As William Gibson said “ The future is here, it’s just not widely distributed yet”. That quote gets at the feeling one has while attending a conference like West Coast Green. Dozens of passionate and charismatic speakers describing extraordinary efforts to create a sustainable world and helping everyone else imagine what that actually looks like. This is all taking place next door to an expo trade-show that’s showcasing 300+ of the most advanced green building, renewable energy, smart transportation, and clean energy technologies on the planet. The suits standing next to the hippies, a synergistic combo of visionary ideal and corporate execution.

The opening keynote was given by Van Jones. If you’ve never seen Van Jones speak before, he’s my generation's Bobby Kennedy or Martin Luther King. He uses his charisma and humor to relax your cynicism then delivers a powerful message of personal empowerment and action. As Paul Hawken said “If you look at the facts, you can’t help but feel depressed, but if you look at the people creating solutions, you can’t help but feel hopeful”. Van Jones and the other WCG speakers are those people.

Van shared that he’s watched our country elect a president on a message of hope and quickly move into despair and cynicism after seeing just how little has changed. He calls for a new kind of hope, a Hope 2.0 that isn’t about Washington creating change, but about “user-generated change”, change coming from you and me. He encourages us that our despair is actually an opportunity to do the “Inside-Out” work of digging deep within ourselves and listening to that small voice that’s been quietly whispering in our ear, pushing us forward, telling us we have a gift to give to the world. It’s listening to and acting upon this voice, of discovering what we truly love and want to contribute to the world that will not only overcome that despair, but lead to an extraordinary and meaningful life. “Your dream isn’t just a dream for yourself. For some reason you have the dream to be prosperous by helping others thrive”.

How many of us believe that we are actually capable of changing the world? How many of us are told that we’re more powerful than we ever realized? On the other side, we usually don’t think about how much harm one small act of greed can cause. One of the main causes for the Deep Water Horizon oil volcano was a bean counter in BP choosing to save some money by not installing the proper seal on the rig. That one small act of greed led to the greatest environmental catastrophe in history. On the contrary “That means that one small act of love can have non-linear, good results. I would ask you to keep that in mind and to act in love. You have no idea how much power you have to change the country and the world. In the context of your enterprise, you have to keep stretching out that heart, just like in yoga. When it gets harder to love, love harder” Have you stretched your heart out today? Have you found the gift you have to give to the world? If not, get busy searching. If yes, get busy sharing.

How can we deal with the problems facing our world today? How do we turn a seemingly desperate situation into something positive? It's all too easy to succumb to despair and hopelessness. But if the choice is to do that or to turn what seems desperate into something beneficial, the choice is clear. The keynotes on day 3 of West Coast Green, a conference in San Francisco on green innovation, provided guidance and encouragement. Thanks to Eco Tuesday, I was lucky to be in the audience to hear the speakers and panelists presenting messages of hope along with ideas of how to turn negative situations into positive ones, and even examples of how some individuals have done just that.


Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post, expanded on the conference theme of "The Power of 10," which celebrates the exponential change that each of us can help create. When traveling around the country to research her latest book, Third World America, her alarm about the country's condition was turned into amazement at what people are doing on an individual level. If we can scale up from that, she said, we can turn things around. The current crisis is an opportunity for the country to go beyond spending and consumption to create a future with success redefined as something more sustainable, in both the world and our personal lives. We need to focus not on our deficits but on our surpluses, such as time -- as did an unemployed concierge who, because he needed something to do, started We've Got Time to Help to help others. Though the government still has an important role to play, "Hope 2.0," Huffington said, is about "discovering the leader in the mirror." We need to transform our culture, and the politicians will follow when they see which way the wind is blowing. Americans are feeling frustration and anger, but we can channel those feelings in positive, creative ways.


Caroline Casey, host of KPFA's "The Visionary Activist," enchanted the audience with similar ideas from a different angle. She drew on the mythological archetype of the trickster, whose time has come in our world: like a seed that sprouts only after a fire, the trickster emerges at a time in history that seems the most daunting. The ancient Celts believed that only satire could defeat tyranny, and we see that in current public figures like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The trickster is also in each of us: West Coast Green attendees can be thought of as a "council of public dreamers" welcoming the "passionate trickster" in our own heart. Casey urged us to tell positive stories and promote innovative ideas -- like the one of using oil rigs as platforms to harvest kelp, which grows a new crop every two weeks and can be used to produce natural gas or fertilizer. Like the seed sprouting from the fire, we can turn calamity into benefit and find the solution in the problem.


A panel on the intersection of technology, education, and sustainability focused on different areas but with the same message of hope. Andy Mannle, Education Director for WCG, moderated the panel with Hunter Lovins, Founder and President of Natural Capitalism Solutions, and Greg Miller, Technologist and Professor at Presidio Graduate School. In the past, they said, business seemed to be in conflict with sustainability, but research has shown that sustainable business practices are actually more profitable. In Presidio's Green MBA program, Miller and Lovins have promoted an "open source" educational model that redefines who educators are and allows everyone to learn from one another. This needs to go beyond academia, they said; separations must break down between schools, businesses, teachers, and students. A "Madrone League" of sustainability would be differentiated from the Ivy League in part by its pervasiveness and use of many different tools and avenues to spread information. Miller and Lovins believe that education can make the future brighter, and they encouraged everyone to take this to the power of 10 by getting others involved.


I was genuinely inspired by these messages of hope, and of turning despair into something positive and powerful. This is an idea we can take to our personal lives as well as to all the work we do in the world, and especially our green work. I encourage everyone to think of ways you can turn difficult, negative situations into positive ones -- you may find that the result is better than anything you could have imagined.

Media today can feel to be just like high-fructose corn syrup: the more we have, the worse off we seem to be!

Even with millions of bloggers, websites and tweeters feeding us massive amounts of information about the environment and business, it can often feel unsustainable. As a result, it can be challenging to filter through it all to find the real trustworthy sources.

How do you stay healthy with your sustainability-related news? Here are a few of our favorites:

Treehugger: a diverse assortment of short and long articles, videos, and blogs covering a wide variety of sustainability-related news that both informs and entertains.

Ode Magazine: focuses their articles on people and ideas that are changing the world for the better (and the founder is the speaker this month in San Francisco!).

Earth Island Journal: published by Earth Island Institute, this magazine is full of in-depth exposés and articles that connect the environment to a wide variety of topics.

Sustainable Industries: our long-time friends. Coverage focuses on 8 of the biggest areas of sustainability through webinars, business guides, podcasts, white papers and articles (and more).

There are many other worthwhile news sources out there to select (I wish we had space to add all of them!). Whatever you do - choose wisely!

Best,

Nikki

A few years ago, Mike Flynn and Karen Solomon came to an EcoTuesday event to share about a new conference they were organizing. They were both full of energy and great ideas about bringing the best in green business together. 

The following year, I attended my first Opportunity Green conference in Los Angeles. The conference included a wide range of speakers, panels and sessions that provided a true service to all attendees. I always found it hard to choose a session to attend, as the selection catered to every area of sustainability that I wanted to learn (more) about. The following year was even better as the top representatives from some of the most influential companies shared their perspectives, triumphs and pitfalls about successfully navigating their business into the green economy. A great new feature of the conference includes the OG Green Startup Innovation Competition, where you get to see entrepreneurs "pitch" their company to the entire room. It was a great part of the event last year!

Opportunity Green takes place this year September 22-24th, in Los Angeles. This year EcoTuesday participants get 20% off the regular conference rate by using this code: REG_P20_EcoTues. We'll be there and hope to see you, too!