Yesterday I attended the Sustainable connections Business Conference here is Bellingham to see what is happening in the sustainability space in my local community. Here are some take aways and things I learned.

· Bellingham is one of the most respected cities in the country for sustainability (yes! sweet reinforcement that Mathew and I are indeed the best once again J)and being looked to by many groups across the world because of the work of sustainable connection and the local businesses that birthed it.

· Whatcom County is one of only two counties in the country with a LEED certified courthouse, Bellingham is #1 in green power, Commitment to develop new waterfront from a toxic GP plant into first large scale all LEED platinum certified city center.

· Over 150 businesses leaders turned out for a very intensive all day event, many from outside of the area. I met people from most of the islands, Skagit, Snohomish, and King county.

· Many sustainable businesses struggle with the same perceptions of Marketing as a negative activity as do non-profits

· Every communication piece is an opportunity to communicate your values and mission, even bills.

· Green Jobs are gaining traction, but focus appears to be in energy and home efficiency. Conspicuously absent was farming. Also Green Jobs have divided opinions on whether they are well paid or simply employment for people in poverty.

·  I saw the power of people in action, after our mayor got up to speak and commented about Sharif Abdullah’s talk and the need for  action, he was asked whether he would personally commit to putting in bike lanes. His answer was that he would follow the process, the crowd started to challenge him to take a stand himself, I would not have wanted to have been is his shoes J

· We’ve screwed up so bad, that we are at a point where society needs to change if we are going to reverse the damage we have caused. EVEN more I know believe that people are the key, if we do not rapidly change out model and engage entire communities at a personal and individual level we will not succeed.

· Business is essential to change, the connections between non-profits and their causes and businesses needs more emphasis.

· The environment cannot be the main story, PERIOD. We cannot live in harmony with nature unless we change a lot of things. Such as our perception of what important (stuff), our sense of purpose (faith), and our way of providing (Money).

So what is my big take away: That if we care about the environment we need to connect it to everything else and engage people, really engage them holistically.  And I don’t mean the people who already get it, I mean the people who are the majority, the people who don’t think they cannot afford to spend time/energy on environmental issues because they have other issues more pressing that they don’t realize are all connected.

We have the opportunity to do this with technology, that everyone thinks they need , and in fact they do because of the change in society to expect online experience. But I think we might have a responsibility because of our position of seeing the whole of these efforts to think about the engagement paradigm and make sure that it’s being met across the board, that every person is eventually served. We can engage everyone on their terms… In ways that are relevant….We can scale that…. that’s the power technology has given us.