Cottonwood Institute Hosts Environmental Leadership Summit With Johnson & Wales

The Cottonwood Institute put together an incredible Environmental Leadership Summit for Johnson & Wales University Community Leadership Institute students on February 4th, 2011 at the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado in downtown Denver. Facilitated by Ford Church and Paige Doughty and students from New Vista High School’s environmental club called the Earth Task Force, the day was packed with open, engaging, and fun activities that raised awareness about environmental leadership.

To get everyone energized, the group participated in a hilarious hokey pokey game name game. Following this, the group went on a tour of the Alliance Center’s LEED certified building to learn about the amazing eco-friendly construction of the building. After the tour, everyone watched the powerful “Story of Stuff” video, which discusses the life cycle of material goods in the United States.

Small group discussion about environmentally-themed readings followed. After a short break, the Johnson & Wales students heard the inspiring environmental leadership stories of members from the wonderful Earth Task Force, and co-leaders Ford and Paige.

Then it was time for the unbelievably creative, fun, and solution-oriented presentation by the Alliance for Climate Education (A.C.E.). The presenter, Bridget Jankovsky, did an awesome job of narrating this inspiring presentation about climate change and small things we can all do to address it.

To ease everyone’s grumbling stomachs, we went to lunch at the SAME Café (So All May Eat), which allows people to pay whatever they can for their food. We heard the inspiring story about how Libby and Brad Birkys, started the café and how they operate it as environmentally sustainable as possible. Their story truly had a profound impact on everyone.

The final guest speaker of the day was Ryan Ferrero, Founder and Chief Carhugger from the Green Garage. His humor, sensible ideas about greening vehicles and motivating statistics about what we can do to change right now were the perfect end to the day.

During the final reflection of the day, Johnson & Wales students commented over and over again about the positive impact the day’s events had on them. This remarkable event showcased how a summit that covers topics, which can be depressing and overwhelming, can instead be a powerful, enjoyable experience for all.

A special thanks goes out to Rena Dulberg from Johnson & Wales University, Janna Six from the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, Bridget Jankovsky from the Alliance for Climate Education, Libby and Brad Birkys from the Same Café, Ryan Ferrero from the Green Garage, and students from the Earth Task Force who made this day possible.

This article was written by Aaron Fox, student journalist, and edited by Ford Church.

CAP Students Explore Winter Camping

Alexander Brown is psyched about winter camping.

The Community Adventure Program hit the road last weekend for their first winter camping overnight.  With the use of a 15-passenger van we were able to seek out the snow for some winter activities, despite the warm temperatures.  The 10 students, 2 student leaders and 2 Cottonwood Institute Instructors had a great time bonding as a group, playing in the snow and learning some new skills!

Luke Jirman, Roland Platt and Jordan Seebohm dig our their quinzhee.

On Saturday morning we circled up after loading the trailer to take a breath and look forward to our weekend together. The group headed up to Brainard Lake Recreation Area where we found ample snow for snow-shoeing and building quinzhees.  We had a fabulous day of sun and moderate winter temperatures with amazingly clear blue skies which provided some astounding lunch time views of Mount Audubon.  We constructed two quinzhees and learned a lot about being outside in the winter.

Saturday night we indulged in the warmth and comfort of a cabin at Highlands Camp & Retreat Center in Allenspark, CO.  This cushy setting allowed the group time to sit around telling stories and deepening their relationship with each other.  After a night hike, most of the group camped outside in the starry unseasonably warm night.

On Sunday we spent some time learning stalking skills and immersing ourselves further into nature and awareness of our surroundings. In addition to enhancing our depth of perception of the natural world, we all had a ton of fun!

Our class is now delving into energy conservation for their Action Project and looking forward to another trip in February!

CAP 28 poses at Red Rock Lake with Mt. Audubon in the background. Clockwise from left: Luke J., Jordan, Tavius, Alexander, Maddy, Clark, Benji, Aaron, Jo, Aleyna, Meagan, Roland, Madeline