Tag Archives: planet

Episode 50 Bob Berkebile

I’ve always found mentors a critical part to navigating the life journey. They provide rare insight, wisdom, and perspective. If you’re lost, they can help you regain your path. And if you want to make a big change, or take the risk, they often have encouraging and sage words. But finding outstanding mentors is a hard task.

I feel like our planet and certainly the U.S. right now needs a mentor. And maybe you do too. We’re losing the battle in many fronts and lost at sea in terms of politics and global warming runamuck. Hurricane Harvey and Irma punched us hard, taking life and life-sustaining that we take for granted for Houston, St. Martins, South Florida and beyond.

The now regular and increasingly powerful hurricanes are a BIG wakeup call for all of us, and not just those directly impacted. However, did we hear the CALL? And will we have the insight to change our standard practices that are causing harm? More than ever, time feels shorter.

In this week’s Regen360 iTunes podcast show, my dialog is with one of my favorite sustainability gurus and mentors, Bob Berkebile. We talk about rebuilding after Harvey and Irma and lessons learned from the dozen cities Bob has worked with to boost resilience by minimizing disasters and rebuilding. We also talk about deep issues like passion, purpose and legacy building. Bob Berkebile is a founding principal of BNIM Architects in Kansas City. He was the founding chairman of AIA’s Committee on the Environment [COTE], and is now an urban renewal developer reviving mixed-use communities.

Bob Berkebile is now in his fourth decade of work as a designer, developer and thought leader. He never seems to tire at innovation based on vision, spirit, and inspiration. In this special Regen360 interview Bob gives us needed clarity and hope!

To rebuilding with resiliency!

David Gottfried

Episode 40 Kate Williams

“Our Planet can’t wait. Climate change is an imminent threat, our food systems are increasingly stressed, and our lands, waters, and species are threatened like never before. If we don’t act now, the viability of our planet and our quality of life – to say nothing of the health of our economy – face an existential threat.”

I couldn’t have said it better, pulling these quotes off the website of 1% For the Planet, which was cofounded by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. The organization has built a fascinating and impactful network of donors and recipients for environmental contributions. They’ve raised an astounding $150 million and put the funds to great work across six strategic areas.

In this week’s Regen360 iTunes Podcast show we learn from my conversation with its CEO, Kate Williams, that the global community is falling far short of meeting our environmental challenges. It’s hard for us to know where to donate and 1% provides unique guidance and giving strategies for both corporations and individuals.

To protecting and improving the future!

David Gottfried
Host: Regen360 Podcast Show
Author: Explosion Green

PS: Each of us can contribute, even if we’re students or don’t have the resources for our own foundation. The key is to make an annual commitment and put the money to work with credible organizations. During our conversation, Kate Williams helps us learn more about the awesome facilitation 1% For the Planet is doing, the structure of their interesting network and guidance for how we can each step it up.

Episode 24 Hunter Lovins

I remember the first time I met Hunter Lovins. We were on a joint trip to China, invited by a group sponsored by the mayor of Shanghai. Our mission was to help brainstorm the future sustainability of a city that wanted to double in size in about ten years, adding the equivalent density of San Francisco.

On the morning of the first day we boarded a bus to tour the old city, where they’d started to tear down many of the historic structures for their growth on steroids. I looked over at a woman standing next to Amory Lovins, who I’d met before at a few early U.S. Green Building Council meetings at the renowned Rocky Mountain Institute, one of the foremost environmental NGO think tanks in the world, which Hunter cofounded.

She had on a large black cowboy hat, pointed red and black cowboy boots and a large thick oval metal belt buckle securing her thick brown leather belt around her dark blue jeans. Long braided brownish blonde hair hung down over a checkered pink and white flannel shirt. She looked fit and strong. Later I learned that Hunter was an active rodeo barrel racing champion.

During our intensive US/China brainstorms on how to mitigate the environmental impact of the massive development plans for Shanghai and decades later of good work and interactions, I’ve come to admire Hunter’s prolific mind and passion for nurturing business and capitalism to solve our ecological problems in a win-win.

In this week’s Regen360 iTunes podcast show, Hunter says, “It has become really apparent that there is a business case for sustainability. Activists used to think that it was simply a moral imperative that we would lose life as we know it on the planet, and that remains true, but what has changed… is that companies have realized that when you behave more responsibly to people and the planet, you make more money. Surprise!”

Hunter has an incredible background. She’s president of Natural Capitalism Solutions and has been a professor of sustainable business at several MBA programs. She’s an author of more than 14 books, global keynote speaker, and Hero of the Planet award winner by Time Magazine. Hunter was Rocky Mountain Institute’s CEO for strategy and has a law degree.

It’s my pleasure to invite you to listen in to our conversation as Hunter Lovins and I discuss the future of business and our planet in this week’s Regen360 iTunes podcast show.