EQUITY

About The Petal

The intent of the Equity Petal is to elevate equity as a project goal, and to transform developments to foster a just and inclusive community that enables all people to participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. It is grounded in the belief that a society that embraces and engages all sectors of humanity and allows the dignity of equal access and fair treatment is a civilization in the best position to make decisions that protect and restore the natural environment that sustains all of us.

Access for Everybody

We are planning to make the entrance door, the indoor and outdoor dining area, the office and the downstairs restroom accessible for friends and visitors with physical disabilities. That means we will add a ramp to the main entrance door, rearrange restroom fixtures and install grab bars for wheelchair accessibility.

Our property is located along a quiet country road and many of our neighbors take walks along it throughout the day. Our orchard is located next to this road and is a place where we interact with people often. We would like to construct a farm stand where people could pick up fruits and vegetables harvested from our gardens.

Inclusion

The contractor we choose to perform the renovation must be willing to apply for JUST certification, which measures the performance of the contractor's company on social justice issues.

Firms are rated from zero to three stars in the areas of:

Diversity (non-discrimination, gender and ethnic diversity)
Equity (pay scale equity, gender pay equity, living wage, family-friendly policies)
Safety (occupational safety, hazardous chemicals)
Worker Benefit (happiness, benefit programs, continuing education)
Local Benefit (local control, local sourcing)
Stewardship (responsible investing, volunteering, charitable giving, transparency)

Fresh Air for our Neighbors

Climate change has contributed to an increase in California wildfires in recent years. As a result of so much acreage burning in our region, air quality can become hazardous to human health during the summer and fall months. We are dependent on our fireplace for heating our home in the winter and we love sitting in front of the fire in the evenings. Our fireplace makes a small contribution to emissions, but our neighbors are far enough from us that they are not affected. To minimize our emissions, we replaced an outdated fireplace insert with one of the highest-efficiency woodstoves available in the U.S. When our renovation is complete, we will use an emission-free system to heat the house, and the fireplace will be used for special occasions.