Welcome to another installment of “10 Words or Less,” in which I ask brief questions of interesting people, and request brief answers in return. Today’s participant is listed eighth on GreenBiz’s Twitter Index, which is testament to his formidable combination of smarts and charisma. I once went to a networking group on his suggestion. When I sat down at a table with others and they asked how I’d learned of the group, I said simply, “Asheen,” to which the whole table chorused, “Of course!” Please remember: “10 words” is an ethic, not a limit, so please, no counting! Besides, if you think it’s so easy, let’s see you do it.

Name Asheen Phansey
Fahn-SAY? I’ve been saying it wrong. Yes, it means “One who farms jackfruit.” And my first name means “tireless.”
In what languages? "Phansey is Marathi. Asheen is Sanskrit."
Born when, where: "Oct. 15, 1980, 12:23 a.m., Charleston, S.C."
Anything unusual about the circumstances? “The most unusual thing, if you know me at all, was that I was born on time. I think it was the last time."
Resides: Burlington, Mass.
Family situation: "Married, with two kids that I chase around. 1 1/2 and 4."
First world event you recall being aware of The first event that I really understood and affected me was the Exxon Valdez spill. [March 24, 1989] I can’t remember if that was before or after the first Persian Gulf War. [Aug. 2, 1990]

A central part of the message I deliver to audiences is that nature is the only teacher of sustainability we will ever need. It’s been sustaining life on earth for 3.8 billion years, while humans have been upright only for about 200,000 years; the experience gap is obvious.

 I am not, of course, the originator of this idea, that humans are part of nature, not apart and certainly not above it, and the most prudent direction for all of us is to follow nature’s lead. I wouldn’t cast that as an absolute, but only because absolutes are bad every time.

Jim Hartzfeld, a key figure in the rise of Interface, the Ray Anderson-founded carpet company and sustainability engine, offers these "leading indicators of accelerating progress" (closely paraphrased): It's as much about intuition as it is about calculation, about introspection regarding your own story instead of persuading someone else, about learning than being the expert, collaboration more than debate, humility rather than hubris, and always about challenging the conventional thinking, even if it was your idea originally.

Based at Utah State, the Crossroads Project is a collaboration of the Fry Street Quartet and physicist Robert Davies that marries science and art to answer what amounts to the central paradox of modern life: "where the scientific ability to identify unprecedented risk to the natural systems that support us, intersects a societal inability to respond," as a document describing the project expresses it.

I missed the free showing last night — and you probably did too — but I still wanted to mention the film “Food Patriots,” about a family’s decision to ratchet up its fresh-and-local food buying, to grow chickens, and to otherwise takes steps toward being part of the food solution.

I've written op-eds on other subjects, but today's piece published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is my first following the line of my forthcoming book, "It Matters." I argue that nature is humankind's pre-eminent guide to survival and that following its lead not only solves our environmental problems, but many personal ones as well.

Please comment here, and share widely.

Via Wayne Maceyka, an accomplished pal in the sustainability realm, I’ve now been confronted with the “ecomodernist,” who believes “technology is the solution and not the problem,” according to writer Fred Pearce.

I heard the news today, oh boy: The first op-ed I've done squarely on sustainable personal growth has been accepted for publication and will run Sunday in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

This is the last in a series of eight posts detailing concepts and attitudes for sustainable personal change. As one would expect of someone maintaining a 155-pound loss for more than 20 years, my examples have to do with food and weight, but their point is to illustrate how anyone can achieve and maintain healthy change. Today’s concept:  “Change is a choice.”

This is the seventh in a series of eight posts detailing concepts and attitudes for sustainable personal change. As one would expect of someone maintaining a 155-pound loss for more than 20 years, my examples have to do with food and weight, but their point is to illustrate how anyone can achieve and maintain healthy change. Today’s concept: “If you’ve had enough, have you done enough?”