The Sustainable Soul

This is a poignant and inspirational guide for a journay toward ecological spirituality and sustainable culture. Each chapter contains an essay and spiritual practices designed for both group and individualized reflection.

Home for the Soul is about creating a considerate and sustainable home that sparks happiness and reflects the spirits, passions and tastes of its inhabitants.

Meet the challenges of today′s changing schools through shared leadership! Today′s rapidly changing schools and educational trends present administrators and school leaders with unique challenges. This fifth volume in the Soul of Educational Leadership series offers inspiring articles that examine how to sustain the achievements of school communities while building shared leadership to carry on the work of school improvement, even when facing tight budgets or a change in leadership. Bringing together a powerful group of leading educational thinkers such as Michael Fullan, Dennis Sparks, Linda Lambert, Dean Fink, Alma Harris, and many others, this volume explores a variety of timely topics for reflection, discussion, and practice, including: The characteristics and nature of effective leadership Sustainable leadership built on shared vision Improving classroom teaching and student learning Large-scale reforms that benefit the entire school community Recruiting and developing new leaders, and much more! This book is an ideal reference for busy administrators dedicated to continued educational excellence.

Gardens for the Soul shows how a sustainable and eco-friendly ethos can be at the heart of creating a beautiful garden, whatever its location or size. There are a multitude of different ways in which we use our outside spaces, and in Gardens for the Soul Sara Bird and Dan Duchars explore ways to create and style an outdoor haven that will suit your lifestyle. Day Dreamers seek solitude and a therapeutic experience, while Home Harvesters use their garden space to grow flowers or fruit and veggies, Garden Partiers put their outside space to work as an entertaining zone for friends and family, and Great Escapers aim to recreate a chilled vacation vibe at home. Sara and Dan visit real-life yards that fall into these categories, from tiny patios to larger spaces, to glean ideas, tips, and inspiration. With a focus on sustainability and reclaimed materials, there are suggestions for choosing garden elements, from décor to lighting to furnishings and accessories, as well as easy craft projects that add quirky personal touches.

The green building movement has produced hundreds of “how-to” books and websites that are filled with tips about green building and what homeowners should do to go green. While helpful and informative, when it comes to making actual purchasing and installation decisions, these books do not make it any easier for a homeowner to prioritize against a budget. Here, Schifman shares her knowledge and experience for others to use in their journey toward a greener way of living. Whether the reader is building a new home or doing a minor remodel, a homeowner needs a framework by which to guide their decisions. These decisions are based on values, and the author posits that there are really only three reasons to go green: For Our Health: By building more sustainably, we reduce our exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins. For Our Wealth: By building a more durable home and being more efficient with resources like water and electricity, we reduce our monthly utility bills and ongoing maintenance expenses. For Our Soul: Collectively doing the right thing for our planet does make a difference—and that is soul-nourishing. Learn the logistics of choosing windows, insulation, appliances, and lighting. Find out about FSC certified wood and about using reclaimed materials. Here is everything you need to make your home sustainable.

Provides an overview of Native American philosophies, practices, and case studies and demonstrates how Traditional Ecological Knowledge provides insights into the sustainability movement.

This wise and inspiring book by Leonard Berry, moves far beyond his pioneering work in services marketing and service quality to explain how great service companies meet their toughest challenge: sustaining long-term success. In a world where customers regard flawless products as a given, service is the key differentiator between competitors in any field. From Berry's exacting study of fourteen mature, highly successful, labor-intensive companies comes an astonishing revelation: the single most important factor in building a lasting service business is not a matter of savvy business practice, but of humane values. In all fourteen award-winning companies -- Bergstrom Hotels, The Charles Schwab Corporation, Chick-fil-A, The Container Store, Custom Research Inc., Dana Commercial Credit, Dial-A-Mattress, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Midwest Express Airlines, Miller SQA, Special Expeditions, St. Paul Saints, USAA, and Ukrop's Super Markets -- values-driven leadership connects with strategic focus, executional excellence, control of destiny, trust-based relationships, generosity, investment in employee success, acting small, and brand cultivation to drive customer satisfaction, innovation, and growth. Dedicating a chapter to each of these nine drivers, this book is the most far-reaching and insightful vision ever presented of the principles and step-by-step actions that continuously bring success to life in a company. Berry's comprehensive model reveals the soul that underlies the strategies and day-to-day operations of great service companies, guiding the thousands of daily decisions of individual employees. Clear, compelling, pathbreaking, Discovering the Soul of Service is essential reading for managers everywhere.