A friend of mine has 6 or 7 podcasts stored on her iPod on ways of improving her green life. It’s all the stuff you’ve ever seen or heard, you know, the latest Top 10 easy (always easy) green lists, the latest theoretical whiz-bang technology that makes 500 mega watts of power from 11 blades of switchgrass or affordable homes made from recycled Gucci handbags. “Surely you’ve seen all of these?” she asked. I hadn’t, but after a quick scan, I knew what they were. Yes, they were all of the kinds of programs that conveniently bundle the guilt, shame, oneupsmanship, greener than thou, fear-mongering, greenwashing and the finger pointing with a little bit of the head in the sand, denial and don’t be left behind scares that are so much the rage now.

She’s bought into all of it - and still does not have a clue where to go or what to do.

She really wants to make a difference here in Cincinnati, she wants to get something or anything going, but she cannot separate the green music from the green noise. She’s not alone.

So, where do you start?

First, keep in mind a lesson from Isaac Asimov, “Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what’s right.” This ‘sense of morals’ is the cultural standards we inherit from our community. It’s a path to make sure we stay in alignment with these shared lessons of community. It’s what makes a civil society civil. Cincinnati is good at civil. We could change our name to Civilnati.

“Please, what high school did you say you went to?”

iAm

Don’t get me wrong, civil is good. Civil is necessary. But your ability to appreciate the civil starts first with your understanding of what is right. And what is right comes from your personal story. It’s both the nature and nurture of what makes you “you”. Your story makes you legitimate. It is intuitive. Being civil is rational. We are in a constant evolution of defining civility by understanding what is right. So, and most importantly, ask yourself who you are and what is important to you. Then, and only then, can you define how you should define your role relative to community, that is, how you can make Cincinnati truly green.

iCare

Those of us in the design and construction industry are inundated with countless facts on sustainability and the dramatic impacts building construction and operations have on climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, indoor air quality, energy consumption, storm water management and on and on. As the US Green Building Council tells us, in the US, some of the more dramatic include 39% of all energy consumption (more than industry at 29% or transportation at 32%), 71% of all electricity consumed, 65% of all the waste output (including 40% of all of the landfill space) and 39% of all the manmade CO2 emissions. Wow.

You may care about all of this, but face it, you cannot deal with all of this. Do not let the overwhelming issues keep you from acting. Define what is important to you, where does your personal story take you, what do you know, what can you connect to? Pick what you are good at, care about that – and do it. Get good at one thing first. Don’t fret over the other 9 of the Top 10 green list. Do not let perfection be the enemy of the good. Your story, your sense of what’s right will propel you past the hurdles. Once you get good at one thing, you then will have energy for the next one. Tell others. Celebrate. Rinse and repeat.

iMove

It is not unusual for folks to think that being green is an all or nothing proposition. That keeps them safe from having to take any action. The truth of the matter is that we all move in progressive steps. There are many shades of green. Within the building industry we can think of this path of steps much like a five rung ladder. The bottom rung is your Standard code minimum building, the next step up would be a typical Green building (but not yet achieving carbon neutrality), the third rung is a truly Sustainable building (neutral), the fourth step would be a Restorative building that does more good than harm and restores the site to a natural condition. Finally, at the top would be a Regenerative building, a building that acts like nature itself. It gathers its own water and energy, reuses its own wastes, provides oxygen and sustains multiple species.

Your one good thing might be to convince a housing tract developer to make it to step 2 on the ladder or maybe your one good thing is to get your own house to make it all of the way to the top. What’s more sustainable? You know what, it doesn’t matter, it all counts, just move.

isaac was right.

it all counts.

i count.

iGreen.

So much of who we are and what we aspire to be as a community is wrapped up in the performance of our sports teams. We sense they are us, writ large. When I speak about my beloved Cincinnati Reds, we all share in the communal angst about our continuing inability to compete on a national scale. The 1990, wire-to-wire, Worlds Series Championship seems now almost as remote as the one from 1919. And thus, somehow by extension, with each passing year, our capability as a community comes across as incrementally diminished.

But I can’t accept it. I won’t accept it.

As an architect, I spend much of my time in Cincinnati, across Ohio and across much of the region working on issues of sustainability. All things green now appear to be all over everything. You cannot escape the headlines, proclamations, insights and highlights that stretch across all of the media. For many of my friends, they sense that we Cincinnatians are slipping away from any hope of leadership, any chance of making a difference. Their common lament is that “we are hopelessly behind”.

But I can’t accept it. I won’t accept it.

You know why? Because it is NOT TRUE.

What is true is that this city and this region is replete with devoted individuals who have selflessly committed themselves to remaking Cincinnati and our region into a green community. You may say “so what, what have they accomplished?” Check this out:

Progress in Schools

Ohio is the first and only state in the nation with requirements that ALL school buildings, new or renovated, to be LEED certified. Our own Cincinnati Public School System is the first Ohio district with sustainability guidelines as well as the first Ohio school district with LEED requirements, and the first LEED certified building.

Twenhofel in Northern Kentucky is the first green school in the state.

Some other firsts for our area include:

• First US Green Building Council Chapter in the State
• First sewer district in nation with comprehensive sustainably designed water management plan: Metropolitan Sewer District
• First sewer district with partner plan with a school district ( MSD with CPS)
• First in region with green facility: Northern Kentucky Sanitation District #1
• First green general store in state: Park + Vine
• First green designed city building in state: Fire Station #51
• First green designed county building in state: Alms & Doepke Building
• First state university in state with LEED certified buildings: University of Cincinnati
• First LEED Silver in the state: PNC Beckett Ridge
• First LEED Gold commercial building in state: Melink Corporation
• First City in Ohio with comprehensive Climate Protection Action Plan
• First City in Ohio with LEED Ordinance – an American Institute of Architects National Top 12 for exemplary achievement

Of course, this is not to mention that the Cincinnati region has the best solar profile in the state for photovoltaic panels, the best city and county park systems and an extraordinary network of groups committed to extending our environmental accomplishments.

So how about those Cincinnati Greens? Think we got a shot at the top? I do, and this is something I can accept.

Oh yeah, and one other thing, call me crazy, but I’m starting to feel really good about the Cincinnati Reds chances next year too.