Interview with Chuck Templeton of DeltaBeans

Chuck Templeton is an Eco Entrepreneur Student of Leadership and Strategy. California native transplanted to Chicago about 7 years ago. Three years in the Army, (Airborne Ranger, Sniper qualified), but no live action. Founder of OpenTable.com. Board member of GrubHub.com, Partner in Delta Beans, LLC, advisor for multiple tech start ups. Husband and father of two girls (2 and 4).

Find Chuck:
twitter @greenergood
blog http://blog.greener-good.com/

knowist: Tell me a little bit about your passion for environmental issues?

Chuck: I have always had a tint of green growing up connecting with nature and the outdoors. I loved camping with my dad or walking a stream jumping from bolder to bolder for miles at a time as a youngster. My father recycled aluminum cans (not for the evn, but for the $) but it was always amazing to me when we went to drop off all of the cans, how many were there and that many in society just threw theirs out. But most of my life has been as a passive environmentalist. That all changed when my wife and I had our first child, Kendall. She made me think more about the future and what the world would be like when she got older. I started to think about her standard of living and decided to do some research on what was/is actually happening in the world.

The more research I have done, the more I realize that we have some serious challenges ahead of us and those are not as far out in the distance as many believe. I also don't believe that technology alone will be able to save us. We are making amazing advances in learning between materials science, energy and biomimicry. But the physics of 6.5 billion people on the planet, of which 3 billion have arrived in the last 50 years and another 3 billion projected in the next 40 cause me pause for concern. I believe that we must change culture and the values of humans as to what a high standard of living is and move away from consumption as the primary goal of a live. There are so many other ways of defining real wealth, many of which point to
more intense experiences and require a lot fewer resources.

knowist: Have you had to resolve conflict between your environmental passion and your business initiatives?

Chuck: There are indeed some business initiatives that I am engaged in that are not currently 100% aligned with my evolving vision for the future of Planet earth and its inhabitants (not that anyone is asking my opinion besides this blogger). But my goal is to help move them where is makes sense in a direction that is more consistent with my perception as to what it will take to be successful as resource challenges, carbon capt and trade systems, re localizing of economies, increased energy prices and rising commodity prices permeate the business community. Just like the last 5 to 10 years has drastically changed the competitive landscape for businesses, I believe that the next 5 to 10 will bring even bigger change as we move from a carbon based economy to a carbon neutral or carbon negative world.

So I hope help the businesses I am involved with be ahead of the inevitable curve we are speeding towards so that they can have a competitive advantage and excel in a changing world.