On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA September - October 2017 | Page 18

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
B Y LO I S J. D E V R I E S
Deep in the Weeds of Sustainability
As concerned garden-
ers, many of us spend a
lot of time deep in the
weeds of sustainable
horticulture. But as
garden communicators,
we also need to stick
our heads up from
time to time to see
what’s happening in
the broader world of
sustainability; to look for clues about how these
changes impact our work.
We’ve likely reached a global tipping point in
this arena. In his seminal work of that name, Mal-
com Gladwell defines the tipping point as “the
moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boil-
ing point” when a new idea or behavior takes
hold in the mass consciousness and spreads like
a virus. He goes on to explain that things that
appear to have happened all at once, actually
arise from the cumulative effect of innumerable
small changes. In this case, that’s taken at least
five decades.
Whether the U.S. signs the Paris Climate
Accord or any other formal sustainability agree-
ment is no longer relevant because 195 other
countries have. Multinational corporations that
do business in those countries say it’s too late
to turn back. Corporations must abide by the
international agreements on sustainable devel-
opment if they want to do business in any of the
signatory countries. Whether driven by law, con-
sumer demand or profit, these companies have
already embedded a commitment to operating
more sustainably into their corporate culture.
That seems to be the case, not just in
corporate America, but also across the board
in academia; construction; municipal, county
and state planning; waste management; the
hospitality industry, and many other enterprises.
Without much hoopla, countless small changes
have accumulated to move sustainability onto
the table as a major factor in making strategic
decisions.
18
Quietly and almost without fanfare,
we’ve passed the tipping point
Take a break from weeding your garden and see how changing attitudes toward sustainability might affect
your world.
If you’d like to wander around in the weeds of sustainability for a while instead of weeding your
garden, here are a few places to start:
1. AASHE (The Association for Sustainability in Higher Education) publishes a weekly Bulletin that
includes university news, events, and job opportunities: http://bulletin.aashe.org/. Scroll to the
bottom of the page to subscribe.
2. Greenbiz:
a) For updates on the general state of corporate sustainability: https://www.greenbiz.com/collec-
tions/sustainability
b) Podcast: https://www.greenbiz.com/350
c) Job Board: http://jobs.greenbiz.com/search?search_string=&search=1&go=Find+Jobs&-
job_group_ids%5B19393%5D=1&location_string=&country_code=us&distance=50&posted_
time=&sort_by=relevance
3. Kashi Foods’ “Certified Transitional” program that helps farmers bridge the three-year, economically
difficult period it takes for their farms to become certified organic by the USDA: Kashi’s Certified
Transitional Program
4. Fetzer Winery uses earthworms to clean wastewater: http://www.theguardian.com/sustain-
able-business/2016/may/10/california-winery-eco-friendly-wines-worms