Where: Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy
Description: $5.00 for a must see documentary
According to SustainLane. US City Rankings, Portland, Oregon is The Most Sustainable City in the United States. But what makes Portland more sustainable than other US cities? Part of the answer may be found in Landfall Productions’ new documentary, “A Passion for Sustainability,” which will premiere at The Hollywood Theater on Wednesday, November 14th at 7 pm.
“A Passion for Sustainability” gets up close and personal with a host of Portland’s business leaders who all subscribe to the principles of “The Natural Step.” What is The Natural Step? It’s a scientific framework businesses are using to become more sustainable. Founded nearly twenty years ago by Swedish hematologist, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert, The Natural Step has gained acceptance world-wide. Portland, Oregon is currently home to the only Natural Step organization in the U.S.
Dr. Robert was in Portland recently to attend the 10th Anniversary of the Oregon Natural Step Network, which is headed by former Portland attorney, Regina Hauser. Jane Turville, the documentary’s co-producer is Director of Development for the Northwest Earth Institute. A year ago, Eric Stacey volunteered to make a short 10-minute video for the Oregon Natural Step?s Anniversary dinner. With Turville’s assistance, they set to work researching and producing the short video stories which would become both the 10 minute celebration video and the longer documentary version which has become “A Passion for Sustainability,” (with music by Portland jazz piano legend Tom Grant).
Most Portlanders will recognize Hot Lips Pizza owner Dave Yudkin in the film, but there are twelve other Portland business leaders who may not be as familiar. From Patricia Uber, who fuels her TerraClean cleaning trucks with vegetable oil to Dennis Wilde, who heads the South Waterfront development project of Gerding Edlen Development, the program explores the application of The Natural Step principles by a variety of businesses. The Collins Companies, for instance, continue a 150 year legacy of sustainable forest management which resulted in their forests being among the first to receive a Forest Stewardship Council certification. And Portland builder Tom Kelly, second generation owner of Neil Kelly Company, has recently completed the first “net zero energy” home in the US to receive a LEED Certification. Other companies profiled in the film include NIKE, Sokol-Blosser Winery, OMSI, sustainable fashion designer Anna Cohen, Hawthorne Auto, PAE Engineering, The Joinery, Carleton-Hart Architecture and The Tualatin Valley Water District. These companies and more than 300 other Portland area businesses are members of the Oregon Natural Step Network.
With the recent emphasis on the threats of global warming from films like Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” Stacey and Turville believe “A Passion for Sustainability” provides sorely needed models for others across the country who are interested in making their lives, their businesses and their communities more sustainable.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE SCREENING ON NOV. 14TH!
If you’d like to purchase copies of A Passion for Sustainability, please contact
Landfall Productions at info@landfallprods.com