The Sustainability Movement

What defines a cultural movement? In the 60’s, the “Civil Rights Movement” and the “Anti-War Movement” were youth-driven efforts to change the way we live our lives. Those who would question the status quo were compelled to speak out in favor of what they believed in because they felt that we as a society could be doing so much better, regardless of the consequences. Segregation had divided us by skin color and war had divided us by ideology. Our nation had reached the tipping point and there were those among us that stepped up to the challenge and drove the bus to action. Our world was forever different after the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy as these courageous leaders believed that what they were doing was bigger than themselves. Their legacy is just as strong today as it was then.

But what do we have to believe in now? Thomas Friedman points out in “Hot Flat & Crowded” that we are entering a new era, the “Energy Climate Era,” wherein our actions and even failures to act will all be motivated by either our consumption of energy or the subsequent effects on global climate. Everything we consume as a society has a direct impact on the world in which we live, whether from its creation to its use and into its disposition, the truth remains that we, as a global community, cannot continue our rate of consumption and expect the ecology to sustain life forever.

The time to act is now. Recently, Cleveland’s Mayor Frank Jackson hosted an “Appreciative Inquiry” summit on regional collaboration focused on drafting the blueprints for a new “green” economy. I, along with over 700 representatives of every market sector imaginable; public, private, non-profit, students, retirees, government, etc., participated in a three-day intense working conference in which over 20 different market-based initiatives started to take shape as the driving force behind an economy that creates a “green city on a blue lake.”

Mind you, this was not just some eco-minded environmental activism; the collective focus on topics as diverse as green building, local food production and distribution, advanced manufacturing, waste diversion strategies and social entrepreneurship will eventually lead to concrete, actionable programming that will directly benefit the regional economy through job growth and regional prosperity, all while centered in a core of environmental responsibility.

In less than 3 weeks, I will be representing my fellow summit-eers in a trip to The United States Congress as part of the US Green Building Council’s Second Annual Congressional Advocacy Day. Advocates from around the country will be convening in DC to speak with Congressional leaders on the importance of responsible building practices and programs. I plan on bringing the momentum that was created at the summit to address the role that “green” building plays in the much larger picture of a new “green” economy; one based in the principal tenets of the triple bottom line - economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental stewardship.

I have recognized from the summit that sustainability has turned from a word into a movement. We need to change the way we live, work and consume in order to continue to exist on this planet.

Failure to act is not an option.