Published Article: Grid Magazine (August 2011)

We were ecstatic last summer when an article written by 2 Miles founder and principal, Claire McEachern, was published in Grid Magazine. The August issue, which focused on weddings and how to make them more sustainable, provided a great way to showcase a some writing.

Since communication is a core service of 2 Miles, we understand the importance of being able to match style and voice, no matter the audience. We also understand that incorporating sustainability doesn't have to be all about number crunching and big initiatives. Sometimes, it is simply about making strategic decisions about every day choices and doing just a little bit of research on the companies we choose.

Want to read the article? You can check it out the digital edition here; Claire's piece is on page 28.

Growing A Garden In Philly

Did you know that 2 Miles also does consulting that might get your hand a little dirty but also produces beauty, relaxation, and food? Yup, we do gardening and not just your regular old tomato plant and herb gardening. Quite the contrary actually with our emphasis on permaculture, soil engineering, garden bed construction, rain water collection, irrigation planning, and stormwater management. Heading up these efforts is Principal Consulting, Avery McEachern. Avery is an ISA certified arborist and has his Master's in Sustainable Design with a focus on the urban tree canopy, permaculture, and stormwater management.

We will continue to post updates on projects as they come in. In the meantime, we'd like to post this press we received for a project completed in the early days of 2 Miles. With our friends at postgreen (and a few fellow graduate students who helped us tremendously in exchange for pizza, beer, and an open invitation to challenge us to a game of corn-hole), we design-built this garden, its 9 garden beds, shed, 2 season compost bin, arbor, patio, sidewalk rain garden, additional side garden, and installed rain barrels. This garden not only inspired the owners and their visitors but passers-by in the notorious North Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington, who informed their children, who called this 60' x 20' space a garden, that this was in fact a "farm".

Credits & Links:

The Week
Postgreen
ISA
Boutique Philly

A Little Exercise In Character Development

Well, we thought we would share the latest update on a side project: Mac 'N Cheesesteak PDX.

Before we start the real blogging and review of Portland's cheesesteak and mac 'n cheese dishes (we have about 5 reviews waiting in the wings), we have to create the foundation content for the site. On www.macncheesesteakpdx.blogspot.com, that foundation consists of the personification of the individual subjects (i.e. food items) and their cultural context in the societies that embrace them. Yes, we do mean the Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology of these American food icons.

So far, we've infused our observations of both Philadelphia and Portland attitudes into the characters. We have also provided a "literature review" on the relevant culinary backgrounds of our subjects. No, this research will not stand up up to IRB Standards but it sure is interesting and informative nonetheless. It also provides some great factoids for social gatherings and water-cooler talk.

What's next on this project? Putting together the logic and data sets for the Metrics & Benchmarking section of the site. This will be used to judge each dish according to an established standard. We hope that the aggregated data will be (1) amusing, (2) informative for the culinarily inclined and (3) showcase how to create, organize, and interpret everyday statistics.

2 Miles Returns

Greetings!

After a year-long hiatus, we are happy to announce that we are reviving 2 Miles!

What is 2 Miles?

It is focused on helping organizations develop their sustainability efforts. We use an approach that integrates all aspects of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). We also believe that no matter what stage of implementing Corporate Responsibility Strategy (CSR) your business finds itself in, a healthy dose of integrated planning and benchmarking is necessary to achieving your goals. We've found a great tool called, S-CORE™ (developed by our friends at Axis Performance Advisors), that provides a standardized way to assess your current efforts, outlines a plan for the future, and compares your progress to other organizations.

Want to learn more?

Send us an email at 2MilesConsulting@gmail.com or call us at 443.980.5387.

Cheers,

The 2 Miles Crew