True Sustainability, it is catching...Gringos Project, Day 3

Today we spent the better part of the day on a roof looking out over the city of Greenville.  We are still in that phase of thinking about what can be done and what should be done and how.  The problem is not too few options, but too many and we like it that way.  I only had a little time because I had another meeting, but more on that later.

Today was basically a look at what we are up against.  It is a lot of bare white space...Just what we wanted. Elizabeth and I spent a good hour brainstorming and flying through all of the options.  The main thing is to cover every bare surface that can support something with something green.  That is pretty much end of plan.
So what are our next steps?  Well, funding and manpower.  There is a part of me that believes in the power of people to get things done when faced with an idea and a facilitating factor.  I hesitate to say that something is simple, but when faced with zero obstacles, why would it be hard to do the right thing? Like I said, there is a hesitation to say that something is easy, but this seems to me to be a no brainer.

I say a lot of this because I spoke with two leaders in our community who feel the same way.  The first meeting was with a man who wanted us to put a window box in his parking lot.  It was bare gravel and it looked hideous and out of place. It was about 11:45 a.m. and I told him that I had to meet Elizabeth in 15 minutes.  He held up his finger to indicate that he wanted me to wait, wrapped up the phone call with his mom about Mah Jhong and we looked outside.  It took five minutes to reach a consensus about what was going to go in there and how.  I told him that we wanted to build a reclaimed pallet planter and he said go for it.  That was that.

I hurried to Gringos to meet Elizabeth and she was already there, hanging out.  She bounced up and we headed outside.  Jacob found a ladder but the only place it could be used was next to a table of guests seated on the patio.  No biggie.  Elizabeth and I talked about what we could and could not do.  Like I said, there was little we could not do and so many options.  Jacob allowed for us to go crazy with thoughts and ideas and then I had to go to a meeting with John Cocciolione.

John is the new director of the Greenville County Special Needs Board and we were set to sit down and chat at two, but he was running late.  He was putting out figurative fires as I would later find out and again, it was no biggie.  Elizabeth and I just went and hung out at Snack Works up the street and she learned a little about what Patrick is doing there and had her first wheat grass shot.  They hit it off and we all parted ways.

I took another swing past where I was to meet John and he was coming out with a water in hand and we sat down to talk.  It was a good day for collaboration, because the one word I was not hearing AT ALL was "no".  We talked about how to engage his staff, the properties the GCSNB, and the clients more in the green movement to make his organization more streamlined, efficient, educational, and possibly profitable.  We talked about how to engage his clients in useful activities like gardening and possibly business and how to give them a place to be rather than just go.  Yes, it was a good meeting.  John, like me, is from elsewhere and the beauty of the things that we want to do is that we are not reinventing the wheel.  It has been done...a lot...in a lot of other places that we have been.

We are excited to bring it to Greenville and with people like this, leaders in the community, behind this, it will not be hard.  With all that we have to work with, the hardest place to find purchase is the one square foot of space in the human head.  My hardest job is changing minds and to date, there are not many that I have had to convince, just connect.

We have set a goal of $7000 to get this and other projects going through the winter and dawning into spring.  If we keep it up, I think we can hit it.  Please contribute!  You'll breathe easier...literally.

The 75%...The Gringos Project, Day 1

We have been given a goal.  75%.  Of what?  I sat with Adam and Brian at Gringo's on Camperdown and we had a somewhat brief, yet long conversation.  How does this conversation somehow exist and how can it be both long and short?  It was one of those conversations where the initial question is posed, then there is a quick answer, then the remainder of the conversation is simply simultaneous head nodding at the ideas that we have both had that are so incredibly simple and similar.

So we are going to take this restaurant and give it a green makeover.  Our goal is to decrease the amount of waste by 75%.  We are going to develop systems that they can use to save time, money, space and the environment.  I consider myself fairly eloquent, but this was one case where I did not have to use  a lot of words, especially since I was dealing with Adam Bennett and preaching to the choir, so to speak. We both come from places where this is commonplace so we are not doing anything different, it is only different for Greenville.

Within the next week, I am going to spend some time with his staff and look at ways to minimize waste.  We are also going to embrace the things that are going to inevitably spring from this, like how to deal with building owners and city hall.  This is going to be fun.

Day 1...A lot of thought.  We have been poring over designs and ideas all day and creating what amounts to a wish list of things we would like to do.  Experience teaches that there needs to be a structure to things before getting really deeply involved so today is about brainstorming and design for the rooftop garden.  The earthbox design was specifically requested.  It is low maintenance and miserly with water. Combine that with the fact that we can mass produce them pretty easily and we are off and running.

Today was met with the idea that this is going to take a lot of looking and adjusting to things on the fly.  We are all about solving problems though and the only thing that was not on the table for this whole project, was doubt.  Follow along.

Local Support...these are the times that count.

I love a good meal and a good time.  This past weekend was perfect.  I met up with a good friend of mine from college and we took a walk in Falls Park and then up and down Main St. looking in shops.  She was feeling a bit hungry and my first thought was the patio at Gringo's.  We went, were treated great, and the food was awesome.

I have worked in and around restaurants since I was about 17.  My mom was a chef and the one thing I can say is that this was just a good experience.  By "good" I mean that as the best compliment that I can give a restaurant and that is a shame these days.  We did not need to be wowed.  We did not need to have a server sing to us or anything like that, just great service and great food.  I am acquaintances with the owner, I did not need him to come by the table and make a fuss.  The kitchen manager popped up from the kitchen to check on something and waved at me, but that was it.  It was a great day with a friend and stopping at Gringo's only made it better.

That is rare right now and in an environment that is being flooded with restaurants where service and customer experience is not really paid attention to, I am glad to see Gringo's where it is.  When I approached them about getting their compost, there was no discussion about how annoying it might be for the kitchen staff or how to do it, just that it would get done and they have not let us down.  They love their community and are willing to do the work to be a part of it.

Apparently, there is a push to close down the patio at midnight and that just does not seem right.  If there WAS ever any place that has earned a place in this community, even though they have been open a short time, it is Gringo's.  I am going to show up at City Hall today and support their bid to stay open later and promote an environment where people can just hang out downtown and have a GOOD time.

It is hard work to become part of a community.  There is a lot that goes into it and a lot that goes on the behind the scenes and I have seen that commitment from too few businesses in the area, but Gringo's is one of them and I appreciate that.  So meet me at City Hall...https://www.facebook.com/events/328056487340407/