OUR GOAL

The goal of Sincerely Sustainable is to objectively review the benefits, and detriments, of any and all things in the marketplace touting eco-friendliness, ‘greenness’, sustainability and so on. With sustainability, and all things ‘green’, fast becoming a premium distinction for anything and everything in the marketplace, it is important for us as species, trying to mitigate our negative impact on the planet, to distinguish what is truly beneficial to the environment and what is in fact disingenuous marketing and misinformation by companies who merely wish to profit from what they see as current ‘eco-friendly’ trends (also known as ‘greenwashing’).

Like William McDonough says, “just because something is not-as-bad, doesn’t make it good.” So it’s important for people to know that what they choose to support with their money, time, and effort is indeed beneficial to the environment. Our aim is to cut through through this greenwash and get you, the reader, the necessary information you need to make informed decisions about who and what you choose to get behind and support. While each person has his or her own definition of what green is, for the purposes of this blog, we will focus mainly on energy consumption reduction, environmental impact, efficiency, ability to be reused, necessity, and practicality.

THE BIG PROBLEM

The biggest threat to our planet, and our species, is climate change. The main culprits of this climate change have been proven to be man-made in the form of greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for energy production and industrial scale farming of animals (cattle being the largest contributors of methane on the planet). Buildings alone account for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The closest thing we have to a silver bullet to mitigate climate change is to immediately reduce our energy consumption and the eliminate the polluting sources from which our energy is derived.

PART OF THE SOLUTION

We as humans are the only species on Earth who constantly and consistently pollute the habitat in which we live while at the same time consuming more resources than we return. While our relative intelligence and technology has allowed us to avoid some of the consequences associated with this behavior in the past, Mother Nature is finally surpassing our scope of control and is showing us what every other species on the planet instinctually already knows; how we interact and inhabit our surroundings determines how we survive in the future. Choosing to support people, products, and companies who are truly trying to facilitate a sustainable future, and taking the steps to achieve it, is one of a multitude of ways someone can help in the preservation of the environment in which we all live. Even if climate change and human-caused global warming were completely fictitious, wouldn’t clean air and water, renewable clean energy, and a sustainable economy all be things people would want anyway?  Sustainability and a symbiotic relationship with nature are not trends; they are how most organisms on the planet live…so why should we as a species behave any differently?

THE AUTHOR

With almost 8 years of experience in the sustainability field, The Author has developed, and has been instrumental in developing, some of the most energy  efficient and ‘green’ structures in the country. A LEED AP expert in the fields of renewable energy, carbon foot-printing, green building, energy efficiency and sustainable design, The Author  has an unwavering passion for the environment as well as the means and methods by which humans can achieve a more harmonious existence with it. The Author currently runs a sustainable design and consulting company which has several large corporations and developments as clients. Due to this fact, it is important that he remain anonymous within the format of Sincerely Sustainable as his views do not, or rather cannot, reflect as the views of his company. This blog was created to be a vehicle to express his views, while at the same time possibly better guiding readers through an exponentially growing, and unfortunately increasingly deceptive, green marketplace.