Cleveland, Ohio, while still a town slandered by outsiders as the 'mistake on the lake,' or the 'city on the burning river,' appears to be rewriting the books on its rather unique history. All over the city, Clevelanders are rising to the common goal of erasing the 'burning river' stigma from the city's history. A few short years from now, our home port just might be known as a city on the cutting edge of holistic economic development. As David Beech, Director of EcoCity Cleveland, recently announced, let us strive to become “the green city on the blue lake!” EcoCity Cleveland is a nonprofit environmental planning organization that promotes the design of cities in balance with nature in Northeast Ohio.

Organizations and individuals alike are collaborating at unprecedented levels to contribute to our great city's green re-emergence. If the momentum continues, and Clevelanders continue to increase their support of local businesses who are embracing the triple bottom line of a focus on environment, society and economy, outsiders will be forced to rethink their opinions of our great city here on the south shore of Lake Erie.

A great many groups, individuals and collective organizations are dedicating a significant amount of energy and time to the local ecological acceleration of sustainability. These proponents are embracing environmental and social awareness with a renewed fervor. Utilizing a variety of technologies and methods, local service providers and manufacturers are differentiating their products from their global competition. Here is a sampling of some local movers and shakers in our commercial sector:

Clothing

One of the north coast's brightest gems is the 100% organic clothing manufacturer, Esperanza Threads. A small group of women democratically operate this cooperative where everyone has an equal vote and a just wage. Founded by Mary Eileen Boyle, an Ursuline Sister of Cleveland, Esperanza Threads is a project of a nonprofit organization called The Grassroots Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice of Ohio. The educational focus of Esperanza Threads incorporates classes for low-income women to learn how to sew and use industrial sewing machines.

Esperanza Threads exclusively uses organic fibers in order to reduce the use of harmful and toxic chemicals in our global and personal environment. They also produce custom-made garments made to fit a customer's exact measurements. Esperanza Threads is one of very few organic tailors east of the Mississippi. Their social justice efforts extend well beyond our city.

Esperanza Threads has formed a connection in Zaragosa, El Salvador with a fair-wage women's cooperative to address oppression and disem-powerment issues in sweatshops there. Mary Eileen traveled to El Salvador in June and met with the women of the cooperative to cement a good partnership.
In addition to their store located in Bedford, Esperanza Threads accepts online orders and sells products at local events. Visit their website for more information: www.esperanzathreads.com.

Information Technology
Commandline Media is an innovative software development and web-hosting firm that develops applications for server management and configuration processes. Their revolutionary products and services enable non-technical users to manage their own domains and host administrators to offer better and faster support at lower cost. Commandline Media engages both Buckeye Sustainability Institute and EnSafe in the development of internal and external sustainability initiatives.

The future is as bright as the sun for this locally owned and locally operated company. They are currently assessing the use of alternative energy sources in the powering of their hosting, e-mail and development servers and are considering photovoltaic panels which convert radiant energy from sunlight into electrical energy. The company is currently searching for like-minded programmers to support application development, as well as telephone support personnel. See www.commandline.net for further details.

Renewable Energy
Geoff and Michelle Greenfield have gone from environmentally concerned home-owners to successful alternative energy entrepreneurs. In 1997, the Greenfields built their Athens, Ohio home using concepts of sustainable energy. Utilizing both solar and wind energy specifically, the Greenfields have been able to satisfy all the energy needs of their 1,900 square foot home without using commercial utility-supplied power. They are “off the grid,” in the parlance of the sustainability movement.

With the success of their home system as impetus, the Greenfields founded Third Sun Solar and Wind Power in 1997 and have grown the venture into a profitable enterprise. They design custom solar- and wind-energy conversion systems for commercial and residential applications. The response has been overwhelming. They recently completed the installation of a 20-panel solar back-up power grid for the City of Athens, Ohio Health Department and a 6-turbine wind farm for an agricultural operation in southwestern Ohio. For more information, please visit www.third-sun.com.

Zoological Institutions

The mission of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is to improve the future for wildlife by exhibiting animals and plants. They provide education and conservation programs to encourage respect and stewardship of the natural world and a better understanding of our relationship to it.

Our Cleveland Metroparks Zoo also strives to reduce the amount of waste that might otherwise be sent to a landfill. The zoo does this by recycling aluminum, glass, plastic, copper, scrap metal and iron, waste oil, tires and car and radio batteries. They separate corrugated cardboard out of the waste stream and have recently purchased a cardboard baler for recycling cardboard along with other such waste collected throughout the Metroparks.

At the zoo, animal waste is constantly being produced, begging the question, “What do they do with all the poo at the zoo?” In 1997, the zoo implemented a facilities composting program in cooperation with the USDA and the EPA. An empty corner of the zoo property was turned into an operational composting area. Here they process manure and bedding materials from many of the herbivorous animals, such as elephants, giraffes, zebras and rhinos, along with yard waste, such as leaves collected in the fall. The materials are mixed, turned and monitored for temperature and moisture levels to create a natural, completely organic soil amendment. The finished product is ready in about four to six months and is used throughout the zoo's gardens, at other Metroparks locations and also at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Recently, and for the first time, the zoo began to offer the compost for sale to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Society members through their website, which is located at www.clevelandzoosociety.com.

Johnathan Hanson is an environmental scientist and the sustainability practice leader for EnSafe Inc., an international environmental consultancy in Beachwood, Ohio. He is an avid outdoorsman and a co-founder and Director of North American Programming Development for Buckeye Sustainability Institute, a Cleveland-based think tank and research- and development-based organization. Stephen Tompkins is a hydrogeologic, geotechnical and environmental investigations consultant with Mentor, Ohio-based HzW Environmental, LLC. He is a co-founder and Director of Community Educational Outreach Programs of Buckeye Sustainability Institute. For more information about Buckeye Sustainability Institute, please visit www.buckeyesustainability.org.