Images not displaying properly? View the online version here. (http://www.natcapsolutions.org/ealert/June2013/Ealert-June2013.html) Dear Friends, In the first year of Natural Capitalism's second decade, we have: * Helped lead international efforts to change the global economic paradigm (learn more) * Gained awards and recognition including Hunter being named one of the "9 Wonder Women of the natural industry" (learn more); * Formed a strong partnership to help scale and revolutionize sustainability education (more on this soon); * Formed the Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition to drive responsible practices deeply throughout the industry (learn more); * Consulted with four organizations that have the potential to lead change within their industries including The Cheesecake Factory and DaVita * Remodeled our office to better walk our talk (learn more). In my six years with NCS we have never been as busy or in so much demand as we are now. I credit this wholly to the hard work and dedication that our capable team has put in. It is an honor to work alongside such amazing people-here's to our next ten years! Expect exciting announcements very soon. Cheers, Toby Russell (C.E.O.) ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ Transforming the Global Economic Paradigm An article by Hunter Lovins You know well the challenges facing us. From reversing ecological and economic collapses to meeting the development needs of seven billion (and growing) residents of our planet, we've got our work cut out for us. But what can one person-or one organization-do? A lot. It's why I keep climbing on airplanes, and meeting with CEOs, students, government officials. And I need your help. Join me on an adventure to transform the global economic paradigm. I'm part of an International Expert Working Group, convened by the King of Bhutan to set forth the intellectual architecture for this new paradigm, and we created the Alliance for Sustainability and Prosperity, or ASAP for short, to convene the expertise needed to bring genuine prosperity and well-being to everyone on the planet. Check us out at www.asap4all.org. ASAP seeks your ideas. The world needs help and its leaders are asking for your answers. Read More: http://www.rachelsnetwork.org/newsletters.php ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ ARTICLES ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ A Rare Step Forward on Climate Change by Bill Becker Huffington Post (9 June 2012) Since international negotiations on global climate change began, it has been the case that the two countries most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions today - the United States and China - could lead the world on the issue if they could agree with one another. They haven't gotten there yet, but they took a meaningful step last Saturday when Presidents Obama and Xi Jinping agreed to cooperate on phasing out the use of HFCs - a class of potent greenhouse gases used as refrigerants and in industrial processes. The description of the agreement released by the White House notes that "a global phase down of HFCs could potentially reduce some 90 gigatons of CO2 equivalent by 2050, equal to roughly two years worth of current global greenhouse gas emissions". Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-s-becker/a-rare-step-forward-on-cl_b_3411670.html ----- Toward a New Development Paradigm by ASAP coordinating group: Robert Costanza, Jacqueline McGlade, Steve de Bonvoisin, Petra Fagerholm, Joshua Farley, Enrico Giovannini, Ida Kubiszewski, Frances Moore Lappˇ, Hunter Lovins, Kate Pickett, Greg Norris, Thomas Prugh, Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir, Debra Roberts, and Richard Wilkinson The Solutions Journal (June 2013) "Conscious that unsustainable patterns of production and consumption can impede sustainable development, and recognizing the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and well-being of all peoples." ~ United Nations General Assembly, Resolution 65/309, 2011 To meet the growing challenges facing humanity, many individuals, communities and societies are actively exploring different ways of looking at the world. Some have sought to describe a society in which happiness is the primary goal. Others have developed policies for a global economy based on a more thorough understanding of how safeguarding resources underpins the creation of material wealth. Others anticipate catastrophic events and surprises as portents of the future. Whilst different in substance, all these approaches have the common goal of lifting society to a new level of sustainable well-being. The King of Bhutan recently convened an International Expert Working Group to synthesize and integrate many of these ideas in order to set forth a New Development Paradigm. Read More: http://thesolutionsjournal.anu.edu.au/ ----- It's Time to Invest in a 21st-century Power System by Craig Lewis Huffington Post (May 2013) America's power system is too vulnerable to meet modern challenges - a harsh reality underscored by Hurricane Sandy, which left 8.1 million people in the dark for extended periods. Yet, widespread outages should no longer come as a surprise. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country's electrical infrastructure a "D" grade in 2008. Years earlier, a Clinton-era energy secretary described America as "a superpower with a third-world grid." Even though power system vulnerability has been obvious for over a decade, little has been done to address this critical weakness. If the United States wants to stay globally competitive, then the country must finally invest in the creation of a 21st-century power system capable of driving sustained economic growth. Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-lewis/its-time-to-invest_b_3361597.html?utm_hp_ref=green ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ AWARDS ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ Twitter Accolades Natural Capitalism Solutions (@natcapsolutions) was named one of the top 20 NGO's to follow on twitter by Triple Pundit (@triplepundit), while Hunter (@hlovins) was named by The Guardian (@guardian) as one of the top sustainability women to follow on twitter. If you are on twitter be sure to follow us to see what all the buzz is about, if you aren't already following us. Corporate Social Responaibility Leader: Hunter Lovins A number of past and current NCS clients, as well as Hunter, were named as 35 Female CSR leaders you should know of in Triple Pundit. Wonder Woman: Hunter Lovins New Hope Media Named Hunter one of 9 Wonder Women of the Natural Industry. Thought Leader: Hunter Lovins Trust Across America named Hunter one of the Top 100 thought leaders in trustworthy business behavior for 2013, along with an extraordinary group of leaders. Advisory Roles As we go to press, Hunter was asked to become an advisor to Unilever North America, and to Richard Branson's B-Team effort to make business work better. How? By shifting the focus from just financial gains, towards environmental and social gains as well. ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ AFFILIATE PROJECTS ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition NCS is always innovating how business is done, engaging with individual companies interested in sustainability innovation. Now we are proud to announce the creation of a new partnership: the Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition. The companies in the pet industry (think Petco -the big box pet store-all the vendors products and services for sale within, dog food and beds, to exotic fish and all the creatures humans like to surround ourselves with, as well as grooming and veterinarian services) will be able to learn how more sustainable practices can leverage their profitability using our web-based sustainability Toolkit. The Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition received an incredible welcome to the industry when it launched its collaborative approach with a presentation at the Global Pet Expo on 19 February 2013. You might know some of our Founding Members-"I and love and you", Only Natural Pet, KONG, Cardinal Pet Care, Planet Dob, West Paw Designs, Petco, and WorldWise. We aren't the only ones who think this is impressive; New Hope Media, who hosts the Natural Pet Products Expo East and West, nominated the Coalition for a Nexty Award that "identifies the products, people, and macro forces that will shape and provide the greatest opportunities for tomorrow's natural products landscape." The top industry magazines like Pet Business, Pet Age Magazine and the American Pet Product Association are all following our progress and you can too. Check us out at petsustainability.org. ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ WALKING OUR TALK ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ Back at the Ranch NCS continues to improve the efficiency and productivity in our office. In addition to the HVAC and insulation work done in 2011-2013, we replaced the old carpet with repurposed Interface carpet tiles, placed sustainable bamboo flooring in our kitchen and restroom, and installed new energy and water efficient fixtures and appliances, including an even more water efficient kitchen faucet and refrigerator. As with any remodel a few surprises caught us along the way, including some amazing art deco linoleum under two layers of old carpet. Most exciting, we uncovered the original log house foundation that dates our building at well over the 100 years we knew about. You can view the improvements from start to finish on our Facebook page here. ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ EDUCATION ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ Curriculum Redesigns Bainbridge Gradiuate Institute Hunter joined with NCS colleague Kevin Wilhelm, principal of Sustainable Business Consulting, and Hunter's co-professor at Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI), to redesign the sustainable MBA curriculum for BGI's Metro Program. Hunter and Kevin have been developing and teaching the sustainability aspects of such topics as Accounting, Marketing, Economics and Finance. These modules complement the curriculum that presents the traditional business disciplines taught by the school. It was quite the challenge to take our 30 + years of pragmatic experience in implementing sustainable practices in companies and communities and draw out of that the lessons for business education, but in retrospect a great idea. Both Kevin and Hunter thoroughly enjoyed developing and teaching these modules, and the students reported that this is precisely why they came to business school. As the team completes the redesign throughout 2013, we'll bring you more news about this exciting new program. Bard MBA The new Bard MBA in Sustainable Management has finished its first year. As a senior advisor to the program and a professor, Hunter helped launch the new school and taught principles of Sustainable Management (PoSM) fall 2012. She also coached teams in the New York City Living Laboratory. This fall she will teach PoSM again as well as Implementation. Check it out at: mba.bard.edu ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ INTERN CORNER ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ This spring's interns were even better than usual, and we already miss them dearly. While it's always sad to see them go, we're excited about their next steps in life! Allan Pearce came to us from Antioch University with an M.S. in Environmental Studies. Starting his career as an engineer, he's now pursuing his passion for making a difference for the natural world at the Portland-based Portfolio 21 as a Sustainability Research Associate. Caitlyn Bolton received her masters in Environmental Management and Sustainability from the Harvard University Extension School before moving to Boulder. She's stepped up to become the Executive Director the Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition. Zach Swank came to NCS April 2012. His fabulous work and dedication to our mission made him such an asset to our organization that we started the NCS Fellowship program to keep him around a little longer. Zach now works full time as Fleet Manager at eGo CarShare. Zachary Pechter just earned his BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and a BA in Environmental Studies specializing in Sustainable Development from University of Colorado at Boulder. He's now off to study law at Florida State University. As we write, our summer interns are settling in. You'll meet them in our next E-lert. ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ UPCOMING EVENTS ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ Savory Institute Conference Boulder, CO (26-17 June 2013) WorldSkills 2013 Leipzeig, Germany (4 July 2013) Unreasonable Climax Boulder, CO 10 July 2013 SuperZoo Las Vegas, NV (24 July 2013) Bhutan Working Group Meeting Birmingham, UK (16-18 August 2013) Bard College MBA Rhinecliff & New York, NY (23 August 2013) APPS Conference Canberra, Australia (16 September 2013) Sustainability Leadership and Implementation Course (SLIC) Denver, CO (3 October 2013) AASHE Conference & Expo 2012 Nashville, TN (7 October 2013) Illinois Green Business Association Tinley Park, IL (15 October 2013) ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ IN CLOSING ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ As you read above, I'm part of an International Expert Working Group, convened by the King to set forth the intellectual architecture for this new paradigm. In a sense, this is what we do at Natural Capitalism: create new paradigms, and help companies, communities and countries implement them. It's why I keep climbing on airplanes, and meeting with CEOs, students, government officials. This spring I've been going down the road at an even more manic pace than usual - from setting sail with Unreasonable at Sea (read my last blog, click here) to flying to Bhutan, then down to Costa Rica for the UN's consultation on creating the ext global development goals, to criss-crossing the US and Canada, teaching and keynoting conferences, I've been on the road all but 20 days this year. Coming home to Colorado is always nourishing, but never more so than in early summer, with horses knee-deep in verdant pastures and nighthawks swooping insects from the warm evening skies. With a few exceptions, I'll be home now until fall. Which is a good thing as the report to the King is due by September, and I'll need time to focus on it. Warmest regards, Hunter ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ Natural Capitalism Solutions is a 501(c)3 non-profit 11823 N. 75th Street, Longmont, CO 80503 | 720-684-6580