Don't Eat Lunch Alone

On January 8th, 2010 at 12:30pm Eastern Standard Time, Generation Sustain, in collaboration with the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association, and The Donkey's Union, will host the first weekly, Don't Eat Lunch Alone - Freelancers' Lunch. Let's call it DELA.

The idea is to bring together freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, local to Shelburne Falls and the Pioneer Valley to eat lunch and see what happens. I know first hand that when it comes to running a business some of us are strong in some areas and weak in others. It's also quite usual that we get absorbed into our own worlds, so starting January 8th, each Friday, we'll be  providing a platform and loose structure to connect and discuss relevant topics.

For more information please get in touch. Specifics coming soon!

Building Homes, Building Hope

Building Homes, Building Hope...
(at Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity of course)

I am taking my new AmeriCorps VISTA position as the Community and Faith Relations
Coordinator at Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity to the Generation Sustain Venture Space! Thank you and welcome Habitat! Check out www.habitatspringfield.org or give us a call at 413-739-5503 for upcoming events and ways to get involved, build homes, change lives, and transform neighborhoods!

kehoe@habitatspringfield.org

All. Good. Things. Springfield.

Yes Shelburne Falls has it made but don't forget, things are moving and shaking down in Springfield, MA at our sister-incubator space, Gasoline Alley! Operating out of two abandoned auto garages, Rob Thomas and Joe Sibilia believe "business can be a tool for social change," and they are well on their way towards creating the greenest, most self sufficient, recycled, reused, and innovative space for events and local businesses. Check them out at www.gasolinealleyfoundation.org for more and to plug their monthly events into your calendar.

Tonight they are hosting authors Ed & Deb Shapiro, William Spear and Bernie Glassman as they discuss "Be The Change," a book written by Ed & Deb about the life changing power of meditation. Last month I was captured by their film showing of Frederick Marx's "Journey from Zanskar," a documentary on 2 monks and 17 children on their seemingly impossible and dangerous trek across the Himalayas towards school and futures dedicated to preserving the Tibetan Buddhist tradition (narrated by Richard Gere and prompted by His Holiness The Dalai Lama.)

...Food is growing outside and there is always beer on tap and popcorn popping...

New Shots of the Space in Shelburne Falls

Mckenzie Rollins who also wrote the article below took these photos of our space last Friday to prepare for our new website. Look for more posts by Mckenzie, but for now, enjoy these images from a cloudy November day.

All Things Alie Ward...

A peculiar child at birth, the mystery that is Alie Ward has followed her into adulthood. Ward is the leading lady of Curiology, an umbrella company that she established as a forum for her painting and custom tattoo shirts, and is based in Los Angeles. Ward also confides to me that she was in dire need of a company to front a Bolivian organ trade operation that she was running on the side. Originally, this was bringing her more monetary stability than the sale of her paintings, shirts, and writing gigs as the Events Editor at Metromix LA (which is now Brand-X). Mostly she explains, “it was stolen from prostitutes,” and Curiology was initially established to sideline the feds and hide the abundance of money that was suddenly in her hands. However, the organ trade has subsided, and Ward can now focus solely on the other aspects of her business

Ward uses a hefty amount of text in her art, so Curiology embodies not only its literal meaning of “writing with pictures,” but also perfectly defines Ward as an artist. She “approaches her paintings like a roadside sign or a billboard.” Her marriage of verbal and visual elements, specific or ambiguous, has become her own language. She communicates with ideas and has basically centered her world on writing and pictures. Oh, and I can’t forget to tell you about her extensive collection of insects. Yep, let me say that again, this lady collects the creepy crawlies. Her love of science and all things with multiple legs has long influenced her work. “I make so many anatomical illustrations in paintings, and I sometimes letter my text on my paintings (particularly the dichotomy series) like a scientist would a specimen.”

Ward is clearly a very busy little lady. How does one balance the production of art, customized shirts, and a full time gig keeping LA shamelessly aware of all things hot and new? Well, schedule your life in hour blocks. That’s what Alie Ward does. A self proclaimed total slob by nature; Ward steadily instills a “hyper anal challenge” upon herself.

“Because I have too many jobs on my plate, some things fall to the wayside (eyebrow plucking, vacuuming my car, calling my mom etc) which is why it took McKenzie, 2 weeks, 3 voicemails and 1 Facebook comment threatening a cowboy boot up and orifice to get this interview.”

But I hold no grudges as any time, in person or on the phone with Miss Ward, is well worth the wait. These sessions always result in spastic fits of laughter occasionally followed by the necessary use of a diaper, squeals of joy, and a rampant exchange of horror stories in all possible fashions of life. Thanks Alie Ward for your honesty, your humility, and your overall perfect adoration of all things dork.

*Side note: Alie has decided that if Curiology fails, and life in LA becomes too much, she and I will live in a loft while perfecting the genealogy of Unicorns, breeding them for our own whimsical magical adventures. Sounds good to me.

Check out Alie Ward’s paintings, custom shirts, and wildly humorous blog at,

www.curiology.com

Come On In!

Sustainability Across America Tour

On a quick note, we would like to throw our full support behind the organic clothing company SUST's latest project called Sustainability Across America. I'm looking forward to working with anyone and everyone involved with the project in the near future and more details regarding the project and our collaboration will be coming out shortly.

"Modern day journalist, Laura Jones, is at the helm of the 3-month road tour. The tour includes visits to many of the nation’s metropolitan areas as well as the most beautiful national parks and monuments. The Sustainability Across America tour is meant to encourage grassroots growth in the sustainability movement, as well as to gather and document perceptions about being green, sustainable, and organic."

Other partners include, cmarchuska, ecosalon, Guayaki Yerba Mate, Indigenous fair trade + organic, RESTORE® CLOTHING, and Ryann.

They have a pretty cool van too.

Happy 233rd US!!!!!!

"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." Benjamin Franklin


There is always a better way to do things. Back to work on the 6th. Have a great weekend GS!

New Friends: Left On Red

The New York based band Left On Red recently stopped by our space and wrote a very nice blog posting about us here. Kelly and Liah have a loft in the Financial District of Manhattan and are developing a similar space sharing project with sustainable goals. Check out there music and what they are all about at their site: www.leftonredmusic.com.

Our Girl Maya Graces the NY Times Dining & Wine Section!

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times


Maya Donelson, childhood friend now urban farmer in San Francisco is highlighted in a recent NY Times article focused on the growing movement of rooftop farming.

“I’ve never had one kid who hasn’t wanted to get his hands dirty,” said Ms. Donelson, who studied architecture and environmental design. “They are willing to try anything if they see it growing and pull it out of the ground. We juiced the purple carrots and the kids drank that.”

Keep those kids working Maya!!!

Next Generation Workstation - 5 State St

We're close to finalizing the design for our next generation workstations at our Venture Space at 5 State st. Shelburne Falls. The new spaces will be less expensive than our original Anchor Spaces and will come with full time access to the building. More soon, including photos!

Venture Space - Designed to Empower

The Generation Sustain Team is currently collaborating with artist and builder Justin Lively and Timberly Hund of TALK By Design to design and implement the second generation of workstation in our space. These new spaces will have a smaller footprint and will house one person comfortably. There has been strong demand for a smaller less expensive space, so we will deliver.

Call or Email Caleb Dean for further information or to schedule a tour of the space.

Post Your Event On GS!

We're looking for upcoming events to tell our readers about.

Art, Design, Fashion, Music, Business, Local or Global with a Sustainable, Responsible Twist.

Contact Caleb.

New Friends: SUST - An Organic Women's Clothing Company

SUST ad in the May 2009 Issue of Dwell.

My first reaction while I was reading through the latest issue of Dwell Magazine and came upon an ad for a clothing company called SUST was, good name! We've been calling ourselves Susty's since we first got started over a year ago and are always on the look out for long lost friends. Couple that with the fact that I also use arrows in my marketing materials for my consulting firm Be One Creative and my heart started to beat a bit faster. After digging a bit more to learn about the company, its product, and its founders I started to uncover some striking similarities about how our companies came to be.

As we are always researching ways to diversify our Venture Space, we recently began discussing the incorporation of retail to supplement our co-working office and conference space. We will be coming out with our own line of t-shirts during the summer but we are also researching a collection of the latest sustainable, ethical, and responsible clothing lines. This in mind I contacted SUST to get further information.


SUST, Spring 2009

SUST is based out of San Francisco and was started by two childhood friends named Tristan Gribbin and Marion McKee. Tristan and Marion went through high school and college together in Northern California, which has always been a vortex for fresh thought and progressive culture. After working on their own careers and projects they recently came together in order to harness their creative potential and to realize their dream of harnessing the fashion industry to promote a positive movement of environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

Generation Sustain has a similar story. We were started by two sets of childhood friends who grew up together, attended the same highschool and college, and came together to start a business based on the positive and inclusive communication of sustainability. Tory Hanna and myself studied Environmental Design and have been working on harnessing the influential power of the built environment to create positive social change. We've always agreed that if the buildings and landscapes that we walk through every day have the power to influence our collective behavior, so must what we walk around in, clothes. Ethical and sustainable fashion, marketing, and product development are what Alee Marsh and Jennifer Kehoe have begun working on. The pair will both be graduating this year from the University of Massachusetts and we're excited to see what they will work on when they have a lot more time on their hands.


www.getsust.com

SUST's collection is made entirely of US grown 100 percent organic cotton in San Francisco. By working with US based cotton growers, local California based manufacturers, and mainataining a close relationship with the production of their garments, SUST ensures that true "fair trade principles are woven in every step of the way." Portions of their proceeds are also given to support ecological causes.

Their Spring 2009 collection invokes a minimalist beauty that seems to be very much a part of their business ideals. Their bright colors and simple elegant fits are depicted well in the photos of the collection taken in Iceland by Tristan's Icelandic husband, photographer and director Stefan Arni. The collection reminds me of the form of design that has influenced me the most, Scandanavian Minimalism. That said, if I were a woman, I'd wear their clothing. The clean lines and quality materials highlighted by bright colors suggest a positive break in a cluttered dreary environment.

SUST, Spring 2009


An example of Scandinavian Minimalism I spent much time in and around.
Shot facing north next to the "Black Diamond" Library in Copenhagen, Denmark.

We are happy to have come across this exciting new business and are looking forward to somehow working with SUST in the future. Our similar paths to starting our ventures speak to a new paradigm for innovation and sustainability, one that has moved away from alarmist environmentalism and cause elitism and will hopefully harness the power to influence through accessibility and quality design.

More information about SUST and photographs of their spring line can be viewed at www.getsust.com.

Boswell's Books - Shelburne Falls, MA

If you're ever in western Massachusetts, make sure to swing by Boswell's Books in Shelburne Falls. The store / cat named Boswell were recently purchased by Sarah Pepper Fournier Scanlon in 2008. She has done a great job renovating and building her collection of volumes focused on sustainability, permaculture, and transition culture ranging anywhere from topics like edible forest gardens to classic urban theory.



We hope to be working closely with Sarah in the future to get some good things going in our community and region.

Sailboats and the Evolution of the Problem Solving Process

Will we as humans be able to more accurately forecast potential problems so we don't have to rediscover old technologies to increase efficiency? With the emergence of technological hybridization in pop and mainstream culture, will we develop a collective hybrid model for problem solving, invention, and work? My favorite example of this is putting a sail on a boat.


www.kitesail.com

Spawn of Generation Sustain

I'm proud to announce our newest official venture. Be One Creative was set up to provide fresh eyes and innovative vision to the planning, marketing, and development of the cities we live in, the businesses that allow us to flourish, and the causes that drive us. For more information check out the blog while the site is being built. We'll be working closely with our network and clients to ensure that meaningful, game changing projects get off the ground in an attempt to shift the paradigm from urban planning to urban implementation.

New Friends: TALK By Design

Generation Sustain is happy to be working in collaboration with Timberly Hund and Travis Kline of TALK By Design to research and possibly develop further locations for our Venture Spaces. More news on this front will be coming out in the following months.


TALK By Design office In Brattleboro, Vt.




Guest office at TALK By Design

Interior Shots of GSVS1

Mckenzie Rollins Checking out the view with a book in our lounge.


Our workstations were built by our first tenant, Justin Lively. Pine wrapped with canvas and finished with poplar. Neutral and cool.


Raechel digging in to a book next to Joie Watson of Shine Design's Desk.