Transcript of Kelly's handwritten notes from Brandi Clark's fast-talking, stream-of-consciousness RISE session "Rising Up for Sustainability: New Trends in the Green Economy"

USA offers more sun, wind & tides than any other country but the challenge is storage; planes are the most carbon offensive so if it doesn't have to be there overnight, skip it; we are ALL connected and everything is integrated; when you throw something away, where is AWAY?; let's ditch lawns in favor of gardens; CSA = Community Supported Agriculture where you buy a subscription to a farm and all share the risk and the bounty; don't fight Mother Nature when it's perfect as it is; HelioVolt; vote with your dollars; commit to one car-free day a week (bus, van pool, car share); focus on restoration; clothing swap; Ray Anderson's floor company (Interface); "Natural Capitalism" (book), "Ishmael" (book), "Cradle to Cradle" (book), "The Next Industrial Revolution" (video), "The 11th Hour" (video); need more closed-loop cycles instead of the make-take-waste cycle; environmental justice points to all communities sharing problems/solutions; new trend of leasing products rather than owning (like carpet, Netflix); biomimicry takes cues from nature for solutions; socially responsible investing include positive streams (does good), negative streams (does bad) and engagement (introducing resolutions to company as share holders); the biggest difference you can make is with local/organic food; slowmoneyaustin.org; "The Economics of Happiness" (book) goes further than the Triple Bottom Line: financial returns, social returns & environmental returns; LEED originated in Austin; sustainable building sites reuse water and maintains life of the building; analyze initial costs vs. life-cycle costs; Google life-cycle costs to get the most recent info; Google "living building challenge"; bioneers.org; and a final reiteration to take design cues from nature.