The First Ladies of Sustainability
Andrea Ramage Director of sustainable solutions, CH2M HILL Bellevue, Wash.
Sustainability is part of the foundational thinking behind new urbanism. Building communities, businesses, products, and processes to last requires that a number of environmental and social considerations be made before action is taken. In this post I’m going to introduce you to some of the ‘First Ladies” of sustainability that I bumped into “online” who are making big decisions like this for sustainable industries.
But first, what does sustainable living look like (my daughter often asks this question)? Let’s look at the construction of a community as an example.
If an environmentally conscious builder wants to create a community of say 10,000 homes, sustainable design would dictate that she ought to ensure that there will also be located close by, schools and places to work so that this development doesn’t result in the dumping of approximately 10,000 additional commuters to existing, over burdened thorough-ways.
Lets also put in place sidewalks and bike-lanes that will support many of these 10,000 residents in their decision to walk or ride to the store, work or school.
Instead of retail outlets purchasing thousands of plastic bags that will only clog up our landfills, let’s encourage (require!) local retailers to use reusable bags.
Essentially the sustainable lifestyle and work environment is all about good design–design that takes into consideration aesthetics and budgets, but also the healthy needs and behaviors of “people.”
To give you an even better idea of what the sustainable business community is like I’ve got a link for you from the people at SustainableIndustries.com. They recently ran a feature profiling the “First Ladies” of the sustainable industry.
I think you’ll find these women to be enterprising, and successful corporate leaders and entrepreneurs. This will also give you insight into the kind of work being done in what is now becoming the hot and growing “green” industry.
