One Man Stand

Gladwyn d’Souza is the perfect example of how one person can make a difference in

society. Born in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Goa, India, Gladwyn lived in a village

with no electricity or running water. From a young age, he saw how easy it was to live

a green life; he carried this idea with him into today’s society and now one of the most

environmentally friendly citizens around.

Gladwyn is a part of the Sierra Club, choosing to join it because it is a grassroots

organization and he believed that it was a more affective way to make a change. He

says community is key in making a change. The community has to have an active role,

and that is also why he chose the Sierra Club, as it has a very strong influence with the

community and most people stand behind it. In the Sierra Club, Gladwyn is a part of the

transportation committee. They work to study the price of parking and compare the cost

of driving, walking, and riding a bike. He also works with the San Mateo County food

distribution network, ensuring that the produce and animal products sold locally are from

good, sustainable sources and not from damaging factories halfway around the world.

Gladwyn’s house alone is extremely impressive. It is known as the greenest house in San

Mateo County, and for good reason. When planning the location of his house, the first

thing he looked for was distance from both train stations and bus stations. Being close

to these places was important to him because it made traveling and getting from place to

place both convenient and green. In addition his home has solar panels that provide all of

the energy needed to run his home. The wood of the house is almost all recycled wood

from old structures, which would have otherwise been disposed of. The house also has a

grey water system, which filters and recycles water to get the maximum efficiency. That

includes its own irrigation system which waters an extensive garden that produces a large

amount of fresh, local produce. His home has been widely recognized for its amazing

economic and environmental efficiency.

Gladwyn also had some advice to the average citizen who wishes to become greener. The

three big difference makers are transportation, waste, and water. If someone makes an

effort to walk, ride a bike, or take the bus, they can save a huge amount of energy from

not using their car. Not producing trash can save landfill space and conserve resources

and energy; luckily a surprising amount of waste can be recycled or composted safely.

Third, anyone who makes an effort to take shorter showers and use water more sparingly

can make a huge difference, as all the little efforts of people add up to save a huge

amount of water.

On the topic of the Cargill development in Redwood City, Gladwyn explained that it

will be difficult to stop it due to society’s customs, and in order to do so we will have to

put up a fight. The modern world is based off development and advancement, and as he

pointed out the entire populated peninsula was at one point either in a redwood forest or

in the bay. Cargill will make a huge amount of money selling thousands of homes on land

which is now salt flats, and without any concern of effects on wildlife or the community

this effort must be stopped.

When asked what the community can do to stop this, Gladwyn stated simply that public

awareness must be raised through events like informational movies. There are many

faults in the logic of the Cargill development, and if these can be brought to the public

eye it will be much more difficult for Cargill to get the project approved. If somehow the

project does get approved, though, there should be a list of people who can be contacted

to hold a last-minute campaign to get it overturned.

Through his efforts Gladwyn d’Souza has proved that he is one of the greenest men in

the area. He took his rural and efficient background and applied it to his life here in a

very wasteful society, and showed that it is possible to live very well on very little, taking

what we harvest from the Earth and using it to its full potential. Hopefully soon many

more people will start to follow the model set by this environmental pioneer.

~Franklin Rice and Laila Rafi