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Going Green 1 Step At A Time

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Going Green 1 Step At A Time
Adesina Stewart
Regional Green Mission Specialist,
Whole Foods Market (WFM)
By Carole Bucher
On 4/19/07, the City of Reno publicly declared its commitment to improving the environment at the “first” Green Summit event. For long-time residents who care about this issue and for newer residents who came to Reno from progressive cities and towns, this was a noteworthy moment. Since then, many have looked for continued signs of commitment from local leaders, service providers and industry. It is vital for us to consider what our role is in this issue and how we can make a difference. With this in mind, Healthy Beginnings presents a special provider profile this month, introducing Adesina Stewart, green educator, activity coordinator and outreach specialist for Whole Foods Market’s Reno/
Northern California region.
“You cannot blame people for not having enough information,” Adesina Stewart says. Many people feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of our environmental challenges today and don’t know where to begin. “The most important thing each of us can do,” she tells us, “is to understand what we can control, i.e., our personal locus of control or lifestyle:  what we eat, what we buy, how we transport ourselves, how we relate to others; what energy we are giving off, in everything we do.”
She reminds us that we got to this place of environmental havoc by not considering the consequences of our actions. Thus, she says, our best action today is to think about how we live, examine our habits and make simple, focused changes (see her 10 Green Tips, this issue). While achieving zero waste may be too big a goal, families can work together to seriously reduce waste–never mind the fact that our garbage cans are huge and our recycle bins are small. Focusing on our own lives and actions will make a difference.
We can choose to buy things and go places that support sustainability, using our wallets to influence. We can inquire about recycling practices when we visit restaurants and other establishments around town. We can call our service providers and ask them about their environmental practices, then tell them what we would like to see; we are their customers, after all. And we can do small, powerful acts like bringing our own bags when shopping, using a reusable lunch box/container and water bottle. In fact, Adesina counsels, one of the best things we can do right now is to stop buying plastic water bottles. She also suggests taking the time to calculate our individual footprints, and then choosing one thing to work and improve on. “Simple is almost always better and things in their natural state are most corresponding to a healthy life and planet.”
Graduating in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara, Adesina worked as a systems analyst for 3 years; she took a year off to travel in Europe and East Asia, then landed in Berkeley, taking culinary and nutrition classes while working full time at the Whole Foods Market store. So began her brilliant career, focusing first on whole body nutrition, then in-store education. This year she became the Regional Green Mission Specialist
and now coordinates the Green Mission activities for 25 Whole Foods Market stores in Reno and Northern California.
Her work is 3-tiered. The first is store operations: guiding and training the green teams in the practical considerations of implementing programs like zero-waste, setting up systems that will support company policies and practices, including self-auditing. The second level concerns efforts to build the desired future:  looking for creative solutions to existing challenges, anticipating future needs and outcomes, e.g. researching and sourcing more environmentally sound, sustainable packaging for products; and informing the executive team of findings and conclusions. The third level of work as a Green Mission specialist concerns outreach, education and community relations, an area in which
Adesina truly excels.
Adesina was drawn to Whole Foods because she wanted to work in a field aligned with her personal values and heart. Her own concerns truly reflect the WFM motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.”  She has an extraordinary capacity to inspire others; she encourages us to look at ourselves, and to be more conscious about the choices we make. By empowering us as individuals, she helps to bring about change in a very positive and personal way.
For info about calculating your personal or business footprint, go to www.rprogress.org.

adesina-300Adesina Stewart

Regional Green Mission Specialist,

Whole Foods Market (WFM)

By Carole Bucher |

On 4/19/07, the City of Reno publicly declared its commitment to improving the environment at the “first” Green Summit event. For long-time residents who care about this issue and for newer residents who came to Reno from progressive cities and towns, this was a noteworthy moment. Since then, many have looked for continued signs of commitment from local leaders, service providers and industry. It is vital for us to consider what our role is in this issue and how we can make a difference. With this in mind, Healthy Beginnings presents a special provider profile this month, introducing Adesina Stewart, green educator, activity coordinator and outreach specialist for Whole Foods Market’s Reno/Northern California region.

“You cannot blame people for not having enough information,” Adesina Stewart says. Many people feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of our environmental challenges today and don’t know where to begin. “The most important thing each of us can do,” she tells us, “is to understand what we can control, i.e., our personal locus of control or lifestyle:  what we eat, what we buy, how we transport ourselves, how we relate to others; what energy we are giving off, in everything we do.”

She reminds us that we got to this place of environmental havoc by not considering the consequences of our actions. Thus, she says, our best action today is to think about how we live, examine our habits and make simple, focused changes (see her 10 Green Tips, this issue). While achieving zero waste may be too big a goal, families can work together to seriously reduce waste–never mind the fact that our garbage cans are huge and our recycle bins are small. Focusing on our own lives and actions will make a difference.

We can choose to buy things and go places that support sustainability, using our wallets to influence. We can inquire about recycling practices when we visit restaurants and other establishments around town. We can call our service providers and ask them about their environmental practices, then tell them what we would like to see; we are their customers, after all. And we can do small, powerful acts like bringing our own bags when shopping, using a reusable lunch box/container and water bottle. In fact, Adesina counsels, one of the best things we can do right now is to stop buying plastic water bottles. She also suggests taking the time to calculate our individual footprints, and then choosing one thing to work and improve on. “Simple is almost always better and things in their natural state are most corresponding to a healthy life and planet.”

Graduating in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara, Adesina worked as a systems analyst for 3 years; she took a year off to travel in Europe and East Asia, then landed in Berkeley, taking culinary and nutrition classes while working full time at the Whole Foods Market store. So began her brilliant career, focusing first on whole body nutrition, then in-store education. This year she became the Regional Green Mission Specialist and now coordinates the Green Mission activities for 25 Whole Foods Market stores in Reno and Northern California.

Her work is 3-tiered. The first is store operations: guiding and training the green teams in the practical considerations of implementing programs like zero-waste, setting up systems that will support company policies and practices, including self-auditing. The second level concerns efforts to build the desired future:  looking for creative solutions to existing challenges, anticipating future needs and outcomes, e.g. researching and sourcing more environmentally sound, sustainable packaging for products; and informing the executive team of findings and conclusions. The third level of work as a Green Mission specialist concerns outreach, education and community relations, an area in which Adesina truly excels.

Adesina was drawn to Whole Foods because she wanted to work in a field aligned with her personal values and heart. Her own concerns truly reflect the WFM motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.”  She has an extraordinary capacity to inspire others; she encourages us to look at ourselves, and to be more conscious about the choices we make. By empowering us as individuals, she helps to bring about change in a very positive and personal way.

For info about calculating your personal or business footprint, go to www.rprogress.org

Filed Under: Green Living, Interviews Tagged With: environmental impact, green

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