Sustain-NW Services

Sustain-NW offers a variety of services to assist your organization in becoming more sustainable.

• Sustainability 101 briefing
• Training, workshops and coaching
• Strategic planning and facilitation (sustainability-related or otherwise)
• Benchmarking and Carbon Footprinting

Sustainability 101 briefing

Whether you’re already committed to sustainability and need to bring others on board, or you have no idea how to go about getting started, a briefing is a great opportunity to begin the journey to sustainability. Depending on the time allotted (usually from one to three hours), I will present current issues and their relevance (e.g. global warming, peak oil, population and resource depletion), introduce concepts and the history of sustainable development, explain the ramifications of new stakeholders and provide practical steps with enthusiasm and candor.

Training and workshops

Taking the briefing to the next step, these interactive sessions are geared to the relevance of a specific audience, and usually run from two hours to a full day. If sustainable purchasing is your goal, emphasis is placed on looking at products, processes, manufacturing and life cycle analyses as they relate to the environment and the community. Detailed discussion is included regarding eco-labeling, establishing standards and criteria, specific contract language, and where to go for sources of information. If ‘greening your office’ is the task at hand, topics will include reduction of energy, water and waste, recycling and what it really means, healthier cleaning products and offsetting carbon emissions.

Strategic planning and facilitation

Embarking on the journey to sustainability requires a common vision and the establishment of clear goals and objectives, which are reached through healthy dialogue and consensus. I will facilitate a strategic planning session, sometimes termed an ‘eco-charette’, to allow everyone involved to ‘buy-in’ to the vision and thereby be motivated to succeed. The length of this process depends upon the size of the group and can run from one-half to two days and often involves looking forward to what a sustainable organization looks like in five to ten years and then ‘back-casting’ to determine the appropriate steps to get there.

I also facilitate general strategic planning sessions for organizations wishing to dust off (or determine) their vision/mission statements, establish and prioritize new goals, set timelines, and build some team spirit along the way.  I encourage having some fun in the process! 

Benchmarking & Carbon Footprinting

Once the vision and goals are established, it’s difficult to know where you’re headed if you don’t know where you are now, and this often starts with a Greenhouse Gas Inventory, also known as a Carbon Audit or Carbon Footprint. I can assist you in determining where you are on the sustainability continuum and in establishing eco-metrics to appropriately measure what really matters.

 

“At the end of the day, the role of business is to generate prosperity and a better quality of life for everyone… we should never operate at the expense of the earth or societies or future generations.”

 Ray Anderson, author 
Mid-Course Correction: 
Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: 
The Interface Model

 

 

FootNotes* 

*Information and suggestions for reducing our collective Eco-Footprint:

June 2008

Apr 2008

Mar 2008

Feb 2008

Dec 2007

Oct 2007

Sept 2007

June 2007

May 2007

Recent Clients and Comments

Participants in the Sustainability 101 class at Clark College's Mature Learning Program, Fall 2007:

"The class was very engaging. Jill is an outstanding teacher and communicator. She is the best I've experienced in my mature learning classes. Thank You!"

"Excellent organization and knowledge of subject!"

"Dynamite instructor!"

"I just wanted to forward a short note to thank you for a great Sustainability class [at Clark College]. I appreciate all the effort and detail that you incorporated into that class. I certainly am more aware of the issues and concerns related to sustainability.  I’ll apply that background and understanding to the things I do in the energy management and sustainability arena."

Marv Serhan, CEM, CSDP
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"Thank you for participating in the CPCU All Industry Day.  All the feedback I heard was positive and, in fact, I overheard several people talking about your seminar literally changing the way they will live their lives going forward." 

Linda Boyd, CPCU, ARM

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A program to educate real estate industry professionals on how to identify, value and market green homes.  The green building movement is both a driver of, and responsive to, the newly invigorated efforts within the US to address global climate change.

"Jill, Thank you so much for a truly sterling job."        Sean Penrith
Executive Director
Earth Advantage Inc.

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"Jill is a dynamic speaker.  Her presentation was informative, interactive and thought provoking."        

Climate Change: Who Turned Up the Heat?   Environmental Information Cooperative (EIC) Training for Educators - 5/8/07

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"Thank you so much for your presentation at the "Reading, Writing and Carbon Reductions" event [in April 2007].  Current conditions are very sobering, but you led us through to a sense of hope.  Urgency and hope."                         Sara DeHoff, Eclectrics™LLC

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 "Your passion, your enthusiasm and hope for change is radiant. Your pursuit of progressive, positive action is contagious and hope filled.  Thank you."                                                  Gayle, The Climate Project presentation attendee

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Presentations, Projects & Press

St. Mary's Academy Newsletter IMPRINT Spring 2008

Sughrue participated as a Panel member for Sustainable from the Ground Up: The Business of Sustainability symposium on 3/7/07 at the Vancouver Hilton.

Jill was profiled in the Portland Tribune's 3/13/07 Sustainable Life section

Jill participated in development of the Northwest Earth Institute's new discussion guide: GLOBAL WARMING: CHANGING CO₂URSE

Sughrue teaching sustainability principles to students at David Douglas High School