By: Jan Mazotti Issue: Resource Management Section: Letter from Editor
You’ll Move Mountains! Get On Your Way!
There are so many definitions for resources. It could be an economic or productive factor required to accomplish an activity or as means to undertake an enterprise and achieve a desired outcome. The three most basic resources are land, labor, and capital; but other resources include energy, entrepreneurship, information, expertise, management, and time. Or, you could say that resources are materials and components that can be found within the environment. Every man-made product is composed of natural resources. A natural resource may exist as a separate entity such as fresh water and air, as well as a living organism such as a fish, or it may exist in an alternate form which must be processed to obtain the resource such as metal ores, oil, and most forms of energy.
This issue is jam packed with stories from academia, business, and community organizations that are using resources to maximize the use of money and talent to accomplish amazing things all over the world. So instead of another boring letter from me, perhaps Dr. Seuss can demonstrate some of the lessons within. Be a thinker of great things to bend your world in wonderful ways. "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!" This is the underlying message of the Canadian Oil Sands story. It is about the collaborative nature of various organizations—friend or foe—who are thinking of new and productive ways to create energy, while sustaining the community and the environment.
Don’t put yourself in a box. Dream it and do it. And, that is exactly what the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts is doing. They found their “collaborative gene” and engaged academia, business, and government to create jobs, build technological capacity, and improving state-wide collaboration. As Seuss says, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.”
“There are so many things you can learn about, but you’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.” Denver-based Boyers Coffee proves that focused persistence pays off. Founded in 1965, the company strives to do the right thing for its employees and the community, believing whole-heartedly that sustainability serves as a foundation for their new operational strategies—benefit consumers, benefit the company, and benefit the environment. They know that, “If you read with your eyes shut, you’re likely to find that the place where you’re going is far, far behind. So that’s why I tell you to keep your eyes wide, keep them wide open... at least on one side!”
Whether writing about Cats in Hats, Grinches, Sneeches, Gacks, or Whos, Dr. Seuss always found a way to string together the ridiculous and fun, while sharing moving messages. He was a master storyteller who encouraged us all to have big hairy audacious goals, and to never settle for anything less.
He taught us to “think and wonder, wonder and think.” And considering the world around us, isn’t that what we should all commit ourselves to doing? Success is a journey, and we all have our own paths, where each voice counts. We must stay focused, and we must recognize that, “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way” in order to make change. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” All the best,
- Jan Mazotti P.S. – It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.