Part 4 – Down to Action
Ladies and gentlemen. It’s business time.
[Editor’s Note: Alright, here we are! This is the final, practical installment of this four-part, ABCD project plan on my quest to build the most sustainable balcony in Vancouver. So far, I’ve created a shared vision for the balcony with my wife, Michelle, established a baseline for the project, and brainstormed some compelling measures that will define the success of the balcony. As we know, all of this is meaningless without application. So let’s get down to action!]
Any project like this requires some short, medium and long-term goals. So, I just want to round-back to the vision for this project, which I established in the first blog post about Vancouver’s most sustainable balcony. Here it is:
It is a warm Fall evening. Michelle and I are sitting in patio chairs made from harvested pine-beetle-killed-wood (possibly crafted by General Andrew Frank) and sharing a bottle of Red Mountain syrah (brewed and bottled by The Fermented Grape). Some delicious local and happy chicken is cooking on the barbecue and it smells terrific (we got the recipe from Mike Worth, after all) – we will compost all organic scraps from our meal in the container near the barbecue. Our two Biggest Little Gardens in Town yield a modest bounty of lettuces, broccoli, tomatoes, and a few root vegetables. Pots of herbs, flowers and native plants are tastefully arranged around the balcony. And the brilliant Sunshine is nicely shaded by some privacy-producing cedar hedges. Our baby girl, Fog McSpadden, is sound asleep in her room. And we’re all smiles.
Now. How did we get here? Well, that is/was easy. Here is our very SMART-goal-oriented process.
SHORT TERM GOALS
By May 2011, The Most Sustainable Balcony Project will have…
- Experienced the renovation of the balconies at 288 E. 14th Avenue – how and when they are
renovated is beyond our control. - Engaged all stakeholders and created collective, shared buy-in regarding the project’s relation to the four sustainability principles.
- Seen the collaboration with Stewart Burgess to design a charrette of the space that perfectly balances the sparse vision of Michelle Horn and the “stuffed” or “clustered” vision of John Horn.
- Sourced all – and probably procured some – of the products outlined in Part 3 of this series, with keen attention paid to the human and environmental value in said products (ie. targeting the right seeds and building materials from the right people).
- Collaborate with Michelle and Geoff Horn to purchase and build the above materials from ethical and, ideally, local sources.
- Begun organizing, arranging and creating the testing or “beta” version of the balcony, which will be subject to ongoing feedback from our community.
- First gathering is hosted on the balcony.
MEDIUM TERM GOALS
By January 1, 2012, The Most Sustainable Balcony Project will have…
- Harvested balcony bounty that contributed to no fewer than 30 meals.
- Produced delicious, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly barbecued meals to the delight of no fewer than 25 guests.
- Been profiled in the Vancouver blogosphere as a DIY Green Living “best practice”.
- Contributed substantially to triple-bottom-line ROI: economic (growing our own food), environmental (low GHG emissions and composting organic waste), and social (contribute to well-being and Bornk! Household Happiness Index).
LONG TERM GOALS
By Fall 2015 – possibly the date in The Vision above – The Most Sustainable Balcony Project will have…
- Overcome a messy dispute with the Strata Council to successfully lobby to have two chickens
included in the Balcony Community. - Produced 30% of household food for the year.
- Published a book on sustainable urban/vertical living, which evolved from a series of blog posts, like this one!
- Hosted no fewer than 500 amazing dinner, game, birthday, business, academic, holiday, celebratory, and randomly-organic parties that have seen our guests leave smiling and with legendary stories of community-building on the tips of their tongues!
So there it is. Key players in the action plan will be, obviously, my lovely (and understanding) wife, Michelle, and I. Other folks will be crucial to the success of this project, too. They are, in no particular order, Geoff Horn, Ed Burtnyk, Janet Horn, Stewart Burgess, the Strata Council of Villa Sophia, the City of Vancouver, The Potentiality, the Tyee, the Vancouver Observer, Granville Online, General Andrew Frank, Julian Christians, the Lamrichs, and people that we haven’t even met yet.
Thanks to everyone for your feedback and ideas. Michelle and I look forward to working with you en route to making our Happy Balcony dreams come true!