Greetings!
Colleen here... so I feel terrible... Esther started writing to you all about what we learned today and I accidently deleted it!!! She and I will put our heads together to make sure that we recap to the best of our ability what went down today.

First of all.... Starting with Dot's morning presentation we learned that we must change our attidudes before our actions can change. I think this is key because our mentality is linked directly to our actions. For example... If you think that running is the greatest form of exercise, chances are you're a runner!

Secondly, another thing that stuck out to a lot of folks was the metaphor of the sunflowers by Thich. The abbreviated version of the story is: "In France we don't see sunflowers, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. So a group of farmers decided to plant sunflower seeds and are waiting for them to grow. The problem is they don't have any rain or sunshine or the month of July, but the fact that those seeds are in the ground means that they DO EXIST. They just need the right conditions."

Dot used this story to show that there are lots of business who are transitioning from wasteful practices to more sustainable and eco-friendly practices. For example Ray Anderson from Interface Carpets who was inspired to change his ways simply be reading a book!

Another thing that stuck out to us is the belief that change is the result of many simple steps that were taken consistently.

So we're off to the Peace Bridge so we'll write more later!!

Peace,

Esther and Colleen