Join our Sustainable


Explore local initiatives and national resources in a new editorial series.


by Linda Sechrist


During our 10-city Stone Soup Listening Tour, in September 2010, my colleague Sharon Joy Kleitsch and I were blessed with a plethora of opportunities to see and experience a larger “whole systems” view of sustainability. Our bird’s-eye perspective encompassed universities and grassroots organiza- tions; a charter school and green hotel; a local grocery store initiative; regional planning programs; public art and com- munity health initiatives; sustainability departments in local governments; solar initiatives; an eco-village and urban farm; community gardens; and sustain- able, low-income housing. We were impressed, inspired and energized. This big-picture exposure, which included numerous individuals in- volved in the permaculture and Transi- tion Towns movements, is helping me and my business partner to develop our Upstate Green Central Station online directory and web portal. It’s also spark- ing ideas for our sustainability dem- onstration center, now in the planning stage, which has a focus similar to one


we learned about in Oklahoma City.


Immersion in a bigger picture


also opened my eyes to the need for a Sustainability Advisory Committee that would serve our San Diego Natural Awakenings magazine with feedback and direction from individuals involved in all facets of the movement. Natural Awakenings Publisher Elaine Gregory and I both agree that this inclusionary approach will contribute to awareness- building because it draws from wisdom and experience garnered in the seven aspects of land and nature stewardship: the built environment; tools and tech- nology; culture and education; health and spiritual well-being; finance and economics; land tenure; and communi- ty governance, which are all aspects of the holistic permaculture design system. Each month, Natural Awaken-


ings will provide another integrative perspective as we discuss these seven aspects in Sustainable Living articles that build upon each other. Our goal is to offer you the type of information that will allow you to explore and formulate


your own responses on a credible, local scale, while being part of a larger, more collective response. Other Natural Awakenings pub- lishers will be joining our journey into the complicated language of environ- mental issues that frequently create overwhelming barriers to engagement. Borrowing from the more inclusionary and simple language of the Transition Towns movement, the articles will present national resources on ideas and solutions that are already working on a scale to which we can all relate. Elaine and I plan to bring you local side stories about programs, initiatives and ideas that are already working—en- livening vignettes reminiscent of those from the Stone Soup Listening Tour. It was the idea of listening, rather than telling, that inspired the cross-country trip that began in San Diego. This time, I’ll be listening from my armchair.


Connect with Editor Linda Sechrist at Upstate Green Central Station, 864- 278-8088, or Natural Awakenings San Diego, 760-436-2343 (phone) or 760-652-4859 (fax).


Living Journey


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