use!  Ride ON! 

Super powers are cool.  They  invoke the imagination of superhuman qualities capable of tacking any challenge and succeeding. In many ways, the call for sustainability invokes the better qualities of us as humans.  If we were to have sustainability superpowers, what would they be?  How would we use them? How could we invoke sustainability superpowers to not only change the world at large, but also our personal worlds?

Most of us recognize that change can be unsettling.  It can be scary, and too often it is just easier to slip back into a traditional and comfortable way of doing things.  However, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process.  How so?  All too often, we turn our attention to the barriers and roadblocks to the incorporating sustainability concepts into our businesses and personal lives.  There is a tendency to take too broad of a view of the concept of sustainability and become overwhelmed by its magnitude and our ability to make change.  Instead, we need to focus on the benefits we are individually trying to achieve from a specific change.  What are the baby steps we can take that make change easier? 

To help you do just that, following are ways to go green each day of the week.  As a sustainability consultant, I suggest starting off with ideas in each area that are of most interest to you and build from there.  Each week can be a new platform to launch new eco actions.  Have fun with it and know that every eco action you take adds up and makes a difference.

Paperless Mondays:  Within our business sustainability consulting, we explain that when it comes to paper, producing paper from virgin fiber is both energy and water intensive.  It releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.  By choosing to use less paper and paper with recycled content you are making the choice to save wood, water and energy, and cut pollution and solid waste.   The costs savings add up and the environmental impact goes down.   Need ideas?  Check out 19 Tips to go Paperless at Home.

Turn Tuesdays Green at Work:  Keep in mind, every job is a green job: it's all in how you do it.  One approach is to increase your participation in the sustainability programs offered within your organization.  This offers a broader perspective of potential green projects and areas of improvement.  Another approach is to green your physical environment.  If you work at home, check out Green your Home Office 101 for ideas or 10 Ways to Green Your Cubicle.  Both offer ideas to embrace sustainability concepts in your work environment.  

Water Wednesdays:  Clean, fresh water is no longer just an issue for developing countries.  It has become more and more a global issue.   Water is linked to every facet of life on our planet and directly interacts with a myriad of other sustainability concepts.  Learn water wise habits to Reduce your Water Footprint.

Adventurous Thursdays:  Explore different modes of transportation .  The benefits of alternative transportation include conserving energy, preserving resources, reduced commuter traffic, cost savings (gas and parking), and reduced carbon emissions.  Fun ideas include: carpool, bus, train, cycling or telecommuting/ coworking options for work environments.  

 Friday Fun: Slay Energy Vampires with energy efficiency practices: The U.S. Department of Energy tells us that not only do appliances continue to draw electricity while the products are turned off, but in the average home nearly 75% of all electricity used to power electronics is consumed by products that are switched off.  Explore energy efficiency eco actions to use less energy.  

Saturday Waste Management/ Recycling:  When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you eliminate the disposing of waste or recycling it later.  It's the first component of the sustainability concept of the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Clues to how to reduce waste can be found by visiting what's in your garbage.  

Sparkle Sunday with Green Cleaning:  Conventional cleaning supplies contain ingredients that are toxic or hazardous. By replacing them with eco-friendly products, you're providing improved indoor air quality, as well as reducing the 5 billion pounds of chemicals consumed by cleaning industry each year.  Get started using non toxic products and breathe easier. 

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; If you can dream it, you can become it." ~ William Arthur Ward

What do you imagine for yourself?  Is there something you dream of becoming or doing?  In as much as Earth Day is a calling for eco actions, it is also a source of renewed inspiration.  We talk about renewable energy, innovative sustainable business strategies, and employee engagement but at the essence of it all is a quality of human inspiration.  Inspiration in which each of us connect with and renew our spirit is what enables us all to powerfully live our values of sustainability.

For us at Taiga Company, our inspiration is found in nature - and especially so from the view of two wheels.  Also, knows as bicycles.  We call it green cycling and we celebrated Earth Day 2012 by participating in the first race of the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series. The series opened its mountain bike racing season at Lake Pueblo State Park with an estimated 650 riders racing the 66 miles long course that took riders along the state park’s arroyos, single track and bluffs over looking Lake Pueblo, Colorado.

When the connection is made between the natural environment and the actions taken to support the environment, it becomes even easier to continue and expand upon that type of lifestyle.  Hence, one of the reasons we love riding our bikes through natural environments.  

Leading by example, we find the easiest way to promote a sustainable lifestyle to others is by sharing with friends, neighbors, and in the community.  Enjoy the views taken from our Earth Day delight and see if you aren't inspired to go for a stroll!  

Welcome to the 2012 mountain bike season in Colorado! As big fans of cycling, we're excited that tomorrow, the 2012 race season kicks off!  We'll be in Pueblo, Colorado for Voodoo Fire - the first race in the series of the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series.  

It seems that most people think of bikes as recreation but in our sustainability consulting practice, we encourage employers and workers to consider cycling as alternative transportation as well as part of a sustainable business strategy.  Cycling can be a grand adventure regardless of its purpose.  In fact, we believe there are a million reasons to fall in love with your bike and the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series is one more reason to add to the mix.  As sustainability consultants, we love bike riding because cycling is a great stress release, enjoyable exercise, and is a component of a sustainable lifestyle.   And, it gets us outside to enjoy our natural environment. 

Endurance mountain bike racing in someways mirrors sustainability.  As a racer, riding 60+ miles, it's important to be mindful of your energy use, consumption of fluids, and renewing and replenishing of nutrients post race.  Like our environmental components, if you use up what you have, there isn't much left.  Endurance racing offers an appreciation for nature as well as the human elements of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and the will to preserver.  

We are thrilled to be part of this series as part of our green cycling commitment.

We invite you to join us at the event.  Look for us in the Taiga team kits.  If you can't make it, look for our pictures Twitter or Facebook. Let the 2012 season begin! 

"Sow a thought, and you reap an act. Sow an act, and you reap a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” Charles Reade

Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously, without one directly thinking consciously about them.    In the world of personal sustainability plans, this unconscious display of habits is a fertile ground of opportunity offering low hanging fruit for eco action.    

The gap between awareness and action may represent the single largest opportunity for global sustainability progress.  While historical efforts have focused on expanding awareness, the recent explosion of information and global interest indicates that the “word is out” on most major issues.   The next step is closing the growing gap between knowledge and personal action.  

To improve in a specific area or program, the process of increasing awareness will yield improvements.  The same applies to living a sustainable lifestyle.  Most of us recognize that change can be tricky:  habits and convenience make it far easier to slip back into the comfortable way of doing things.  However, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process.  The key is conscious awareness.  

Awareness is the tool used to help discover the personal patterns of behavior that offer low hanging fruit for a sustainable lifestyle.  For instance, are you aware of your habits related to energy?  Consider how and when you consume the most energy in your day?  How could you be more efficient? What inspiring eco actions could you take?  

Conscious awareness is key to sparking the eco awareness in a personal sustainability program.  As noted in our eco friendly training, following are aids to assist in raising awareness: 

• Consciously notice what is most inspiring to you about living green and take eco action in those areas.
• Notice your current patterns and invoke curiosity as to which eco actions would be a sustainable substitute.
• Applaud your efforts: small changes add up.  In fact, daily habits have the most impact.
• Observe how new changes become the new habit/ norm.
• Momentum brings visibility to previously inaccessible ideas and behaviors.
• Gain speed: There is ease in taking more eco action.
• Inspire by living the example.

Each day we are presented with opportunities to expand our eco awareness and make informed choices.  The trick to capitalizing on those opportunities is being aware.  Conscious awareness offers us the opportunity to make changes that are inspiring and manageable relative our current life and the process of incorporating sustainability becomes much easier.  Having resources, tips, and ideas accessible makes it easier to keep sustainability top of mind.  Which ones resonate with you?   

• 10 Ways to Green your Cubicle
• I Recycle. You Recycle. We all Recycle.
• What is Your Sustainability IQ? 
• Green Home Office Basics  
• Smart Cycling 
• What Does Sustainability Mean to You?
• Eco Recourses to Gear Up for Bike to Work Week

Remember, every eco action adds up.  Your eco actions matter.  Together, we can all make positive change in our world. Happy Earth Day 2012! 

Want to go green but just don't know where to start?  Well, great news!  You don't have to be a fantastic to live green and you can get started today.  Going green isn't an all or nothing approach -just a simple transition into making better choices that help our planet as well as our pocket books!  In fact, if you think about your life now, there are probably many eco actions that you are already taking. 

In our sustainability consulting, we like to offer fun challenges to our clients to see how many green things they can do in a day.  Wondering what simple actions you can do today to go green?  Enjoy the following list of eco ations designed to bring eco awareness to your daily living and help support living a sustainable lifestyle.  How many eco actions can you do today?  This weekend? 

1. Go for a hike in the woods.
2. Discover how much land area it takes to support your lifestyle with Global Footprint Network
3. Have a picnic.
4. Take the kids to the park.
5. Visit a museum -There are lots of free museums and many others take a donation.
6. Work on an arts and craft project.
7. Go paperless for the entire day.
8. Watch this video on recycling and see how these recycling tips make a big difference in saving our environment while creating green jobs in the process. 
9. Check out fun online games that challenge your eco-socio-political skills.
10. Look around your home and office and unplug seldom used appliances.
11. Learn ways to recycle your junk.
12. Eat an organic meal or purchase some fruits and veggies from a local farmer's market and compost your vegetable scraps.
13. Do some bird watching.
14. Go for a bike ride.
15. Roller blade, Run, Ski, exercise outdoors. 
16. Visit the zoo.
17. Go camping - enjoy the US National Parks system.
18. Apply the 3 R’s to your closet: reduce by removing clothes you no longer wear, reuse and recycle by donating to a local clothing donation.
19. Visit a street fair.
20. Bake organic goodies.
21. Make a birdhouse.
22. Stroll through a public garden. 
23. Work on your own garden. 
24. Take advantage of local cultural events.
25. Clean out your house and have a garage sale.
26. Discover what can be recycled and what cannot!  Can you recycle paint? Hair? Crayons?  Find out here.  Better yet, discover recycling centers near your home by visiting Earth911.
27. Discover the rewarding sensation of volunteering in your community.  Not sure where to start?  VisitVolunteerMatch and enter your zip code and area of interest to find a perfect volunteer match.
28. Discover cycling as part of a sustainable lifestyle and as a rewarding personal adventure. 
29. Take the The 7 Day Green Power Pledge
30. Subscribe to the Taiga Company newsletter or blog.
31. Pick up litter you see as you are walking on the sidewalk.
32. Turn the lights off after someone else has forgotten as they left the room.
33. Collect scrap office paper and bring it to the recycling center.
34. Treat a friend to organic fare at a local sustainable restaurant.
35. Share your favorite green blog with friends….hint…Taiga blog.
36. Volunteer to clean up the break room and use eco friendly cleaning supplies.
37. Feed the birds from a park bench or feeder.
38. Adopt a pet from your local animal shelter.
39. Donate a bag of organic coffee and share with your office.
40. Make a contribution to your favorite charity.
41. Notice and compliment the sustainable efforts other are doing.
42. As Bill Keane said, “A hug is like a boomerang - you get it back right away". Share the green love with a friend- inspire them to eco action. 
43. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for sustainability related news and information.
44. Enjoy getting outside - reconnect with nature and re-discover the joy and appreciation that nature calls forth from each of us.  That inspiration is the fuel that propels us towards living sustainably in our lives and our communities.
45. Reduce your personal emissions.  Not sure how? Read: 5 Easy Online Tools to Reduce Personal Emissions 

Have any fun eco tips to add to the list?  

Cycing isn't just a bike ride - it is an adventure!  

Sharing our final day of green cycling adventures in Fruita, Colorado, we hope to inspire you to eco awareness and the beauty that can be found by riding your bike in the wonderful outdoors.  

Hold on to  your seat! The first views are gripping!

It seems that most people think of bikes as recreation but in our sustainability consulting practice, we encourage employers and workers to consider cycling as alternative transportation as well as part of a sustainable business strategy.  Cycling can be a grand adventure regardless of its purpose.

Sharing our final day of green cycling adventures in Fruita, Colorado, we hope to inspire you to eco awareness and the beauty that can be found by riding your bike in the wonderful outdoors.

According to a 2010 study prepared by the Outdoor Foundation, 60 million adult Americans (18 years of age and older) bicycle each year. Bicycling creates major economic growth in the United States:

• $133 billion annual contribution to the U.S. economy
• Supports nearly 1.1 million jobs across the U.S.
• Produces $53.1 billion annually in retail sales and services
  • $6.2 billion in bicycling gear sales and services
  • $46.9 billion in bicycling trip-related expenditures
• Generates $17.7 billion in annual federal and state tax revenu
• Provides sustainable growth in rural communities

At Taiga Company, we support green cycling not only because of the positive economic impacts of the sport, but primarily because it connects people with their natural environment.  Living a sustainable lifestyle is easier when the very resources we aim to protect and conserve are present in our daily lives.  By bike commuting, riding a bike for recreation, or mountain bike riding on trails, experiencing the great outdoors inspires us all to eco action.  

Sharing our green cycling journey in Fruita, Colorado this week, we invite you to learn more about how IMBA, the International Mountain Bike Association builds and protects our precious land responsibly:

• Resource conservation 
• Trail building and design 
• Economics of bicycling 

To inspire eco action, enjoy the video taken from one of our daily rides. 

Nothing compares with the simple pleasure of a bike ride.  -John F. Kennedy

Inspiration is a source of life.   What fuels our souls and calls us to become more in our lives differs from person to person in as much as how one chooses to fulfill these needs.  It seems our society in general has shifted from appreciating the resources our planet provides to us.  Pleasure, health and happiness can be derived from the very aspects of our world that are oftentimes taken for granted - nature. 

The pleasures derived from being outdoors helps to combat indoor, inactive lifestyles and inspire eco awareness.    Connecting with nature is a source of inspiration for eco action and living a sustainable lifestyle.  Some walk or hike miles of pristine trails, but at Taiga Company , we ride them.  Appreciating the scenic views inspires eco action in us.  

Sharing our day's cycling adventure with you we invite to you join us this week in our nature appreciation adventure in Fruita, Colorado.  We'll be posting pictures and videos onTwitter, Facebook, and YouTube sharing the great outdoors from the view of our two wheeled friends.  Enjoy! 

When people ride bikes, good things happen.  Why?  Because bike riding is a win-win for both businesses and individuals looking to reduce costs, embrace eco awareness, and adhere to business and personal sustainability programs.   But wait! There's yet another reason to use your pedal power for good!  Eco inspiration!  

According to Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better.  As an avid cyclist and sustainability consultant, it's interesting to note that while the salubrious effects of nature are well documented, from increasing happiness and physical health to lowering stress, this study shows that the benefits extend to a person's values and actions.  Exposure to natural as opposed to man-made environments leads people to value community and close relationships. 

Hence the reason, we at Taiga Company,use cycling as a means to promote sustainability - we call it green cycling.  When people ride bikes, good, green things happen.   People are outside, appreciating nature, enjoying physical activity, and also promoting eco awareness.

Join us this week in our nature appreciation adventure in Fruita, Colorado.  We'll be posting pictures and videos on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube sharing the great outdoors from the view of our two wheeled friends.  In the meantime, enjoy our green cycling resources and stay tuned!  Beautiful, great sites are in store! 

• Action Outdoor Bike Magazine 
• Green Cycling whitepaper 
• Best Ever Bike Commuting Guide
• Promoting Safety, Fun, Fitness, and the Environment
• Green Cycling Resources 

It is not all than uncommon for companies to hit the ‘snooze button’ the last few weeks of the year.  This often results in a need to get things going quickly in the first quarter.  Scrambling to play catch-up in the first few months, many organizations may find that this year the ‘quick hits’ may not be as plentiful as they have been in the past.  Our sustainability consulting examines this phenomenon through the eyes of a business sustainability leader.

The recent GreenBiz article, What to Do When You've Picked All the Low-Hanging Fruit, takes us on one company’s ‘sustainability journey’ at mid cycle.  Reflecting back on Interface’s last four years of efforts, the post examines the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for this business sustainability pioneer.

“We are left to wonder what the cost has been of all the stops and starts. To a certain extent, we end up reinventing the wheel in each economic cycle. What would be possible for Mission Zero if we designed a more resilient system for organizational learning that could drive rapid progress even in bad times?”  -Interface

Not new to the challenges of shifting expectations, Interface has reinvented itself time and time again over the years.  Standing at the crossroads once again in 2012, the company continues forward on its business sustainability journey.

“This is not the first time Interface has found itself in uncharted territory on its sustainability journey and the one thing that is certain is that we will need to adapt and learn together. In fact, we believe that continuing to develop our ability to learn as an organization, even in the face of economic uncertainties, holds the key to achieving Mission Zero while growing our business globally.” -Interface

Our professional consulting has observed that the companies that excel are those who expand and enhance traditional business structures.   Among many other advanced business improvement pursuits, sustainable businesses strategies aimed to increase profitability are targeting enhanced engagement as a high value opportunity in 2012.  Interface has reached a turning point in its journey and is targeting increased performance within its supply chain.

Oftentimes we associate our business sustainability consulting practice to that of a garden.  We plant the seeds of sustainability concepts as we counsel business leaders and employees on the how's and why's of business sustainability.  A combination of factors makes it such that taking eco action is not always a first priority or it may not be "the right time."  As a result, we frequently find our social media engagement and sustainability consulting to be much like a gardener planting and nourishing seeds with intentions of sprouting eco awareness in others.

We believe by giving others the freedom to explore and discover the value of sustainability concepts, it fertilizes the foundation for sustainability concepts to germinate and fosters eco actions to come.  We share with clients that thoughts and actions are like stones thrown into still waters:  they create ripples that spread and expand as they move outwards.  The stones we toss at Taiga Company via our social media outreach  include: knowledge sharing, tips, stories, reports, engagement,  and white papers of sustainability success.  We intend to inspire eco action through our social media engagement.  

Whether you are full on with sustainable business strategies and green living, or find yourself to be eco curious, it's easy to be a gardner of eco inspiration by connecting with us.  You'll find resources, information, tools at the tip of your fingertips in our tweets, blog posts, and facebook updates:  glowing examples of businesses leading and benefiting from sustainability initiatives as well as the ease of living a green, sustainable lifestyle.  We invite you to join us! 

1. Subscribe to the Taiga Newsletter 
2. Follow on Twitter 
3. Fan us on Facebook 
4. Watch on YouTube 
5. Join us on Google + 
6. Subscribe to Taiga Company's Blog 
7. Connect on LinkedIn 
8. Enjoy green cycling! Ride your bike with us in Golden, Colorado 

How do you connect with nature?   Does it matter?  Actually it does.  According to Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better.  

As an avid cyclist and sustainability consultant, it's interesting to note that while the salubrious effects of nature are well documented, from increasing happiness and physical health to lowering stress, this study shows that the benefits extend to a person's values and actions.  Exposure to natural as opposed to man-made environments leads people to value community and close relationships. Hence the reason, we at Taiga Company,use cycling as a means to promote sustainability - we call it green cycling.  When people ride bikes, good things happen.   People are outside, appreciating nature, enjoying physical activity, and also promoting eco awareness.

For those living a sustainable lifestyle, the message is meaningful.   Lead author Netta Weinstein says the take home message from the research is clear: "We are influenced by our environment in ways that we are not aware of," she says. Because of the hidden benefits of connecting with nature, people should take advantage of opportunities to get away from built environments and, when inside, they should surround themselves with plants, natural objects, and images of the natural world. "The more you appreciate nature, the more you can benefit," she says. 

Getting started is often the hardest part.  With Spring approaching, plan to get outside, in action, and on your bike!  Following are resources to help you do just that! 

• Action Outdoor Bike Magazine 
• Green Cycling whitepaper 
• Best Ever Bike Commuting Guide
• Promoting Safety, Fun, Fitness, and the Environment
• Green Cycling Resources 

Enjoy the ride!