Zero Waste - part one

One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.
    Henry David Thoreau, poet, writer, philosopher 

Hey people, I'm happy to see that my list of followers have not only not gone away but is continuing to grow.  The enclosed photos are somewhat of an explanation of my two month absence from blogging.  As a member/volunteer for the Valley Green Building Task Force I executed my first fundraiser.

This was truly a collaborative effort because this organization is made up of passionate volunteers in the southern California green and sustainable profession. Realtors, architects, designers, instructors, parents, community residents make up the interesting blend of members who all volunteer their time and resources to make up this wonderful organization.  I've been learning titles and credits behind individual names like LEED AP and AIA.  Both must be specifically educated on green building practices an must reflect the ability to specialize in a particular rating system.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  AIA is the American Institute of Architects.  Like in any other licensed profession anyone who holds both sets of letters behind their name has a concentration on continuing education.

This event was threefold in nature therefore an ambitious undertaking.  It was a book launch, green business networking breakout session discussion and Gulf of Mexico relief effort all in one night.  Usually these types of events are considered three separate events.  It takes plenty of work to just organize a book launch for an author.  It is a lot of work to organize a networking event. And it is monumentally difficult to organize a fundraiser for one particular cause.  For those of you who have worked on any of those types of projects individually knows the difficulties about which I speak.  Please pause to imagine combining three themes in one event.  Compound the task with various personalities who have valid resumes, careers, families and significant experience planning and participating in events on various levels.  Suffice it to say NOT ALWAYS EASY to work with others.

Regardless of the phone calls, gas and mileage and tapping into established relationships as well as creating new relationships from cold calls and not getting paid for any of this time, effort, experience nor getting reimbursed for anything I enjoyed the evening.  Most importantly, we raised money.  After tabulating entry fees, exhibit fees and generous donations the amount was slightly over $5,000.  

I think that is the point of volunteering to gain satisfaction from tithing your time to help someone else in some small way.  Another point of volunteering is to enjoy diversity on all levels: culturally, ethnically and  professionally.  Our vast experiences, genders, and ideas culminated in a successful execution of efforts.

Volunteers aren't paid, not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.
Anonymous

It's true that a part of my brain was stating that I am insane to put in this type of effort for free.  And then the other part of my brain kicked in stating that "All blessings come from the relationships that you develop."  While I've been behaving like a wealthy woman [over these past few months] who has nothing to do with her time other than volunteer, I know that most successful ventures were created from the clear blue sky.  I decided to open my own event planning firm with a concentration on zero waste and sustainable education.  I'll discuss that more in a future post.  In the meantime, please enjoy just some of the following photos from the event.

Guest registration



Delicious catering by Pink Salt event Cuisine


Exhibit area: Habitat For Humanity and Transition LA


Fantastic organic gourmet ice cream from Jeni's splendid Ice Cream


Green "shopping" gift area = freebies from local green businesses.


Green business owner networking


Zero Waste theme and execution


More exhibits - Sterling Construction



More networking


Me making introductions


Announcements, introductions and thank you 'shout outs' from our chairman Jeff Gould


Philip PR/events my counterpart and volunteer bartender



More exhibits


This was a positive experience, chock full of education.  And now that I am a self proclaimed expert on hosting a fundraiser for a non-profit organization I will include many more photos and event details in part two of my zero waste post.   I hope to not be away from the blog-sphere this long in the future.  I soooo look forward to your queries and comments.

Living is the art of loving. Loving is the art of caring. Caring is the art of sharing. Sharing is the art of living.  If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.  Booker T. Washington