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Self-Counsel Press - Jill Doucette , Mark Boysen

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89 pages

English

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Description

• 'Greening Your Hospitality Business' gives you the tools to ensure your food and hospitality businesses are environmentally sound and sustainable
• A comprehensive guide for hotel, hospitality and restaurant businesses to achieve environmental excellence
• This is a book for creating the best customer experience in the accommodation, tour operator and restaurant business
Throwing a block party? Creating a community garden? Building a playground? Helping an ailing neighbor with a food circle? Jill Doucette, founder of Synergy which works to catalyze the green economy, helps you strengthen your community with sustainable ideas to environmentally improve where you live.
Introduction xi
1 Rethinking Our Communities:
People, Planet, Prosperity 1
1. How Others Interpret a Green Community 3
2 Taking Action 6
1. Starting Small 7
2. Mobilize Change 7
3. Outreach Tools 11
3 Food Security 13
1. Growing Food Locally 14
2. The Environmental Impact of Meat 15
3. The Environmental Impact of Seafood 16
4. Food Waste 19
5. Community Gardening 21
5.1 Guerilla gardening 22
iv Greening Your Community
5.2 Sharing backyards 23
6. Urban Agriculture 24
7. Urban Livestock 24
8. Farming Food Instead of Manicuring Lawns 26
9. Stop Using Pesticides 27
4 Green Events 29
1. Community Events 30
2. Family Events 31
3. Zero-Trash Events 34
4. Environmental Action Events 36
5 Using Green Transportation 40
1. The Cost of Vehicle Ownership 41
2. Transportation Alternatives 42
2.1 Bicycling 43
2.2 Walking 45
2.3 Car- and bike-sharing programs 46
3. Drive Greener 46
3.1 Electric vehicles 47
6 Foundations of a Green Home 49
1. Home Size and Location 50
2. Evaluating Your Home 52
2.1 Heating your home 54
2.2 Electronics, appliances, and lights 56
3. Living Green in an Apartment or Condo 57
4. Daily Practices Make a Difference 59
7 Water Systems 60
1. Watershed Areas 62
2. Water Use in Our Communities 63
3. Reducing Water Pollution 66
4. Reducing Water Use in Our Homes 67
Contents v
8 Renewable Energy: Seeking the
Net-Zero Community 70
1. Why We Care about Climate Change 71
1.1 Sea-level rise 71
1.2 Increased forest fires 71
1.3 Natural environment impacts 71
1.4 Food impacts 72
1.5 Water supply 72
2. Renewable Energy in Your Community 72
2.1 Photovoltaic solar panels 73
2.2 Solar hot water systems 74
2.3 Geo-exchange systems 74
2.4 Biomass or bioenergy 75
2.5 Wind power 75
2.6 Hydro power 76
3. Do-It-Yourself Solar Collector 76
4. Carbon Offsets 77
5. Purchasing Renewable Energy 79
9 Recycling, Composting, and Trash 80
1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 81
1.1 Composting 83
1.2 Plastics 84
1.3 Batteries 84
1.4 Styrofoam 85
1.5 Mattresses 86
2. Set a Lofty Goal: Zero-Waste Work, School, and Home 86
3. Consumer-to-Consumer Selling and the
Sharing Economy 87
4. Upcycling 88
5. Circular Economy 88
10 Natural Environment and Green Spaces 90
1. Integrating Nature into Our Communities 91
2. Preserving Natural Areas 94
vi Greening Your Community
11 Arts and the Environmental Movement 98
12 The Green Economy and Entrepreneurship 101
1. Local Economy 102
2. Green Business Practices 104
2.1 Encourage the local business community
to go green 106
3. New, Green Businesses and Jobs 107
3.1 Innovative business 109
13 Sustainable Cities and Helping Yours Become One 111
1. Cities That Lead 112
1.1 Vancouver 113
1.2 San Francisco 113
1.3 Portland 113
1.4 Seattle 113
1.5 Toronto 114
1.6 New York 114
1.7 International cities worth watching 114
2. What Makes a Community a Green Leader? 115
2.1 Green champions 115
3. Working with City Hall 117
14 Measure Success 119
1. Measuring at the Project Level 119
2. Measuring at the City Level 121
Checklist
1 Planning Considerations for a Green Event 32
Tables
1 Aspects of Your Community 2
2 Determine the Barriers and Take Action 11
3 Examples of Green Business Programs and Criteria 107
4 Environmental Ventures 108
5 River Cleanup Project SMART Goals 120
6 Key Performance Indicators: Local Business Example 122

Sujets

Sustainable living

Self-help

Informations

Publié par	Self-Counsel Press
Date de parution	01 juin 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781770409828
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0020€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Greening Your Community
Strategies for Engaged Citizens
Jill Doucette with Mark Boysen
Self-Counsel Press
(a division of)
International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.
USA Canada

Copyright © 2015

International Self-Counsel Press
All rights reserved.
Contents

Cover

Title Page

Introduction: What Is a Green Community?

Chapter 1: Rethinking Our Communities: People, Planet, Prosperity

Table 1: Aspects of Your Community

1. How Others Interpret a Green Community

Chapter 2: Taking Action

1. Starting Small

2. Mobilize Change

Table 2: Determine the Barriers and Take Action

3. Outreach Tools

Chapter 3: Food Security

1. Growing Food Locally

2. The Environmental Impact of Meat

3. The Environmental Impact of Seafood

4. Food Waste

5. Community Gardening

6. Urban Agriculture

7. Urban Livestock

8. Farming Food Instead of Manicuring Lawns

9. Stop Using Pesticides

Chapter 4: Green Events

1. Community Events

Checklist 1: Planning Considerations for a Green Event

2. Family Events

3. Zero-Trash Events

4. Environmental Action Events

Chapter 5: Using Green Transportation

1. The Cost of Vehicle Ownership

2. Transportation Alternatives

3. Drive Greener

Chapter 6: Foundations of a Green Home

1. Home Size and Location

2. Evaluating Your Home

3. Living Green in an Apartment or Condo

4. Daily Practices Make a Difference

Chapter 7: Water Systems

1. Watershed Areas

2. Water Use in Our Communities

3. Reducing Water Pollution

4. Reducing Water Use in Our Homes

Chapter 8: Renewable Energy: Seeking the Net-Zero Community

1. Why We Care about Climate Change

2. Renewable Energy in Your Community

3. Do-It-Yourself Solar Collector

4. Carbon Offsets

5. Purchasing Renewable Energy

Chapter 9: Recycling, Composting, and Trash

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2. Set a Lofty Goal: Zero-Waste Work, School, and Home

3. Consumer-to-Consumer Selling and the Sharing Economy

4. Upcycling

5. Circular Economy

Chapter 10: Natural Environment and Green Spaces

1. Integrating Nature into Our Communities

2. Preserving Natural Areas

Chapter 11: Arts and the Environmental Movement

Chapter 12: The Green Economy and Entrepreneurship

1. Local Economy

2. Green Business Practices

Table 3: Examples of Green Business Programs and Criteria

3. New, Green Businesses and Jobs

Table 4: Environmental Ventures

Chapter 13: Sustainable Cities and Helping Yours Become One

1. Cities That Lead

2. What Makes a Community a Green Leader?

3. Working with City Hall

Chapter 14: Measure Success

1. Measuring at the Project Level

Table 5: River Cleanup Project SMART Goals

Table 6: Key Performance Indicators: Local Business Example

2. Measuring at the City Level

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Notice to Readers

Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook.
Introduction: What Is a Green Community?

Around the world, there are various definitions for a “green community.” Every community is different, and in its own way, it can promote sustainable living and enhance the quality of its natural environment. Green communities are those that balance the health of local citizens, the economy, and the environment. These are efficient, engaged, and innovative communities that are working to create solutions to environmental issues, while promoting social well-being and new economic opportunities. There is a growing awareness that where and how we live can have a dramatic impact on the planet and future generations.
Becoming a green community often raises questions about leadership. We can buy into the idea of social, economic, and environmental well-being, but who is going to lead the charge? Who sets the goals? Who organizes the action and sets the policies to get us there?
We need regulation and we also need action. It can seem an intangible journey for a single individual, whether the person is in the government, or not. I have grappled with this question of where leadership comes from and realized that it is different in every community. In some, there is clearly leadership from the nonprofit organizations; sometimes it’s the businesses, schools, counties, industry associations, local government, or small group of concerned citizens. But there is one common thread they share: The leadership comes from small groups bound together with a common sense of purpose and foreseeable outcome. They are connected by their passion for the cause and they commit to seeing it happen, and enjoy the process of making that change, knowing that their efforts have meaning.
These small groups gather, share, plan, and inspire one another towards their common goal and they bring their resources (i.e., time, money, knowledge) with them. Groups like this have accomplished incredible things that I could never imagine came from a dusty living room, local pub, or meeting room outside of office hours. Returning to the question, who should lead the path towards a greener community? Whoever shares a vision for what it could become.
The opportunities to green our communities lie in the hands of the individuals that are a part of these groups. Thus, this book is written for the engaged citizen. While different levels of government can support sustainability programs, it is up to the residents of communities to drive change forward.
It is up to each of us to do our part to transform where we live and create the communities of the future. Yes, greening requires everyone, from the local energy utility to parks staff and school teachers. However, in every community there are those that will seize an idea and take action. These individuals and groups inspire and mobilize their neighbors and peers, and become a part of the movement towards a greener community. This book is for you if you want to make a lasting impression on your community — and make the world a better place.
Within each chapter are action ideas, checklists, case studies, and planning tools for how to take action. It is loaded with recommendations for making meaningful change and rallying your community behind causes that matter on a local or global scale. Some of these ideas are simple and some are more complex, but all will contribute to a healthier planet and cohesive community. Laden with stories of audacity and courage of people around the world, Greening Your Community can provide you with new perspective and concrete ideas for how to make your community a better place to live.
The term “green” will appear often in this book. We recognize this is a subjective term, but it will spare you from reading “reduced environmental impact and improve human well-being” hundreds of times throughout these chapters. Arguably, “environmental,” “eco-friendly,” and “natural” are equally subjective. So, for the purposes of this book, we have chosen “green” and will define it here:
Green: Using an awareness of the importance of natural ecosystems to make a choice towards solutions that have reduced environmental impact and enhance human well-being.
We will also use the term “sustainability.” For a definition, we will reference the Brundtland Report :
“ Sustainability: The ability to meet the needs of the current generation without compromising future generations.”
As Sustainable Seattle defines it:
“Sustainable is the long-term, cultural, economic and environmental health and vitality with the emphasis on long-term, together with the importance of linking our social, financial, and environmental well-being.”
This book will address the various components of a green community. In each chapter, you will find examples of actions that you can do to help your community go green. The key is to get enough information so you can focus your effort, rally support behind your cause, and see results.
Chapter 1
Rethinking Our Communities: People, Planet, Prosperity

Where you live has a profound impact on your lifestyle and how you view the world. By definition, a community is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” It could also be defined as: “The people of a district or country considered collectively, especially in the context of social values and responsibilities.” A community is both of these. It is a place that a group of people share as well as a shared connection — a cause, common interest, trait, or values that unites a group, making them more cohesive. A community is like a fingerprint: Each one is distinctly different, but similar patterns can be grouped into categories.
Dominating industries, cultures, and ecology are broad attributes that make up each community. Refined further, the political environment, languages, subcultures