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Jacob Cowgill Timeless Seeds Sustainability Strategy Pre-proposal 12.21.06 A good working definition of "sustainability" comes from Paul Hawken's The Ecology of Commerce. He says "sustainability" can be defined in terms of carrying capacity of the ecosystem, and described with input-output models of energy and resource consumption. In addition, it is an economic state where the demands placed upon the environment by people and commerce can be met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations. I separated the sustainability strategy of Timeless Seeds into three parts: the economic sustainability, the energy/environmental sustainability, and the community sustainability. The economic sustainability of the company is beyond the scope of my project so I will address the energy/environmental and community sustainability of the company. From Orion Afield, the question was posed, "...what do our buildings say about the way we relate to each other, or to the landscape that looms outside?" This addresses the two major pieces of the sustainability strategy: the energy/environmental sustainability and the community sustainability. The second part of the question is really about defining the Timeless ecosystem, stepping away to look at the greater natural ecosystem and determining how the two interact and relate. Should Timeless' impact be negative, part of the strategy will be to re-create the way its products are processed and how the plant operates, so that in the end, it mimics natural systems. This is called a restorative economy where a business assess what it takes from the environment, what it makes, and what it wastes in order to create a symbiosis of company, customer, and ecology. A restorative economy consists of a business community that coevolves with the natural and human communities it serves. The sustainability strategy includes knowing the particulars of the place it resides: the local culture, natural ecosystem, and energy and material flows. Following is a list of ideas for the sustainability strategy. Energy/Environmental Sustainability Grid-tied renewable energy including solar panels and a wind turbine Biomass from the cleaning waste for heating and energy Biofuel Passive solar Purchase green tags/green credits Composting toilet Stormwater and waste water collection Carbon sequestration Biodegradable packaging Recyclable bags for bulk products Shelterbelt and/or orchard (could be irrigated with waste/stormwater) Landscape with native vegetation Community Sustainability Use local materials when possible (shop locally) Food to restaurants and school Education outreach with local school(s) Create a community space Programs Market garden with greenhouse Education program with Ulm School A good old-fashioned barn raising, both as a symbol of community and a concrete project of community involvement with the finished barn acting as a community space/commons To Do Acquire • anemometer to measure the wind • wind maps • solar maps Visit Ulm Bar(s), Restaurant(s) to get to know the community better. Create steps and plan for action of implementation of sustainability strategy. Document the work through notes and photos. Post maps and ideas in Timeless office as the project develops. To Research Embedded energy vs. building new. The commons. What is the local culture (farming/ranching, etc.) and what is Timeless' impact on that culture (positive or negative)? How to set up and conduct design charettes. Break down the process Timeless' products go through from arrival at the plant through to packaging and look at each step to see if there is anything in the process that can be modified to add the overall sustainability of the company. Triple bottom line vs. triple top line, where triple bottom line consists of ecology, equity, and economy, but centers on economic considerations with social equity and ecological benefits as afterthoughts. Triple top line addresses all three up front instead of after the fact. A fractal tile triangle can be used as a visualization tool, where at one point of the triangle is ecology, another point equity, and the final point of the triangle is economy. The areas between the points represent varying degrees of focus. It is broken down as follows: ecology/ecology: where the earth comes first ecology/economy: the earth is a concern, but money enters into the picture economy/ecology: eco-efficiency which refers to the minimization of waste economy/economy: pure capitalism economy/equity: money and fairness equity/economy: more focus on fairness; economy through the lens of equity equity/equity: purely social equity/ecology: fairness and environmental conditions ecology/equity: ecosystem affects, not just workplace (McDonough and Braungart) Eco-efficiency vs. eco-effectiveness Thoughts Why not have individual communities (Ulm) meet the Kyoto protocols? How would Timeless play a role? Conduct a design charette for the community of Ulm to determine what they would want from Timeless Seeds. What kind of customer does Timeless want to create (through the products sold, create an educated customer)? (Hawken) What is the Timeless ecosystem? Within a sustainability strategy, a new language needs to be used to talk about business. What about the aesthetics of the Timeless plant? It's not exactly a beautiful structure. Would it be possible to make it so, to provide a visual contribution to the community? How can Timeless enhance the region's economic and physical health and connect to its cultural heritage? (McDonough) According to McDonough and Braungart, most people see culturally distinctive communities as desirable environments in which to live. If this is the case, are culturally distinctive businesses desirable places to buy from? How much of a community's sustainability is the responsibility of the company (Timeless), especially if the company doesn't rely on that community for their business? I think that question can partly be answered through companies' role as leaders in how they relate to the natural world and society. Because of their leadership role, they hold a responsibility that cannot be ignored. But I think the answer to this question needs to be articulated better in order to properly address why a private company ought to care about the community within which it resides. Sources Boyte, Harry C. "Builders of the Commonwealth: Citizenship as Public Work." Journal of Public Affairs. 1997. Volume 1. "Buildings That Build Community." Orion Afield. Spring 2001. Volume 5, Number 2. Hawken, Paul. The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability. New York: HarperCollins. 1993. "If a Building Could Be Like a Tree: An Interview with Architect William McDonough." Orion Afield. Spring 2001. Volume 5, Number 2. McDonough, William; Michael Braungart. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press. 2002. Orr, David W. The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention. New York: Oxford University Press. 2002. To Read Barnes, Peter. Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2006 Hawken, Paul; Amory Lovins; L. Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 1999. Sustainable Architecture White Papers. New York: Earth Pledge. 2005. |
