[greenbuild] Introducing Todd Saddler
- From: Laurietodd@xxxxxxx
- To: greenbuild@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 11:23:25 EDT
Hi everyone,
THis is redundant for most of you, but there's always that DELETE key!
Laurietodd@xxxxxxx - (607) 269-0587 - 112 Utica St., Apt. 2, Ithaca, NY,
14850
My wife, Laurie, and I lived in Haiti for the last several years, working
with a non denominational christian organization called Beyond Borders that
does educational work. Part of this work was focused on the needs of
Haitians for liberating education, and part was focused on the needs of
people from the wealthy countries to understand the rest of the world and our
effect on it.
It is my understanding that the lifestyle most of us live in this country is
harmful to the environment, and contributes to the heavy burden on the backs
of the poor in Haiti and around the world. When we decided to move back to
the US, it was with the intention of finding a way to live so that we
wouldn't contribute to this burden.
We chose to live in Ithaca because it was close enough to Laurie's parents to
allow us to visit, and because there seems to be a significant minority of
people here who understand these issues and are willing to do something about
it.
Our goal is to create a sustainable lifestyle for ourselves, and I aspire to
earn my living in some way helping other people to live sustainably. The
built environment is one area that determines many aspects of our lifestyle
as sustainable or unsustainable, and at present the "market" offers few
sustainable options. I studied architecture (BA, Washington University,
'86), designed a nature center in my home town of Bristol, TN, and other
projects, so I think that green design would be a good way for me to fulfill
my vocation.
Based on my research so far it seems:
1) There are some green builders around Ithaca, but no specifically green
architects.
2) There is more interest in, or "demand for" sustainable building than there
is "supply" of green design and building services, materials and equipment.
So I think green design and building is a good thing waiting to happen. My
objective in instigating the open space event at ecovillage was to bring
together possible collaborators in a future enterprise. I think it worked
quite well, and I hope to do more and larger Open Space events in the future
to continue to expand the possibilities.
I prefer to work within participatory organizations, because it is my
experience that they can be more fun, more effective, and better at bringing
out the best in each participant.
Todd
Other related posts:
- » [greenbuild] Introducing Todd Saddler
