Paper or Plastic?

loggerhead

Sometimes you run across an individual who champions multiple causes that are near and dear to your heart. Dan Rosenthal is one of those champions.

I spend portions of my life at our condo on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. In the summer months, we keep our interior lights off in the evenings so we don’t interfere with the birthing processes of the Loggerhead turtles. Dan Rosenthal’s mother managed Loggerhead Turtle Watch program on Longboat Key and pioneered the efforts to handle endangered species programs for turtles throughout the state of Florida. While vacationing in St. Maarten, Dan saw a Loggerhead turtle wash ashore and later learned that it had died from ingesting a plastic take-out bag. The fact that he provided those same bags at his restaurants (over 400,000 per year), made him realize that he was playing a role in harming the same creatures his mother had worked so hard to preserve. He had to enact change…

Rosenthal founded the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op in 2007, in order to provide affordable option for fellow restaurateurs to procure sustainable products and services in volumes that are affordable. The Co-op has evolved into the Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition, which focuses on advocacy and education regarding purchasing sustainable food products and supporting the restaurants that do so. They have tackled such issues as composting, immigration, and the agricultural industry’s impact on consumers and the environment.

What I love most about Rosenthal’s story is that family values often come full circle in creating social entrepreneurship. So many stories about various people who have created responsible business models to help solve problems in our society are tied together by the same golden thread…an awareness that was instilled in them by a prior generation. It is yet another reminder that the greatest accomplishments in life may not always be what we directly create, but how we impact others on a daily basis…how we mold and shape the entrepreneurship of our future generations by instilling the values needed to make a difference. Whatever your values may be, it is a great time to include your children in conversations and activities centered around those values. Sometimes the indirect impact we make is even more powerful than the direct one.

You can learn more about The Rosenthal Group’s most recent green accomplishments here.

Sometimes you run across an individual who champions multiple causes that are near and dear to your heart. Dan Rosenthal is one of those champions.

I spend portions of my life at our condo on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. In the summer months, we keep our interior lights off in the evenings so we don’t interfere with the birthing processes of the Loggerhead turtles. Dan Rosenthal’s mother managed Loggerhead Turtle Watch program on Longboat Key and pioneered the efforts to handle endangered species programs for turtles throughout the state of Florida. While vacationing in St. Maarten, Dan saw a Loggerhead turtle wash ashore and later learned that it had died from ingesting a plastic take-out bag. The fact that he provided those same bags at his restaurants (over 400,000 per year), made him realize that he was playing a role in harming the same creatures his mother had worked so hard to preserve. He had to enact change…

Rosenthal founded the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op in 2007, in order to provide affordable option for fellow restaurateurs to procure sustainable products and services in volumes that are affordable. The Co-op has evolved into the Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition, which focuses on advocacy and education regarding purchasing sustainable food products and supporting the restaurants that do so. They have tackled such issues as composting, immigration, and the agricultural industry’s impact on consumers and the environment.

What I love most about Rosenthal’s story is that family values often come full circle in creating social entrepreneurship. So many stories about various people who have created responsible business models to help solve problems in our society are tied together by the same golden thread…an awareness that was instilled in them by a prior generation. It is yet another reminder that the greatest accomplishments in life may not always be what we directly create, but how we impact others on a daily basis…how we mold and shape the entrepreneurship of our future generations by instilling the values needed to make a difference. Whatever your values may be, it is a great time to include your children in conversations and activities centered around those values. Sometimes the indirect impact we make is even more powerful than the direct one.

You can learn more about The Rosenthal Group’s most recent green accomplishments here.

About the author

Jen

I am a JENerosity seeker who believes that life is better when we choose to take advantage of opportuntities to give. The universe provides these blessings in forms that are both great and small. My desire is to capture these moments, share them in an authentic and creative way and inspire others to spread JENerosity one moment at a time. With Jenerosity comes Joy!