Tag Archive: sustainability

How Can I Help?

Written on October 15, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Community, agriculture, global warming, stewardship, sustainability

People often wonder, “Am I doing enough to help our world, our environment?” Some wonder why they should even try because what impact could they possibly have.  My wife, on the other hand, has a more challenging question:  “Do you expect people to go back to ‘old ways’ to sustain the earth?”  And then she gets tough… “People worked for centuries to get off the farm, and you want to send people back?”

The concept of civilization fosters the idea of the pursuit of intellectual endeavors and those of leisure, not hard, back-braking work.  What are we advocating? Then, she sends me a list to “help the environment,” (see below) and asks if I expect her to do all these things?

Now, my wife is as progressive a person as I know, and really is thinking about these big issues.  However, she is pragmatic and understands how people think and behave.

So here is my simple answer:  “No!”  You don’t have to go backwards, you don’t need to do all these things.  It is impractical — as it is foolish — to think people will really do this entire list. If we’re lucky, maybe people will do 10 or 20 of them.  The list ranges from suggestions that read like your homeowner “to do list,” to some that are really impractical to others that you just want to say, “get real.”

The bigger issue surrounds the kinds of things are we advocating, to use the latest techniques, methodologies, and technologies to create best in class solutions to our mounting issues.  Many of the existing key infrastructure sectors, water, energy, agriculture, real estate etc, are rooted in a very antiquated paradigm that has not evolved to keep up with what we now know to be awful solutions.  They were never bad when designed but they have not evolved because they worked well enough.  We have taken the evolutionary path of lowest cost solution to the extreme and siloed everything. We have gone beyond the optimal economic, environmental, social solution to our way of live.  It looked like the best economic solution, but now, it is clearly not.

A new economic view reveals what needs to be provided, made, produced, or grown.  For example: Local food taken to the extreme is crazy. The goal is not “buy everything local,” but buy what is economic locally. The complete cost of brought in food has never really been understood. If I can employ the land, the people and produce the right crops that have a better economic total value to the local economy then it makes complete sense. This new thinking is due mostly to the fact that we are now living in a world of scarcity and limited growth capacity. This changes a lot of thinking.

Our political, community and business leaders need to rethink how the systems we have put in place can service us better.

But just for fun, go ahead and see how many on this list you can actually do:

Skills for an Eco-Friendly Do-It-Yourself Lifestyle: Go green one skill at a time

Honing your green skills is part of growing and learning to walk softly on the earth. How many things do you really know how to do in order to increase your green and decrease your carbon footprint? Here is a list of 99 skills to try in order to become a more green do-it-yourself-er.

Food Skills
1. Read and understand product labels
2. Bake bread
3. Make your own bread starter and keep it going
4. Make cheese, yogurt, and kefir from local milk
5. Preserve food by canning
6. Preserve food by drying
7. Forage for local wild foods safely
8. Raise a couple of backyard chickens
9. Make your own tofu, tempeh, and soy milk
10. Eat locally and in season
11. Grind your own flour
12. Grow your own produce
13. Grow your own herbs
14. Grow your own sprouts
15. Blend your own herbal tea
16. Have a repertoire of vegetarian recipes you can use for various occasions
17. Fish or hunt responsibly, if you eat meat
18. Make homemade pastas and other pantry basics
19. Cook a variety of foods well
20. Utilize a menu to minimize food waste
21. Throw a party without compromising your green values
22. Make your own vanilla extract
23. Sharpen kitchen knives so they last
24. Make homemade granola bars, granola, waffles, and other breakfast items
25. Make baked goods “from scratch”
26. Understand terms like, “organic,” “Fair Trade,” “all natural,” and “GMO”

Household Skills
27. Sew well enough to repair clothing
28. Sew well enough to make your own clothing and reusable shopping bags
29. Sew fitted cloth diapers for your baby
30. Knit or crochet dishcloths
31. Know how to reupholster a chair
32. Make your own laundry soap
33. Make your own dishwasher detergent
34. Make your own house cleaning supplies
35. Use diatomaceous earth, bay leaves, and other “eco-friendly” natural pest deterrents

Home Maintenance and Repair Skills
36. Use non-electric appliances rather than electric
37. Know where to find non-electric appliances
38. Program a thermostat
39. Tile a counter top
40. Use 0 VOC paint
41. Repair a screen
42. Use caulk
43. Make simple appliance repairs such as replacing belts
44. Find what you need by bartering, or using CraigsList, eBay, and thrift stores
45. Repair a leaky toilet
46. Repair a leaky faucet
47. Replace a faucet
48. Check your home for energy leaks using incense, a candle, or a device that is created for that purpose
49. Unclog a drain without using Drano or harmful chemicals
50. Insulate an attic with eco-friendly insulation

Gardening Skills
51. Build a compost system
52. Use compost to enrich your soil
53. Plan a garden for your climate
54. Understand xeriscaping
55. Plant a multi-seasonal vegetable garden
56. Build a simple cold frame for salad all year
57. Build frames for raised bed gardens
58. Make a rainwater catching system
59. Use a manual reel mower
60. Use companion planting methods to control pests
61. Build a bat house to encourage bats and decrease mosquitoes
62. Use predator insects like praying mantis to control garden pests
63. Know what heirloom seeds are and why you should use them
64. Learn how to plant open pollinated vegetables for best yields
65. Learn how to save seeds from your own produce
66. Plant trees and bushes to cut your energy bills
67. Use soaker hoses to conserve water
68. Sharpen and maintain tools

Health Skills
69. Know how to use herbs and natural remedies to treat common illnesses
70. Make your own soap
71. Make your own skin care products
72. Use essential oils for health and cleaning
73. Make your own deodorant

Transportation Skills
74. Tune up a bicycle and make repairs
75. Do simple maintenance on your car
76. Arrange or locate a carpool
77. Learn to use hypermiling techniques
78. Plan eco-friendly air travel

Energy Skills
79. Install exterior solar lighting
80. Install a solar panel
81. Know where to find the most eco-friendly, green power source available to you
82. Connect home electronics to power strips for easy shut off
83. Check the wattage of an appliance
84. Calculate annual kilowatt usage

Conservation Skills
85. Use e-mail rather than conventional mail
86. Switch to a paperless office
87. Locate the local library and use it rather than buying books, DVDs, and tapes
88. Adjust your computer settings to make it more energy efficient
89. Use Skype and other technology to limit the need for travel to conferences
90. Learn to plan eco-friendly vacations, such as camping (and leave no trace)
91. Replace a hobby with an environmentally friendly hobby
92. Locate and use recreational green spaces such as hiking trails, parks, and public gardens
93. Understand and be able to explain what cradle-to-cradle means
94. Understand and be able to explain what carbon emissions are
95. Understand and be able to calculate a carbon footprint as well as explain what it is
96. Know where to recycle technological items like computers, microwaves, televisions, etc.
97. Identify and sort a variety of recyclable materials
98. Know where reusable items can be substituted for disposables
99. Understand and be able to explain cap-and-trade
100. What would you add?

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That Community Feeling

Written on October 5, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Community, Uncategorized, stewardship, sustainability

I live in the suburbs, like a lot of people, The question is can we fix them?  Many ask, “What is wrong?”  The sense of belonging, happiness, loneliness and also the waste factor.  If your downtown is 5-10 minute drive away, you are car bound and miss out on the many opportunities for that happiness and community engagement.

The book “Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zone Way” by Dan Buettner, is trying to point a way to happiness by making life simpler and easier. He points to Mexico, Singapore, Denmark, and San Luis Obispo, CA. His first book The Blue Zone” covers many more countries and shows that the simpler the lifestyle, the happier people tend to be. In happy countries people ride bikes more, eat simpler native foods, sleep more, and are more family oriented. Something Americans are just now rediscovering. “During the past 35 years, while Americans have worked to increase our income by 70 percent and the size of our houses have doubled, we’ve become no happier as a nation.”

Parade Magazine did a nice job of highlighting what is good in San Luis Obispo in the article “You’ll wish you were here.”

So if we take the key parameters apart and understand that many communities could do similar things. It doesn’t take extraordinary measures, but mainly a desire to go do it.

On an individual level, one can focus himself on those things in his control; trying to take more time with family and friends, enjoy and eat real food (not fast food) with family, reduce your debt, take walks in your community, bike more, drive less. When you buy something make sure you need it and buy high qualify so it lasts a long time.

Within the community we can rethink downtown; close off a street or two to create a plaza or walking areas, frequent the interesting local stores and shops and restaurants, set up modest local public transportation, drive the adoption or development of mixed use buildings with parking, retail, restaurants, and residential living, begin to foster green space and parks, gardens sports fields around town inside and on the perimeter of town. And begin to look at the basic services that are offered by the town for the community and for true environmental impact. Also a careful look at the utilities and how the town can help reduce energy and improve water, waste water, and storm water usage.  This is not an individual’s effort; this is for the town political leaders, land and building owners, and the residents at large. There is so much that can be done and the net effect will be a happier, healthier and more prosperous town.

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Additional thoughts on the managed range cattle operation

Written on October 1, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Energy, Organic, agriculture, agroforestry, cattle operations, sustainability, waste water

So how can you best summarize the impact of a managed range, mob grazed, cattle operation?  The following table sheds light:

  • 1 liter of fuel for 450lbs of beef vs 1 liter of fuel for 1 lb. of beef
  • Soil diversity impacted
  • Denser cattle per acre
  • Free food year round
  • Less carbon generation
  • More carbon sequestration
  • Less methane generated
  • Labor reduction
  • Less machines needed
  • Less water loss
  • Less soil loss
  • Healthier farmer, family and community
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Holding Off the Tragedy of the Commons

Written on September 24, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Economics, investing, marketing, stewardship, sustainability

The very challenging argument of the Tragedy of the Commons misses on a very big note. It lacks a fundamental solution driver called “innovation”.  If we don’t create and adapt we will not make it in the long term.

“Tragedy of the Commons” is a paper written by Garrett Hardin, which discusses the case of a shared pasture among herders that has a limited carry capacity. Simply put, it is in each herder’s self interest to add another cow to the detriment of the other herders; which in turn argues the need for government regulation or privatization. We could argue both, but I will claim that both can and probably will fail.

Both governments and corporations are institutions that exist for the reason of self promulgation, actualization, and advancement  (to further itself, to continue to exist, to not change). The methodologies that they deploy and back is their best practice, it is what they believe, what they will hold on to and how they will exist and thrive. And this is the failure point. It is not meant to change. It’s very survival depends upon the lack of change.

What is missing is a catalyst for change. Why change? Because what worked best 100, 50,  20 or even 10 years ago is no longer the best methodology or practice.

The institution is good at doing what it was designed to do and it stubbornly holds on to that design at the expense of it’s own destruction or the method it protects. Change is needed.

This is why venture capital has been successful in creating the new innovators. If the incumbent institutions adapted and changed to the new technology or method then there would be no venture industry.

We have huge problems to face in critical industries such as agriculture, waste water, energy, real estate, etc.  These asset classes need to undergo massive transformation for the benefit of all.  The incumbent companies and regulations are stuck in a process and framework which prevents and disincentivizes change. They even go further to lock out or block change because it would lead to their own destruction.

Which leads back to my opening statement. Any system or methodology is only as good as the best knowledge we have at the time. We need to create the companies, organizations and processes to allow and accept change and adapt to the new.  We need to constantly invent and reinvent.  It is a challenge that only the best of the best companies have managed to do, like Apple, Cisco, or IBM.

But now this matters more, much more because it is our collective resources that are at stake. We need to be open and create the new enterprises that will create, invent and adapt in the basic resources areas.

I welcome your ideas, input and comments. Do you agree? Disagree?

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Making the Great Plains, Great Again

Written on September 16, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Uncategorized

Two weeks ago I was on a beautiful cattle ranch in the middle of Nebraska.  One man, Chad Peterson, has transformed 4000 acres from a sandy sparse grass land to a lush verdant range land, with springs and creeks and beautiful lakes full of fish spawning.  His land is full of wild life, birds, frogs, elk, etc.  This ranch stands in huge contrast to the neighboring land.  How was this possible?

A good article that hits on some of the points is in Time online – highlighting some of the ideas that Chad has put to work.   The whole point of putting cattle back on the land in mass is to mimic the range lands of 500 years ago when the bison and buffalo, elk,  wolves, cats, etc roamed the prairies.  There was a natural predator/prey relationship.  Herds hung out together defending from the predators moving along as a large group to protect its weak and young from the cats or wolves.  This in turn forced an intense grazing where they stood at any given moment.  The herd ate the grass down to low levels, but they also (if you pardon the expression) shat where they ate.  The herds rarely stayed in one spot very long and moved on trampling down anything that wasn’t eaten.  The combination of the the manure and the left over crushed plants created a base for the soil to replenish and grow beautiful lush grass again.  This in turn creates and builds soils that retain, water and CO2.  And, as in Chads case, over the course of 10 years he has created a beautiful natural system that defies its neighboring ranches.

This seemingly simple and obvious system was never really understood until Alan Savory documented it and wrote about it in his book Holistic Management.  Even today, people like Chad Peterson are considered on the fringe and a little crazy.  Crazy like a fox.  His land is invaluable.  America needs to rediscover this system and put it to use all over the country. Get rid of our feed lot system for raising cattle and raise healthy cattle on grass and restore our range lands to their former glory.

Still skeptical?  Here are even more benefits of this system:

What if I told you that the current cattle feedlot system requires 20x  more energy than the grass fed system.  The land is there; the grass,  sun and water are free and it takes only one person to manage 1000 head of cattle.  There is no waste product to dispose of and  limited methane due to the grass diet.  No drugs, no antibiotics, rarely medicinal help. The cattle live a long healthy life.

Contrast this to the feed lot system – the food is grown corn (planted, harvested and trucked in), the water is brought in,  the manure runs into collection pools that ferment, the cattle are dosed in antibiotics to tolerate the squalid conditions they live in. And the cattle need to be slaughtered early in their life or they will die from all sorts of aliments from the food they eat or the environment that they live in.  Oh, and the land they live on is a giant cesspool.

Which system would you want to own, operate or eat from?

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A Model for Profiting from the Land

Written on December 18, 2009 by Roland Van der Meer in Uncategorized, sustainability

How do you build a sustainable, profitable land development company.   It almost sounds counter intuitive, but it is not.  If you can harness the land for all its potential layered revenue streams, and do so in an additive, regenerative, or restorative way, then you have capability of creating a long term asset that can profit and last for many generations to come.

Those revenue streams from any large tract of land are numerous, but also distinctly defined by the geography and the land itself.  Each large landscape is unique.  The potential revenue sources can come from energy (wind, water, sun, biomass, geothermal); timber, agriculture, water, carbon credits, eco-tourism, Bio diversity,  and sustainable real estate development.   But this not all that is needed.  It is the practice how you systemically deploy each of these practices sustainably, layer on the  potential revenue streams, and engage the community with the land.  This is more important than each individual revenue opportunity.   Taking a holistic and systematic approach to integrating all the different ideas is essential to the success of the sustainability and profit of the land.

BioLogical Capital is creating a new model for large landscape development in the most profitable and sustainable fashion.  It is firms like this that will lead the way to a better future for people integrating with the land.  We need to develop business models of scale that show the way to sustainable living profitably.

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Are the Boards of Corporate America Leading the Sustainability Charge?

Written on December 7, 2009 by Roland Van der Meer in Economics, sustainability

All of us are worried, anxious, and probably very skeptical of what can happen in Copenhagen this month.  The early pontiffs were very negative on the prospective outcome, particularly with the US and China not committing to anything concrete before hand.   It almost makes you believe the scenario in Ultimatum, the book by Matthew Glass,   that the only solutions will be employed when mega disasters hit in 2030 time frame and the US and China have to agree.

But there is a new trend growing and strong.  Corporations are leading the charge. They are becoming long term thinkers because they realize that the viability of their business is at stake in the not too distant future.  This realization is occurring  both at the board level and increasingly shareholder level.   An insightful Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, “Will Big Business save the Earth” points out some of the massive movement that is occurring.   Jared Diamond  writes  about “a few examples involving three corporations — Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Chevron — that many critics of business love to hate, in my opinion, unjustly.”

Wal-Mart the biggest retailer in the world,  is working hard to reduce its waste and impact throughout their entire supply chain. A monumental effort which will reach deep into every process from packaging waste to the green House gases emitted from the farmers whose food then sell.   Coca Cola is really worried about Water.  Arguably the next next commodity to cause Global unrest.  It will need clean fresh sources close to its customers and will have to restore and enhance the environment to continue to extract the water it needs.   Then there is Chevron, whose environmental practices are becoming a model for the working in highly environmentally sensitive areas, that the author goes on to site ” Not even in any national park have I seen such rigorous environmental protection as I encountered in five visits to new Chevron-managed oil fields in Papua New Guinea.”

The future might well lie in the economics of the corporations who need a viable sustainable world to survive and grow rather then the politics of the world.

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