Sustainability: business, life, environment

Imagine dropping a pebble in a still pond and watch the ripple travel out in an ever expanding ring.  As a green living consultant, I 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.  Choice is powerful and every choice one makes directly effects the world we live in.  Even if that choice means not making a choice. 
 
Today, escalating conversations on topics such as climate change, carbon legislation, energy independence, and growing consumer eco awareness generate innovative forward eco movement for some but simultaneously create confusion and skepticism for others.   As a sustainability consultant working with businesses and individuals, I encourage our clients to lead by example.  As  Nelson Mandela said, “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” 
 
This Saturday is International Day of Climate Action.  As explained by 350.org, a year ago, our greatest climatologist—NASA’s James Hansen—and his team produced a landmark series of studies. They showed that if we let the amount of carbon in the atmosphere top 350 parts per million, we can’t have a planet “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”  The bad news is we’re already past that number—we’re at 390 parts per million.  The good news: that number gives us a target to aim for.
 
As sustainability consultants, we are encouraging clients participating in personal sustainability programs to take action on October 24 to incorporate the number 350 at an iconic place in their community.  The goal is to expand eco awareness and to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet. 
 
Make a choice this Saturday to expand eco awareness, to take on sustainability concepts in your life, and to inspire others with eco action.