by Sanford Lewis

In 2011, Occupy Wall Street and its progeny captured the world’s imagination with its resistance to the growing corporate occupation of our political system. As many within the socially responsible investment (SRI) community rightly noted, the values of Occupy are aligned with many of the social and environmental justice goals that SRI has sought for years.

A catalyzing motivation of Occupy is a growing sense that corporations and their wealthiest leaders have become far more effective at harnessing the political system to do their bidding than the 99 percent. Recent legal developments (Citizens United vs. FEC) have unleashed the ability of corporate treasuries to participate in the electoral process, and thus to skew an already broken system further away from the needs of most of us.

January brings the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, and with it, growing grassroots momentum and pressure for a constitutional fix. Organizations including People for the American Way, Public Citizen, Move to Amend and Free Speech for People are escalating a grassroots campaign for a constitutional amendment.

Legal Challenges to Citizens United

I believe that in the coming year the SRI community will need to decide whether to Occupy Personhood, that is, should they stake out a position regarding the proposed constitutional amendments that would rectify the corporate dominance of our political and civic culture?

This is a very different approach from the predominant model of a disclosure-oriented campaign undertaken by the Center for Political Accountability. It requires a more fundamental consideration of the role of the SRI community as leaders in our civic discourse and consideration of an array of concerns that do not have to be pondered in a disclosure-only campaign.

Some of these amendments would simply amend the Constitution to eliminate the notion that money should be considered protected political speech . H.J.Res. 72, introduced on July 13, 2011 by Rep. Kurt Schrader, proposes a constitutional amendment affirming the power of Congress and the States to regulate contribution of funds to candidates and the expenditure of funds intended to influence the outcome of elections.

Others would redefine personhood so that a corporation should not be considered a person under the Bill of Rights, such as H.J.Res. 88, introduced on November 15, 2011 by Rep. Jim McGovern. That bill proposes an amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United v. FEC and to make clear that corporations are not people.

Still others would carve out an exception, preserving the constitutional rights of certain corporations, namely nonprofits and the press, while otherwise eliminating so-called personhood rights of for-profit corporations. S.J. Res. 33, introduced on December 8th by Rep. Bernie Sanders proposes an amendment to expressly exclude for-profit corporations from the rights given to natural persons by the Constitution of the United States, prohibit corporate spending in all elections, and affirm the authority of Congress and the States to regulate corporations and to set limits on election contributions and expenditures.

What Can SRI Do?

In considering the potential role of SRI firms in this growing movement to fix the underlying problems created by Citizens United, it will be essential to consider what SRI can bring to the table, as well as to parse and debate the implications of the various proposals for the work of SRI firms.

When it comes to the potential benefits of SRI participation, the value is clear.

Certainly, the constitutional amendment campaigns desire inclusion of allied business interests. Moreover, one of the things that SRI shareholders do well is to exert influence within the business community to recruit additional business support, and to discourage strident opposition.

In terms of the different proposals, consideration is needed regarding how they might affect the ability of SRI firms themselves to engage in their own speech that is so core to the firms' advocacy. It is also essential to consider how the various proposals may be treated by mainstream investing institutions, such as pension funds, and in the face of their evolving understanding of their fiduciary obligations.

But, in order to remain relevant as momentum builds, these issues seem fundamentally worthy of consideration. What is your fund or firm doing to address these issues and which of the constitutional amendment proposals do you favor?

Reprinted with permission from CSRwire

by Jeffrey Hollender

We know that the farmers market is becoming the new supermarket, and that for those who can afford it, ‘buying experiences’ trumps buying stuff.

Hillary Clinton is retiring and Elisabeth Warren looks like the new Hillary Clinton. Syria has become the new Libya, while local is replacing organic. Credit unions are slowly gaining traction over multinational banks at the same time that solar is gaining on wind.

Social entrepreneurship is the hot topic in business schools, and women have finally been recognized as more important in the boardroom than men.

These trends, however important, are often simply indicators of more important movements that seethe deeper below the surface.

While U.S. insurance losses in 2011 due to weather-related disasters will top records, this is just the beginning: Fukushima and Irene were a warm-up exercise for a planet that has gone from angry to totally pissed off.

Climate Change: Up; Turmoil: Way Up

In 2012, we will see Mother Earth take continued revenge at the tail end of an industrial revolution that failed to recognize the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Button down your supply chains and buy a generator, because 2012 will change – at long last – the way we in the U.S. think about and act on global climate change.

Activism: Up; Violence: Up

The activist emerged from her long sleep in 2011. Reemerging from a seemingly endless nap that began after the Vietnam War. Activism in the Western world will increasingly turn to violence in 2012.

The Almighty Stock Market: Up. Then Down; Then Up. And Down. And Up…

The stock market became wildly volatile in 2011: Up 300 points, down 400 points – day after day after day. Whiplash became a normative experience. In 2012, people will begin to sit on the sidelines as we lose confidence that anyone really understands, let alone predict, where markets are headed.

Unemployment & Poverty: Up

It doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, and those thinking about the stock market, Elisabeth Warren and global climate change are lucky compared to the 1.6 million homeless children in the United States.

Or, the 46.2 million Americans living below the official poverty line; the one out of every seven Americans who now rely on food stamps; and native-born African-Americans with less than a high school education for whom the U-6 unemployment rate is 42.2 percent.

Inequality in America today is worse than Egypt, Tunisia or Yemen.

What Will Matter in 2012

How does one weave together a perspective on the future out of the turmoil in the present?

The present is mostly what we make of it. What we choose to include in our frame of reference, and what we’re willing to include in our point of view. Most of us are highly selective. Our minds filter out the information and facts that do not support what we already believe. That, not surprisingly, leads to many self-fulfilling prophecies.

In 2012, only one thing really matters.

United we stand, divided we fall. We must see what we have in common rather than what divides us. What we agree upon rather than where we differ.

Together, anything is possible. And we can no longer afford to let that possibility elude us.

Reprinted with permission from CSRwire

by Elisa Niemtzow

2011 marks an exciting year in luxury goods. After years of being singled out for lackluster social and environmental performance, luxury brands are recognizing the benefits of going green, and are starting to talk about it. Backtrack four years ago to the release of WWF-UK’s analysis of the luxury goods industry, and things looked bleak. For example, Tiffany scored a D+, PPR a D, and L’Oreal a C+.

This year, Tiffany launched its well-received sustainability website, detailing the responsible business practices that have made it a sector leader. PPR unveiled the first complete annual environmental profit and loss account for its brand Puma, committing to extend the practice to all of its brands, including iconic luxury houses Gucci, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta by 2015. Finally, L’Oreal pleasantly surprised more than just one sustainability expert at its inaugural global stakeholder forums this year.

Like other business sectors, luxury brands still face a lion’s share of challenges. In September, the Ethical Consumer Research Association (ECRA) in the U.K. lambasted leading designer clothing companies in its special report Style Over Substance, at the height of the “killer” sandblasted jeans problem involving brands such as Armani and Dolce & Gabanna.

For sure, there’s a lot of work to be done.

However, in reading the ECRA report, many companies received criticism for lack of available information, and ECRA assumed the worst. Dig a little deeper and I’m convinced that better things are brewing beneath the surface. Secrecy, after all, is a hallmark of the industry, which protects its craftsmanship and its margins like a mother bird her eggs.

I used to manage wholesale at Chanel, one of the most coveted brands out there (and one of the most searched for names on the internet). Online videos will take you backstage at December’s Paris-Bombay runway show, but you’d be hard-pressed to find much corporate information on this very private company.

Because of their glamorous role front and center, we expect the best from luxury brands (and that creates a special risk for them if customer perception of good business doesn’t match reality). But, as luxury brands begin conversations around sustainability, they face the same challenges as their non-luxury counterparts.

How do you communicate on your sustainability journey, essentially a work in progress, without becoming a target for criticism or losing control of the dialogue? How does a corporate executive support sustainable consumption while meeting ever-increasing sales targets? How do you talk to customers about your green or social initiatives without detracting from key brand messages?

Since I don’t have the space here to discuss all these questions, I’ll focus on that last one, i.e., how do you talk to customers about your social initiatives without detracting from key brand messages?

The question of how to communicate on CSR themes to customers comes up frequently with my consulting clients these days. Fortunately, luxury brands have the potential to excel in this arena. They know how to create universes – whether that’s stores, fashion shows, websites or ads – which are on brand, make you dream, aspire, and ignite all your senses.

First, let’s start with a CSR-focused ad campaign gone a little wrong.

Italian leather and fashion house Ferragamo pioneered eco-luxe in 2007, with the launch of a small collection of bags made of natural, metal-free leather. This year, it launched the Ferragamo World collection, with 5 percent of proceeds going to the vanguard Acumen Fund. What a great partnership, but what a bad ad.

I fear the message “Ferragamo supports socially responsible initiatives,” doesn’t quite translate to fashion magazine readers. It’s classic and trite CSR-speak and worse for the fashion conscious, too sensible, therefore, boring (if readers even understand what the brand is referring to).

A lot like the loafer in the picture.

With sky-colored writing and plain Jane loafers, Ferragamo falls into a cliche green ghetto that probably won’t appeal to its customers.

So what does work?

A subtle mix of function and form: The function part is about getting the messaging right. What will your customers understand and associate with? Many times, you don’t even need a lot of words, as the right picture can be worth a thousand. Louis Vuitton’s campaigns featuring Edun founders Bono and Ali Hewson or Angelina Jolie make saving the world look adventurous and glamorous. Whether or not you quite agree, that resonates in a way boring and sensible doesn’t.

The form is about sticking to your brand’s DNA.

Customers are drawn to brands in part for the sensibilities, the values and the aesthetics they display. Whether you’re talking about sustainability or launching a new product, speaking the language of your brand ensures impact and coherency.

A new ad for the Seamaster watch by Swiss watchmaker Omega features stunning ocean photography and an engaging quote by astronaut Buzz Aldrin. It turns out Omega supports GoodPlanet and has created an initiative to focus on ocean preservation.

Good initiatives don’t necessarily make for a sustainable company. But many luxury brands are off to a good start. If they can make sustainability as sexy as a new pair of stilettos, then 2012 could be a memorable vintage.

Photo by texantiff23/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from CSRwire

by Marlon McDonald

A carbon footprint is an estimate that helps an individual or organization understand its impact on the environment over time. A carbon footprint is determined by taking stock of a person or organization’s greenhouse gas emissions and waste over the course of a lifetime. If you are looking to reduce your business’s negative impact on the environment, check out our top 5 suggestions for how you can make 2012 your greenest year yet!

1. Switch To Fair Trade

One of the easiest, and most delicious, ways to make a positive impact on the environment is through your food purchases. When it comes to the office, coffee, cream and sugar are the top food items to be found. Instead of purchasing your coffee grounds in bulk, switch your brew to a more eco-friendly option such as Fair Trade certified organic coffees and teas.

The Fair Trade food movement has been gaining steam with many retailers, especially those who sell coffee and teas. This social movement is devoted to helping developing countries maintain better trade standards and working conditions. The movement also has a strong focus on sustainable farming and shipping practices. If you don’t want to pay the higher premium for Fair Trade coffee blends, opt for coffee from a local or regional coffee distributor. Coffee products have one of the largest carbon footprints due to the distance it travels to go from farm to table. Buying local helps cut down on greenhouse gas emissions related to its distribution.

2. SIP Trunking

If you work in an office park, traveling between facilities can quickly result in increased fuel costs and vehicle mileage. Save money and reduce your business’s greenhouse gas emissions by opting for SIP trunking services. SIP trunking is the perfect solution for large or small businesses that have employees located at multiple sites or at home. SIP trunking seamlessly combines a company’s digital communications such as the Internet and teleconferencing with local and long distance phone services, which are delivered via one “master” connection that can be accessed remotely.

Allstream SIP Trunking services can help companies create sustainable communications and connectivity plans, which can save on costs and help improve a company’s bottom line. Allstrream SIP Trunking can help their clients finds collaborative software, remote access and Internet solutions that are customized for each client’s needs. In addition to saving money, SIP trunking will help facilitate group sharing, provide access to digital office materials while at home and allow for flexible meetings.

3. Install Low-Flow Toilets

When toilets get used on a regular basis, they tend to waste a great deal of water. This not only costs your business more money, but is bad for the environment as well. Low-flow toilets can help you to save on water, and are inexpensive to install.

4. Partner With Other Green Businesses

There’s no better way to make your business green than to support other green businesses. No matter what the industry, you can usually find a business to support that utilizes green practices. For example, consider hiring a green business to handle your recycling.

5. Upgrade to Eco-Friendly Fixtures

The bathroom is one of the first places to look to reduce your office’s impact on the environment. If your office still relies on paper towels, replace them with an eco-friendly hand dryer. Many feel that hand dryers are a more sanitary option. Plus, some hand dryer models only come on when needed and can save more energy in the long run.

Switching out your light bulbs for energy-efficient bulbs is another great way to brighten your workspace and alleviate energy costs. If you’re serious about reducing your energy costs and are looking for a more permanent solution, opt for installing occupancy sensors in your vending machines and overhead lights. These types of sensors will ensure these items only come on when needed. Business owners may also want to invest in sinks and hand dyers with motion sensors for similar reasons.

Reprinted with permission from Ecopreneurist

by Susan DeFreitas

As if being named the “Greenest Ballpark in America” (as per the U.S. Green Building Council) and earning LEED Silver certification for New Construction weren’t enough green cred, the Minnesota Twins and Target Field in Minneapolis-St. Paul has gone one better by earning LEED Silver certification in the Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EB: O&M) category, making it the first professional sports franchise to do so.

LEED EB: O&M was developed to help building owners measure operations, improvements and maintenance on a consistent scale, with the goal of maximizing operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts. The program has seen widespread success since it was first introduced in 2008, with green retrofits of existing buildings now outpacing certifications for new construction in terms of both numbers of projects and square footage certified for the first time in 2011.

The ballpark took its EB: O&M honors with a number of new green features, including a rainwater harvesting system installed by Minneapolis-based Pentair, which this year captured, purified and reused more than 686,360 gallons of rainwater. (The majority of the water captured went to wash down seating areas after games, but the plan is to use the recycled water to water and maintain the playing field in the future.) The ballpark also makes use of a unique waste-to-energy facility located adjacent to the field, which last year recycled 430.67 tons of waste from Target Field.

The ballpark uses 23 percent less electricity than a conventionally designed staduyn of similar size, and last year cut its energy consumption by just over 12 percent, despite having added a new videoboard. The Twins’ ballpark makes use of a comprehensive green cleaning program, reducing its use of chemical-based cleaning products by over 66 percent in 2011. The stadium and its concession partner, Delaware North Companies Sportservice, also donated more than 7,500 pounds of food to local charities during the 2011 season.

Reprinted with permission from EarthTechling

by Charis Michelsen

Well-known tire manufacturer Bridgestone announced their new prototype tire, claiming it requires no air at all. The prototype is also supposed to be greener to produce and recycle, and is on display at the Tokyo Motor Show this week.

The new prototype looks normal on the outside, but underneath the conventional wheel tread is a honeycomb of curved spokes. The spokes themselves are made of reusable and recyclable materials, allowing the tires to be recycled with little more difficulty than current traditional tires.

Bridgestone’s prototype has a number of safety considerations to recommend it, as well. As it doesn’t rely on air pressure, it should be more puncture-proof than traditional tires, and that same lack of air pressure eliminates the need to check tire pressure. Smaller rims also allegedly give the tire points in crash safety tests.

According to Bridgestone, they’ve developed the prototype with an eye towards mass production. Would you like to see zero-air tires on your car? Let us know in the comments, below.

Reprinted with permission from Gas 2.0

The top three banks that finance coal plants and thus are major contributors to climate change are:

- JP Morgan Chase: $22 billion.
- Citi: $18.27 billion
- Bank of America: $16.79 billion

They are followed by Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland. See the Top 20 list.

The top 20 coal financing banks are from the US, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, China, Italy and Japan. Since 2005, the 93 banks analyzed in a study have financed coal to the tune of $309 billion.

"Bankrolling Climate Change," released at the Climate Summit in Durban, South Africa, examines commercial bank lending practices in the coal industry. It was produced by several NGOs - urgewald (Germany), groundwork and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg (South Africa) and international network, BankTrack.

The organizations examined the portfolios of 93 of the world's leading banks, analyzing their support of 31 major coal-mining companies (representing 44 percent of global coal production) and 40 coal-fired electricity producers (which together own over 50 percent of global capacity).

"We chose to look into coal financing as coal-fired power plants are the biggest source of man-made CO2 emissions and the major culprit in the drama of climate change," explains Heffa Schuecking of urgewald. "In spite of the fact that climate change is already having severe impacts on the most vulnerable societies, there is an abundance of plans to build new coal-fired power plants. If banks provide money for these projects, they will wreck all attempts to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius," says Schuecking.

Coal plants are expensive, typically costing about $2 billion to build a 600 megawatt plant. They can't be built without financing and "Our figures clearly show that coal financing is on the rise," notes Tristen Taylor of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg. "Between 2005-2010, coal financing almost doubled.

Interestingly, almost all the banks in the top 20 have made far-reaching commitments to addressing climate change. They've adopted policies and signed onto voluntary industry initiatives like the "Equator Principles," "Carbon Principles," or "Climate Principles, but it turns out that's just rhetoric.

"The numbers show their money is not where their mouth is," says Yann Louvel of BankTrack.

Here's the report:

Website: www.banktrack.org/download/bankrolling_climate_change/climatekillerbanks_final_0.pdf

Photo by Joost J. Bakker/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com

by Chris Keenan

It’s a typical scenario: a college student rolls out of bed and goes to the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal on his way to class. He pulls the milk out of the refrigerator and notices that it expired two days ago.

After smelling it and determining that it doesn’t smell like it’s gone bad, he goes ahead and pours it into his corn flakes. Or a woman is busy making dinner for her in-laws when she realizes that her eggs expired last week. She throws them away promptly and has to purchase new eggs before she can finish cooking her meal. These things happen every day, and the way people react to the “best by” or “sell by” dates on packaging tends to change based on how they were brought up.

Some people throw the product out immediately when their date is past, but others are willing to keep food for days or even weeks after it’s expiration date. It turns out that none of these people are particularly correct. The confusion arises because a “sell by” date is not the same as a safety date – that is, the dates printed on food packaging aren’t actually about when the food is safe for human consumption.

They may be suggestions about when the food will be at “peak quality”, or recommendations to the grocery store regarding how long the product should be kept on the shelf. Eggs are a good example; they can be safely eaten for up to five weeks after they’ve been purchased, even if their expiration date passes during that time. It is probably due to this that expiration dates aren’t even required by federal law.

Grocery stores frequently throw out food once it has hit its expiration date – perhaps because customers don’t understand what the dates mean, and won’t buy a food that they essentially think will poison them. At the same time, that creates a huge amount of waste. In addition, consumers frequently throw away food that has not yet gone bad despite its sell by date. They also waste a significant amount of food this way.

Despite being widely misunderstood, “best by” and similar labels are frequently used. It could be due to manufacturers being overly cautious about their products, but it’s also part of a larger cultural phenomenon.

From garage doors to televisions, Americans would generally rather throw a product away than repair it, and it doesn’t seem to trouble them to do the same with their food – although it, too, can be expensive to replace. Ultimately, taking a more relaxed approach to sell by dates is less wasteful, less expensive, and just smarter all the way around.

Reprinted with permission from Ecopreneurist

by Marc Stoiber

This spring, Alabama was hit by terrifying tornadoes that ripped through centers like Birmingham. Then, the priority was about creating permanent shelter for the victims, but there is an incredible opportunity to do much more.

The focus of the conference was rebuilding using sustainable technology, creating better, more future-proof homes. An equally important focus should be on the opportunity to reinvent the region’s brand.

I would argue that all cities have brands. Some excite their audience (New York), some don’t (Cleveland). Fixing a less-than-ideal city brand is a daunting prospect. After all, you’re fighting status quo ideas and infrastructure that reinforces negative perceptions.

But a city that has endured a catastrophe has license to revamp its brand. Its residents are looking for a ‘reset’ button – they want to look forward to a better tomorrow. And if infrastructure has been destroyed, symbols of the old way can be replaced with symbols of the new.

That said, some key steps need to be taken to ensure the new brand is convincing, can grow, and has staying power.

Define your essence

Simon Sinek believes most corporations and people (and, I would venture, cities) have no trouble saying what they do, or how they do it. But very few can define why.

This is due to the way we process information: the part of our brain that defines rational thoughts like ‘what’ and ‘how’ also happens to control our language. The part that controls deeper, emotional concepts like ‘why’ isn’t wired for words. So we can easily verbalize rational thoughts, but are tongue-tied when someone asks us why we exist.

Successful brands like Apple have cracked this code. They’ve created legions of fans not just because they create cool devices but because they understand why they exist: to challenge the status quo (perfectly encapsulated in the ‘Mac vs PC’ commercials). And that why forms a bond with every tech user who doesn’t want to be perceived as a geek.

So the first lesson to any city that wants to build its brand is to begin with some serious soul-searching. Define your why.

Find your white space

Once you’ve defined your essence, you need to hold it up to a very critical filter. Can it claim its own white space?

White space is the space in your target’s psyche that is unoccupied by other brands. Find it, and your brand sticks. Don’t find it, and you’re quickly forgotten.

There are three key questions to ask yourself to assess whether you’ve struck white space gold:

1. Is your essence a natural fit? If you live in the frozen north, claiming to be a sunny paradise simply won’t wash. You aren’t being honest with yourself. Your essence needs to line up with an attribute that is true and recognized by your audience as true.
2. Is your essence important? You may be the silly putty capital of the world, but if your audience doesn’t care about silly putty, you’ll be preaching to empty pews. Your essence needs to line up with something your audience finds attractive.
3. Is your essence hard to copy or compete with? How many cities claim to be ‘friendly’? In your case, friendliness may be true, it may resonate with your audience – but it will never differentiate you from your competitors. If this seems obvious, check into how many cities in North America are claiming to be capitals of sustainability. If you don’t differentiate, you’ll become a ‘me-too’. And waste your branding money.

Futureproof your brand

Our world is going through unprecedented change. Climate change, technological change and cultural change. Is your brand resilient enough to thrive in this environment?

Although there are no guarantees, building the following five elements into your brand will give it a better than average chance of success.

1. Sustainability. Sustainability needs to be a strong undercurrent in everything you do. Not only because it draws the best and brightest potential residents or because it keeps punitive legislators away but because it makes financial sense. Sustainability is newspeak for infrastructure efficiency, and that saves money. Which city doesn’t want to save money?
2. Innovation. Innovation is one of the most used, and abused, words of the past three years. But no matter what you call it, fostering an environment for creativity and invention is a powerful tool for building a better city. It’s an incredible brand attribute to be known for.
3. Design. English no longer rules the world, and words aren’t the best way to communicate with a diverse audience. You need to incorporate strong design into your brand, to enable your audience to intuitively and instantly understand you.
4. Insight. Is your brand built on an insight with a ‘best before’ expiry date or an insight that’s perennial? On the surface, BMW’s iProject is about creating electric cars. But look deeper and you see they’re working to an entirely new insight: mobility. The company is investing in new, exciting ways for people to get around without cars, because they understand the future is about megacities, where public transport and hyperdensity will make cars an expensive novelty.
5. Social interaction. Don Draper, RIP. The new world of branding is about interactivity, meaningful dialogue with consumers and creating movements instead of campaigns. That means your brand needs to be able to listen as effectively as it speaks. And, more importantly, it needs to be able to turn feedback into action.

Define your brand. Or be defined.

Building a brand isn’t as simple as creating a logo. It takes commitment, courage and time. Ample reason to put it on the back burner while you address more pressing issues, like rebuilding your city.

But if you don’t define your brand, someone in your audience will. Chances are the perception they create about your city won’t be as flattering as you might like.

It’s your city. It’s your brand. Futureproof it.

Photo by Luz/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from CSRwire

By Dylan Linet

The Occupy encampments: What are they? Who are they? From national news to blogs across the internet, I have been seeing pictures of rows upon rows of tents lodged precariously in city parks.

So far, hundreds and often thousands have taken to the streets to voice their dissatisfaction with the current sociopolitical climate. These people are part of the more general “Occupy” movement, but surely there is not room for everyone in these tent cities across the country.

Earlier this week, I read that the tent city in St. Louis’s newly renamed “Freedom Square” had recently been evicted. This came along with news of the evictions in New York, Oakland, and other Occupy encampments. My first fear was: This is the end of the movement, it has been shut down! But, to my surprise, the marches and rallies went on unaffected. With that in mind, I set out to discover what role the occupy encampments serve for the movement and who is living in them. Armed only with rumors that the encampments were mostly the homeless and radical anarchists, I set out to put real people and faces in place of these vespers.

On a bright and chilly morning, I arrived in Nashville, TN, home of one of the more persistent and lasting occupy encampments. Nervous, I approached the information desk to ask if and where I could pitch a tent. As I walked, the people passing me smiled warmly and called out with the greeting “Hello brother!” At the information desk, a clearly intelligent young man passionately spoke a few words to the key causes of the Nashville movement and invited me to pitch a tent wherever I liked.

Heading to a quiet corner of the plaza I was struck by the diversity of age, race, and class I saw around me. As the rumors had indicated, there were many homeless, and ragged-looking youth, but there were also many others. That day, I talked with a civil rights lawyer, a young punk activist, a neurologist, a homeless individual, a local restaurant owner, a grad student, and a plumber.

That night, I attended the General Assembly, or GA as the occupiers call it. The GA is a meeting of all the encamped occupiers, the movement’s supporters, and friends of the movement. In Nashville, they meet every day to make proposals, work in small task forces, and share ideas. I was amazed at how respectful folks were of every individual’s right to speak and have their words respected. That evening I saw the words of the homeless inspire as much clapping and support as the words of the group’s elegant and well-dressed lawyer. It was truly a sight to behold.

Through my time in the Occupy Nashville encampment, I have begun to learn the purpose and personage of my temporary new home. The Encampments serve as a place where individuals from all walks of life can come together and meet, all on the same level. They are a think tank, and a mingling ground, in one. I have learned a lot from my fellow humans at the encampment and I look forward to continuing to do so.

If you have not yet been down to one of the occupy camps, I highly encourage you to do so. The best time to get a feel for what is going on is during the general assembly. Look up the time of the GA for your city’s local movement and drop in for a visit.

Reprinted with permission from Ecolocalizer