Green is Growing

This Down to Earth thing seems to be catching on. As you see, DTE is showing up more places and more often this summer and into the fall. You will find us at county fairs, at the annual Spokane River Cleanup, the Fall Everybody’s Bazaar at NorthTown Mall, among many other events, including Sustainable September (be sure to read the article in this issue). Baseball fans found us at every home game of the Spokane Indians this season. Working with Indians’ management, we made this year’s “K” card—waved by fans whenever an Indians’ pitcher strikes out an opposing batter—literally green. The previously red “K” is now printed in turf green on recycled card stock (minimum of 30 percent post-consumer waste). The cards are recycled at the Front Gate after every game. The Indians, by the way, have made “green” thinking a hallmark of their operations. Team officials established recycling bins for plastic and aluminum throughout Avista Stadium, and encourage carpooling or riding bikes to games to save energy and reduce hydrocarbon emissions. They even throw out the first pitch at 6:30 p.m. these days to reduce light usage and conserve energy. Now that’s “green thinking! Part of DTE’s mission is to alert readers to interesting developments elsewhere, even when somebody else gets the story first. Here is one you might be interested in if you have noticed that, in policy discussions, we citizens often allow our disagreements to separate us before we explore areas of agreement that can bring us together. We often take offense at the style of our opponents before we consider their substance. An April 19 piece in The New York Times magazine discussed the Sandpoint Transition Initiative, a project in the nearby Idaho city, which seems to have reversed those processes by first focusing on areas of common concern, looking beyond differences in personal style, accepting that universal consensus is elusive, and focusing on specific areas in which it can be reached. According to a STI leader quoted in the Times, the project aims to “meet our era’s threats with a spirit of ‘elation, rather than the guilt, anger and horror’ behind most environmental activism. ‘Change is inevitable,’ he told [the article’s author, Jon Mooallen], ‘but this is a change that could be fantastic.’ The project, which Spokane-area leaders are trying to replicate here – another story in our magazine –has an interesting mix of people watching it and working within it. Some advocates seem very touchy-feely, while others indicate a great discomfort with touchy-feely people. A local conservative political-party leader gave the project high marks for “bringing people into the process.” (For the complete article go to, “The End is Near! (Yay!)” at http:/www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/magazine/19town-t.html. I mention the article, not as endorsement of the project per se, but in appreciation of STI’s optimism, acceptance of change and focus on community self-reliance. These concepts also underlie DTE’s approach to community partnerships, editorial content and recognition of green initiatives by local organizations. I hope you will enjoy this latest edition of DTE magazine. If you have an idea for a story we should be following, please let us know or share it directly on our Web site. Go, green!