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The survey's preliminary findings suggest agritourism can indeed be a profitable supplement to a farm or ranch business. Agricultural tourism allows travelers a chance to visit working farms and ranches and can include experiences such as picking their own fruit, visiting a petting zoo, touring a vineyard, buying fresh produce or riding horses. Small farms made up more than two-thirds of the farms that reported offering agritourism.

"We are excited to find that agritourism really seems to work for a lot of small farms," said Penny Leff, statewide agritourism coordinator for the UC Small Farm Program. "Our results also show that agritourism is primarily local. More than 85 percent of reported visitors were from California."

Most agritourism operators who responded to the survey reported their agritourism businesses generated some profit. A majority said they are planning to expand or diversify their agritourism offerings over the next five years. In addition, 22 percent of agritourism operators reported more than $100,000 in agritourism receipts for 2008.

The survey was conducted by a group of researchers from University of California Cooperative Extension and the UC Small Farm Program, with funding from the California Communities Program. Researchers first mailed questionnaires in January to nearly 2,000 potential agritourism operators in every California county.

I grew up in a live/work home.  I've always had a productive home...because I'm self employed and have always either had a full time or part time business going.  And so has my husband.

"Over half of all businesses are run out of an owner's home. As the economic crisis deepens, live/work housing provides a viable and appealing solution for small entrepreneurs who want to work and live in the same place for economic reasons. It is also a promising market for Baby Boomers who are starting to retire - or soon will retire - and want to live in upscale housing in an urban area while conducting consulting and other service oriented businesses which can function in a live/work condo."  says Dick Lewis, President, Lewis & Associates

A Productive Home

Homes used to provide us with clothing, food, shelter, education, entertainment...and more.  But over the years we've exported most of those functions to businesses and public facilitie outside the home. 

And paid the price!  Both in "retail" prices...and in loss of a strong safety net.

Part of a green career is balancing what you build OUTSIDE the home in jobs and networks and investments -- and what you build INSIDE your home in hobbies and food preparation and car repair and gardening...etc. 

How's your personal career productivity going?  What would you like to balance between outside and inside?

ULE will soon test a number a range of products in line for environmental certification, including sunglasses, wind turbines, dishwashers and televisions

UL Environment, or U.L.E., new subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories that is launching global environmental-standards, has awarded its first product certification to EcoRock, a recycled drywall.

UL Environment gave Serious Materials in Sunnyvale, Calif., an environmental certification that will help the company sell EcoRock panels for building projects aiming for LEED certification from the USGBC. Kevin Surace, chief executive of Serious Materials, claims that EcoRock can contribute 8 of the 100 points necessary for the USGBC LEED rating.

U.L.E. verified the drywall's recycled materials content and tested for volatile organic compound emissions, mercury emissions and mold resistance.

The company will soon test a number of other products in line for environmental certification, including sunglasses, wind turbines, dishwashers and televisions, said the vice president and general manager of U.L.E., Marcello Manca.

RESOURCE: UL Environment

UL Environment's Database of Environmentally Sustainable Products
Manufacturers may submit their products for UL testing and environmental claims validation.

I read a line in a blog by Kwande Kefentse (CreativeClass.com) that stunned me... "cultural mapping and planning is one of the most important tools for creating prosperity out of space."

What does that really mean? That blog didn't have much further to say about "cultural mapping" so I went to the Internet.

Cultural mapping has been recognized by UNESCO as a crucial tool and technique in preserving the world's intangible and tangible cultural assets. ... www.unescobkk.org/culture/cltmapping

Cultural Mapping
In simple terms cultural mapping is a treasure hunt, or an asset audit, of a cultural entity, to find cultural capital. For more explanation. ...www.culturalmapping.com/

Cultural Mapping
Presentation delivered by Sam Coghlan, Chief Executive Officer, Stratford Public Library, Municipal Cultural Planning Pa. www.slideshare.net/erobson/cultural-mapping

The blog, www.culturalmapping.com/ seems to address this topic in the most depth.

"Your cultural capital is your strength - find it - use it - and prosper!"

In summary - cultural mapping is the process of identifying, recording, and investigating cultural assets, your strengths - that are either tangible or intangible and that make up the elements of that culture. These assets could be organisational, human, social, tribal, corporate, natural or built environments.

Cultural mapping is a participatory action method facilitated to identify your strengths, greatly enhanced through the use of our Cultural Mapping Software.

Cultural Mapping is an opportunity for organisations and individuals to collaborate, build relationships and map their history for sustainable success. To assist in creating tools to help understand each others value in working together, to create better [ valuable ] outcomes - With two way respect and understanding it is always a win/win situation. Creating less risk to the projects investment.

Founded by Jennifer Joi Field in 2006, Cultural Mapping was established in Australia as an independent socially responsible venture to provide clients with a way to identify and make the most of their strengths with a focus on: Creating joint value and Linking cultural development methodology with social entrepreneurship goals.

In the past Cultural Mapping has been used as a technique by some professionals in the 'Community Development' sector as a way of 'Mapping' community assets. How it was undertaken was largely dependent on who was doing it and why, most commonly it was used as a tool to identify the resources of communities and was referred to as 'Community Mapping'.

If one were to ask what is Cultural Mapping we would firstly have to say that it involves mapping the Culture of who or what you are, be it a tribe, organisation, community, group, school, association, business or an individual - to find your unique assets or strengths. Culture can in this case be defined as your intellectual property, your special way of being or doing, the purpose of your existence, the business you are in (or would like to be) or the special story that you alone have to tell.

Many small busiensses serve local needs...with local solutions.  But which solutions are most central to the heart of sustainable families and sustainable communities?  The Census Bureau has found that money isn't everything.  There are more tangible ways to measure standards of living and small businesses are in a great position to identify solutions that meet these basic human needs.

The living standards of U.S. households are traditionally measured by income.

This report takes a different approach.

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

It measures living standards in terms of extended measures of well-being of households tracked in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to help deepen our knowledge about household conditions in ways not captured by money alone.

Some aspects of well-being, such as fear of crime or quality of local public services, may be only loosely connected with money. Other measures are more closely related to income but can also be effected by factors such as the cost of living, age, disability status, and sudden changes in circumstances.

Extended measures of well-being provide a more complete and detailed picture of household living conditions in the United States than income alone provides.

Well-being Metrics

The U.S. Census Bureau tracks extended measures of well-being in the SIPP.2.  The SIPP's "Extended Measures of Well-Being" topical module, on which this report is based, covers five broad domains:

(1) appliances and electronic goods, such as possession of refrigerators, landline and cellular telephones, and computers;

(2) housing conditions, including level of satisfaction with overall home repair, adequate living space, and sufficient privacy;

(3) neighborhood conditions and community services, such as: road conditions and the presence of abandoned buildings; satisfactory police, fire, and medical services; and attitudes towards local schools;

(4) meeting basic needs, including the ability to pay bills in full, to avoid eviction, and to have sufficient food; and

(5) the expectation of help, should need arise, from friends, family, and the community.

For this report, extended measures of well-being are used to describe living conditions in the United States for the time period 1992-2003.

Restaurants face specific challenges for sustainability, similar  to those faced by supermarkets -- food must be preserved at both facilities, limiting the ability to reduce refrigeration, and limiting the choice of certain materials in food preparation areas.  Green is definitely in the details!

The use of efficient equipment and on-site renewable energy can result in the savings of up to 15% of the total bill.  Check with your local utility company for rebates, incentives, and test kitchens that allow you to test new equipment  choices...and even recipe refinements.

Lighting accounts for 13% of a restaurant's electricity. A shift to energy efficient lighting can save 70% to 75% of that cost, reducing the total bill by 8%.  Solar light tubes, natural lighting, CFLs and LED lights are some of the options that reduce electricity use.

LED lights in 24/7 locations can be quite cost effective:  consider signage and exit signs! The cost of LED lighting systems are coming down fast.  Their cost effectiveness needs to be monitored for ROI and practical investment for savings as energy costs rise. 

More sophisticated technology can allow a restaurant to convert its waste oil into biofuels to generate power for delivery vehicles or electricity, or uploading into the grid for electricity savings.

Water-conservation measures such as waterless urinals and water-conserving spray nozzles also can help reduce the average restaurant water use that averages 300,000 gallons of water per year.

Health codes can prevent the installation of compact fluorescent bulbs above food preparation areas, but can make a significant difference elsewhere.

Consultants and small businesses that can audit green opportunities and provide connections with qualified installation firms can help these businesses save energy, save money, and provide their customers with more sustainable community services.

All is a day's work and a  satisfying career. 

According to the National Restaurant Association's 2009 forecast, approximately four in 10 full-service restaurant operators and almost three in 10 quick-service operators plan to devote more of their budgets to green initiatives.

New guidelines for going greener are available through the Green Restaurant Association, which has published Certified Green Restaurants 4.0 standards.

"Diners are increasingly environment-savvy," says Michael Oshman, executive director of the Green Restaurant Assoc.--which has been promoting sustainable restaurants since 1990. "Interest has spiked in the last year to 18 months, and businesses are responding." Calls asking for the GRA's consulting services have tripled in the last two years, he noted.

The new Green Restaurant standards allocate points for various categories, including

• energy use reduction
• water conservation
• waste reduction
• disposables
• chemical and pollution reduction
• sustainable food from local and organic sources
• sustainable furnishings that use recycled content or sustainable materials
• sustainable building materials

Newly built restaurants must accumulate 205 points via a specific matrix to achieve a Certified Green Restaurant Sustainabuild designation, as well as conduct a full-scale recycling program--including construction materials--and be free of Styrofoam and other polystyrene foams.

Restaurant chains, including Subway, McDonalds, Chipotle and Dunkin Donuts have pursued USGBC-sponsored LEED certification for individual units, through the Core-and-Shell or retail designations.

A member of the US Green Building Council since 2007--and a member of the LEED for Retail pilot program--McDonalds opened its first LEED-certified unit in 2005 at Abercorn Commons--the US' first LEED-certified shopping center--in Savannah, GA.

McDonalds' green program covers a wide variety of operational improvement programs including 

• high-efficiency rooftop mechanical equipment and boilers
• efficient interior lighting with skylights and daylight controls
• water-saving plumbing fixtures
• green roof
• stormwater management with permeable parking lot pavement and rain gardens
• LED exterior signage
• green power purchased through renewable energy credits

Many of these green stratgies can be scaled for small restaurants -- and many communities offer special programs to assist independent restaurants afford energy conservation.  The community benefits by reducing the peak energy load during heavy usage seasons and times of day, and restaurants can significantly reduce their energy costs. 

Surveys by Boston-based Aberdeen and Dayton, OH-based NCR Corp., show that retailers describe technology as a tool that can help struggling businesses survive the downturn and give them a competitive edge. Aberdeen surveyed about 200 retailers in November and December 2008 about the state of business and technology.

Four out of five retailers are grappling with historically higher cost of goods and low consumer confidence, according to Aberdeen

And shoppers are skittish, NCR found, focused on sales and discounts and willing to switch stores to find them.

Retailers shifted their value chain priorities and IT investments in the last six months of 2008 compared to the first six.

In the second half of the year, "technology and process spending was geared towards accelerated product campaigns, door busters, and promotions--in terms of price discounts and frequency, customer loyalty programs, precision merchandizing, and lean inventory management."

These strategies were designed to minimize business risks such as store closings, working capital squeeze, depleted customer satisfaction due to staff cuts, and low margin attainment.

Anand says the main concerns for 2009 are customer-facing and retail optimization applications that directly affect the bottom-line, greater application integration and hosted application delivery models. 

To attract and retain customers is the goal -- a task NCR suggests will be easiest for retailers who make their businesses most convenient for consumers.

Bargain conscious Americans are spending more time evaluating less familiar brands, switching stores to capitalize on deals and scheduling shopping trips to coincide with the arrival of paychecks, according to a survey of US consumers commissioned by NCR.

The NCR research found:

• 72% of consumers are more likely to shop with a retailer offering the flexibility of online, mobile and kiosk self-service channels;
• Nearly half think kiosks that show them where to find products in stores would be convenient;
• 43% believe receiving discount offerings and product information on large screens in store would be convenient;
• 39% want self-return solutions for processing returns quickly.

READ MORE HERE