tion. “Our Green Business Certification Program has four focus areas: general, waste, water and energy, and we pro- vide lots of action ideas,” says Wa- terfield, who explains that the Naples program is a simplified adaptation of the successful Sarasota County model. The website also includes actions that make a cumulative difference in a homeowner’s budget.
Sustainable Business
Management According to Gerry Segal, associate professor of management at the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) College of Business, his new Sustainable Busi- ness Management course has attracted 25 FGCU students that enrolled in the 2011 fall semester, three-credit class. “Students are working on their class project, which is a Sustainability Audit Report for the Bamboo Café, a Naples restaurant that volunteered to participate,” says Segal. Segal and Wa- terfield are hopeful that Bamboo Café, which buys organic produce locally, will be the first certified green business in Naples.
Curious Kids
Singer, songwriter and storyteller Rosie Emery is the Curious Kids Ambassador and Producer of WGCU’s Curious Kids half-hour TV show, hosted by kids, for kids. Committed to teaching children about the interconnectedness of all life through the mediums of music and the arts, Emery believes that without a profound understanding of their inte- gral connection to the natural world, children are not moved to protect it when they become adults. “Written and produced from a child’s perspec- tive, my lyrics and the show are about them, their backyard, and their world,” advises Emery.
Rosie Emery’s Curious Kids
LeeTran LinC Bus Service LinC, LeeTran’s new commuter bus route, now travels from its southern- most Lee County transfer center at U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road, where it previously stopped, to Collier County’s northernmost transfer point, at U.S. 41 and Immokalee Road.
“Collier Area Transit provides the bus and covers the operational costs, and Lee County provides the people to operate it,” stays Stacy Revay, healthy communities coordinator and chair- woman of the Smart Growth Coalition. She intends to take full advantage of the new service, which began this month. “I’m definitely riding the bus to work instead of driving an hour in traffic,” says Revay.
Social Networking Every month since its inception in 2009, more individuals interested in sustainability have been finding valu- able social networking opportunities at Southwest Florida Green Drinks, hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Gulf Coast Chapter. The group meets on the second Tuesday of each month, at the Tarpon Bay Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Pointe Resort and Spa, in Bonita Springs. “It’s the place to not only meet up with approximately 50 people from non-government organizations, aca- demia, government and business, but also to learn more about sustainability topics from different presenters,” says Ziff-Levine, who has her own U Gotta Go Green meet-up group to promote initiatives that will preserve and protect Southwest Florida’s environment and natural resources for future generations. “I’d like to believe that in the time between every event since 2007, hundreds of people have been taking small, unrecognized actions, which are accumulating to bring about a more visible change in moving the entire sus- tainability movement—from the health of the individual to the health of the planet—forward,” says Ziff-Levine. She adds that 2011 local efforts will continue with a Transition U.S. Training course on October 15 and 16, as well as the Cela Tega: Conservation Lands’ Economic Value symposium, November 2, at FGCU. The conference
will identify and discuss the economic benefits of conservation lands in the Estero Bay watershed.
The Transition U.S. course, an in- depth experiential introduction to the ideas, process and practices that have inspired tens of thousands of people in hundreds of communities, has cata- lyzed a rapidly growing global network. A participatory two-day Transition Florida workshop in Ybor City is open to anyone interested in exploring the dimensions of transitioning, resilience and supporting local action and col- laboration in their community. Determined to persevere far be- yond the hundredth gale, these dedi- cated individuals and groups continue to grow in number as they actively pursue eco-initiatives and accumu- late green acts. They know that small change is the true currency of a new, green world.
For more information about the lo- cal organizations mentioned, see the sidebar. For information or to register for the Estero Bay Watershed Economic Value of Conservation Lands sympo- sium, visit
Tinyurl.com/3cju8jw.
Local Sustainability Resources
BikeWalkLee,
BikeWalkLee.org PACE Collier,
PACECollier.com TwentyFifty, LLC,
Twenty-Fifty.com NPower,
NPowerNaples.org
Florida Gulf Coast University, Sustainable Business Management,
GSegal@FGCU.edu.
Curious Kids,
RosieEmery.com
Green Drinks, Tessa LeSage, 239-533-2240
Meetup.com/UGottaGoGreen Transition Florida,
TransitionFlorida.org
natural awakenings October 2011
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