Not that we were stale or standing still . . . Now We’re Updated, Refocused and Refreshed!

Your might say we’ve gone back to our roots, literally. Thumbprint Endeavors LLC is branching out while doubling back to capitalize on our strengths and interests in the environment and education.  We’re by no means moving away from sustainability and Green Building consulting, its just that by addressing the needs of the educational arena, like effective classrooms and engaging school sites, we can do even more to promote healthy green environments.  We are also moving into more projects related to design of outdoor settings like gardens and natural areas.

One recent example is a community service project with East End Community Center and Ruskin School in Dayton.  This nearly 1000 sq. foot garden was made possible with donations and grant monies for plant materials and installation of a water pump.

Linda designed a Learning Garden site plan for this empty city lot, selecting appropriate hardy plant materials (over 115 in all – trees, bushes, perennials and bulbs) to give the site year-round interest in all directions.  Extensive site prep, planting and laying out four raised beds for vegetables and wheelchair accessible walkways took several weeks.

To their credit, our group of hardy volunteers hung in there, encountering at least a million rocks of varying shapes and sizes and with days of rain and even more rain! Before and after pictures are already stunning and next year will be even better. Linda is really looking forward to working with the Ruskin teachers to help them learn about the garden and how to best utilize this space to educate K-8 students about growing plants and healthy foods.

She has also been working with a team to begin the process of converting the WSU Campus Community Garden and nearby areas into a large Pollinator Garden, hopefully complete one day with beehives.  The goal is to plant particularly delectable perennials to attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators while providing a colorful natural oasis on campus.

Extending the Circle, Moving Forward

Given Linda’s environmental science expertise, love of plants and gardening and knowledge of construction, this expansion was anticipated by those who know her. Her extensive background and experience allows Linda to consult both inside buildings and out. 

This year Linda has been happy to serve on the Advisory Committee for the 4th Annual Dayton Food Summit which will convene on Friday November 7th -- Be sure to register!  In addition to Local Food-related projects and developing community gardening projects, she has been involved with creating nature trails, outdoor play areas, and “Safe Routes to School and Play” initiatives so parents, teachers, and children can be more active and healthier. 

At Thumbprint Endeavors, we continue to find ways to reach out and extend all of our fingers to grasp Sustainability, particularly focusing on healthy communities, neighborhood development and schools.  

Environmental and Educational Consulting

Two Hats on One Head

We all wear many hats these days but in this case, it makes perfect sense. Thumbprint Endeavors, which started out as Educational Consulting firm in 1993, is returning to its roots -- Environmental and Educational Consulting. During my 30+ years in education, I have employed a wide range of active teaching and learning methodologies including field trips, hands-on activities, inquiry, project-based learning and recently, I've explored the innovative “flipped classroom” approach. Students have changed and so must the pedagogy we use in order to create the successful life-long learners for this rapidly changing world.

Not only have I acquired depth and breadth over time and in many locations, I also have gained extensive knowledge of educational facilities. For three years prior to graduate school, I worked for Dodge Reports in Cincinnati.  Talk about an education! McGraw Hill made sure that all of their Construction News Reporters had extensive training prior to hitting the streets to compile information for the Dodge Reports.  Then there was the continuing on-the-job training that took place as I talked everyday with architects, engineers, planners, and project managers on construction sites. Add that to acting as my own GC on a couple of new houses and several major renovation projects.

Then more recently serving as Project Liaison for the New Classroom Building at Wright State. Again working with architects and engineers through all phases of plan development, gathering information from campus users, meeting with instructional and technology consultants, right up to and including weekly construction progress meetings in the site trailer. More OTJ training and I love it.  Of course, the icing on the cake for me is that the building will be LEED certified, what level is yet to be determine but we are hoping for Gold.

So, I think you'll agree that it is very appropriate that I wear both my Education hat and my Environmental hat to tap into my wealth of knowledge to benefit students and teachers, on all levels. My mission with consulting with clients in the areas of Education and Educational Environments is to utilize my expertise to create optimal learning facilities that are Green, healthy facilities coupled with Best Practices in teaching and learning.

Give me a call or send an me email so we can get started!  Thanks.  

Branching Out

Sometimes taking a new direction is a really good thing.  I recently attended my third Writer’s Workshop because I want to create an outlet for the many pieces of writing that I’ve produced over the years.  I also did a presentation last Saturday at the 47^th annual Environmental Education Council of Ohio conference. These two things are related because while thinking about my topic of what motivates environmental educators and sustainability folks, I had to do some self-reflection as well.  We often go through our busy day-to-day lives with little time or energy to pause and reflect on the question of why? And by the same token, what keeps us passionate about our work? 

Of course, I’ve written several research articles over the years, (publish or perish in academia) and the last couple of articles in the Journal of Sustainability Education have been on a topic near and dear to my heart, getting children outside to explore and play in nature.  The hope of course is in doing that, their parents will also learn to appreciate and value nature and help to preserve natural spaces.  In researching 300+ responses from adults, the drastic contrast of how they spent their playtime as children is sadly different from the so-called play of today’s kids. 

So, in addition to my consulting and sustainability work, I want to write.  I want to write stories to encourage outdoor play. I want to write books, particularly fiction, with underlying sustainability and conservation themes woven in with characters that are healthy, emotionally and physically and truly connected and engaged in their real-world community, not merely in an electronic social media realm.

With this new adventure, I know I will need help and support as I learn the ropes.  In the workshops I’ve attended, they emphasize that finding an agent and getting published is very, very difficult.  I have to believe that where there is a will, there is a way.  So, please, send names and contact information if you have anyone in the world of publishing.  Many Thanks and Go Green!  We ALL thank you.  

No New News Now

Not a whole lot of new News from Thumbprint Endeavors right now.  It seems that Barret in Denver is having the best winter and that Paul in Madison and Linda in Dayton, well, we are getting the Arctic blasts and the mounding snows. Spring, come on, enough with Winter!

How the gibberish got into the last post and it is a mystery how to remove so I'm reposting the information that did not make it there.

Barret has also been very busy in Denver.  It has been a year now that he started working as Development Executive with International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology, better known as iCAST (www.icastusa.org).  He is also working with the other side of the iCast enterprise, Resource Smart (www.resourcesmart.org). In this new position, Barret is pursuing the career that he is passionate about — helping and educating people about energy conservation and Greening the built-environment.

Paul is now an Architect Intern in Madison WI with ARO Eberle Architects.  He and his wife relocated there over the summer from Toronto (following his 2012 graduation from University of Washington with his M.Arch).  Among other projects, Paul’s primary responsibilities are assessment of science and lab facilities at the University of Milwaukee.

Linda attended GreenBuild 2013 in Philadelphia in November and once again, had a very enjoyable learning experience. Many great presentations, including one very memorable “grow healthy food where you live” talk by Ron Finley, the LA Green Guerilla.  Another highlight this fall was organizing and participation for a very successful USGBC Green Apples, Green Schools Community Service Day.  She’s been incredibly busy during the warm-weather months with the Campus Community Gardens and Gardening Outreach.  Now the last of the vegetables have been harvested and the beds have been put to bed for the winter.  In addition to teaching and her role as Associate Director of the Office of Sustainability responsibilities, she continues to learn more about design and construction in her role as Project Liaison for the New Classroom Building on WSU campus, which this winter is in the foundation stage.  

We are all busy, mostly with our full time careers which means our team is more loosely affiliated than in the past but interestingly, we all continue to work in various shades of Green in the world of design and construction of the built environment.  Whether it is in our day-to-day positions, we continue our efforts to help people and organizations to make their day-to-day operations more sustainable. 

Take Care and Always Think, then Act in Sustainable Ways -- It’s in the best interest for all of us!

2013 Thumbprint Endeavors Wrap-up

Has it really been since early 2013 since we’ve posted an update on the news from the Thumbprint Endeavors team?  Wow, how time flies when you are busy, busy, busy!

Linda attended GreenBuild 2013 in Philadelphia earlier this month and once again, had a very enjoyable learning experience. Many great presentations, including one very memorable “grow healthy food where you live” talk by Ron Finley, the LA Green Guerilla.  Another highlight this fall was organizing and participation for a very successful USGBC Green Apples, Green Schools Community Service Day.  She’s been incredibly busy during the warm-weather months with the Campus Community Gardens and Gardening Outreach.  Now the last of the vegetables have been harvested and the beds have been put to bed for the winter.  In addition to teaching and Associate Director of the Office of Sustainability responsibilities, Linda continues to learn more about design and construction in her role as Project Liaison for the New Classroom Building on WSU campus, which is now in the foundation stage.  

Barret has also been very busy in Denver.  It has been a year now that he started working as Development Executive with International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology, better known as iCAST (www.icastusa.org).  He is also working with the other side of the iCast enterprise, Resource Smart (www.resourcesmart.org). In this new position, Barret is pursuing the career that he is passionate about — helping and educating people about energy conservation and Greening the built-environment.

Paul is now an Architect Intern in Madison WI with ARO Eberle Architects.  He and his wife relocated there over the summer from Toronto (following his 2012 graduation from University of Washington with his M.Arch).  Among other projects, Paul’s primary responsibilities are assessment of science and lab facilities at the University of Milwaukee.

That’s the latest Thumbprint Endeavors LLC news on this nearly last day of November 2013.  We are all busy, mostly with our full time careers which means our team is more loosely affiliated than in the past but interestingly, we all continue to work in various shades of Green in the world of design and construction of the built environment.  Whether it is in our day-to-day positions, we continue our efforts to help people and organizations to make their day-to-day operations more sustainable. 

Take Care and Always Think, then Act in Sustainable Ways -- It’s in the best interest for all of us!

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Long Overdue Updates!

Has it really been since July that I took the time to put some news together about what the Thumbprint Endeavors team is doing lately?  Wow, how time flies when you are busy, busy, busy.

Linda was incredibly busy last summer with the Campus Community Gardens and Gardening Outreach.  Then with the start of Fall Semester, in addition to teaching and Associate Director of the Office of Sustainability, she has was elected to several new roles: Chair, University Building and Grounds Committee; Faculty Senate Representative for CEHS, and University Executive Committee; and Chair, Sustainability Committee, Southern Ohio Consortium for Higher Education (SOCHE).  In addition, she was appointed to the newly created role as the Building Liaison for the New Classroom Building.  So, much of her time has been devoted to organizing, conducting and reporting back from many, many meetings related to buildings on campus.  Last November, Linda attended GreenBuild 2012 in San Francisco CA.

Barret has also been very busy in Denver.  He is now Development Executive with International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology, better known as iCAST (www.icastusa.org).  He is also working with the other side of the enterprise, Resource Smart (www.resourcesmart.org). In this new position, Barret can pursue the career that he is passionate about — helping and educating people about energy conservation and Greening the built-environment.

Paul will be working soon as a Junior Architect Intern in Toronto.  He and his wife relocated there last year after his graduation from Washington State University with his Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) degree. 

So, that’s the news.  Our team is more loosely affiliated than in the past but interestingly, we all continue to work in various shades of Green in the world of design and construction of the built environment, while we also strive to help people and organizations to make their day-to-day operations more sustainable. 

That’s the latest with Thumbprint Endeavors LLC.  Take Care and Think, Act Green.  It is in the best interest for all of us!

Food for Thought on this Independence Day — July 4, 2012

The U. S. celebrates its Independence each year on July 4^th with picnics, fireworks, baseball games and all of the other great summertime fun that we enjoy.  One thought occurs to me with tomorrow being the 4^th, in 2012 — what does American Independence mean?  I can share what it means to me.  I am a Very Patriotic person.  Growing up with my dad, was a WWII veteran and policeman, I knew to stand at stone-still attention during the playing of the National Anthem.  I’ve lived on military installations and seen the faces of new recruits and veteran servicemen.  My children were military brats in their growing up years.  So, when I/we hear the word independence what comes to mind are images of the destruction of war, the costs of protecting our country and our corporate interests around the Earth.  Also thoughts of the costs in terms of human sacrifice as well.

For these reasons, when I think of Independence, I think of gaining our freedom from our present addiction to oil.  The U.S. economy is based on petroleum, from the backbone to much of the flesh of our day-to-day lives is derived from oil and petroleum products.  Everything we do is based somehow, linked somehow to oil.  Think about it — agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, commerce, you name it — directly connected to oil.  With that, let’s talk about true freedom and independence.  A “what if” scenario . . . what if we put as much brain-power and human capital into conserving energy resources as say the Super Bowl?  What if we said we’ll no longer put our troops in harm’s way to protect oil production on foreign soil?  What if that amount of money and human energy were focused on finding smart ways to conserve, learn about, improve and implement renewable energy?  What if we sought to preserve the water we drink, the air we breathe and our health overall by saying — No more drilling, no fracking, no oil rigs polluting our oceans, no tankers leaking oil — what if we harvested solar energy from the sun that shines everyday on the U.S.?  What if we developed even more efficient innovative turbine technologies to capture wind and water energy from the flow of air and water?  What if we used geothermal energy where solar or wind isn’t as practical? What if we don’t yet know what renewable energy possibilities are out there?  All we Americans have to do is think of the inventions, technology and innovations that came from our ventures into space flight to get a glimpse of the possibilities.  Have we lost our American will to find a better way?

Wouldn’t that be true independence for the U.S.?  We’d not only free our military from protecting the oil supply (and the oil companies’ profiteering interests) but we would also gain our independence from paying oil and gas companies governmental subsidies (your taxes at work, not paid out to help people but hugely profitable megacorporations).  We’d also be free from our dependence of oil and gasoline.  No more watching the prices go up at the whim of, well, we aren’t exactly sure, but somehow the prices go up and people are held hostage at the pump, then when folks drive less, the prices magically go back down some. Have we become so compliant and complacent in America that we just accept what the large oil corporations dictate to us with slick advertising and lobbyists in D. C.?

Here we are a nation of innovators and entrepreneurs but we are allowing the Chinese to eat our renewable energy lunch.  As two military strategists Marine Col. Mark Mykleby, and Navy Capt. Wayne Porter pointed out in 2011 (A National Strategic Narrative), do we want to put our national security in jeopardy or would it be prudent to think sustainably in terms of our energy policies? 

The U.S. has the manufacturing capacity and workers, the innovative spirit and the know-how, what is keeping us from moving forward when it is in our best interest?  Are the subsidies money better paid out to corporations in oil, timber and sugar industries? Do we really want to provide subsidies for clean-cutting, denuding our forests so logs can be shipped to Japan?  For sweeteners and sugars that are causing a diabetes epidemic?  Or oil and gas production and burning that fouls our air and water?   Asking and answering tough questions like these and more are crucial to U.S. independence.

Weaning ourselves off of our dependence on fossil fuels and investing instead in energy to fuel the future seems to represent genuine U.S. Independence.  We’d each have control over the amount and the type of energy we use.  Perhaps a community comes together to develop its own small-scale renewable energy production where the people in the community would have a voice and local control over the energy they use.  Somehow we have lost our Energy Will and it is time to claim it once again. The U.S. has always been a country of fiercely independent mavericks but have we been lulled to sleep by the drone of our many motors and ever-present TV screens? Can we be strong-willed once again? Can we stand strong and say “No” to growing energy dependence and “Yes!” to a smart energy grid, conservation and innovations.  That we can wave the beautiful Red, White and Blue proudly, energy independently, and proudly say “We Are Free!”