PERSPECTIVES ON THE WILL TO CHANGE, Annette Gellert interview by the Rex Foundation

Annette Gellert began working on environmental issues and the Green Plan approach to addressing them some 20 years ago, primarily as a mother concerned for the health of her children. As she watched her three young children blissfully play in the Bay, and then, with the same hands that handled shells, crabs, dirt and other Bay elements, eat a snack or rub their eyes, she wondered, "Is this water safe?" and "Who is managing the water quality to ensure its safety?" There was plenty of news about how unsafe the Bay water was, with warnings that pregnant women or people with any health issues should not eat fish from the Bay due to high mercury levels and toxins from marine activities and industry dumping, yet no information about how these problems were being managed to protect public health.

Annette was also troubled by what seemed to be the combative struggle between environmental and industry interests, as well as a compartmentalized approach that addressed pieces of the problem rather than having a more comprehensive, cohesive approach.

Annette's pursuit of a better approach has included learning about how countries like The Netherlands and New Zealand, and now the European Union, have been using Green Plans to dramatically reverse environmental threats and successfully generate both environmentally and economically sound solutions with a process based on collaboration and trust. Annette wants to see more Green Planning in the U.S. and is exerting her will and energies to make this happen.

Elements Of A Green Plan

The ultimate Green Plan scenario is a process for governance and problem-solving, where at every level - house-hold, community, city, county, region, state and country - there is agreement on the environmental problems to be solved with benchmarks for reduction of toxic emissions and associated shifts in manufacturing methodologies to achieve desired results over a designated period of time, along with a process for monitoring progress and making adjustments as needed. Essential ingredients to a successful green plan include:

- All involved parties - businesses, government agencies, community-based organizations (CBOs), citizen groups, scientists - are willing participants in the process;
- Agreements/covenants are made in the spirit of trust and cooperation;
- A reasonable timeframe for overall change is established;
- There are measurable benchmarks that everyone in the process knows about and agrees to;
- All participants share a genuine desire to solve the identified problems with solutions that enable businesses to survive while also promoting long-term public health and safety.

A California Green Plan

In 2001, Annette established the Women's Environmental Leadership Network (www.wellnetwork.org) as a vehicle to connect with other women sharing her concerns and desires to effectively create a safe and healthy environment for their children and, of course, all people. Annette believes WELL helps demonstrate what might be called the "women's approach" to solving problems - coming together, convening, cooperating and seeking consensus-based solutions to problems. WELL, in conjunction with the Resource Renewal Institute (a 1990 Rex Foundation beneficiary) is working to establish a Green Plan in California. The optimal steps to accomplish this are:

- Identify industry, community, political and non-profit leaders involved in environmental issues, and have them sit down together;
- Agree on scientific experts/resources of undisputed integrity, whose assumptions will be accepted as the basis for identifying the environmental issues to be addressed, such as agreeing on toxic levels of mercury in the Bay that must be reduced and ultimately eliminated;
- Develop solutions to the agreed upon problem(s) and how each participating entity is involved in implementing the solutions;
- Identify ways to ensure economic as well as social benefits;
- Agree on implementation timeframes that are workable for all participants;
- Agree on benchmarks to monitor progress over time, and the process for carrying out and reporting the monitoring;
- Provide ample opportunities to build trust and cooperation.

The Will To Change

Annette believes that a major paradigm shift is needed for the Green Plan concept to take hold. "We need to consider our children's health and quality of life first, with our personal interest and financial rewards second, which is the reverse of the current situation. We must consider how to take care of each other and benefit future generations, not just focus on quarterly profits."

Annette worries that people do not have information that, if fully available and widely dispersed, would produce sufficient outrage and concern to generate the will to change. For example, she says, "How many people know that more and more babies are born with toxic chemicals in their blood, that breast milk is full of chemicals, that sperm count is down by 25% across the United States over the last 25 years?"

From her own experience and from witnessing the successful implementation of Green Plans in other countries, Annette knows that individuals can exert significant influence to bring about Green Plans in the U.S. and the associated shift in thinking that will support their implementation. She recommends that individuals find their voices and:

- Write/Fax their legislators, stating that they want to see the Green Plan way take hold in their communities;
- Write to corporations, directing action to implement environmentally sound practices and take leadership roles in establishing Green Plans;
- See what others are doing to successfully solve problems, such as the Resource Renewal Institute and other Rex Foundation beneficiaries;
- Examine their own living situation and find ways to shift to more environmentally healthy behaviors, such as reducing bottled water consumption, or minimizing plastic bag use;
- Exercise their right to vote! Annette points out that we cannot expect to outspend the interests who want to maintain the status quo; however, we can vote our will to change.