According to the Centers for Disease Control...

Community Gardens

Community gardens are collaborative projects on shared open spaces where participants share in the maintenance and products of the garden, including healthful and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.

Gardens may offer physical and mental health benefits by providing opportunities to

• Eat healthy fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Engage in physical activity, skill building, and creating green space.
• Beautify vacant lots.
• Revitalize communities in industrial areas.
• Revive and beautify public parks.
• Create green rooftops.
• Decrease violence in some neighborhoods, and improve social well-being through strengthening social connections.

For more information on the CDC Healthy Places visit: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/healthyfood/community.htm

Find out what's going on in your neighborhood!

Here is a link to the Denver Urban Gardens site which lists a fantastic handbook, events calendar, and more resources.

https://dug.org/mission-and-history/

Hundreds of Cities Commit to Combating Emissions

Through bold climate commitments, 228 cities around the world are taking the lead on climate action.

Washington, D.C.-----Over 200 cities have set greenhouse gas reduction goals or targets. Action in these cities, which represent a combined population of 439 million people, could propel countries to meet their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)—the national greenhouse gas reduction pledges embodied in the Paris Agreement. According to Can a City Be Sustainable?, the latest edition of the annual State of the World series from the Worldwatch Institute, cities and their inhabitants are playing a lead role in achieving global climate action goals (www.worldwatch.org).

For more on this report and to purchase a copy: http://www.worldwatch.org/hundreds-cities-commit-combating-emissions-0

UN Goals

On September 25th 2015, countries adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.

For the goals to be reached, everyone needs to do their part: governments, the private sector, civil society and people like you.

Do you want to get involved? You can start by telling everyone about them. We’ve also put together a list of actions that you can take in your everyday life to contribute to a sustainable future.

For more information click here: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

Environmental Issues: Green Living and Design

Green Living & Design offers practical information on how to put more "green" in your life by making buying decisions and lifestyle choices that help to sustain the environment rather than deplete it. Green living may even save you money while you help to save the planet.

Check out the complete article for more information: http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/

Which Firms Are the Most Sustainable Brands?

One of the best online resources I have found for environmental news and reports is http://www.environmentalleader.com/. Check it out!

Unilever is once again the most sustainable company, according to the 2015 Sustainability Leaders report, conducted by GlobeScan and SustainAbility.
The survey asked 800 experts which companies are leaders in integrating sustainability into their business strategy. Unilever was the top mentioned company by a significant margin (38 percent, up five points from 2014).
Other recent reports have also given Unilever top scores for its water management and deforestation policies.
Patagonia is the only other company to be mentioned by more than 10 percent of experts and remains in second place on the GlobeScan/SustainAbility ranking.
BASF is the only newcomer to the top 10 list in 2015 with 3 percent of mentions. Other companies listed in the top 10 include: Interface (8 percent), Marks & Spencer (6 percent), Natura (5 percent), Ikea (5 percent), Nestle (4 percent), General Electric, Nike and Coca-Cola (each respectively at 3 percent).


Read more: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/05/29/which-firms-are-the-most-sustainable-brands/#ixzz3gWtIigtw

Sustainability: What is it?

Sustainability includes sustainable building, design and operations. Sustainability is the collection of policies and strategies employed by companies to minimize their environmental impact on future generations. Ecological concerns, such as the environmental impact of pollutants, are balanced with socio-economic concerns such as minimizing the consumption of limited natural resources to maintain their availability for the future.

Read more: http://www.environmentalleader.com/category/sustainability/#ixzz3gWowddS4

Consumption and Consumerism the United States Reexamined

Nearly three decades ago the Brundtland Report called for us to reduce both the quantity and quality of our consumption. Yet how much has really changed since then? Do we all live a lifestyle that consists of using only what we need? Unlikely. Overconsumption is a major ethical problem in the Western industrialized nations, particularly the United States. You do not have to live in Texas to follow the “bigger is better” adage. Since the Industrial Revolution consumption rates continuously increased. Populations grew. Consumerism grew. Resources diminished. How did a society that developed out of the Great Depression, where everything was saved and reused, turn into the society we live in today? Progress in the economy helped. Women entering the workforce helped. Yet how much bad came out of the good? Today the problems we discuss about the environment and sustainability stem from the history of the United States.

The insatiable demands of the rich world continues to enlarge the human footprint left on our planet – pumping greenhouse gases into the air, polluting the oceans, trashing forests (instead replacing with garbage forests), and more! Can we as a society change from the attitude widely held the richer we are and the more we consume, the more self-centred and careless we appear to become? Today many promote the idea of sustainable development as a framework for understanding an appropriate lifestyle for present generations.

I ask myself what is an appropriate lifestyle? As my knowledge of sustainability develops my attitudes and actions change. I try conserve more than I use. I have a wonderful organic garden in the summer (which is leads to a short growing season here in Denver). I stopped buying water in bottles and instead refill my old high school water bottle that I used for sports. I switched to eating mostly organic natural foods and buy products straight from the deli instead of pre-packaged to diminish waste. I could go on, but I will stop here. I know my experience has changed my outlook on environmental issues and concerns. Is it possible for the rest of society to do the same?

When is enough, enough? I believe more and more people are beginning to realise consumption patterns must change. I contend it can start at the individual level and develop to the global level. If each person in this society takes the time to analyse their own consumption patterns they can change them. If society changes to a more “green” and sustainable society then the political arena will have to change to consider the demands of the people. It just takes one person at a time to make a world of difference. Education, training, and initiatives will make the transition more adaptable to current standards. The media needs to adapt a more sustainable approach to their listings and stop promoting TV shows that exude overconsumptive lifestyles and people need to stop watching them.

Learn, grow, develop.