Sand in the clay - sales and stewardship in a complex environment

Sometimes I wish I was more of an academic and could live away from the miriad conflicts of interest that exist for someone who makes a living selling a product on moral grounds instead of financial or other more tangible factors. Fortunately in solar, there's feel good and "coolness" factors as well to lighten things up a bit.
It's one thing to sell cars or insurance, but to mix selling with your core beliefs.... I used to think it was a beautiful marriage - sell something you believe in, you never have to overspin, you rarely have to compromise. And I think it can be done, but it's treading on dangerous ground when you start to mix ethics and selling. I think one solution is to make sure you're as technically competent as possible, and leave the ethical arguments to the David Suzuki's and Al Gores of the world.
This is a good reason to stay politically neutral in sales, but it's also a good reason to live below your means. As a champion of sustainable living, no one will point fingers at you for being in business just to make money if you live simply and know your stuff.

The overlaps can be good too. It's not a bad feeling to walk into a room of like-minded characters, (and everyone in this field is a bit of character), who hang out and talk about their day-jobs like it was a hobby. In the environmental field, you can do meaningful work and live your philosophies in very practical way. This is definitely something to be grateful for, even if it's tough to navigate.

The blog title comes from something I heard at the Green Neighbours 21 meeting yesterday in Toronto. Jeff, who's Program Director for Water Efficiency at the City, was telling a story about a woman who called him up concerned about her garden. She'd done a number of things to 'improve' the fertility of her clay soil, which wasn't yielding despite best efforts. She told him she'd tried to do the right thing, tilled and compost-fertilized etc. Then she acted on something she'd read about sand being porous and good for low-water plants. She poured a bed of sand on top of the clay and then planted. Jeff said with a wry smile, "What happens when you mix sand and clay...you get cement. "

When you're out of school and there's no right or wrong answers anymore, no black and white, it's hard to know whether you're making the difference you want to. I've thought about grad school and whether it would be better to pursue these goals in a more neutral, research-focused context. But I'm not ready to give up on sales yet. There's a core of people who have put a lot into the West Toronto initiative, and they're counting on ARISE to deliver. At least for the next few weeks, I'll be committed to building on their efforts and working on our collective belief that this is a means to a cleaner, more people-friendly environment.