So let’s start with the journey to Mile High Stadium. And a journey it was, despite the fact I was staying in downtown Denver! An abbreviated timeline:

• 1:30 pm: Left the hotel
• 1:42 pm: Got on the Light Rail toward Mile High Stadium
• 2:07 pm: Got into line far, far, far away from the stadium…as one guy quipped, “a mile long line to get into a mile high stadium”
• 3:58 pm: Went through the security check
• 4:33 pm: Sat down inside Mile High Stadium, near the 50 yard line facing the stage, on the first level
• 4:33 pm onward: Watched history in the making

On the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, DC, Sen. Obama, the first ever African-American nominated for president by a major political party, stood up and accepted the nomination “with profound gratitude and great humility.”

Speaking of gratitude and humility, I was so grateful and humbled not only to be present for this historic moment, but also to sit in the stands alongside many whose sacrifices had made this day possible, and to remember and honor many others like them who could not be there.

Funnily enough, one of the most succinct summaries of this moment’s historical significance came from Gov. Mike Huckabee, on Wednesday at the Republican National Convention: “So, I say with sincerity that I have great respect for Senator Obama’s historic achievement to become his party’s nominee — not because of his color, but with indifference to it. Party or politics aside, we celebrate this milestone because it elevates our country.”

And there was indeed a great deal to celebrate that night, not just for Democrats or Americans, but for anyone who cares about making the world a better place. It was worth waiting for — and I’m not just talking about the line to the stadium.

Sounds simple enough, no? Well, as a political novice, I found there were many twists and turns that were quite confusing for an outsider, but resulted in some interesting moments and an altogether memorable experience.

The roll call began simply enough, with Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa…

During the roll call, each delegation shares a few (or many) words about what makes its state or territory special. It is the cutest thing, if only because I’m a sucker for neat trivia and historical facts. A few examples of the kinds of facts each delegation shares:

• Guam is the first part of America on which the sun rises every morning. (Forgive my ignorance, I’d always heard it was Maine but now know better.)
• Idaho was the birthplace of Sacajawea, the Native American woman who helped guide the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark expedition in the American West.
• Minnesota is home to the collegiate national champion Minnesota-Duluth women’s hockey team. (Really!)

As one delegation after another announced its votes, I settled in to enjoy the proceedings. When they got to California, though, I was in for a surprise - California and its 441 delegates “passed,” meaning they elected not to cast their votes. Huh?!?

I was wondering if all the Democratic primary voters in California had cast their votes in vain. It was completely bewildering. But when Illinois, Senator Obama’s home state, also passed, I figured something was up.

The voting continued until the roll call reached New Mexico. New Mexico, instead of voting or passing, announced that it would “yield” to Illinois, making it Illinois’s turn to vote again. As the Illinois delegation spoke about its state and senator, Senator Clinton entered the convention hall! At that point, we all realized what was going on. Illinois would yield to New York, and Senator Clinton herself would make the motion to suspend the vote and nominate Senator Obama by acclamation.

The convention had planned for California and Illinois to pass, so that the total delegate count would remain below the number needed and the roll call would not end before it reached New Mexico and New York. The delegate roll call was pure theater - not a “real” vote - but very entertaining for someone like me who had no idea what was going on!

And ultimately, it was amazing to be present at the first ever nomination of an African-American for U.S. president by a major political party. As I’ve mentioned before, I think most will agree regardless of their political leanings that this is an extraordinary moment in history. And it was wonderful to be a part of it in person.

Other updates from Wednesday…

• Still haven’t found the Obama earrings. I’ve learned my lesson: Shop first and ask questions later!
• Celebrity sightings: Saw Ben Affleck not once but twice at my hotel. I didn’t know he was growing a beard! Also saw Steven Spielberg posing for a photo with a couple of fans.
• Visited the tent where the DNC is providing FIJI Water for its volunteers to keep them hydrated in the hot Denver weather. (And, in case it matters to you, FIJI Water will also be at the Republican Governors’ Assocation events at the convention in St. Paul next week, along with some Young Republican events. Everyone needs to stay hydrated.)

• Charles Barkley scolding me for being outside at the CNN Grill in a light drizzle (it was about 10 drops of rain total!) instead of going indoors. He is a big, big man. Funny, too. I stayed outside anyway, it was beautiful and the Denver sky is really lovely. Still, it was so much fun to see (and hear!) “Sir Charles” in person!
• Seeing the really big crowds start to arrive. If you saw the security check line that CNN was broadcasting, you know what I’m talking about. And yes, I was standing in that loooong line at one point. Am I a dork for looking at the footage early this morning to see if I was on TV? And squinting at the tiny faces in the crowd to see if I could find myself or anyone I met in line? (The answer is yes.)
• Attending the MTV Rock the Vote party at the 5 Degrees nightclub in Denver. FIJI Water was one of the sponsors, and we had a water bar that not only looked gorgeous, but also shared some great facts about forest conservation, recycling, and how we can all make a difference for the better. I’ll share pictures and more details in a future posting.
• Some guy on the street trying to sell me a pair of Obama earrings. They were dangling earrings with his face as the “charm.” I realized later (after I’d declined) that those earrings would be an awesome or at least hilarious memento to show the grandkids someday! Gotta look for that guy today. I’ll post a picture if I do find them.
• Just taking it all in. The crowds, the energy, the enthusiasm, the drama…this is seriously fun.

It made me think about all of the history that led to this moment, and the faith of many who came before us who believed in a better world against all odds, and their tremendous sacrifices to make possible a day many of them would never see.

Whether it was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who helped launch the U.S. women’s suffrage movement that would make it possible for future generations of women to vote and hold political office, or Dr. King, who met hatred with love as a civil rights leader and paved the way for an African-American to run for president, or many others like them both known and unknown…they all renew my faith that every one of us can make a lasting difference for the better, each in our own way.

I was reminded of Dr. King’s 1968 sermon on “The Drum Major Instinct,” especially one excerpt that is frequently quoted, and with good reason:

If you want to be important - wonderful. If you want to be recognized - wonderful. If you want to be great - wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

That’s a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing I like about it: By giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato or Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. 

You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.

This is my first time ever attending a convention for any political party, so I’m very excited to see this part of the American political process up close. And – regardless of what your political leanings are – I’m sure most will agree that it’ll be amazing to attend the first convention ever to nominate an African-American as a presidential candidate. I feel very lucky to be a part of this historic moment.

Okay, I have to pack my bags and head to Denver. Stay tuned for updates! And feel free to mention anything particular at the DNC that you’d like to hear more about: “What was it like to hear Senator Obama’s acceptance speech in person?” “Where do the delegates get those silly hats?” “Who throws the best party?” I’ll do my best to address your questions in a future posting.

Malolo Lailai Island is a 620-acre island that is part of the Mamanuca Islands, in the Western Division of Fiji. Along with having a pretty name, it is home to two villages - Yaro and Solevu - and five settlements (Cubi, Kawalevu, Vuya, Nawaikama and Yako) with a total population of about 1,300. 

The Malolo Lailai Island residents have not had access to running water in the past, so they would use rainwater catchments and wells to get water.  Since the island receives rainfall for only three months of the year, island residents would spend the other nine months trying to get water from the mainland or sporadic rainfall. The well water was used for washing only, since it was not fit to drink.

This all changed in December 2007, when the Rotary Pacific Water for Life Trust, which FIJI Water has funded, brought clean running water to every house in the villages. We were delighted to help make this happen. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again - we believe that Fiji is home to the best water on the planet, and the people of Fiji should be able to enjoy it as much as the rest of the world does.

We believe that Fiji is home to the best water on the planet, and the people of Fiji should be able to enjoy it as much as the rest of the world does. Reliable access to clean, safe drinking water is common throughout much of Fiji, but there are still remote villages where infrastructure is lacking.

FIJI Water has taken direct responsibility for providing water access to the villages that surround our source in the Yaqara Valley. We are doing this work through the Natural Waters of Viti Limited Trust, which we established in 2000 and fund with a percentage of company revenue. All funds from the trust go directly to projects in Vatukaloko, our local vanua, which is comprised of the six villages surrounding our plant and is home to more than 75% of our 400 person workforce.

Over the last eight years, the trust has invested hundreds of thousands of Fijian dollars upgrading water systems in local villages, and this year we have used our own onsite talent and resources to drop three new bores in the villages to provide better quality and more consistent water supply. We have completed projects that serve the towns of Drauniivi and Togovere, and by the end of 2008 we will complete similar projects in Naseyani, Nananu and Rabulu.

In addition, the FIJI Water Foundation - founded in 2007 with the intent of bringing similar benefits to communities throughout all of Fiji - is a partner in the Rotary Pacific Water for Life Trust, which is building sustainable water projects in Fijian communities that have been determined by an external SoPAC survey to have the highest level need. In addition to its Rotary partnership, the FIJI Water Foundation has provided water tanks, bores, piping, and expertise directly to numerous other schools and communities that have applied for aid, including Navesau Adventist School in Ra, Vunisoco Village in Namosi, and Malomalo Primary in Nadroga.

Through our partnership with the Rotary Club, we will be responsible for bringing water access to a hundred communities this year alone with the goal of another hundred communities in 2009. Over 50 of the projects we have planned for 2008 are already complete, and we’re looking forward to sharing more about individual projects in upcoming blogs.

The more than 300 islands that comprise the nation of Fiji are a true biological wonder.  Dramatic volcanic mountains that gave birth to these islands tower above lush verdant forests.  Many of Fiji’s plants and animals are unique to the islands and have evolved very little since their ancestors inhabited the forests.

The crown jewel of Fiji’s spectacular biodiversity is the Sovi Basin, located on the island of Viti Levu.  The basin is surrounded by volcanic peaks which form a bowl shape between them.  The end result is one of the world’s most impressive geological structures. 

At Conservation International, our goal is to protect the world’s natural biological diversity and demonstrate that human society can live harmoniously with nature.  That is our mission and it guides us in everything we do. 

Our partnership with FIJI Water reflects that spirit.  Ours is a strategic and focused partnership whose primary goals include the protection of Fiji’s Sovi Basin, a crucial source of freshwater for the nation of Fiji and for the planet. 

To that end, Conservation International’s Global Conservation Fund will contribute to a trust fund set up by The FIJI Water Foundation to protect the Sovi Basin.  The fund was launched with initial funding from FIJI Water owners Lynda and Stewart Resnick and the combined donations of more than 700 FIJI Water employees.  The fund will go to support the annual management costs of protecting the Sovi Basin. 

One of the most unique aspects of this funding is the compensation of local communities to protect the land around the basin.  The goal of that is to provide a different source of income to communities who traditionally become susceptible to logging interests and the one-time payoff that comes with cutting down a forest.  The trust will also support a facility to distribute small-scale grants for community development in and around the Sovi Basin – providing new opportunities to those communities to prosper and thrive.  The National Trust of Fiji is responsible for management of the Sovi Basin, and will receive and administer revenues from the fund.

But this is not just good news for Fiji.  This is good news for the planet because this ambitious and forward-thinking partnership to protect the rainforests of Fiji will result in about ten million tons of carbon dioxide stored in these forests will remain out of our atmosphere.  Since deforestation accounts for 20-25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in our atmosphere – double that of all the world’s cars, trucks, and planes combined – protecting Fiji’s rainforests protects us all. 

So join us and help protect an acre of rainforest by visiting www.conservation.org and click the “Protect an Acre of Forest” button.  For as little at $15 you can help Conservation International protect an entire acre of tropical rainforest.  Because what is lost there, is felt here.  We’ve enlisted longtime Conservation International board member Harrison Ford to help with the cause.  Click here to view the startling public service announcement that’s generating a lot of buzz.

We recently moved into this beautiful new office space, the design of which considered our employees, our company and the environment in every detail. LEED focuses not only on environmental benefits, but also employee health and well-being, resulting in a workplace design that’s good for people and good for the environment.

One of the office’s most striking features is the abundance of soft and natural light. The workspace walls are slightly lower than those of typical cubicles and include window panels along the top for maximum exposure to the building’s natural light while still providing privacy. In addition, our management team elected to have only four offices in this space, all along one wall, and those offices have large interior glass walls that allow an abundance of natural light to come into the general work area. The natural light is complemented by “barrel lighting” which provides direct and indirect (reflected) light that is much softer and easier on the eyes than traditional direct lighting.

Each workspace is designed efficiently and comfortably. My personal favorite is the multi-purpose mobile filing cabinet that doubles as cushioned seating for visitors. It’s almost as comfortable as the Knoll Chadwick ergonomic chair that every employee has! (In fact, all of the office furniture was manufactured by Knoll, which specializes in sustainably-made furniture that promotes employee comfort and well-being, and has a LEED-certified plant itself.) Other workspace features include:

• Tower cabinet with shelves to store binders, books, etc.
• Narrow cubby for hanging coats or sweaters and for storing personal items like yoga mats and purses
• Flat screen monitors that take up less desk space
• Floating shelves for in/out boxes, pencil holders, etc., keeping desktops free of clutter

The new workspace was manufactured using clean technologies like VOC-free adhesives, low-VOC paints, and recycled steel, aluminum and fabrics. It also includes bamboo floors and cabinetry. Bamboo is a “rapidly renewable building material and product (made from plants that are typically harvested within a ten-year or shorter cycle),” to quote the LEED application form. In other words, bamboo grows and regrows super fast (I have some in my garden, it grows like a weed), so it’s more sustainable than traditional wood materials.

Other less readily visible but equally important features of the new office include the following:

• The lighting power density is 25% more efficient than required by the Title 24 standard. (Title 24 is California’s energy efficiency standard for residential and non-residential buildings.)
• 90% of the kitchen appliances are Energy Star certified. The only exceptions are small appliances like toasters that don’t normally receive an Energy Star certification.
• The bathrooms now have dual flush toilets, resulting in a 30% reduction in water usage. (Incidentally, these are very common in Fiji and other countries, but still unusual in the U.S.)

We were awarded maximum LEED credits for our successful effort to recycle everything possible when disposing of the previous office materials. In total we recycled over 75% of the construction waste.

We hope to have more good news about our efforts toward LEED certification status once the project is complete and all credits are tallied. Stay tuned for updates!

It all started when my microwave stopped working three weeks ago. I suppose it was due…it was quite old. However, it was part of a microwave-oven combined unit, and the oven still works great. So I didn’t want to replace the microwave, because that would also mean replacing a perfectly good oven. And the prospect of sending a good oven to landfill - or even recycling - was just too much for my devoted green heart to bear.

Because I’m usually busy, I try to save time on cooking dinner during the week by making a big meal one night and then microwaving leftovers for another night or two. I like to dress up the leftovers with freshly sauteed vegetables, grated cheese, or something else quick and easy. Without a microwave, I figured I should cook smaller meals each night, just enough to eat for that night, then start from scratch the next day. (I’ve tried reheating leftovers on the stove before, but the food kept getting overcooked.)

It was certainly nice to eat a freshly prepared dinner every night…but after a week I just couldn’t handle the time sink any more. So I decided to just eat a good breakfast and lunch each day, and not eat dinner any more unless I was out with family and friends. Hey, that could help me lose weight too, and who doesn’t want to lose a few pounds? And I could use the extra time to catch up on everything I’d fallen behind on (like this blog!) during the Week of Freshly Prepared Dinners.

Filled with hope and good intentions, I launched my new dinner-less resolution. But I don’t like the feeling of overeating at any meal, so I’d eat a normal, moderate breakfast and lunch, and then when “dinnertime” rolled around, I’d be pretty hungry. As it got later in the evening, I’d be sooooo hungry. Oh, it was painful. You know you’ve hit rock bottom when even a piece of chocolate isn’t satisfying.

So I started going to bed earlier and earlier to avoid feeling hungry…in bed by 8:30 pm or 9 pm, and up by 5 am. You’d think I’d at least be able to catch up on my life in those spare morning hours, right? Nope. Whether it’s running errands, or working, or whatever, most businesses and services aren’t open that early. So I’d spend a lovely few hours working in my garden…and falling further behind on everything I needed to get done. Or - like last night - I’d hang out late with friends, then forget to reset my alarm and still wake up at 5 am, and stumble sleepily through the rest of the day. (And the blog continued to languish.)

I was explaining this to a co-worker (who noted my sleepy expression), and he pointed out that I’d reduced my carbon footprint over the past couple of weeks by not cooking, eating, or getting a new microwave. I’d saved energy by not cooking, avoided emissions from food production by not eating, and saved money and energy by not buying a microwave. That put a smile on my sleepy face.

To make a rough estimate of the emissions I’ve avoided: A week’s worth of dinner for me - back when I had a microwave - might have looked like this with a glass of wine every night:

• Monday: Grill 8 oz organic steak, eat half of it with a baked potato and steamed broccoli. (I usually offset the healthiness of the broccoli by putting generous amounts of sour cream or butter on the potato.)
• Tuesday: Go vegetarian and make daal, a curried lentil soup. (Takes me back to Fiji where this is a staple dish.)
• Wednesday: Slice leftover steak thinly, pile onto toasted ciabatta bread, add grated Havarti cheese, and reheat, then top with freshly sauteed button mushrooms and Vidalia onions. (Heaven. You gotta try this.)
• Thursday: Microwave leftover daal. (It’s almost the end of the week, I’m keeping it simple.)
• Friday: Eat a serving of sushi. (Happiness.)

Okay, I had too much fun writing that menu. I love to eat. But I’m sleepy so I’m going to keep the calculations simple. Let’s say I eat the steak and fish and drink the wine, but pretend the non-meat stuff has no carbon footprint. (Vegetarian options often do have a lower carbon footprint.)

An 8 oz conventional steak results in about 8,300 g CO2eq across its lifecycle, and an 8 oz organic steak causes about 4,980 g CO2eq. Sushi-grade tuna, during the summer months, results in about 1,120 g CO2eq per 3 oz serving. And a bottle of wine causes about 2,650 g CO2eq and holds about 5 glasses.

So 4,980 (steak) + 1,120 (tuna) + 2,650 (wine) = 8,750 g CO2eq per week from the food and wine’s footprints alone. And 3 minutes in the microwave means about 30 g CO2eq, so if I’m reheating stuff twice a week, that adds another 60 g CO2eq. So I’m avoiding at least 8,810 g CO2eq per week in my dinner-less state…and definitely more, since I’m not counting emissions from cooking or turning on my kitchen lights, or the lifecycle carbon footprints of the potato, sour cream, broccoli, lentils, ciabatta, cheese, mushrooms, onions, rice, nori (seaweed), herbs and spices.

At this rate, in a year I’d avoid about 0.5 tonne CO2eq (8,810 g CO2eq/week * 52 weeks * 1 tonne / 1,000,000 g). According to Conservation International’s carbon footprint calculator, my annual carbon footprint is 8.2 tonnes. So if I can keep skipping dinner for a year, I’ll cut my carbon footprint by at least 5%! Not as big a reduction as I’d like, but every little bit counts.

So what do you think? Should I replace the microwave-oven unit? Buy a new standalone microwave…and a new microwave cart to put it on? Sponge free meals off my neighbors? Go out to eat every night and support local businesses? Just keep on skipping dinner and going to sleep at 8:30 pm? Do you have tips on how to reheat food on the stove successfully? Discuss!