So the idea started out simple enough. I was going to coordinate the sustainability segment into the Rethink Shanghai section of the Geeks on a Plane Conference. But my brother decided to graduate from college on the same day of the event and it was looking rather complicated until Christine Lu made the obvious suggestion, why not make it virtual?  And all of a sudden, what started out as a morning session turned into the 10 day Sustainable China Virtual Tour! For the next week and a half I’ll take you on an adventure through Shanghai’s sustainability scene.

First stop: Starbucks. No need to reread that line. You read it right.

That’s where I met Richard Brubaker. According to his blog, All Roads Lead to China.  But for me, when developing my road map of who’s who in the sustainability scene in Shanghai, all roads led to Richard Brubaker.

We spoke about a ridiculous range of topics, including corporate responsibility, the recent Foxconn suicides, the sustainability scene in Shanghai, a range of challenges and solutions re: energy China, and the quickly developing world of NGO’s in China.

I couldn’t write a book on Richard, so I opted to start out with a post on the sustainability guru (did I mention he is also a professor of sustainability?) who can’t sit still long enough between do-gooder projects Richard Brubaker on What Gives’ site where we focus on developing the first volunteer organization in Shanghai, HandsOn China.