Are You a Socially-Minded Gardener? A Master Composter at Heart? How Good is Your Recycling Strategy for Both Your Kitchen Scraps and Yard Trimmings and Yes – Your Career?

What is “Composting” you may ask? One definition is that it is the “Controlled” biological decomposition of carbon-containing matter by fungi and bacteria into a stable and useful humus material – or – fertilizer. It is a process that allows decomposed materials to be reused as a nutritious supplement for your garden, lawn, and house plants. The most common materials used for composting is leaves, grass, weeds, and kitchen scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, tea bags, pizza crusts, bread, crackers, beans, rice, cereal, pasta, nuts, herbs, spices, and egg shells.

But “composting” is more than a process – it is a strategy – a way to manage the reduction of solid municipal waste. The same idea holds true for the recycling of one’s career – it is a strategy for overcoming professional hurdles such as company downsizing, restructuring, or mergers. I liken it to a three-pronged strategy for finding that next job, for tapping into team-building resources, and for gaining momentum up the corporate ladder. In addition, the recycling of one’s career is also a process – an individual self-assessment of one’s own unique talents and work experiences to date – broken down to its smallest components – recyclable skills such as writing, planning, researching, conceptualizing, negotiating and promoting.

So in essence, whatever recycling strategy you choose – whether it’s for your lawn or your career – the outcome is sure to enrich your life and the lives of others. Test yourself then with these trivia questions and see if you are up to the 21st century challenge of recycling both personally and professionally.

1- Which U.S. state has the oldest “Compost School” in the nation providing training experiences and interactive opportunities to farmers, businessmen, and government workers who are involved with medium and large-scale composting operations?
A) New Jersey B) Virginia C) Massachusetts D) Maine

2- Currently, in the USA, 33.8% of municipal solid waste is recovered, recycled or composted, 11.9% is burned at combustion facilities, and the remaining 54.3% is disposed of in landfills. Which U.S. island is a leader in the “Zero Waste” movement which ideally seeks to eliminate all waste being shipped to landfills by way of recycling, reusing, and composting strategies?
A) Jekyll Island B) Nantucket C) Mackinac Island D) San Juan Islands

3- Achieving the correct moisture content in a compost pile is an important factor in keeping it working efficiently. Biological activity will stop completely if the pile dries out. Thus the ideal percentage rate for measuring compost water content is which percentage – 30%, 50%, 70%, or 85%?

4- Large-scale “vermicomposting” is practiced in the USA, Canada, Japan, Italy, Malaysia, and the Philippines. What special animal expedites this process of breaking down compost materials? A) Squirrels B) Mice C) Wild Rabbits D) Worms

5- Which cool compost-heated thing has not been invented yet? A) Compost-heated greenhouse B) Compost-heated Japanese Tea Room C) Compost-heated car fuel D) Compost-heated outdoor shower E) None of the Above – All Have Been Invented

6- Recycling activity can create anywhere from 4 to 10 more jobs for every 1 job created in the waste management and disposal industries. True or False?

7- Curbside composting in large urban environments has skyrocketed over the last three years. There are now more than 90 cities with such a program. One major reason for the program is that landfills across the nation have reached their maximum capacity as Americans generate 250 million tons of garbage per year. True or False?

8- Which city is the top composting city in America? It has the largest compost collection program in the U.S. including restaurants and food-related establishments. A) Seattle B) New York City C) San Francisco D) Los Angeles

9- The demand for sustainable planning consultants is high – seven times higher than for all other industries. Their role is to provide businesses with tools and information to minimize environmental impact. Which of the following recyclable skills are essential for such a career path? A) Problem-solving skills B) Organizational skills C) Analytical skills D) Client-Oriented Service Skills E) All of the Above

10- Do you have what it takes to be a socially ‘green’ entrepreneur? Here are two examples: One is a two year old Utah-based company called “EcoScraps”. Their business model – they collect leftover food from grocery stores, Costco stores and produce wholesalers – turn it into bags of compost mix – and then sell these bags thru home improvement stores like Home Depot. The second example is a three year old Florida-based foundation called “Clean the World” which is now the largest recycler of hotel amenities in the world. Their business model – they collect leftover hotel soaps, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, and gels – recycle them for distribution to communities and countries in need of better hygiene and sanitation – and thereby help to fight the global spread of preventable diseases. In just three years of operation, they have managed to distribute more than 11 million bars of recycled soap to children and families in Haiti, Canada, the U.S. and 40 other countries worldwide.

Answers: (1) D – Maine (2) B – Nantucket (3) 50% (4) D – Worms (5) E -None of the Above-All Have Been Invented (6) True (7) True (8) C – San Francisco (9) E – All of the Above (10) I am hopeful that the answer is YES!

Comparing Medieval Green Jobs of Yesteryear with the New Millennium Green Jobs of Today!

There has been such a spate of articles written on the web recently predicting the best “green careers” of the future that it got us to thinking about the “green occupations” of yesteryear – specifically during the Middle Ages – a time in which 90% of the population were farmer peasants tied to small plots of land owned by their feudal lords. There were, however, craft guilds and merchant guilds that provided a higher status and a better way of living but at the same time there were threatening outbreaks of the bubonic plague and wars which coupled with medical ignorance made certain eco-related jobs very dangerous indeed such as the “leech collector” and the “ratoner” or “rat catcher”. Let us now take a look at some of the environmentally-conscious jobs of medieval yesteryear and see which ones are comparable in scope to those of the “green-collar jobs” of today and our sustainable future.

1- Today’s “FORESTER” is yesteryear’s medieval “VERDERER”: An Official in Charge of the Royal Forest whose main duty was to protect the habitat of deer and boar for the crown.
2- Today’s “ECO FASHION DESIGNER” is yesteryear’s medieval “CLOTHIER”: A Clothes Designer for the Nobles that required having a knowledge of various fine and expensive materials
3- Today’s “LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT” is yesteryear’s medieval “GARDENER”: The Medieval Gardener’s work was critical to the safety and protection of his lord’s castle. He was responsible for the upkeep on the infra-structure and physical appearances of the lord’s castle and estates which included digging defensive ditches and keeping the castle walls clear of ivy and or anything else that could be used to climb the castle walls.
4- Today’s “VEGAN NUTRITIONIST” is yesteryear’s medieval “HERBALIST”: The Medieval Herbalist was usually a member of a religious order such as a Monk or Friar whose work included growing, cooking, boiling, drying, and steaming plants, roots, and herbs that were natural healing agents for maintaining and improving a person’s health.
5- Today’s “CLIMATOLOGIST” is yesteryear’s medieval “ASTROLOGER”: Many medieval astrologers were highly respected scholars who carried around special almanacs and star charts from which they could predict weather systems and the growth of crops for a local area.
6- Today’s “BICYCLE MECHANIC” is yesteryear’s medieval “LORIMER”: a Maker of Horse Gear adept a making small ironware.
7- Today’s “WASTE DISPOSAL MANAGER” is yesteryear’s medieval “RAG AND BONE MAN”: A medieval person who would travel down the streets with a wheelbarrow or horse-drawn cart into which people could throw their rubbish for a small fee or favor.
8- Today’s “GREEN INTERIOR DESIGNER” is yesteryear’s medieval “GLAZIER”: A medieval stained-glass artist who would cut, fit, and paint glass into windows and doors.
9- Today’s “ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHITECT” is yesteryear’s medieval “DRY STONE WALLER”:
A medieval person who would build stone walls utilizing stones taken from the fields and fitted together tightly without any cement or mortar to make boundary markers, field walls, or enclosures.
10-Today’s “SOLAR INSTALLATION TECHNICIAN” is yesteryear’s medieval “LAMPWRIGHT”: A medieval person who made and installed lanterns and lamps in medieval castles and lodges.

Note that medieval era jobs were a reflection of medieval era measurements – in many instances measurements were the same ones used during the height of the Roman Empire – hence it would take a few more centuries before scientifically-based measurements would truly have an impact on the development of environmental careers i.e. emissions management, wastewater management, toxicology, hydrology, and pollution control. As for the next generation of green-collar jobs, nanotechnology promises to be the next breakthrough in the development of tomorrow’s sustainable way of life. We can only hope that a regulatory framework to assess and control environmental risks of this technology’s atomic and molecular dimensions will be accompanied by prudent lessons learned from our past.

Predictions from an Eco-Crystal Ball: The Green Reinvention of American Jobs!

It is not a question of ‘WHEN’ or ‘IF’ the American economy will recover from this latest recession, but ‘WHERE’ will the green-collar jobs of tomorrow be most predominant? And WHAT link is there between green entrepreneurship and geography? It is that very question that I shall attempt to answer herewith: Where will the greatest geographic concentration of tomorrow’s sustainable communities and green entrepreneurs be located within the boundaries of the continental USA?

To begin, the growth of tomorrow’s green-collar jobs looks the brightest in America’s urban centers. Indeed, the green gentrification of America’s largest cities was just recently given a tremendous boost by President Obama’s “Green Building Initiative” launched on Dec. 2, 2011 which amounts to a $4 Billion investment in energy upgrades in public and private buildings over the next two years. The hope is that the upgrades will make America’s buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next decade and that it will create about 50,000 jobs in the hard-hit construction industry.

Large American cities and their contiguous municipalities are also home to the greatest concentrations of angel investor groups and social venture capital firms in the country whose commitment to Triple Bottom Line Investing (commonly called the three P’s: People, Planet, & Profits) has spurred on new clean-tech startups and new health technologies. Start-up companies are where the jobs are created and access to low-cost capital is critical. Indeed, between 2008 and 2010, green job growth outpaced traditional job growth at a rate of nearly 2-to-1 in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan centers.

The growth of new eco-political alliances within America’s major cities is also shaping the green jobs sector of tomorrow. The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance offers a green jobs apprenticeship program. The Energy Alliance of Greater Pittsburgh offers funding for energy innovation programs and green-energy related careers. The Boston Harbor Island Alliance offers eco-recreation and eco-tourism development opportunities and Air Alliance Houston offers school children health and science lessons. But perhaps the most significant eco-political partnership to have emerged in America in just the last six years is the ‘BlueGreen Alliance Foundation’, a non-profit coalition between labor unions and environmental organizations now 14 million members strong – “dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy”. And one of their major challenges is to green American cities while advancing social equity.

But not all urban centers are equal when one considers the most sustainable cities in America – Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California. And now with the 2008 establishment of the “Pacific Coast Collaborative”, an agreement by which the governmental leaders of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska have pledged to work together to find common solutions to regional and global challenges — Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco are now positioned to be North America’s greatest centers of green innovation and sustainable resource management in the 7th largest economy in the world.

There are other factors at work as well that will continue to make Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California the greatest powerhouse engines of green job growth of tomorrow. One is a culture that tolerates and encourages failure. Second is an abundance of public policies that promote entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship, and progressive urban planning. Third is the abundance of renewable resources, natural beauty, and distinctive quality-of-life features that attracts both entrepreneurs and investors to set up business in these locations. Fourth, the entrepreneurial infrastructure amongst these three cities and within these three cities are truly amazing. Here are but a few:
Portland, Oregon –
(1) Creative Entrepreneurs Anonymous – www.www.meetup.com/Creative-Entrepreneurs-Anonymous/
(2) Greener Good (Women’s Marketing Group) – www.greenergood.com
(3) OVP Venture Partners – www.ovp.com/
(4) Oregon Angel Fund – www.oen.org/programs_oaf.aspx
(5) Oregon Entrepreneurs Network – www.oen.org/
(6) Oregon Microenterprise Network – www.oregon-microbiz.org/
(7) Oregon Networking Professionals – www.oregonnetworkingprofessionals.com/
(8) Portland Angel Network – www.oen.org/programs_pan.aspx
(9) Reference Capital – www.referencecapital.com/
(10) SmartForest Ventures – www.smartforest.com/
(11) The Oregon Native American Business & Entrepreneurial Network (ONABEN) – www.onaben.org/
(12) Voyager Capital – www.voyagercapital.com/
(13) Women Entrepreneurs of Oregon – www.oregonweo.org/
(14) Women’s Investment Network – www.fundingpost.com/
(15) Young Women Social Entrepreneurs – www.ywse.org/

Seattle, Washington –
(1) Alliance of Angels – www.allianceofangels.com/
(2) Entrepreneurs’ Organization – www.eonetwork.org/
(3) Ignite Seattle – www.igniteseattle.com/
(4) Innovate Washington – www.innovatewashington.org/
(5) Madrona Venture Group – www.madrona.com/
(6) Northwest Entrepreneur Network – www.nwen.org/
(7) Power Chicks International – www.powerchicksinternational.com/
(8) Puget Sound Venture Club – www.pugetsoundvc.com/index.asp
(9) Seattle Tech Startups – www.seattletechstartups.com/doku.php
(10) Seattle University’s Entrepreneurship Center –
www.seattleu.edu/albers/entrepreneurship.aspx
(11) Seraph Capital Forum – www.www.seraphcapital.com/
(12) Tech Cafe – www.npost.com/techcafe/
(13) TiE – www.seattle.tie.org/
(14) Zino Society – www.zinosociety.com/

San Francisco, CA-
(1) Asian American Business Connection – www.meetup.com/asian-american-business-connection/
(2) Bay Area Social Enterprise – www.meetup.com/socent/
(3) Berkeley Business Mixers – www.meetup.com/Berkeley-Business-Mixers/
(4) Change-Agent Entrepreneurs Bay Area – www.meetup.com/Bay-Area-Entrepreneurs-Network/
(5) Eco-Tuesday – www.ecotuesday.com/
(6) Fashion Entrepreneurs – www.meetup.com/Fashion-Entrepreneurs/
(7) Fearless Women Entrepreneur Network (FWEN) – www.fearlesswomennetwork.com/
(8) Genuine Networking Association (GNA) – www.eliasmelas.com/gna.htm
(9) Golden Gate Angels – www.ggangels.com/index.html
(10) Granite Ventures – www.granitevc.com
(11) Ladies of Green Building – www.meetup.com/Ladies-of-Green-Building/
(12) Next Level Networking – www.meetup.com/Next-Level-Networking-Visitors-Day/
(13) Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center – www.rencenter.org/
(14) San Francisco Entrepreneur/Investor Network (SFEIN) – www.meetup.com/sfnetwork/
(15) San Francisco & Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Meetup – www.meetup.com/sanfrancisco-entrepreneur/
(16) “Women Business Owner” San Francisco Professional Network – www.meetup.com/WomenBusinessOwner/

In conclusion, Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco are great cities in the process of reinventing themselves and our notion of 21st century sustainable living through their improved transportation systems, traffic signals, parking meters, bike lanes, esplanades, integrated green buildings, smart grid infrastructure, efficient water treatment management and recycling methods – and – I predict that this is where the greatest geographic concentration of tomorrow’s sustainable communities and green entrepreneurs will be located and in turn the greatest reinvention of American jobs.