April 23, 2008

Sustainable San Mateo County recently debuted a monthly round table discussion series to talk about the various issues of sustainability that face our region. Led by Tina King, SSMC’s outreach director, the brown bag lunch gathering was joined by, among others, representatives from Kaiser, Sustainable Silicon Valley, Cargill Salt in Redwood City and green building design expert Peter Wall, who will lead next month’s round table discussion on May 15 at noon. The discussion was lively and explored sustainability’s meaning, why it is “more than just being green,” and how to “translate it into practical action,” as said by one round table participant.

Many points were raised, such as the challenge of breaking the notion that economy and environment are contradictory concepts. Other obstacles to sustainability include NIMBYism (“Not in my backyard”), politics and lack of broad, holistic planning and thinking. Said one person, policy and government tend to “look at things through silos.”

The discussion parallels an additional barrier to sustainability: the saturation of the term itself and the twisting of its definition. Highlighted by a local op-ed columnist in the San Mateo Daily News, SSMC Executive Director Tyler Hammer cautioned that sustainability “has become the buzzword of the last several years. …A lot of people are using sustainability for their own agenda.” As a result, the term “greenwashing” has emerged to refer to manipulating the meaning as a marketing tool.

As noted in the round table discussion, SSMC’s foundation rests on the United Nation’s 1987 Brundtland Commission, which first defined sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This is one of the reasons the annual County Indicators Report includes data on all “3 E’s,” environment, social equity and economy. SSMC’s round table discussion takes place every third Thursday of the month except August and December at the SSMC office, 177 Bovet Rd., 6th floor, San Mateo. Everyone is invited. Check back with us to see who will be leading future discussions.