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Courtlyn Carpenter

Jan 11, 2016
04:04

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This is an incredible idea!  Since students will grow up to be the future of our world, engraining sustainability techniques in them from a young age is a great way to work toward a more sustainable future.  In addition, students should be able to approach these energy feats and challenges from a lot of different angles using different learning styles, allowing every student to truly connect with this initiative.  Nice work.  


Alexia Parks

Jan 12, 2016
02:06

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How shall we live? Choose to live Sustainably. I recently published a blog titled Verve's Christian Griffith talks about Sustainability. It is a philosophy - drawn from his website - that reflects the ideas contained in the the Sustainability 2020 Residential Energy Challenge. In it, he wrote: 

I don’t shop for clothes all that often. What I want I make for myself and what I can’t make I often buy used. It’s only in vintage apparel, really, that you get the true sense of the origin. Tweed woven from the wool of sheep who foraged on the moss of the moors in Scotland… Icelandic sweaters knit in Iceland by the hands of people who descended from the Vikings who created the designs… Leather shoes built on lasts that have been handed down through generations of shoemakers in the Italian alps. These things all have meaning to me as do the signs of wear and use, true indications of durability and utility. They wake me up to the notion that there is nothing sustainable about something disposable. That the only way to be a conscious consumer or producer is to tighten the loops of exchange, not expand them. are you concerned about the food you eat? Buy it from your neighbor, you can look over the fence anytime and see how it’s grown. concerned about how your verve clothing is sewn? Yes, you still might run into one of our ‘grannies’ in line at the store…just ask her.

The Outdoor Industry’s Christian Griffith, has lived his passion for more than 25-years. His lifestyle and clothing company, VerveClimbing.com, reflects his values and is an extension of them. His ideas on Sustainability, so well expressed here and reprinted from his website, remind us that how we live in the world shapes our destiny. Live well.

Blogger's note: Christian Griffith is the son of this author. As the cliche goes "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." We share the same values, expressed so eloquently here by Christian. 


Alexia Parks

Jan 13, 2016
08:51

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RMI, Rocky Mountain Institute's eLab Network Manager Mark Silberg, founder of SparkCleanEnergy.org has added his support. Mark and I met online back in August 2015, then in person over lunch in Boulder. Online, I had posted an invitation to a lunch I was hosting. Mark responded, "If I was in Boulder, I would love to attend." He then when on to accept a job with RMI and we had a chance to meet F2F. The Sustainability 2020 team is happy to have Mark's vision and support!


Alexia Parks

Jan 14, 2016
01:05

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Thank you New York for your GREEN leadership. With this in mind, our Sustainability 2020 Residential Energy Challenge and Green QUIZ may interest New Yorkers. #Quote: “We mandate that 50 percent of NY’s energy must come from renewables by 2030 and NY will be coal free by 2020. – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo @NYGovCuomo @CFigueres @climatecolab @alexiaparks. 


Alexia Parks

Jan 14, 2016
01:11

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And THIS breaking news on why youth-led initiatives matter: http://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/event/725/breaking-fossil-fuel-industry-becomes-named-defendant-youths’-landmark-constitutional-clim

 


Alexia Parks

Jan 14, 2016
02:14

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Sustainability 2020 Residential Energy Challenge and Green QUIZ is riding four 2016 TRENDS: analytics, data collection, education, and marketplace. SEE: http://tomtunguz.stfi.re/hottest-startup-sectors-2016/

 


Alexia Parks

Jan 19, 2016
12:48

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I did reporting on COP21 in December 2015. I am still receiving news feeds including the following. While I agree with the call for the deployment of more renewable energy, I disagree with the call to displace coal on world markets by keeping oil prices low. (See link below)

Instead, can we imagine a world without oil, and then create it. The energy futures conferences I organized over many years, used a community-based competition. People were asked to write a story about life without oil - as if the change would happen in ONE year. The stories where then posted online and put up for a VOTE. The person who wrote the story with the highest number of votes won $500. Schools could crowdfund this, and the winning story from each school in a district could be put up for community-wide voting for a college scholarship (for example). 

http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/paris-agreement-opportunity-for-the-gulf-region/ 

Summary: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has abundant opportunities to diversify its economy away from oil as a result of the impulse of the Paris Agreement, the head of the UN climate convention said to a distinguished audience at the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Addressing the Court, Christiana Figueres said opportunities ranged from displacing coal on world markets via low cost gas supplies to ramping up the global deployment of renewable energy.


Alexia Parks

Jan 19, 2016
05:02

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BIG News update: Lawsuits take time to resolve. Let's tap into the energy of youth. Let them help create the change they, and WE, want to see in the world.

Breaking NEWS: Prominent Catholic Groups Support of Youth’s Landmark Constitutional Climate  On Friday, the Center for Earth Jurisprudence, on behalf of the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) and the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR) filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the constitutional climate change lawsuit brought by 21 young plaintiffs from across America. http://ourchildrenstrust.org; & earthguardians.org - Boulder-based.


Alexia Parks

Jan 24, 2016
11:36

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Five years ago, in 2010, the Huffington Post published an article I wrote titled: Imagining a World Without Oil. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexia-parks/imagining-a-world-without_b_628051.html

In the article, I noted that: The current issue of Scientific American puts the BP oil spill into global perspective. It perhaps explains why the public seems to be more concerned about the impacts than the government, members of Congress, and those in the oil industry and those who support offshore oil drilling.

Why? The article concluded with an insightful quote from Norman Bel Geddes:

Normam Bel Geddes, a futuristic industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics, describes the process of change this way: "We are too much include to believe that because things have long been done in a certain way that this is the best way to do them... At times, the only thing to do is to cut loose and do the unexpected! It takes more even than imagination to be progressive. It takes vision and courage."


Alexia Parks

Jan 24, 2016
11:06

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June 15, 2010, in a Huffington Post blog, I wrote: There is not much slack left in the human timeline. We have a small window of opportunity in which to imagine a world without oil and then create it.

 I expanded on the theme of *World Without Oil* and described the work of Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins and others, including my own work here:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexia-parks/re-imagining-the-economy_b_612915.html

 


James Danahey

Mar 15, 2016
02:12

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An interesting idea that takes direct action at attempting to ensure Global Sustainability by directly educating a developing population! Seems like a practical effort to ensure that an energy conscious generation is created. Neat approach. 


Leigh Francia

Mar 26, 2016
07:05

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I think the proposed design could be highly accessible to a wide range of people. I know plenty of adults who would benefit from this program, but I believe it is most impactful for younger individuals. Hopefully young students can begin their education about sustainability in a way that sets them up for a lifetime of innovation, imagination, and inspiration to build new solutions. The proposed program could foster this learning very effectively.