'Being Green' has taken off in a big way. People use green and sustainable as buzz words and or some bandwagon to hop onto or even and something to avoid all together. I know some environmentalist colleagues who are a little bit bitter about this. I tend to take everything in stride and look at this as an opportunity to share my own view of 'green.' I work this is field because I see so much potential for real change that celebrates all that sustainability has to offer us. The innovations, the opportunities, the new paradigms, and of course the preservation of the natural beauty of our planet, it doesn't have to mean that everyone needs to sacrifice everything they hold dear. But I still understand why sustainability is scary for some. Change can be scary and daunting, but I think that if we take these challenges head on and face them bravely, as we have with many other we have in the past that we needn't be afraid.
I always knew that I loved science and nature and hiking and the beach and bird watching and Elsa the Lion, but I didn't always know I wanted to become a sustainability professional. My desire to pursue this as a career really came from my first job out of college at Environmental Defense Fund. There I worked on projects that worked with business to infuse sustainability into their operations. It just made so much sense to me and started me on my journey into an environmental career.
I know many people think of sustainability professionals and imagine that we are advocates on street corners asking for signatures and donations or people who are 'hippies' focused on the preservation of nature at all costs or a whole range of crunchy, granola folks out to change the world. I have nothing against those type of people and have made many environmentalist friends in my life who do just that and are making and have made big changes in the world. It's just not the type of environmentalist I am. My time at EDF and subsequently my MBA and MS in Natural Resources at the University of Michigan, heavily influenced me in that I view sustainability as a pragmatic optimist. I want to work to create major change in the way we address sustainability, but I want to do that working within the structures we have by infusing it into the way we legislate, do business, our communities, and mindsets.
That's just a little bit about me. Stay tuned for thoughts from Leila and Melody in the next couple of weeks.