Sustain-a-Links #12
October 18th, 2006 by Vihar Sheth | Posted in Recent ReadingsI’ve been a little distracted lately witnessing the sustainability of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. They’re a perfect example of maximizing utility if there ever was one in baseball. Let’s hope they can continue to extract ridiculous levels of performance from sub par / untested resources. Not too bad an analogy . . .
—–
Award | Triad textile firm nominated for sustainability award | “Sustainable North Carolina named a Greensboro textiles firm to its list of nine finalists for its fifth annual N.C. Sustainability Awards. The awards are intended to recognize businesses, nonprofits and other organizations that combine strong financial returns with environmental stewardship and social responsibility.” Even if good press is a company’s only motivation, sustainable behavior is the end goal. | The Business Journal
Event | UR to host ‘Sustainability’ Farmers Market | “To push the idea of buying local, ecologically-friendly produce, University of Rochester will host its first ever Sustainability Farmers Market from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday in Dandelion Square on UR’s River Campus.” What a great venue to host an event like this. Even the closest-knit neighborhoods don’t have the sense of community found on college campuses. Hopefully other colleges follow suit. | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Island | Future of sustainability discussed on Kaua‘i | “Kaua‘i residents met last night with representatives of the Hawai‘i 2050 Sustainability Task Force, joining a statewide conversation about the policies that will best guide the islands’ future. The legislature charged the task force with developing a plan for Hawai‘i’s sustainable future — a plan that will take account of the impact development has on the environment, the community and the economy.” Task forces usually generate more waste in paper than good in ideas, or implementation. Let’s hope these guys (and gals) come up with something that’s actionable. I’ve never been but I hear it’s beautiful. It’d be a shame if it was under water. | Charlotte Woolard, The Garden Island
Reporting | New GRI guidelines make sustainability reporting simpler | “The GRI’s vision is that reporting on economic, environmental and social performance becomes a matter of routine. It aims to achieve this by inspiring businesses and organisations to make this kind of reporting the norm and by encouraging them to use its GRI Guidelines to disclose their impact in a standardised and comparable way.” I know, I know . . . boooooring. But, reporting is key if businesses are to measure the impact of their sustainability efforts. For better or worse, shareholders like to see numbers more than hear feel-good stories. | Business in the Community
Trade | Encourage sustainable trade | “The World Trade Organisation (WTO) promotes free trade for the gain of private interests, over and above our health and the environment. It is fatally flawed and is moving the world in the wrong direction - away from peace, security and sustainability. By stalling on issues that are crucial to poorer countries, the WTO faces a crisis of legitimacy.” I really wish Greenpeace would let us know how it really feels. Some interesting things to think about on this page. Check it out. | Greenpeace
—–
There you have it and there you are. I italicized my comments while leaving the quotes from the various sources untouched. Hopefully that makes the information in each paragraph easier to dissect. Go Cards!
