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Sun, 2012-06-03 22:19 — mdmcdonald
The Sustainability Working Group is focused on exploring sustainability issues in the U.S.

The mission of the Sustainability Working Group is to explore sustainability issues in the U.S.

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Members

Kathy Gilbeaux Maeryn Obley mdmcdonald Miles Marcotte
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Email address for group

sustainability@m.resiliencesystem.org

Los Angeles Set to Ban Plastic Bags

Wed, 2013-07-03 12:21 — Miles Marcotte

June 20, 2013 - Environmental Leader

Los Angeles is set to ban plastic grocery bags, making it the largest US city to prohibit single-use plastic bags at supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores and retail chains that sell food such as Target and Walmart.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 11-1 on Tuesday to adopt the ban, giving preliminary approval to the ordinance that will return to the council for a second vote next week before moving to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is expected to sign the law. The rule also sets a 10-cent price on paper bags to encourage customers to bring their own re-usable bags. Plastic bags used for produce are exempt from the ordinance.

Goodbye, Miami

Fri, 2013-06-28 18:16 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Miami after Hurricane Wilma in 2005.  Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

submitted by Albert Gomez

By century's end, rising sea levels will turn the nation's urban fantasyland into an American Atlantis. But long before the city is completely underwater, chaos will begin

rollingstone.com - by Jeff Goodell - June 20, 2013

When the water receded after Hurricane Milo of 2030, there was a foot of sand covering the famous bow-tie floor in the lobby of the Fontaine­bleau hotel in Miami Beach. A dead manatee floated in the pool where Elvis had once swum. Most of the damage occurred not from the hurricane's 175-mph winds, but from the 24-foot storm surge that overwhelmed the low-lying city.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Chapter 5. Eroding Soils Darkening Our Future - Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity

Thu, 2013-06-27 10:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

earth-policy.org

Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity

Chapter 5. Eroding Soils Darkening Our Future

by Lester R. Brown

In 1938 Walter Lowdermilk, a senior official in the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traveled abroad to look at lands that had been cultivated for thousands of years, seeking to learn how these older civilizations had coped with soil erosion. He found that some had managed their land well, maintaining its fertility over long stretches of history, and were thriving. Others had failed to do so and left only remnants of their illustrious pasts.

Chapter 5. Eroding Soils Darkening Our Future
http://www.earth-policy.org/books/fpep/fpepch5

SEE Global Resilience System for additional chapters (in the links below)

http://resiliencesystem.org/full-planet-empty-plates-new-geopolitics-food-scarcity

New York Lays Out $20 Billion Plan to Adapt to Climate Change

Tue, 2013-06-11 23:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                        

A home destroyed and abandoned after Hurricane Sandy is seen on Fox Beach Avenue in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island in New York City, New York, March 25, 2013.  Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar

submitted by John Wysham

reuters.com - by Hilary Russ - June 11, 2013

(Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced a $20 billion plan to prepare for rising sea levels and hotter summers expected as a result of climate change in the coming decades.

The ambitious proposal - which could become the benchmark for other cities dealing with climate change - could reshape Lower Manhattan's waterfront, with the possible addition of a "Seaport City" out of the East Side.

The more than 400-page plan, which follows widespread destruction wreaked by Superstorm Sandy last year, included about 250 recommendations ranging from new floodwalls and storm barriers to upgrades of power and telecommunications infrastructures.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Symphony of the Soil - a remarkable film for all ages

Wed, 2013-05-15 19:06 — Gina Angiola

This film is a great tool for community-building ...and is transformative...

http://greenwheaton.org/environmental-film-symphony-soil/

 

 

" By understanding the elaborate relationships and mutuality between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource. The film also examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil’s key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issues of our time. Filmed on four continents, featuring esteemed scientists and working farmers and ranchers, Symphony of the Soil is an intriguing presentation that highlights possibilities of healthy soil creating healthy plants creating healthy humans living on a healthy planet."

Video - Urban Resilience for a New Century

Tue, 2013-05-14 22:08 — Kathy Gilbeaux

huffingtonpost.com - by Dr. Judith Rodin - May 14, 2013

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Resilience
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Amazon's New Green-Roofed Headquarters Will Be Seattle's Largest Development Ever

Thu, 2012-09-13 02:04 — Maeryn Obley

Conceptual art of the new Amazon headquarters.Image: Conceptual art of the new Amazon headquarters.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

inhabitat.com - September 12th, 2012 - Bridgette Meinhold

Amazon will make its new headquarters not in some sprawling suburb, but in the heart of downtown Seattle. Recent plans for Amazon's campus reveal that it will take up 3 square blocks with 3 towers supported by lower volumes, and will feature lots of open green space—including green roofs. NBBJ, who also designed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation nearby, is in charge of the massive new project for Amazon.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Sustainability Framework 2.0: Professional Accountants as Investigators

Mon, 2012-06-25 15:16 — Maeryn Obley

Submitted by Albert Gomez

accountability.org - March 2011

Now in its second edition, the IFAC (International Federation of Accountants) Sustainability Framework (the Framework) primarily targets professional accountants working in commerce, industry, financial services, education, and the public and not-for-profit sectors. IFAC strongly believes that these professional accountants can influence the way organizations integrate sustainability into their mission, goals and objectives, strategies, management and operations, definitions of success, and stakeholder communications.

(Read Complete Report, a 98-page .PDF file)

Larger Role for Renewable Energy in U.S. Future Than Previously Thought

Fri, 2012-06-22 21:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Existing renewable energy source can supply most of U.S. needs // Source: axortagos.gr

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - June 22, 2012

Renewable electricity generation from technologies that are commercially available today, in combination with a more flexible electric system, is more than adequate to supply 80 percent of total U.S. electricity generation in 2050 while meeting electricity demand on an hourly basis in every region of the country; new study finds that renewable generation could play a more significant role in the U.S. electricity system than previously thought

PwC Report: How Companies Can Put a Dollar Value on Sustainability

Sun, 2012-06-03 22:43 — Corey Watts

submitted by Albert Gomez

www.environmentalleader.com - May 31, 2012

Companies can measure the value of sustainability and how their environmental efforts directly contribute to profits, using two evaluation methods described in a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The cost of sustainability programs are readily apparent, PwC said. And companies are typically able to determine the short-term value from cost savings, risk reduction or product and service innovations. Putting a dollar value on intangible benefits, especially those over a long period of time, is where companies struggle, the consultancy said.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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