By Alyssa Burnham, The High River Times. August 10, 2010.

High River is in the process of exploring how it might move toward increased sustainability as a municipality.

The Town has contracted The Natural Step, an organization that helps businesses and municipalities develop sustainable practices and systems, to survey the community on its environmental practices and views in order to provide staff and council with an idea as to where improvements can be made.

"Basically, it (would) give us what's called a triple bottom line — the environmental and social consequences of our decisions, as well as the financial," said Town Manager Harry Harker. "What we're doing right now is exploring how we might get involved in (The Natural Step.)"

As adherents to The Natural Step philosophy grow, the communities of Canmore and Olds and Landmark Homes, who is building homes in High River, are among their ranks.

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Sooner or later, there is a tough message that sustainability champions need to deliver to harried business leaders—the business game they are playing can’t continue. It’s been fun, but if they keep playing the game the way they are, everyone will lose. The rules need to be updated— quickly. That contention is probably not the best conversation-opener with a senior business leader. But, at some point along the line, sustainability champions should be ready to gently help them see that their current model of doing business is not sustainable.

Annie Leonard's latest video, The Story of Cosmetics –– is a thought provoking look at the harmful chemicals in our personal care products. Produced by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff Project, and Free Range Studios, this 7 minute video reinforces why, in a sustainable society, we must eliminate our contribution to the progressive buildup of man-made chemicals and compounds. Not only are we putting toxins on our bodies every day, we're releasing them into the environment where they are accumulating. The best way to get rid of them is to design them out of our products. That's what The Natural Step does.

En tant qu’ajout récent à l’équipe The Natural Step (TNS) - j'ai eu le privilège de rejoindre l’équipe en février- j’apprends énormément en participant aux premières étapes d'un processus de Planification Intégrée pour la Durabilité de la Communauté (PIDC) avec la Ville de Rivière-du-Loup, Québec.  

À la fin du mois de juin, avec Alex Magnin (conseiller en développement durable), j'ai passé une journée avec le Comité des Leaders : un groupe de leaders de la communauté de Rivière-du-Loup qui contribue au développement du PIDC. Pour moi, c’était une occasion de visiter un bel endroit, de rencontrer un groupe de leaders diversifié et inspirant, et de participer aux premières étapes d'un processus qui a le potentiel de transformer la façon dont le développement durable est intégré dans les décisions prises au sein de la communauté de Rivière-du-Loup.