Sitting down to write your column on the night it looks like the United States elected Trump is not an easy ask.
I had an idea brewing that was not going to be related to politics at all - I'd hosted the amazing CEO of a Far North community enterprise as part of Sustainable Whanganui's annual celebration last week and wanted to share his insights into how to "do well through doing good".
The election results attempted to derail me but having recently shifted house, I rediscovered Good News for a Change by David Suzuki and Holly Dressel while restacking the bookshelf. These two are North Americans with their heads screwed on, writing about successful, non-mainstream business models, way back in 2002.
This good news approach to business, to creating jobs that matter, to finding sustainable solutions that recognise our dependence on nature, is no longer new - and perhaps it never was.
My original pitch for this column, the "Glass Half-Full", was a series of local sustainability success stories, and there have been a few, although I've strayed into whinge territory from time to time.
Getting back to the point of this fortnight's instalment - the impressive Cliff Colquhoun and the organisation he leads in Kaitaia, CBEC - the Community Business Environment Centre. It's been running for 25 years, turns over about $4 million each year and employs 45 people. It was employing a lot more until it recently lost its waste management and recycling contract, due in part to an emphasis on contract price at the expense of other valuable factors like supporting local expenditure.
Prior to the construction of our Resource Recovery Centre, a team of Whanganui people visited CBEC in Northland to learn from their experience. Cliff is now taking his experience and insights into Auckland to help the Supercity set up satellite recycling centres. There are good people doing good work and we shouldn't lose sight of that, depressing Trump win or not.
