Matthew Savage's Blog

I have just started working for a great organzation called The Quality of Life Foundation with my good friend, Lee Hwang. The Quality of Life Foundation is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit startup that seeks to engage volunteers to plant trees in public spaces in order to build stronger and healthier individuals, communities, and ecosystems. The foundation’s mission is to build a mindful and compassionate community that values and protects the planet’s natural ecosystems in service to humanity and all life on Earth.

Sound good?

We believe that there has been a spiritual underpinning to most great grassroots social movements. For example, Gandhi’s movement had a spiritual underpinning as did the Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights movement. The environmental movement has gained a huge amount of traction on a global scale in the last 5-10 years but much of this has been inspired by talks of gloom and doom. Fear and disaster have been motivations ahead of joy and abundance. Our foundation hopes to use the joy of tree planting as a way to build community and bring people back to themselves and closer to their loved ones.

Our main goal right now is to focus on a scale-able model that can be replicated and eventually spread to other cities, and eventually internationally. But we are very focused on making it work here in beautiful San Francisco first. Currently, we have our sights set on schools and open public spaces in or near urban areas where tree-planting is needed and can bring joy and meaning to young and old alike. We hope that both spiritual communities and schools are ripe for what we hope to facilitate.

If you would like to join the mailing list to find out about future tree planting events, please email me at matt at qualityoflifefoundation.org.

You can read more about the foundation at http://www.qualityoflifefoundation.org and read a recent interview with Lee Hwang, executive director.

I am excited to be covering this event for TriplePundit.com.  I am hoping to cover bigger trends surrounding lifecycle analysis, supply chain and water scarcity/quality. Please contact me if you have any ideas for juicy stories!

“Socialism collapsed because it did not allow prices to tell the economic truth. Capitalism may collapse because it does not allow prices to tell the ecological truth.”

— Oystein Dahle, retired VP of Esso Norway

1. Give your sprinkler time off. Most lawns and gardens get 20-50 percent more water than they really need. You can cut watering times 2 to 5 minutes for every 10 minutes you water and still have a healthy landscape.
2. Water while you sleep. Water only in the early morning or at night when evaporation is at its lowest.
3. Water wetter. Install a “smart” controller, available at an irrigation supply house. This device automatically tells your irrigation system how much to water.
4. If it’s broke, fix it. Check for leaks, pipe breaks or clogged sprinklers and replace or repair if necessary.
5. Replace outdated, inefficient irrigation equipment. Save money through your local landscaping rebate program, if applicable.
6. Shower shorter. Install a water-efficient showerhead that uses 2.5 gallons/minute or less.
7. No drip policy. Because they’re “on” 24/7, leaky faucets, toilets, and showerheads can waste a lot of water.
8. Flush with pride. Check with your municipality for local rebates to install qualified 1.2 gallons-per-flush toilets.
9. Keep it clean & Get green. Use the energy-saving cycle when washing clothes. Use cold water. Rebates are available when you buy a high-efficiency washer.
10. Fill ‘er up. Run your dishwasher on the energy-saving cycle and only run full loads.

Check out H20 Conserve for tons of tips and tricks for saving water as well as calculating you water footprint.

acumenfund.org

The late Richard E. Smalley, considered one of the early fathers of nanotechnology, founded the appropriately-named Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology in the heart of Houston at acclaimed Rice University, which is now a global leader in advanced energy and nanotech research.

Before his death in 2005 at age 62, Smalley and his team came up with a list of the 10 greatest challenges facing humanity:

1. Water
2. Energy
   
3. Food
4. Environment
5. Poverty
6. Terrorism and War
7. Disease
8. Education
9. Democracy
10. Population Growth

From The Clean Tech Revolution by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder.