Cascadia, the area that includes Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, is a region whose identity and character have been formed by its natural environment.
Think of Cascadia and what images come to mind? Rain, cedar and salmon?
The region's economy, once dependent on natural resources, is changing. Population growth and development have put pressures on the region in ways that force all who live here to confront these new realities on a daily basis.
Think again about Cascadia. What images come to mind now? Starbucks, Microsoft and Nike? How about urban sprawl, traffic jams and a degraded environment?
Growth and sustainability are some of the biggest issues currently facing Cascadia, and Whistler is not insulated from these problems.
Whistler’s permanent population has more than doubled in the past 10 years, from 4,500 in 1991 to somewhere around 10,000 today, while Whistler-Blackcomb now records more than two-million annual skier visits.
Issues that were once restricted to urban areas – like improving transportation systems and keeping homes affordable – are affecting former rural areas.
With those images firmly entrenched in my mind I strolled into the Westin last Friday to listen in on the Cascadia Mayors Council meetings.
More than 60 mayors from up and down the Pacific Northwest Coast were in town to discuss regional concerns affecting the Cascadia corridor, including growth, sustainability; transportation and international border issues.
The first guest speaker during the Sustainability in Cascadia forum was Darcy Winslaw, Nike’s general manager of environmental business opportunities.
The Beaverton, Ore.-based company operates 750 factories in 53 countries and generated $10-billion in sales last year in 110 countries around the globe.
Nike has been tagged as a big, bad multinational company for unsavoury labour practices overseas, but Winslaw was here to tell the mayors how the company uses a scientifically based planning framework – The Natural Step – to move towards achieving sustainability in its business.
"Innovation, sustainability and progress are joined at the hip," she said.
According to Winslaw, Nike is striving towards becoming "socially responsible" and "eco-efficient" by taking a "green" approach in the manufacture of its shoes and clothing.
The company is trying to move towards "product sustainability" by implementing zero waste and toxic substances programs via a closed-loop manufacturing processes.
"We’re trying to re-envison and re-think so that nature and the environment are not diminished," she said.
But what does a company like Nike put first when dealing with sustainability – economic, environmental or social issues? It is a corporation that must generate profits for its shareholders.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler has also adopted the Natural Step plan to deal with its growth and sustainability issues.
Dave Waldron, the RMOW’s environmental services manager, told an audience of about 40 mayors how the resort is applying the pragmatic Natural Step approach.
"There are some very progressive people in Whistler who are re-thinking the sustainability issue," he said. "The Natural Step framework is a very useful tool for us."
According to Waldron, the RMOW is trying to become pro-active in promoting sustainability through such programs as its award-winning transit system, pesticide-free parks and recycling depots, as well as the Whistler Housing Authority and Emerald Forest Conservancy.
"Values and principles drive things but we need strategic directions, goals and targets, and specific tasks and guidelines," he said, noting that the key to sustainability is intelligent land use, infrastructure and implementation.
But perhaps the most instructive lesson was the one given by Steven Nicholas, the City of Seattle’s director of sustainability and environment.
Metro Seattle is home to more than 3 million people and has – like Cascadia’s other major urban areas, Vancouver and Portland – expanded rapidly over the last decade.
Nicholas’s department is only six months old and is charged with containing the city’s ecological footprint.
Nicholas told Pique Newsmagazine in an interview that he doesn’t need a specific framework to deal with Seattle’s problems, just common sense and an old saying – Think globally, act locally.
"A lot of cool stuff is going on in Seattle," he said.
Seattle initiated a comprehensive 20-year development and growth management plan in 1994 that contains some unique programs, including a sustainable building program in which all new municipal buildings such as the city hall, library and police station were built "green" to reduce energy and water consumption.
According to Nicholas, Seattle is also implementing a program that will see its fleet of 4,000 cars and trucks be powered by gas/electric engines and the city-owned utility is looking at alternative power sources, such as micro-hydro and wind power projects, to further reduce greenhouse gases.
But the biggest challenge facing Nicholas and Seattle is maintaining the city’s liveability.
"The lynch pin to making growth management work is having places where people want to live," he said, noting that there are 38 distinct sustainability programs for each of Seattle’s neighbourhoods.
The plans range all the way from community-based energy and water conservation, to waste reduction and recycling, to affordable housing and a liveable-wage job initiative, to traffic circles and community gardens.
"We’re trying to sell sustainability," he said. "It’s such a huge issue that it can quickly lead to resignation and denial and we want to bring it down to a manageable size.
"Every little bit counts and makes a difference. There are ways to take actions that simultaneously improve social, environmental and social sustainability. I really think a transformation in people’s thinking is happening."
Whistler Mayor Hugh O’Reilly agreed and said the lessons learned at the forums should be applied to Whistler.
"My philosophy is these kinds of dialogues can only be productive," he said in an interview earlier last week. "We are talking about future long-term issues. A lot of the problems being discussed will be ours 10 years from now."
But what – considering the economic, environmental and social implications – does a resort town like Whistler put first when dealing with sustainability? Like every community it must generate benefits for its residents. We all hold shares in Cascadia.
