A brief and glorious Earth Day essay

I had the opportunity to chat with Cecilia Ramon yesterday, the amazing artist who created a wood installation for our cocktail room. Our conversation ranged about,hither and yon, and it contained more questions than answers, but it felt very Earth Day appropriate. We are both feeling off-kilter and unable to find a rhythm in a way that it is hard to describe. But, I think it is an experience that feels something akin to being on a treadmill that is going a different pace than you wish to move. And if you try to move more slowly, your walking becomes herky jerky. You feel you don’t have much choice other than to speed up or jump off. But, the speed is exhausting, and if you jump off, the feeling is lethargic, uninspired, it’s not the right place either. Perhaps you are feeling this in your core as well? I think it is a spiritual acknowledgment that we are not made to hurtle through the world at the pace of machines. But, we are also not meant to sit still. We need to remake our world again to go at the pace of the earth, of our bodies, of the bodies of plants and animals and water. This pace is varied and creative, rhythmic and humane and nourishing. And hard. Because most of our systems and expectations have now been set to operate otherwise.

I think about this in business every day. I ask myself the questions every day. It’s easiest to either reject the question or reject the whole system. The urge is either simply to steel ourselves and continue to move at the pace of notifications and content creation, competition, and infinite growth. Or to say, it’s all bad. Say no to growth, no to selling, no to any consumption. The hard work is for us to sit with it and in it and make all the choices. To know that there has always been exchange of goods and services and information – even trees do it – but it must be done with love and intention. That all things grow and change but that unlimited growth and accumulation is what makes something cancerous. That there is no point to profit unless that profit is used to further the prosperity of our planet, our community, and our families. That there is a middle way, and that middle way feels unstable to us because we live in a society that likes extremes and either-ors and answers.

Anywho, what has this to do with Earth Day? Well, a lot, it seems to me. Because to me, so much of striving for sustainability and making how we do business matter, rests both on the day to day choices and the durable systems that can be better made if we are willing to ask questions and think deeply. That this will make more of a difference to changing the pace of the treadmill than any flashy green-initiatives will. This is not to say we shouldn’t green-initiative the shit out of things. I could list all the things we do ourselves – in fact I will below because they are important and we are proud of them (and I admit we don’t talk about them enough because we are abashed Minnesotans who don’t like to toot our own horns any more than we like to take the last bar in a tray bake). But, I also want to plug adding mindfulness and a willingness to face against the uncomfortableness of speed and comfort without shutting down.

I also want specifically to applaud our amazing staff for how they apply thoughtfulness to their work every day. It’s one thing to put in a power point presentation or poster that your business values people, planet, and prosperity as a triple bottom line. But, living it out takes everyone looking for ways they can balance these choices in all the small decisions we make that add together to create greatness. Our staff ceaselessly questions, innovates, improves, and even revolutionizes our processes to make them better for our planet and our community. From improving our composting program, to bringing attention to package components that could be more sustainable, to using every useable bit of each fruit that comes through our kitchen, to finding and getting involved in a grain bag recycling program, to donating containers to a community garden program, and more. To work with thought and love every day of the year.

Maybe this really is a call to love, and to relationship. To being in a true relationship with the earth and with each other. Love and relationships sustain us, and they sustain action, and they sustain all the decisions. We need big actions, we need small actions, we need imperfect action we need sustained action. Just like in a relationship. It’s not all or nothing. It’s not hurtle along or get off. It’s creating a new rhythm. A world where ultimately people, planet, and profit are not seen as competing interests, but instead are always supporting and reinforcing each other’s needs.

Here are some of the things we do always:
-Zero-waste process
-Stretchy plastic recycling
-Closed water loop for to prevent process water waste
-Organic and local sourcing
-Choosing our packaging for recyclability and from manufacturers that use green processes
-Bottle return program
-Work with the St. Louis River Alliance and Friends of the Boundary Waters to protect and educate about water resources in our watershed

What will you do today? What will you do every day? The burden of action isn’t individual. But it also is. Both and, not either or.