sustainablog Turns Six

Ever forget your wedding anniversary? Your spouse’s/partner’s birthday? Perhaps forgetting the anniversary on which you started blogging isn’t quite the same, but after six years and thousands of posts, I felt like a total dolt when I realized today that July 10th (not today, the 12th) was sustainablog’s “birthday.”

That’s right: six years (and two days) ago, I created a new Blogger account, and started wrestling with this concept of sustainability that I’d only recently discovered. There’ve been lots of twists and turns since then, but it’s really gratifying to look back and see the growth and development of my little blog in that time.

While most of us associate birthdays/anniversaries with gifts and celebrations, these dates are also the perfect time for expressing gratitude, and looking forward (as well as back). I owe many people thanks for their support, including

The folks at Green Options: sustainablog’s always been a little unique in the GO network: rather than narrowly focusing on a niche within the green world, we’ve always done a little bit of everything. That has its ups and down, and I’m grateful to my friends at GO (and new parent company Virgance) for their patience with and support of our model.

The green blogosphere: You can’t blog in a vacuum… or, at least, you can’t blog in a vacuum and expect to build much of an audience. From early on, sustainablog’s received a ton of support from both big and small players within the green online media space. Special hat tips to Grist (one of the first big sites to link to us), Treehugger (for the writing gig and frequent linkage), Worldchanging (for frequent early linkage and some guest posting opportunities), Triplepundit, HuffPo Green, Green, Inc., Greenbiz, Lighter Footstep… I’m just getting started. Whether you’re listed or not, know that I appreciate your support.

Many, many talented individuals: Over the years, many people have been very generous with their time, talents, advice, support, and friendship. I couldn’t possibly list them all, but I appreciate every single one of them.  A few people who have been especially kind:

• David Anderson
• Simran Sethi
• Michael Graham Richard
• Leonora Oppenheim
• Shea Gunther
• Nick Aster
• Robin Shreeves
• Joel Makower
• Michael d’Estries
• Gil Friend
• David Wescott
• Christine Esposito
• Tristan Roy

Our readers: Whether it was during sustainablog’s solo years, or since we’ve become a part of the GO network (and a multi-author blog), our readers have both encouraged and challenged us. Without them, sustainablog would be that proverbial tree falling in the forest… your support and participation is the true measure of our success. I’m truly humbled by and grateful for your time and attention.

What’s next for sustainablog?

I’ve been thinking hard about that question for several months. It’s easy to get in the habit of just tossing posts into the queue without thinking much about the bigger picture… and not thinking is not our way here at sustainablog. So, as we move into the second half of 2009, you’ll see more

Stories focused on the people, organizations and businesses facing our shared environmental challenges: It’s so easy to get caught up in the “doom and gloom”… and, to some degree, it works for driving traffic, etc. But the hurdles we’ve got in front of us have stimulated a tremendous amount of creativity, innovation, and sheer determination — many people have devoted a significant portion of their time and energy to creating a more sustainable world. More and more, that’s what we’ll focus on here at sustainablog. That doesn’t mean we’ll get pollyanna-ish, or ignore challenges… we will, however, lean towards stories that demonstrate how embracing these challenges can be empowering.

Multimedia: Yep, I’m a text guy, but I know that audio and video are quickly becoming the preferred media online. I’ve got a bit of a learning curve to overcome, so we’ll start slowly. We will start, however — first up is an occasional podcast series. Look for episode one this coming week.

More “how-to” and practical content: I’ll always be a sucker for a good story, so you’ll see plenty of those. But, I also realize that many people go online to figure out how to incorporate green practices into their own lives. Whenever possible, though, we’ll try to get beyond the simple “tips” model, and give you as broad a picture as possible of the practices you can implement to lower your own ecological footprint… and save yourself money, contribute to your family’s health and well-being, and perhaps even lower your stress levels.

Of course, we’re always open to your ideas… we’d love to hear them!  Thank you for the time you spend here at sustainablog… let us know what we can do to make that time more valuable for you.