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Photos Courtesy of dagomatic fotographic
Anniversaries are a time for reflection and celebration. Reflection helps us to stop and see what we’ve accomplished, the challenges we’ve faced and the hurdles we’ve crossed. Celebration helps us to set a milestone, close one door and open another.
A little over three years ago, in 2006, I had an idea about building a community that didn’t have any boundaries. I envisioned a community consisting of neighbors and friends who cared about the world around them and wanted to make a positive difference with the time they have in this life. Our community would share ideas with each other about how we could all live more harmoniously together and leave a small footprint behind from the way that we each creatively lived our lives.
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Green Edge Collaborative turned three on December 8, 2009. |
I shared my idea with a few friends, who shared the idea with their friends. Soon, we were hosting small dinners and inviting our friends to share their knowledge on certain sustainable living topics such as urban farming and the effects of pollution on oceans and fish that live within them. We also began meeting regularly in my living room in Park Slope to brainstorm about what name we might give our group and how we might grow. I guess you can say, “the rest is history.”
Growing a Community
Green Edge Collaborative has come a long way since those days of apartment hopping to hear about how we could live a more sustainable lifestyle, and in a way, we’re right where we started. Our mission remains close to the one we wrote in the fall of ’06. Our commitment to educating others about how sustainability relates to our everyday lives still thrives. What has changed, however, is our volunteer staff. We’ve had some move on to other projects, some come and go, and some who’ve been around from the beginning. Our ideas about how to accomplish our mission have developed into successful programming such as Eco-Eatery Tour, Supper Club, Green Edge Films and Eco-Tour Scavenger Hunt. We have also expanded our programming outside of New York City, where it all began.
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| Co-founders Carolyn Gilles and Jennah Synnestvedt celebrate three years of Green Edge at littlefield. |
In all the growth we’ve experienced over the past three years, I've seen the spirit of Green Edge Collaborative burning brightly. Our spirit embodies collaboration with our community, a concept so important to the founding team that we insisted it be part of our name. We’re still a group devoted to innovation and creativity, dedicated to making our world a better place. Through Green Edge, I’ve been introduced to extraordinary people and witnessed the inspiring work that they do. And, because of Green Edge, I have worked alongside countless intelligent and dynamic individuals who’ve poured their heart and soul into making Green Edge what it is today.
No matter what the future holds for Green Edge, whether our staff changes 100% or remains the same, it is my hope that the mission and vision of Green Edge Collaborative will live on for many years to come. But, the future of Green Edge lies within this community that we have built together. We must all take responsibility for our piece of the puzzle and give to our community what we can. We must come together to share our collective wealth of knowledge, food and love. By sharing these fundamental resources, we can begin to live more harmoniously on our planet.
I invite you to share the Green Edge community with someone who does not know about us and I encourage you to find out how you can get involved on a deeper level. There is room for everyone to play a key role in taking our “community for a sustainable future” into the future. That is, after all, what our founding community set out to accomplish.
About the Author
Carolyn Gilles
Founder & Executive Director, Green Edge Collaborative
Director, Green Edge KY
Born and raised in the beautiful state of Kentucky, Carolyn’s early career was spent in retail management, preparing food for small cafes, and operating a small private catering business. After completing the Chef's Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York City, she decided to focus her career goals on educating the public about consumption choices and their effects on the world around us. This new initiative led her to found Green Edge Collaborative in July 2006. She later returned to the classroom and completed a Bachelor of Science from The New School in May 2009, focusing her study on social enterprise.
Do you know want to know more about the Green Edge NYC Coordinators? Meet them on our website!