CURRENT MISSION

To help the world heal and to have a damn good time while doing that.

ABOUT ME

I love life. Look me up on facebook - Grey Lee Cambridge.
I am the executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council in Massachusetts, based in Boston, Mass. I work to convene the community of practitioners of all trades and disciplines in real estate to advance the cause of green buildings and sustainability in planning & urban design. We advocate for legislation and regulations regarding the building sector to advance our green building industry, and we educate to improve the capacity of our colleagues to respond effectively to the challenge of sustainability in our built environment.
Basically, I want MORE GREEN BUILDINGS!
It's a lot of fun!
I love to travel and I hope that traveling (and expending vast amounts of carbon) does not compromise my concern for the planet and its ecological integrity. I am still trying to figure out how to balance my high-energy lifestyle with my concerns. I am generally a very small ecological footprinted person, but the travel does negatively offset a lot of my efforts.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have shared many wonderful experiences and made many friends traveling across the world, learning all the time. I want to continue to relay and rejuvenate this positive energy.
I live in a cooperative house with ten other people. We try to run our household sustainably, purchasing organic food, conserving energy and resources, and sharing our lives with each other. We host fundraisers for social justice organizations and support political alternatives. We believe our cooperative living arrangement is a good model for everyone to try.
We host people traveling from far away quite often - look up Cambridge Cooperative Club. cambridgecoop.wordpress.org

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have been very lucky over the years to stay with many good people in odd places, before finding this site. Some memories include staying in a small house in Arari, Maranhao, Brazil, after a somewhat drunk kid walking down the street befriended me late night and put me up in his auto workshop, and his sister got upset so took me into the house and I slept in a hammock in the living room.
Another time I was having a fun time in a pub in Nether Wallop, Hampshire, UK, and the people I was with wanted to leave, but I wanted to stay and I ended up sleeping under the billiard table at the suggestion of the publican.
At my house in Cambridge, I live with ten other people, it is a cooperative. We have a guest room and have hosted people from all over the world. Manu from Italy, Heli from Austria, Maina from Kenya, Maria Luiza (Lu) from Brazil, many many good people over the years.

Interests

I am interested in living life to the fullest! I spend a lot of time thinking about (and working on) sustainable communities, social engagement with environmental responsibility, and energy efficiency in the built environment

• design
• environment
• dining
• wine
• organic food
• running
• modeling
• walking
• partying
• clubbing
• pub crawls
• traveling
• drawing
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

I enjoy Marissa Monte - the brazilian singer, Radiohead, and Miles Davis, all his stuff as it evolved. I like to sing karaoke to Eddie Money. Also, Def Leppard. I don't watch movies enough. I just finished a book by Lama Surya Das, and am in the middle of a book on systems thinking & learning organizations by Peter Senge.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've seen a few total solar eclipses and that is always a thrill. I swam with a manatee once and it was fun. I drank a really spicy turkish beet juice and really enjoyed it, at a little restaurant at a bus station. I am really good at directionally felling trees. I can hand-draw a map of any continent and identify all the countries and capitals (it's a stupid party trick). I have a "living machine" in my bedroom. I have used up 5 of my nine lives.

Teach, Learn, Share

I enjoy talking about ecological footprints, environmental systems, permaculture and productive landscapes. I know a lot about commercial real estate and am happy to talk about that when people face an issue about buildings and office space.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I like to bring a bottle of wine or something nice to eat. I am happy to trade stories. I like practicing languages and learning new words & phrases. Hopefully my hosts will be able to travel one day to the Boston area and benefit from my hospitality at my house in Cambridge.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, United Kingdom, United States