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It all started in 2005. After a long and successful career in marketing, I had started feeling a strong drive to do more to give back. I had no idea what that meant, but the more I spoke to my teenagers about their futures, the more I realized that 1) they were seriously worried about the world they would inherit, and 2) I had been doing very little to help!

I had grown up in the Midwest, in a time when you dumped your extra house paint into the storm sewer, used DDT to kill bugs, and when "eating healthy" meant steak, potatoes and enriched bread. Now, years later, I knew I wanted to be more responsible for the benefit of my kids, the planet and other people. I also knew I wanted to become more health-focused and eat better. But the big question was, where to start with all of this?

I wanted a balanced take on what it meant to be sustainable. I started by doing Internet searches for both websites and organizations that could help me learn more. Back then, there weren’t a lot of websites where one could learn how to be "green." A couple caught my eye: Grist.org and Treehugger.com. They exposed me to the fact that I wasn’t the only one wanting to give back. Others, it seemed, were on a similar path.

I wasn’t alone

I found a magazine, Sustainable Industries, that taught me more about this groundswell of interest. I also found that a number of people were meeting in my city to discuss topics like renewable energy, peak oil and environmental meetups were taking place every month in the area. Some of these groups were giving tours. My first trip was a boat tour of an EPA superfund site: a river that had been badly abused by industrial polluters and was now being restored. I got to tour an underground hydroelectric plant, and go inside a massive wind turbine. At the wind farm, I was blown away (no pun intended) when I realized that all of these massive blades whirring above my head were generating enough electricity to power 85,000 homes!

I also began watching films that I never would have chosen in the past. One in particular, Flow, taught me a lot about our water, where it comes from, and the issues surrounding its privatization.

I started down this path, clueless about sustainability but eager to learn. I found many others in the same boat with the same interest. Four years later, I’ve learned enough to know that this is not something that is "fringe" - it is absolutely essential to my kids’ futures. All our kids’ futures.

From wind farms to websites

This story includes my disclaimer. In 2006, I got introduced to the folks at egg, a Seattle branding agency specializing in helping socially-responsible companies. I was elated to find other marketing professionals who like me who had earlier come to the similar conclusion of wanting to give back. That year, I also started seeking out organic products to improve my health, and began buying Nature’s Path granola cereals. Two years later, egg began working with Nature’s Path as their ad agency. At that time, I was fortunate to begin working with both companies to help them rebuild the Nature’s Path website.

The moral of the story

My interest in 2005 in becoming more sustainable and doing more to give back eventually helped lead to the website you are reading today. I hope this site will encourage you to continue down your own path of learning, growing and giving back.