3.ZERO

Branding and Imagery

2011-03-15T06:18:00.001-07:00

Zero Waste Creativity

2010-08-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

By JAMES COOPER | Published: AUGUST 23, 2010 SHARETHIS

How often do you say to yourself about a brief, a trip or a meeting, ‘what a total waste of time’? Maddeningly often I suspect. And even when a project does come to fruition I’ll wager it was the result of many many meetings, many many ideas presented, many ideas ritually sacrificed at research groups and multiple rounds of changes. It’s the world we live in. But why?a meeting, ‘what a total waste of time’?

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iPad Competition Infographic ::.

2010-07-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

* Click to Zoom

Cradle to Cradle Enters Public Domain, Eyes Mainstream Acceptance

2010-06-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

By Jonathan Bardelline

OAKLAND, CA — Cradle-to-Cradle design is going into the public domain and worldwide with the launch of the Green Products Innovation Institute (GPII), a nonprofit that will develop standards for individual products, intended to accelerate the transition to safer materials and advance California's Green Chemistry Initiative.

"We're hoping this will be an innovation engine for companies," said William McDonough, co-founder of the GPII, in an interview in advance of the nonprofit's launch today.

McDonough, an architect and designer, and Michael Braungart, a chemist and co-founder of the GPII, developed the revolutionary principles of Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) together, calling for products to be made with safe ingredients that be returned to nature or industry, by companies that are socially responsible, commit to renewable energy, and safely use water.

The duo's McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry firm has been handling all certification for C2C products, a list that now numbers in the hundreds and includes a range of office furniture, personal care, building materials and packaging products.

In creating the GPII, McDonough said, they are donating to the nonprofit all of their C2C intellectual property developed over 20 years, including their 10 years of ha certifications.

"This will become an open system that is subject to public discussion and improvement," he said. Previously, all of the details of how to achieve C2C certification was intellectual property of MBDC, and any companies wanting to move to that level of design had to go to MBDC for consultation and product assessment. Now all of that information, along with lists of safer, positive chemical choices, will be available publicly.

The GPII will develop standards for products based on the five principles of C2C design: safe materials; materials that can be reused (recycled, composted, etc.); use of renewable energy; efficient water use, coupled with production of safe water ("We want water coming out of factories that is safe to drink," McDonough said); and social fairness.

Each sector and product type, McDonough said, will end up with different details for their standards based on the entirety of their supply chains, but they will all be signals for where the GPII wants to see product development go.

The GPII, in taking over the bulk of the work that MBDC performed, will train assessors that will work with companies to look at their products and see if they meet C2C certification, as well as advise them on ways to either meet certification or move up in the different levels of certification. Assessors could end up being employees within companies, third-party groups and MBDC itself.

The GPII, McDonough said, will then focus on larger fundamental issues, such as investigating chemicals and materials. The group will inform assessors about topics that are being researched and discussed, and also take feedback from assessors about issues they run into while looking at products and processes. All such topics, he said, will be open to public debate, with encouragement to hear global input.

And the transition of C2C to the GPII will also free up McDonough and Braungart to work on their own passions of design and chemistry.

"On a personal level I am interested in moving back to design fulltime and working on products," McDonough said. "We've always wanted to do this. We've always felt that C2C was a discovery and not an invention, and it really belongs in the public domain."

But first, he said, C2C needed to be tested, needed to be manifested in a way that it could be fully understood before going into the public domain.

"It's been a very steady growth with really serious clients that take time to do things right," McDonough said. "We finally got to the point that our enterprise is vigorous and experienced enough that it is worth releasing. (C2C) is a teenager now. It can go out in the world and carry its own weight."

In addition, the development of the GPII was pushed forward by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to act as part of the state's Green Chemistry Initiative.

One of the six Green Chemistry Initiative policy recommendations by the California Environmental Protection Agency is to move toward a Cradle to Cradle economy.

While the GPII will be headquartered in San Francisco and have that initial focus on California's Green Chemistry Initiative, the intent is for it to have global reach, McDonough said.

Along with having worldwide discussions on materials, the non-profit will also have more clout, he said, in pushing for safer chemical alternatives that do not exist yet by challenging industry and showing how much of a demand there is for safer materials.

A Beautiful Ad Campaign by Surf Rider Foundation (Europe)

2010-03-13T12:09:00.001-08:00

State of the Internet

2010-03-13T11:21:00.001-08:00

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

TransFair USA Opens Factory Standard for Public Comment

2009-11-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

TransFair USA, is the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified products in the United States, will begin certifying cotton clothing, bed and bath products for Fair Trade Certification in 2010.

In conjunction with the new product offering, the organization has drafted new factory standard for company's wishing to be fair trade compliant in this industry. The draft standard is viewable on the TransFair USA website and the public may comment on it for 45 days starting November 16th. The standard builds on the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention to workers in factories and sewing cooperatives.

In a new fair-trade move, workers on both ends of the supply chain will benefit from the fair-trade premium. Cotton farmers will receive a minimum farm-gate price, as well as a premium to invest in community needs such as schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Garment workers will receive a premium from the purchasers of the finished goods and can democratically decide how the funds are spent.

Paul Rice, president and CEO of TransFair USA, said: "Consumers have become increasingly aware of humanitarian issues in the garment industry. They want to make ethical choices but are faced with very few options. This new draft standard will give consumers the opportunity to use their purchasing power to guarantee fair prices to farmers and social justice for workers who sew their clothes. By wearing Fair Trade Certified garments, consumers will now have a voice in ensuring better factory working conditions and higher earnings for cotton farmers in countries like Mali, India and Peru."

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via sustainable media life

InfoGraphics: Why buy local?

2009-10-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enhance ::.

Open Letter to the Magazine Industry: The game has changed…

2009-09-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

By Jonathan Shaun

I grew up on Thrasher and various BMX publications. These magazines communicated products, athletes, and the life surrounding the industries authentically. They definitely entertained me and truly inspired my actions. Part of this is because, back in the day, the advertisements were more about telling a brand story than selling a product. Many of the interviews and photography inside these magazines were plastered on my bedroom walls as artwork. Needless to say, those magazines had lasting affects on my childhood and beyond.

It’s still a good feeling to hold a solid-bound object full with imagery, rich information, and the sense that you are reading and seeing something fresh. Many innovations have been procreated through this form of media. As a thoughtful individual, it’s a personal eco-sin of mine. However, it may be the best damn way to capture compelling content…period.

That said, the 21^st century has been moving forward quite rapidly through digital media. The time has come to wake up and innovate through a holistic approach using new methodologies mixed with traditional models of print.

Here are a few points to consider…

1. It’s not a secret that generation X, Y, and Z is more digitally minded than past generations. Apple has developed products that are not only iconic to these generations, but also vital to their existence. The iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch is changing the way media is distributed and utilized. The industry must develop digital solutions that are conscious, authentic, entertaining, educating, and of course profitable without comprising the user experience.

2. Industry leaders need to develop a fluid experience that is absolutely interactive. They have to utilize both digital and analog communications so that your digital efforts need to complement the hard copy print. They are both vital to survival and to secure future market share. This is truly an amazing period and there are groundbreaking revenue generators just waiting to be explored.

3. The industry needs to develop Applications foriPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. These elements will have ROI through a monthly subscription-based process through iTunes in the Apple Application Store. Again, there are individuals that will turn away from print due to their environmental stance. This is perfectly fine. In fact, this is an opportunity to connect with a diverse crowd, save money, and preserve natural resources.

4. You can charge the same amount or close to it on a subscription-based model without physically creating excess hard copy product. Remember, we are communicating a holistic brand communication process that will be a touch point for individuals on a global level. We haven’t hit on it yet, however, think about what you can offer your advertising partners and vital accounts that support the industries. You will be able to offer vast digital and print solutions that will be more effective than the singular pursuit of either digital or print. This method is an interactive multi-channel campaign that will enhance your brand IQ for both business-to-business and business-to-customer relations.

The digital elements can really bring together a potent look and feel. All the imagery and content can be rich and full of life. Moreover, you have the technology to embed hyperlinks, social media technologies, video, music, and commerce built into these creative aspects. It’s all in the delivery though. You need to create these interactive channels with entertainment and purpose. If you are just trying to sell the user something every time they scroll or click you will lose them forever. It’s about blended value and trust.

With digital, you can utilize this form of media as a testing ground for future printed themes. Utilize the crowd through idea hunting. Ask your Facebook fans and Twitter followers what they want to see and hear from you. Getting your readership and business partners involved in the creative direction will develop a stronger following and build viral networks.

If an individual is a paid subscriber to either your print or digital experience they should be offered the other one for free. Offering the holistic brand experience will enhance your DNA. You can get really creative on this one. There are many artists willing to distribute their media exclusively through these channels. You could be the first to preview videos and music with a “buy now” button at the end of a clip. There’s a massive revenue generator in this concept. You share the profits with various video production houses and you would help solve another industry issue. From a business-to-business perspective, this is a great way to build a stronger relationship. As for the end user, they are entertained and can buy full- length media from one device, which will work on their mobile, laptop, and desktop machines.

We just scratched the surface here. If you would like to explore more provided solutions to holistic brand experience and your digital IQ – feel free to connect. Again, thank you Doug for inspiring us to look deeper into the future of magazines and not the death of them.

Jonathan Shaun is founder of 3.ZERO, a Digital + Branding Studio. 3.ZERO develops innovative digital solutions for forward thinking businesses. Shaun can be reached at Shaun@3pointZero.org. Visit 3pointZero.org for more information.

One Textile Label to Cut the Confusion: L.E.A.F.

2009-08-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

Elinor Averyt is the founder of a proposed eco-labeling program, ‘Labeling Ecologically Approved Fabrics™ ’ (L.E.A.F.) which aims to eliminate confusion in the US market around environmental and social labeling for apparel and other textile products. The three month public review process for LEAF is launching this week, during which industry stakeholders and the general public are being invited to participate in a collaborative development process. Ms. Averyt made some time for an exclusive Q&A with Sustainable Life Media.

What is the goal of LEAF’s new eco-label?

The overall goal of LEAF is to become the trusted label licensing program that eliminates confusion in the US marketplace concerning environmental and social labeling for apparel and other textile products. LEAF is intended to be a high profile program similar to the USDA program that is in place for food and the LEED environmental rating system in place for green buildings.

How will this be accomplished?

The LEAF program will clearly communicate to US consumers which third-party certifications different apparel products have received, and where along the supply chain the certifications apply. Grouped within specific environmental and social achievement categories, this information will be communicated through a licensed eco-mark and labeling format designed to be easily identified and read by US consumers.

Is this program focusing on all aspects of the textile industry?

The proposed focus of LEAF is on apparel sold in the United States. The program may also include other textile categories over time, e.g. home textiles and fabrics used on accessories (including shoes, bags, backpacks, purses, etc.).

So is L.E.A.F. also working on creating the actual solutions for how to green the apparel and textile industry?

No, not really. This program is not the entity that has created the environmental and social solutions when it comes to the production of apparel. Instead, this program’s purpose is to make sure consumers understand the solutions that already exist. Their informed purchasing habits can enable these solutions to become the norm, but the current labeling landscape is confusing. What we’ve found in this investigative process is that the answers for this industry’s successful transition to a sustainable existence are for the large part already here, and they’ve already been created by several key stakeholder groups. These solutions are being created by innovative designers and brands that have made great strides to work towards greening their products. This industry also consists of an extensive supply chain —all of whose efforts are absolutely necessary in order for the industry to operate and successfully transition to a sustainable existence. In addition, standards-setting organizations and their partnering certification programs have, by their painstaking efforts, created scientifically valid environmental and social benchmarks to aspire to all along the entire supply chain. These programs are literally spelling out the ways to successfully green this industry within its highly complex, industrialized life cycle.

Where then does your group fit in to the process of eco-certification for textiles and apparel?

Our group is here to be a neutral, non-biased entity that helps facilitate clear information exchange between four key stakeholder groups:

Apparel industry stakeholders
Standards-setting organizations and programs who have created environmental and social benchmarks for this industry
Certifying bodies and agencies performing the certifications to/against these standards
The U.S. end user, last but most definitely not least!

Each one of these groups holds a necessary key for this industry’s continued and accelerated transition to a fully sustainable existence, yet currently there is no streamlined information and communication exchange between these four key stakeholder groups here in the United States. There is a great deal of confusion surrounding third-party certifications of environmental and social claims, both on the industry side in understanding certification options and protocol, as well as on the end user side in deciphering which labels are valid and understanding how important it is that companies undergo independent, ‘arms length’ third-party certification for environmental and/or social responsibility declarations. And of course, it’s not yet easy for consumers to find clothing that has been produced in an environmentally and/or socially sensitive manner. LEAF is working to facilitate streamlined communication and information exchange between industry stakeholders and the standards/certification groups, and then to translate that information to end users in a comprehensive and hopefully soon-to-be ubiquitous label.

What’s the #1 competitive advantage that the LEAF label offers for businesses?

The #1 benefit is that their consumers will be able to identify easily which products have undergone extensive third-party certification. Our program gives assurance to the U.S. end user that their choices have been qualified when they see the LEAF mark. Additionally, one of LEAF’s primary goals is to help support avid consumer awareness through education and awareness campaigns in conjunction with brand holders that assist in informing and rallying the US marketplace to use their powerful consumer dollars in support of the companies that are taking these exciting, and at times painstaking, strides toward more sustainable practices.

Why does a program like this not already exist for this industry here in the United States?

The apparel supply chain is tremendously complex, and there are a myriad of different standards and certifications that exist and are emerging for this industry’s supply chain processes. Deciphering which standards are valid is confusing. Also, in order for a program of this nature to be successful, there needs to be some degree of collaboration between upwards of 15 standards-setting organizations that are headquartered all around the globe. It’s a complex industry.

Why a Public Review Process?

Overall, a public review process provides stakeholders the chance to provide feedback on a program that could potentially have impacts on this industry’s practices in the United States over time.

What happens during this review and where does it happen?

The review happens online at LEAFCertified.org (I’ll link to the site). Interested stakeholders and end users are invited to provide comments anywhere on the main document. Additionally, questionnaires have been created for both industry stakeholders and US end users. We hope both groups will take the time to answer these questions in order to help us understand the needs of these diverse groups, and how to form this program most effectively to serve those needs. During the review, LEAF will collect all comments, and every four weeks during the review we will post the comments, the name of the commenter, and LEAF’s proposed answer or solution to each comment or group of similar comments. We also welcome stakeholders to devise the solutions to the issues they are seeing toward these complex issues, if it is appropriate and/or feasible to do so!

What suggestions do you have for companies who want to consider using the LEAF label in the future?

The first step is to be a part of the review process at www.LEAFCertified.org. You can also contact me at Info@LEAFCertified.org if you would like to be considered as a licensee of the LEAF trademark labeling program in the future.

When can we expect to see the LEAF label in stores?

The review process will be completed in the next 90 days. It will take another 2 to 3 months to re-sculpt the program, incorporating stakeholder feedback from the review, after which we will launch the beta trials. We expect to launch the program to the marketplace in the summer or fall 2010.

Via | Sustainable Life Media

ReMODE Manifesto ::.

2009-08-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

(c) 3.ZERO 2009

ReMODE is a journey based on a strong commitment to sustainability, social responsibility, innovation, and authenticity. ReMODE believes in a quest for ethical visions and integrity throughout an entire organization.

ReMODE has adopted the triple bottom line methodology that is based on all people, our earth, and making an economic profit in business with conscious capitalism as the vehicle. ReMODE feels the singular pursuit of profit in business doesn’t have a place in the 21st century.

ReMODE understands the importance of a brand knowing who they are and openly finding new method, which strives to better connect and invites their faithful following into their internal and external process. These followers are stakeholders and evangelists, which authentically brings a new base to business through self-expression.

A ReMODE business model resonates with a like-minded base in meaningful and purpose driven ways and strives to involve customers through open source initiatives and social interactions that expands a brand to “cult-like” status.

ReMODE maximizes brand IQ with limited resources.

ReMODE knows that it’s not WHAT you do. It’s HOW you do it.

A ReMODE collective fuses physical space, street-level tactics, and analog communication with digital innovations, making it fluid, interactive, and holistic.

ReMODE understands that transparency creates truth intended for the communities we continue to honorably serve. To be transparent is to be brutally honest.

ReMODE is the making and remixing of ethos-based business and the desire to effectively communicate through conscious capitalism. A business that fails to address these elements can’t fully be ethical.

Visit 3.ZERO for more on our ethical brand communications.

* Jonathan Shaun of 3.ZERO developed an ethical brand communication solution dubbed ReMODE that tentatively takes from the Remodernism movement that was founded by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson in 1999.

Nine Design Strategies to Inspire Sustainable Profits - Part 2

2009-07-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

A new dedication to change is leading today's executives to search for new, applicable business models that promote "triple bottom line" thinking. At the same time, many corporate sustainability targets are still focused on cost and waste reduction, creating unprecedented opportunity through innovative design and sophisticated communication. In part 2 of this 3 part series, author and communication strategist John Marshall Roberts (in partnership with LA based, Evenson Design Group) outlines three more design strategies to create brands and packaging that inspire sustainable profits.

READ ON>>

via | Sustainable life media

Building the Business Case ::.

2009-07-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Your company has been progressing nicely up the sustainability curve from compliance to cost savings. The next logical step is reputation and revenue generation, and it's here that many sustainability pros hit a roadblock.

Without a CEO mandate, business units usually have little incentive to deviate from what's been working in the past. Sustainability and CSR initiatives have safely been tucked away behind the scenes, dealing with internal and supply chain issues that reduce risk and cost to the business. Objections to customer-facing sustainability initiatives range from “Why put our neck out and risk greenwashing charges?” to “It's still a niche market” and “Why would we promote our values for commercial ends? We're doing this because it's right, not to make money from it.”

Perhaps they do see that sustainability is beginning to go mainstream, but it hasn't become a burning platform for action. And this is the big opportunity for sustainability pros. It's time for you to change the conversation.

As pointed out in a recent EthicalCorp article, “Corporate responsibility teams could do more to articulate a clear business strategy for their company that will grow sales…. Social and environmental issues are increasingly seen as new business opportunities, rather than risks to be managed. But translating this knowledge into practical business plans is easier said than done.”

You'll need to craft a compelling story and business case for taking sustainability to the next level within the organization. And that story must to be told using the language of numbers, making a clear connection between sustainability and topline revenue.

How you do that is the subject of a new series of articles that will cover:

identifying your total addressable sustainability market and your share of that pie
learning what you can do to protect your current base and attract new customers
prioritizing initiatives that will get the most bang for the buck
enabling customers to experience your company as a sustainable brand through key touchpoints
engaging customers to boost loyalty and grow the sustainability market
communicating in a simple, relevant and credible way with customers

Let's tackle the first one now. TAM, or total addressable market, is the sum of all of the potential sales that your company could make if it didn't have any competition. In the sustainability world, we need to identify your TASM, or total addressable sustainability market, to begin building the business case.

TASM is based on an understanding of how many buyers are motivated by sustainability-related attributes when they purchase or recommend a product. It's crucial to your strategy, and yet secondary data on this information is slim. LOHAS is a wellknown segmentation model originally designed for health & wellness, but it may or may not apply to your category. I would question whether the same segmentation model holds true across all categories including food, electronics, personal care and energy.

Without knowing exactly how many buyers in your market care enough to adjust their purchase and loyalty behavior, it will be hard to justify any customerfacing initiatives. Even if the market is small for your category, it may be growing at a rapid enough pace to make a dedicated effort worthwhile. Side note: don't believe what consumers tell you; TASM should be based on behavioral data, not a poll.

Step two is knowing what share of this market you currently own versus your competitors. Are you leading or lagging? If you increased share by one percentage point, what is the resulting revenue that you could use to fund additional projects? If you cede competitive advantage among this group to a competitor, what percent of your customer base is put at risk?

In the next issue, we'll discuss how to protect and grow your sustainability customer base.

To download the entire July Newsletter from Fruitful Strategy, click here

Jennifer is a strategist who's passionate about the role businesses can play in creating a better world. After almost 20 years in brand and customer experience strategy, she started Fruitful to help companies profitably align brand and business strategy with social impact. Jennifer has been recognized as a rapid and intuitive problem solver, a dynamic speaker and a get-it-done professional. She brings a global perspective, having managed strategy projects for businesses in the EU, Dubai and Southeast Asia. Consulting and corporate-side experience ranges from the Fortune 50 to smaller regional players across a range of industries including tech, hospitality and healthcare.

via | Sustainable life media

Nine Design Strategies to Inspire Sustainable Profits - Part 1

2009-07-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

A new dedication to change is leading today's executives to search for new, applicable business models that promote "triple bottom line" thinking. At the same time, many corporate sustainability targets are still focused on cost and waste reduction, creating unprecedented opportunity through innovative design and sophisticated communication. In part 1 of this 3 part series, author and communication strategist John Marshall Roberts (in partnership with LA based, Evenson Design Group) outlines three design strategies to create brands and packaging that inspire sustainable profits.

READ ON >>

Low Income Consumers Drive Sustainable Purchasing

2009-07-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Miller Zell, a retail and strategy design firm, finds that lower income shoppers are driving the sustainable product marketplace, not the higher income, lifestyle consumers many think of as supporting sustainability.

Overall, the survey found 50% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for a product they consider to be green. The largest benefit comes to grocery stores, where 79% of shoppers will pay the premium and to mass retailers, where the number is 70%.

The research also suggests that retailers and manufacturers may be missing a great brand building opportunity with a younger, lower income consumer. Disposable income is not directly correlated to increased spending on green products, and in fact has an inverse relationship. Millenials and Gen Y'ers are the most likely to pay a premium for green products, while at the same time being the least satisfied with product information targeted to them.

via | Sustainable Life Media

Climate Change “Scientists Are Divided”

2009-04-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

No, they’re not. In the early years of the global warming debate, there was great controversy over whether the planet was warming, whether humans were the cause, and whether it would be a significant problem. That debate is long since over. Although the details of future forecasts remain unclear, there’s no serious question about the general shape of what’s to come.

Every national academy of science, long lists of Nobel laureates, and in recent years even the science advisors of President George W. Bush have agreed that we are heating the planet. Indeed, there is a more thorough scientific process here than on almost any other issue: Two decades ago, the United Nations formed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and charged its scientists with synthesizing the peer-reviewed science and developing broad-based conclusions. The reports have found since 1995 that warming is dangerous and caused by humans. The panel’s most recent report, in November 2007, found it is “very likely” (defined as more than 90 percent certain, or about as certain as science gets) that heat-trapping emissions from human activities have caused “most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century.”

If anything, many scientists now think that the IPCC has been too conservative—both because member countries must sign off on the conclusions and because there’s a time lag. Its last report synthesized data from the early part of the decade, not the latest scary results, such as what we’re now seeing in the Arctic.

In the summer of 2007, ice in the Arctic Ocean melted. It melts a little every summer, of course, but this time was different—by late September, there was 25 percent less ice than ever measured before. And it wasn’t a one-time accident. By the end of the summer season in 2008, so much ice had melted that both the Northwest and Northeast passages were open. In other words, you could circumnavigate the Arctic on open water. The computer models, which are just a few years old, said this shouldn’t have happened until sometime late in the 21st century. Even skeptics can’t dispute such alarming events.

“We Have Time”
Wrong. Time might be the toughest part of the equation. That melting Arctic ice is unsettling not only because it proves the planet is warming rapidly, but also because it will help speed up the warming. That old white ice reflected 80 percent of incoming solar radiation back to space; the new blue water left behind absorbs 80 percent of that sunshine. The process amps up. And there are many other such feedback loops. Another occurs as northern permafrost thaws. Huge amounts of methane long trapped below the ice begin to escape into the atmosphere; methane is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Such examples are the biggest reason why many experts are now fast-forwarding their estimates of how quickly we must shift away from fossil fuel. Indian economist Rajendra Pachauri, who accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize alongside Al Gore on behalf of the IPCC, said recently that we must begin to make fundamental reforms by 2012 or watch the climate system spin out of control; NASA scientist James Hansen, who was the first to blow the whistle on climate change in the late 1980s, has said that we must stop burning coal by 2030. Period.

All of which makes the Copenhagen climate change talks that are set to take place in December 2009 more urgent than they appeared a few years ago. At issue is a seemingly small number: the level of carbon dioxide in the air. Hansen argues that 350 parts per million is the highest level we can maintain “if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted.” But because we’re already past that mark—the air outside is currently about 387 parts per million and growing by about 2 parts annually—global warming suddenly feels less like a huge problem, and more like an Oh-My-God Emergency.

“Climate Change Will Help as Many Places as It Hurts”
Wishful thinking. For a long time, the winners-and-losers calculus was pretty standard: Though climate change will cause some parts of the planet to flood or shrivel up, other frigid, rainy regions would at least get some warmer days every year. Or so the thinking went. But more recently, models have begun to show that after a certain point almost everyone on the planet will suffer. Crops might be easier to grow in some places for a few decades as the danger of frost recedes, but over time the threat of heat stress and drought will almost certainly be stronger.

A 2003 report commissioned by the Pentagon forecasts the possibility of violent storms across Europe, megadroughts across the Southwest United States and Mexico, and unpredictable monsoons causing food shortages in China. “Envision Pakistan, India, and China—all armed with nuclear weapons—skirmishing at their borders over refugees, access to shared rivers, and arable land,” the report warned. Or Spain and Portugal “fighting over fishing rights—leading to conflicts at sea.”

Of course, there are a few places we used to think of as possible winners—mostly the far north, where Canada and Russia could theoretically produce more grain with longer growing seasons, or perhaps explore for oil beneath the newly melted Arctic ice cap. But even those places will have to deal with expensive consequences—a real military race across the high Arctic, for instance.

Want more bad news? Here’s how that Pentagon report’s scenario played out: As the planet’s carrying capacity shrinks, an ancient pattern of desperate, all-out wars over food, water, and energy supplies would reemerge. The report refers to the work of Harvard archaeologist Steven LeBlanc, who notes that wars over resources were the norm until about three centuries ago. When such conflicts broke out, 25 percent of a population’s adult males usually died. As abrupt climate change hits home, warfare may again come to define human life. Set against that bleak backdrop, the potential upside of a few longer growing seasons in Vladivostok doesn’t seem like an even trade.

“It’s China’s Fault”
Not so much. China is an easy target to blame for the climate crisis. In the midst of its industrial revolution, China has overtaken the United States as the world’s biggest carbon dioxide producer. And everyone has read about the one-a-week pace of power plant construction there. But those numbers are misleading, and not just because a lot of that carbon dioxide was emitted to build products for the West to consume. Rather, it’s because China has four times the population of the United States, and per capita is really the only way to think about these emissions. And by that standard, each Chinese person now emits just over a quarter of the carbon dioxide that each American does. Not only that, but carbon dioxide lives in the atmosphere for more than a century. China has been at it in a big way less than 20 years, so it will be many, many years before the Chinese are as responsible for global warming as Americans.

What’s more, unlike many of their counterparts in the United States, Chinese officials have begun a concerted effort to reduce emissions in the midst of their country’s staggering growth. China now leads the world in the deployment of renewable energy, and there’s barely a car made in the United States that can meet China’s much tougher fuel-economy standards.

For its part, the United States must develop a plan to cut emissions—something that has eluded Americans for the entire two-decade history of the problem. Although the U.S. Senate voted down the last such attempt, Barack Obama has promised that it will be a priority in his administration. He favors some variation of a “cap and trade” plan that would limit the total amount of carbon dioxide the United States could release, thus putting a price on what has until now been free.

Despite the rapid industrialization of countries such as China and India, and the careless neglect of rich ones such as the United States, climate change is neither any one country’s fault, nor any one country’s responsibility. It will require sacrifice from everyone. Just as the Chinese might have to use somewhat more expensive power to protect the global environment, Americans will have to pay some of the difference in price, even if just in technology. Call it a Marshall Plan for the environment. Such a plan makes eminent moral and practical sense and could probably be structured so as to bolster emerging green energy industries in the West. But asking Americans to pay to put up windmills in China will be a hard political sell in a country that already thinks China is prospering at its expense. It could be the biggest test of the country’s political maturity in many years.

“Climate Change Is an Environmental Problem”
Not really. Environmentalists were the first to sound the alarm. But carbon dioxide is not like traditional pollution. There’s no Clean Air Act that can solve it. We must make a fundamental transformation in the most important part of our economies, shifting away from fossil fuels and on to something else. That means, for the United States, it’s at least as much a problem for the Commerce and Treasury departments as it is for the Environmental Protection Agency.

And because every country on Earth will have to coordinate, it’s far and away the biggest foreign-policy issue we face. (You were thinking terrorism? It’s hard to figure out a scenario in which Osama bin Laden destroys Western civilization. It’s easy to figure out how it happens with a rising sea level and a wrecked hydrological cycle.)

Expecting the environmental movement to lead this fight is like asking the USDA to wage the war in Iraq. It’s not equipped for this kind of battle. It may be ready to save Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is a noble undertaking but on a far smaller scale. Unless climate change is quickly de-ghettoized, the chances of making a real difference are small.

“Solving It Will Be Painful”
It depends. What’s your definition of painful? On the one hand, you’re talking about transforming the backbone of the world’s industrial and consumer system. That’s certainly expensive. On the other hand, say you manage to convert a lot of it to solar or wind power—think of the money you’d save on fuel.

And then there’s the growing realization that we don’t have many other possible sources for the economic growth we’ll need to pull ourselves out of our current economic crisis. Luckily, green energy should be bigger than IT and biotech combined.

Almost from the moment scientists began studying the problem of climate change, people have been trying to estimate the costs of solving it. The real answer, though, is that it’s such a huge transformation that no one really knows for sure. The bottom line is, the growth rate in energy use worldwide could be cut in half during the next 15 years and the steps would, net, save more money than they cost. The IPCC included a cost estimate in its latest five-year update on climate change and looked a little further into the future. It found that an attempt to keep carbon levels below about 500 parts per million would shave a little bit off the world’s economic growth—but only a little. As in, the world would have to wait until Thanksgiving 2030 to be as rich as it would have been on January 1 of that year. And in return, it would have a much-transformed energy system.

Unfortunately though, those estimates are probably too optimistic. For one thing, in the years since they were published, the science has grown darker. Deeper and quicker cuts now seem mandatory.

But so far we’ve just been counting the costs of fixing the system. What about the cost of doing nothing? Nicholas Stern, a renowned economist commissioned by the British government to study the question, concluded that the costs of climate change could eventually reach the combined costs of both world wars and the Great Depression. In 2003, Swiss Re, the world’s biggest reinsurance company, and Harvard Medical School explained why global warming would be so expensive. It’s not just the infrastructure, such as sea walls against rising oceans, for example. It’s also that the increased costs of natural disasters begin to compound. The diminishing time between monster storms in places such as the U.S. Gulf Coast could eventually mean that parts of “developed countries would experience developing nation conditions for prolonged periods.” Quite simply, we’ve already done too much damage and waited too long to have any easy options left.

“We Can Reverse Climate Change”
If only. Solving this crisis is no longer an option. Human beings have already raised the temperature of the planet about a degree Fahrenheit. When people first began to focus on global warming (which is, remember, only 20 years ago), the general consensus was that at this point we’d just be standing on the threshold of realizing its consequences—that the big changes would be a degree or two and hence several decades down the road. But scientists seem to have systematically underestimated just how delicate the balance of the planet’s physical systems really is.

The warming is happening faster than we expected, and the results are more widespread and more disturbing. Even that rise of 1 degree has seriously perturbed hydrological cycles: Because warm air holds more water vapor than cold air does, both droughts and floods are increasing dramatically. Just look at the record levels of insurance payouts, for instance. Mosquitoes, able to survive in new places, are spreading more malaria and dengue. Coral reefs are dying, and so are vast stretches of forest.

None of that is going to stop, even if we do everything right from here on out. Given the time lag between when we emit carbon and when the air heats up, we’re already guaranteed at least another degree of warming.

The only question now is whether we’re going to hold off catastrophe. It won’t be easy, because the scientific consensus calls for roughly 5 degrees more warming this century unless we do just about everything right. And if our behavior up until now is any indication, we won’t.

Bill McKibben is scholar in residence at Middlebury College and author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (New York: Times Books, 2007).

via | Foreign Policy

2009-04-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Only 14% of plastic water bottles are recycled, and Americans add 30 million PET water bottles to landfills every day! Aiming to provide an alternative to this alarming trend, Michigan-based Boxed Water Is Better is filling FSC-certified Tetra Pak boxes with Minnesota water and in doing so, giving us a new way to tote H20. But is boxed water truly the best option, or are there more ecologically-sound alternatives at hand?

While most plastic bottles are made from PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), a material that is contains recycled content, the PET manufacturing process creates more waste than paper and emits 3 times more carbon dioxide. What’s more, 2 pallets or 5% of a truckload of broken down water boxes would equal 5 truckloads of leftover plastic bottles, which makes the boxed water more efficient to transport.

Boxed Water is Better launched in on March 13, 2009 and is currently only available in Michigan. However, the company plans to expand, and as it grows — the company will donate 20% of profits to world water relief foundations and reforestation organizations.

While we’re all for more sustainable shipping materials and fsc-certified packaging, the concept of boxed water strikes us as a small step rather than a shift in paradigm - wouldn’t it be better to eliminate the packaging completely and tote around a reusable bottle instead? Boxed water may be better than plastic bottles, but the ecological integrity of packaging and shipping water great distances is a pretty hard pill to swallow.

+ Boxed Water Is Better

via | inhabitat -- (3.ZERO first heard of Boxed Water through M. Lindsay)

How Companies Are Investing in Sustainability

2009-04-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

Investing in Sustainability: Shades of Green

By Brandi McManus

By now you are convinced of the business value in going green, or building environmental sustainability into your business. What exactly is "sustainability" and how much does it cost?

Sustainability is defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." If you look at this within a business philosophy, you can easily say that you would not make a business decision today that would sacrifice the business tomorrow (at least within normal business operation and ethics). Long-term sustainable growth is important to building a successful company.

Growing A Green Corporation

This four-part series covers ...
• Reading the Signs of Change
• Assessing the Impacts of Environmental Pressure
• Investing in Sustainability: Shades of Green
• Building Your Green Team

To embrace environmentally sustainable development, it is not important that you become a tree-hugging hippie, nor is it vital to adopt a "principles before profits" mentality. But it is important to accept the serious impact of the environment on your business.

Stephen Schmidheiny, a leading business and non-profit activist in sustainable development, has written: "When viewed within the context of sustainable development, environmental concerns become not just a cost of doing business, but a potent source of competitive advantage. Enterprises that embrace the concept can effectively realize the advantages; more efficient processes, improvements in productivity, lower costs of compliance and new strategic market opportunities. Such businesses may expect to reap advantages over the competitors who lack vision. Companies that fail to change can expect to become obsolete."

To build a business case for building a sustainable corporation, you must first ask some hard questions about what you are doing and what you are willing to do. For example:

Have you completed the basics: recycling programs and doing away with Styrofoam cups?
Is your industry or company government regulated to make changes in your facilities or operations?
Do you have high brand exposure that would lead customers or shareholders to question your sustainability policy?
What investment (if any) are you willing to make to be environmentally responsible?

The following figure will help you place your business in a category of investment ranging from Level 1 to 4, or Shades of Green.

Level 1: The Basics, or Greening Your Life

This is the most basic level of sustainability. Here, your ethics or morals should guide you to do the right thing and create a proactive approach to sustainability. At this level, employees are environmentally aware, inspired and empowered. They actively seek to participate in recycling programs or internal energy savings program. Each office may be actively trying to cut back on Styrofoam coffee cups by bringing in mugs. These industries could be any business with offices or manufacturing with employees interested in the environment. Companies in highly competitive price-based industries may aim for Level 1 as they would be hard pressed to begin initiatives that add cost.

This level can also be described as risk mitigation. Basic energy reduction projects and compliance with environmental regulations can keep companies on the good side of consumers, the government and watchful non-governmental organizations.

How to Climb (or Get On) the Green Corporate Ladder

2009-04-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

While pursuing her graduate degree in environmental geography in 2006, Cheri Chastain took a job as the recycling assistant at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, Calif. It was a part-time gig to pay the bills, and she spent most of her time tracking data on the brewer’s recycling efforts to get a better handle on what it was diverting from landfills and how it could do better.

Chastain, however, had larger goals. Her enthusiasm, ideas, and business savvy won her a quick promotion to recycling coordinator. Within four months she was promoted again, to a full-time position as Sierra Nevada’s sustainability coordinator -- a job she custom designed for herself.

Chastain is one of a new breed of professionals who are turning their environmental passion and industry knowledge into lucrative career opportunities. In an economy where job losses are rampant, some reports predict up to two million new “green” jobs could be created as part of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan.

And while many of those jobs may be of the blue-green variety -- more labor than management -- there will be many opportunities for college grads and mid-career professionals to make green career moves.

Getting on the Ladder ...

• Launch recycling programs and other green initiatives in your own company to establish yourself as an expert on all things green. Then, if your company decides to create a green position in house, you will be top of mind for the job.

• Calculate the bottom line results of your green projects or volunteer efforts before including them in your resume or job pitch. Hiring managers will be more impressed by your efforts if they can see the financial, as well as the environmental, impact.

• Visit the websites of local green industry companies to search for job openings –- many companies don’t post positions at national job boards.

• Join local green associations and participate in volunteer opportunities. Even if you don’t have a green industry job, these are great ways to expand your network, create some resume-worthy experience, and find out about new jobs before they go public.

• Offer your volunteer services to nonprofit organizations. Don’t just sign up for general volunteer work, come up with specific ways you can support their efforts by using your unique skill set. This creates more substantive experience for your resume.

“I saw a lot of opportunities and I started working on different projects, talking to the owner about programs we could launch,” she says. “I started to carve out a niche for myself.”

Today Chastain reports directly to the owner and together they identify new ways the company can improve its environmental profile and its bottom line. As part of her job she tracks greenhouse gas emissions, researches biodiesel applications, and she is in the process of launching composting programs for the company’s break rooms and restaurant.

“I’m lucky to work under an owner who values sustainability,” Chastain notes. “We collaborate on ideas then I put them into action.”

However, it’s not easy to make this transition, warns Neal Laurie, director of marketing for the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). “Professional positions are the most sought after green jobs,” he says, noting that a recent job posting for a sustainability manager at a big solar company garnered more than 300 applications.

Finding those jobs can also be tricky, in part because there are no standard titles to search for. ASES’ 2009 Green Collar Jobs report lists 160 different green job roles that run the gamut from executive level positions requiring a Ph.D. to entry-level support roles that offer on-the-job training.

Among green professional jobs, entry-level and senior level positions are the best places to make career moves, suggests Peter Beadle, president of Greenjobs.com, a job board for the renewable energy industries. “Positions at the top and the bottom are the easiest to get, it’s the mid-level jobs that are harder to find.”

He notes that recent college grads have a great opportunity today to launch green careers by seeking out entry-level opportunities in green industry companies or local businesses known for their commitment to sustainability. Because these positions have lower salaries and don’t require a lot of experience, they are easier to get and a likely place for companies to recruit outside of their own employee base.

“CEO and vice president roles are the next easiest way to break into sustainably industries, because these candidates are all highly experienced, usually in related industries,” Beadle says.

If you don’t fall into one of these categories, however, don’t despair. Despite the challenges, mid-level professionals interested in moving into jobs with titles like sustainability manager or renewable energy coordinator will benefit from the fact that very few people have direct experience in these roles, because before now they didn’t exist.
By Sarah Fister Gale

“A lot of individuals are coming with real estate or development backgrounds, or construction engineering,” notes Laurie. “They are taking the skills they learned in those roles and transitioning them.”

Pick Me

Repositioning your skill set and experience for a green economy is the key to getting your foot in the door for any professional green job. But it takes more than a commitment to the environment: The most attractive candidates are those who can show how their sustainability skills or experiences contributed to bottom line results.

Half of Consumers Still Willing to Pay More for Green Products

2009-04-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Nearly seven in ten Americans (67%) agree that "even in tough economic times, it is important to purchase products with social and environmental benefits" - and half say they are still willing to pay more for them, according to a new survey.

BBMG's latest "Conscious Consumer Report" finds that interest in green products is holding steady despite the tough economy. Three in four consumers (77%) say they "can make a positive difference by purchasing products from socially or environmentally responsible companies." On the flip side, 71% "avoid purchasing from companies whose practices they disagree with."

About half tell others to shop (55%) or drop (48%) products based on a company's social and environmental practices. (Such recommendations could cancel each other out, however. Survey respondents rated Wal-Mart the most - and least - socially responsible company in nearly equal measure - 7% and 9%, respectively).

"The economic crisis has created a moment of reflection where consumers are redefining what truly matters and evaluating purchases based on both value and values," says Raphael Bemporad, co-founder of BBMG.

As a result, consumers are taking more active steps to verify companies' green claims, the survey finds. They are most likely to turn to consumer reports (29%), certification seals or labels on products (28%), and the list of ingredients on products (27%) to determine if a product is green and does what it claims. Consumers are least likely to look to statements on product packaging (11%) and company advertising (5%), signaling deep skepticism of company-driven marketing.

In terms of green product attributes, price (66%) and quality (64%) continue to top consumers' list, followed by good for your health (55%) and "made in the U.S." (49%). But green benefits have increased in importance since last year - including energy efficiency (47% very important in 2008, 41% in 2007), locally grown or made nearby (32% in 2008, 26% in 2007), all natural (31% in 2008, 24% in 2007), made from recycled materials (29% in 2008, 22% in 2007) and USDA organic (22% in 2008, 17% in 2007).

"This is a moment for leadership," Bemporad says. "By delivering on the multiple dimensions of value - price, performance and purpose - brands will be able to close the green trust gap, weather the economic storm and thrive in the sustainable economy of the future."

Find more information on the "Conscious Consumer Report: Redefining Value in a New Economy" on BBMG's website.

Via SLM

Does a Good Green Product Need a Great Story Line?

2009-04-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

Laurie Demeritt, president of the Hartman Group, says that in today's tough economy, consumers are looking for positive narratives behind the products they buy. (via MediaPost)

"Consumers want to know the story - the narrative behind a sustainable product," Demeritt explains. "For marketers, it's important to remember that sustainability claims are markers of quality, and product narratives help. The more you can tell people about how it's made, the greater its appeal."

Hartman's research suggests that consumers are looking beyond traditional green marketing messages, instead focusing on living meaningfully. "Consumers are thinking much more broadly than marketers about what words like 'organic,' 'green' and 'sustainable' mean," according to Demeritt. "They use more positive words to describe these products, like hope, connection, simple living, authenticity, and control."

Further, the current recession appears to be pushing greenwashing concerns into the background. "Consumers are still thinking about a company's environmental and social reputation, but in the current economic downturn, it's important to connect value with quality," Demeritt says. "[Consumers] understand that they're taking small steps toward sustainability, and they seem to understand that companies are, as well."

via | Sustainable Life Media

Ten Trends Driving Consumers Toward Stability and Moderation

2009-04-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of 2009, Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) released its annual trends report for 2009. According to the authors the overarching theme for 2009 is what they call "Recalibration."

The report goes on to say that consumers are desiring "The Middle Way" or in other words, revising lifestyles to reflect "comfort, safety, sustainability and moderation." I've seen this first hand and am experiencing it myself. Here in California we're faced with drought along with the other national issues of economic turmoil, transportation, how and where we do business and our carbon foot print. All of these issues push us to conservation as well as a rethinking of our core values as people.

In the next few months I'm going to choose one of the 10 trends outlined in NMI's initial report and go into more depth and explore these trends effect marketing to customers and how we do business in general. But first let me just list the trends:

Big changes through small steps
Isolation to Affiliation
Exploring, experiencing and learning
Personal and planetary health combine
Detoxification
From alt to mainstream
Going deeper
Authentic Aesthetics
Energy consciousness
Quality over quantity

Big Changes Through Small Steps

According to NMI's research, consumers are beginning to make prolonged lifestyle changes but are making those changes incrementally. More people are shifting away from short-lived, New-Year's-Resolution type schemes and moving toward more tangible steps to improve their life, health and the health of their world.

Regardless of the reason, people are driving less to get to work, using alternatives to commuting by car. Whether it's for health or reducing fuel costs, people are walking, biking or taking transit to work. I've noticed more bike riders on the street on my commute by bike. Nationally, ridership on transit is up. And in some cases people are moving into or closer to city centers to take advantage of transit services not available in exurbs.

People are getting another hour of sleep and preparing meals at home to improve their health. Of course the trend of cooking at home is also driven by the economy. None the less the changes are real and are part of the over-all trend. Restaurants are showing a decline in revenue but grocery stores are picking up. More people are taking classes on how to cook or are going back to cooking at home rather than going out.

The trend of making long-term, incremental changes also ties in with some of the other trends cited in the NMI study and with the desire for more family time and the inclination to nest and nurture that we've been seeing over the past few years.

On the Market(ing) and Business Side: What You Need to Know

Think about educating your customers and create opportunities for consumers to take action. For instance, the content of packaging can speak to a customer as much as what is printed on it. Create packaging that is fully recyclable or compostable while informing your customer about the cost/material savings and the impact of using such packaging. The information on the package can send them to a web site to learn more about the what, why and how they're making a positive impact and how they can do more.

What is going on in the mainstream is what we've been seeing with the LOHAS (Life Styles of Health And Sustainability) market for awhile. Consumers are looking for sustainable, useful and practical products and services that reflect where they see their values right now. An authentic message is required here. Certainly marketers and advertising have used home-spun nostalgia in the past to sell products but those types of messages ring hollow in today's market. Using a softer voice to sell reflects the appeal of moderation with consumers right now.

via | Sustainable Life media __________

This column has been reprinted courtesy of JP Collins and Pylon Studios.

Pylon Studios is a creative agency located in downtown San Francisco providing graphic design and creative marketing services, and works with clients in the LOHAS, Green Building and Renewable Energy markets. Pylon Studios is certified by the San Francisco Department of the Environment as a green business and is part of the Green America Green Business Network.

Green Product Purchasing Up for Fifth Straight Year

2009-03-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

green products continue to gain traction despite the current recession, according to the latest IRI Times & Trends Report tracking purchasing trends in the consumer packaged goods industry.

The popularity of eco-friendly, organic, and fairtrade products has increased each year for the past five years as more shoppers factor in the environmental impact of the products they buy, the report finds.

While the most environmentally focused consumers held steady in their green product spending last year, the report chalks up the flat sales to the fact that these consumers have already "saturated their [shopping] baskets with sustainable products." The next greenest consumers haven't yet tapped out their adoption of new green products, increasing spending on these items by 15%.

"Because green products are considered to be more expensive than 'traditional' products, it would be natural to think that as the economy plunged into recession, prices rose and people lost their jobs, the sale of sustainable products would plummet," says Thom Blischok, president of innovation and consulting at IRI. "However, the truth is much more nuanced. CPG marketers need to understand the level of 'greenness' and mindsets for each consumer segment to really create a clear picture of opportunity."

The IRI report identifies eight green consumer segments, encouraging marketers to understand their core values and align product assortment and merchandising programs accordingly:

Eco-Centrics are the most well-informed and actively involved in environmental issues. They are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products.

Respectful Stewards are idealistic and community focused. They are also willing to pay for more eco-friendly products.

Proud Traditionalists are hard-working and focused on family. They run environmentally responsible homes and experiment with eco-friendly products.

Frugal Earth Mothers are lower-income women looking for ways to save money wherever possible. They are more focused finding good, wholesome products for their families.
Skeptical Individualists are highly-educated, high-income men who tend to be skeptical about corporate green initiatives.

Eco-Chics are young adults who see green as new and hip. Impulse buyers and early adopters, they tend to be drawn to environmental causes but aren't necessarily well-informed about them.

Green Naives are young, lower-income shoppers with little interest in environmental responsibility.

Eco-Villians - generally middle-income men - do not environmental concerns into their purchasing choices.

"Certainly, some consumers are not spending money on green products, but others are actually maintaining or increasing green spending," Blischok says. "A viable green market remains, even in these challenging times; the key is to understand different consumer segments and create messages and products that meet their varied needs."

Download the report, "Sustainability: CPG Marketing in a Green World," here (free registration required).

Nokia: Embedding Green in the User Experience

2009-03-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Fresh from the 2009 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, SLM contributor Lucas Daniel offers a firsthand look at how Nokia is telling its sustainability story - via cellphone.

For companies innovating in the new economy of ethics, shifting consumer behavior is one of the more difficult tasks to undertake. Companies have to not only deliver on what people are most concerned with: convenience, beauty, value; but also make a switch to more responsible actions natural and seamless. Reusable grocery bags come to mind as a good recent example of this; at the local Jewel-Osco near my home in Chicago, they are inching closer to the check-out aisle so that it no longer has to be a fully pre-planned activity. For mass adoption, green products and services have to be within arm's reach.

So where better to put the tools for more responsible behavior than in the object within pocket reach: your mobile phone. Nokia is doing just that in an interesting extension of their "power of we" brand story: offering a set of applications and services that bring green tools, community, and information a menu button away.

Nokia is currently offering four of these combo applications and services in their phones.

we:offset is a CO2 emission offsetting tool for traveling (one of the biggest carbon offenders). Nokia is working with ClimateCare to bring the carbon calculator and ability to buy offsets directly from your mobile.
Green Explorer is a web-enabled widget that provides tips and advice on green travel options, such as organic restaurants, green hotels, and recycling guidelines, to name a few. Users can log in and post information about cities they’ve visited. Now in beta, Nokia hopes Green Explorer will become the social networking hub for green living.
Eco Zone is a phone app where users can access quarterly updated content such as wallpaper and videos from the WWF and links to green living tips and eco communities.
Mobiledu is a mobile application available in China that promotes environmental awareness through education tools.

At Barcelona's massive Mobile World Congress (MWC) exhibition last month, I played with we:offset and Green Explorer at the Nokia booth. They're impressive not simply because they are included on the phone (no extra effort required), but because they don’t feel kitschy or like they were tacked on at the end. There's value in using them beyond just a feeling that you've done your good for the day. Green Explorer gave me some user-generated suggestions on where to grab an all-organic lunch or where the best parks are. Johanna Jokinen, senior manager of Environmental Communications, was at the Nokia booth explaining the apps. "They are examples of services that can help people do their bit for the environment with the help of mobile technology. We are bringing eco services directly to people, where ever they are, creating communities and having a strong social location element included in them."

This level of direct engagement with their customers is what sets Nokia's sustainable efforts apart from those of their competitors. This was even evident in how they engaged with MWC attendees to tell their story. In comparison to Nokia's booth, Samsung and LG's sustainable brand stories were behind glass, unstaffed, and talked exclusively about eco-packaging, bio plastics or energy efficiency. Samsung did have a few bullet points about their "Eco UX," but the applications seemed too passive, like Eco Calendar which marks ecologically significant days, or too kitschy, like Eco Walk which counts and shows trees saved as you walk.

While Nokia was very focused on their green applications and services at the event, they were framing it as part of their larger sustainable brand story known as the power of we. "The power of we is Nokia's attitude to eco business and approach to more sustainable living - a billion people using our devices to connect and work together in different ways to protect the environment," says Jokinen. "The power of we combines both Nokia's own environmental work as well as all the individuals using our devices."

The power of we is an umbrella for the following green initiatives:

we:evolve: A recognition that this is an ongoing dialog Nokia has internally and externally
we:create: Nokia's focus on creating mobile devices using healthier materials, processes and packaging
we:energize: Tips on how to save energy and Nokia's commitment to power consumption and finding new sources of energy
we:recycle: Information on why, where and how to recycle old Nokia phones
we:support: Partnerships with groups like the WWF that Nokia is creating to leverage to their customers

The power of we is both changing how Nokia thinks and acts internally as well as engages with worldwide community. And they are getting recognized for their efforts. The power of we won the 2008 Green Awards Grand Prix.

But it seems that Nokia's greatest impact will be with their services and applications, as it has the potential to create a massive behavioral shift with their 1 billion users. It’s the simplicity of it that makes it so innovative. Most people don’t want to put out extra effort to be green. So what if our devices pushed us to? In 2007, Nokia introduced a simple innovation in their phones: when it's done charging, it notifies you to unplug, so you’re not syphoning unnecessary phantom power. It's not that people want to keep it plugged in, they just forget. So Nokia very simply reminds them.

"One of the goals currently is to demonstrate people that there are simple actions they can take and that the information on what to do and how to do it is within easy reach – in their mobile devices. Doing small things individually can have big impact (The power of we)."

__________

Lucas Daniel is a strategy lead at gravitytank, where he manages the strategic direction of a wide variety of projects, from product innovation to market positioning to future platform strategy for clients ranging from Samsung, OfficeMax, and Unilever.

Lucas sits on the advisory board for SLM's upcoming Sustainable Brands '09 conference in Monterey, Calif.

One in Four Consumers Boycott Ethically Challenged Companies

2009-03-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

One in seven consumers (14%) have decided not to buy from a company with a poor reputation for environmental responsibility, and almost a quarter consider a company’s ethics before making a purchase, according to a new U.K. survey.

The survey, conducted by YouGov for the Carbon Trust Standard, finds that a company's green credentials have a significant impact on consumer buying choices - despite the current recession. Sixty-two percent of consumers say environmental concerns influence their purchasing decisions "the same as a year ago," and just over a quarter saying they influence them "even more" than in 2008.

If anything, consumers say they want clearer, more credible information on what companies are doing to reduce their environmental impact. The research shows that 70% of consumers do not feel confident that they can clearly identify which companies are environmentally responsible. Six in ten consumers (59%) are skeptical about the environmental claims companies make, and 44% of consumers would like more information on what companies are actually doing to be environmentally responsible.

(Note to marketers: Just 6% of survey respondents say they base their green purchasing decisions on advertising. They're more likely to get their information via the media (38%) and third-party endorsement or accreditation (34%).)

"This research shows that consumer values do not change, even in a middle of a recession," says Harry Morrison, head of the Carbon Trust Standard. "They want companies to act and cut their carbon footprints, and provide transparent and accessible evidence of action. We believe companies that take real action will seize the dual benefits of immediate cost savings and a stronger reputation, which is good for business."

via* sustainable life media

Patagonia's Clothing Recycling Program: Lessons Learned, Challenges Ahead

2009-03-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

By GreenerDesign Staff
When Patagonia finalized its Common Threads Garment Recycling Program in fall 2005, is set out to make all its products recyclable by late 2010. With one and half years until it reaches that deadline, Patagonia has compiled a lengthy look at the Common Threads program.

In short, the company has learned a whole lot about what it takes to make clothing and other outdoor gear recyclable, but it's unlikely Patagonia's entire catalog will be recyclable by fall 2010. However, it just might make all its apparel recyclable by then.

The Common Threads program collects only certain Patagonia products or types of clothing; the company takes back only what it knows it can recycle.

It All Started With Underwear

The first product collected and recycled through Common Threads was Patagonia's polyester-spandex Capilene underwear, chosen because underwear is simple, has no buttons or zippers and isn't typically handed down.

Teijin, a Japanese textile company, developed a garment-to-garment recycling process for the underwear, and Patagonia found out that using Capilene underwear as a raw material instead of petroleum uses 76 percent less energy and emits 42 percent less carbon dioxide.

The Common Threads program grew in spring 2007 when other Capilene apparel was included, along with 100 percent cotton T-shirts, Patagonia fleece and Polartec fleece jackets from any clothing brand. A year later Patagonia started labeling clothes that were accepted through Common Threads with instructions on what to do with them at the end of their lives. The collection program also expanded to include some board shorts, polyester jackets and nylon items, and later that year Patagonia unveiled the first recyclable nylon waterproof and breathable shell. Around that time Patagonia also started working with another company, Toray, which developed a recycling program for items made of nylon 6.

Results, Tempered by Challenges

Since the start of Common Threads, Patagonia has recycled more than 13,200 pounds of garments, and collected much more. But that is still nowhere close to the amount of items Patagonia sells or that get tossed in the trash.

The amount of recyclable items in Patagonia's spring collection has gone from 28 percent last year to 38 percent this year. And for it's fall collection, the amount is expected to increase from 45 percent last year to 65 percent this fall. Patagonia is not confident, though, that it will increase both of those to 100 percent by fall 2010. But it has a much better chance to make all of its apparel recyclable, since 80 percent of the clothing in its fall 2009 collection will be recyclable.

Along the way, Patagonia faced a host of challenges. Some of the recyclers it works with use chemical recycling, which dissolves products into chemicals. Another uses mechanical recycling, which physically, not chemically, rips apart fabric and spins it into yarn.

While chemical recycling systems can be easily tainted if too many different materials are combined, mechanical recycling can take a greater variety of inputs, but that also limits the variety of products Patagonia can make with the resulting fiber. Patagonia's products are expected to meet certain performance levels, and any alternation to the amount of certain fabrics in them can affect that.

Patagonia is also reaching the limit of how much material it can handle. The amount of items they collect now is about what they are able to recycle. Increasing the amount of recycled materials would force its recycling systems to expand, which would require capital investment, more employees and more expenses for shipping garments overseas.

And some of the garments it receives are so old or worn out, with missing tags or faded labels, that it takes some serious investigating to find out what material they're made of. But that only means that a piece of clothing has lived a long, useful life. Patagonia sees Common Threads as a last resort for clothing, and will even donate to non-profits usable clothing that customers return through Common Threads.

"If, after a lifetime of use, a garment can be reused or handed-down no more, we provide Common Threads as a final destination, so that worn, used, and abused products can be recycled and made into new garments," Patagonia says in the report on Common Threads.

sKy Vegetables

2009-03-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the newest organic produce technology. WoW!

HIT IT>>>

Consumers Finding Thrifty Ways to Live Greener

2009-03-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

Consumers are buying green to save money in today's difficult economic times, according to Roper's latest Green Gauge survey.

The most common green actions are those that are helping Americans save money in their daily lives, the survey finds. Seventy-six percent have bought energy-efficient light bulbs and 58% have purchased energy saving appliances. Consumers are also considering gas mileage in their next vehicle purchases more than ever before (81% up 15 points from 2007).

The majority of consumers agree there needs to be a balance between economic growth and protecting the environment (78% in 2008 compared to 75% in 2007). Among these consumers, however, those who say the environment is a greater concern than the economy has dropped from 69% in 2007 to 55% in 2008, potentially a result of the economic downturn.

Money matters, but not all of the top green purchases are savings-inspired, the report notes. Individuals are purchasing paper products made from recycled papers (72%), green household cleaning products (64%) and environmentally preferable laundry detergent (57%) - despite the fact that they often cost more. While many Americans are participating in more eco-friendly practices, less than a third (32%) feel they are doing enough for the environment.

"Americans are taking notice of the dual benefits of making simple eco-friendly changes that help both the planet and their wallets," says Kathy Sheehan, a senior vice president with GfK Roper Consulting. "Yet while the economic crisis may have been the push U.S. consumers needed to begin living a little more green, the financial pressure may limit future action. If the economic climate continues to decline, environmental steps that do not offer cost savings may be put on hold."

Find more information on Roper's Green Gauge survey here.

via | sustainable life media

Young Consumers Fight Global Warming by Buying Green

2009-03-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

Think older consumers mark the "sweet spot" for green marketing messages? Think again: A new survey finds that younger consumers are more likely to buy greener brands - because they understand that global warming is caused by human activities.

The U.S. consumer survey, by EnviroMedia Social Marketing, reveals a clear generation gap in understanding the cause of climate change. Sixty-four percent of 18- to 34-year-olds believe humans cause climate change, compared to 51% overall. At the same time, the research indicates that Americans who believe in this connection are almost twice as likely to buy more green products.

"This should serve as a wake-up call to sellers and marketers of current and future green products and to any company in general," says Kevin Tuerff, CEO of Green Canary Sustainability Consulting, a subsidiary of EnviroMedia. "These consumers reward companies providing services and products that are less toxic, less packaged, and less energy intensive."

Tuerff cautions, however, that while younger consumers tend to be more idealistic and values-driven in their purchasing decisions, they're also much better at identifying superficial green marketing messages. "Companies looking to make a quick buck off this generation by 'going green' should be wary of being labeled a greenwasher by the same audience," he says.

The survey notes that consumers who link climate change to human activity are also more likely to:

* Have attended college
* Believe that green transportation or electricity from renewable resources is most beneficial for the environment (rather than recycling or minimal/reduced packaging)
* Are influenced more in their green purchasing decisions by third-party certifications than by word-of-mouth or manufacturer labels

via | sustainable life media

Solar Powered Mobile Phone ::. Finally!

2009-03-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Blue Earth is the first solar powered full touch screen cell phone which beautifully designed by Samsung. By charging with the solar panel located on the back of the phone, users can generate enough electronic power to call anytime anywhere.

This cell phone is made from recycled plastic called PCM, which is extracted from water bottles, helping to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions in the manufacturing process. Samsung Blue Earth mobile phone and the charger are free from harmful substances such as Brominated Flame Retardants, Beryllium and Phthalate.

+ Samsung Mobile

eBay Launches "Green Team" Microsite

2009-03-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

Two years after eBay employees organized an internal green team to promote sustainable operations within the company, their employer has launched a microsite to communicate the team's efforts - and give users a forum to buy and sell green products.

"Our employees’ passion caught our attention and stimulated us to think about how we could do more," eBay writes on its Green Team website. "Our community of buyers and sellers make eBay the world’s largest marketplace for used, refurbished and vintage goods. The eBay Green Team effort, then, empowers consumers to make smarter, greener shopping choices; highlights the green attributes of these small businesses; and celebrates our employees' accomplishments."

To promote the new site, eBay has partnered with Hearst magazines for a "30 Days of Green" promotion featuring green lifestyle tips, which will run in all Hearst properties throughout the month of April. eBay's green team also has a page on Facebook.

eBay says its green team, which began in 2007 with 40 employees, has since swelled to more than 1,000 workers in 18 companies.

The online auction house launched a green e-commerce site last December.

via | sustainable life media

Will Corporate Boards Step Up to Sustainability Leadership?

2009-03-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

via | Sustainable Life Media

Three in four board directors recognize the business risks and opportunities surrounding sustainability issues - but just half say their companies are actually doing something about it, according to a new Deloitte survey.

Deloitte polled 220 board directors at U.S. companies with $1 billion or more in revenue, finding that the majority consider themselves well-informed on the business benefits of sustainability. Most say they understand the risks (79%) and opportunities (76%) associated with sustainability and climate change.

On the other hand, just half think their companies have integrated sustainability into business strategy and risk management. And less than half of respondents think their boards and management are committed to addressing sustainability issues.

Such results beg the question, "How much influence can - and should - corporate boards have on sustainability and governance issues?" The answer, apparently, depends on whom you talk to. Just over one-third of survey respondents favor full board oversight, while another 37% say oversight should reside in existing board committees. (The directors split on which: 24% for risk committees, 24% for governance committees, 22% for strategy committees, and 15% for audit committees.)

Yet the influence of corporate boards in this area is on the upswing, according to Eric Hespenheide of Deloitte's enterprise sustainability group, and the report's author. "Despite the current economic environment, the board's role is undoubtedly increasing," he says. "There is greater awareness of the business risks and opportunities associated with corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change."

Deloitte has published a whitepaper including recommendations on getting the board more involved. Here, some tips:

Get consensus. Take the first step toward improving board performance by scheduling a retreat or creating a forum for the board to talk through sustainability issues. If disagreement arises, have a facilitated discussion that gets all the issues on the table and allows a consensus to emerge.

Emulate the strong. Companies with strong sustainability programs share certain characteristics:

Setting the tone at the top
Establishing sustainability commitments and goals
Creating a sustainability committee to coordinate company efforts
Including sustainability metrics in CEO compensation
Monitoring sustainability performance through regular progress reports
Including sustainability topics in new director orientation.

Ask the right questions of management. Verify that management is acting decisively on sustainability by asking tough questions. Does your company have a "command center" to identify risks and opportunities associated with sustainability? Is this center supported with the right competencies - environmental engineering, legal, operational, marketing, controller, public relations and financing? Does your company have a roadmap for integrating sustainability into the operations of the business - with the appropriate governance structure in place?

Examine your footprint. Has the executive team determined the current environmental and social impact of your company - both good and bad? You can't measure forward progress if you don’t know where you are standing.

Find full text of the whitepaper, "The Responsible and Sustainable Board," here.

Green Power Forecast: Partly Cloudy -- For the Short Term

2009-03-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

By Sarah Fister Gale

The sagging economy continues taking its toll on renewable energy spending, with solar and wind projects across the country shutting down or getting delayed as financiers reassess the benefits of investing in new energy technology as their bottom lines shrink. The lower price of oil isn't helping.

When oil prices spiked last summer, investment in any renewable energy project seemed like a prudent, and even necessary decision. Within months, however, the cost of oil dropped, the economy tanked, and priorities shifted.

"Any time conventional energy prices drop, it impacts renewable energy spending," notes Ying Wu, senior analyst for Lux Research, a New York-based emerging technologies research firm. "Solar is more expensive now that fossil fuel prices have gone back down."

That spells doom for business owners and investors looking for short-term returns on their investments, but those taking a long view are more likely to see renewable energy as a worthwhile, especially with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 stimulus package offering billions in green power incentives which, in some cases, may offset up to 50 percent of some renewable energy installations.

Tight credit, however, remains an obstacle.

"For companies that have already made an investment in solar projects, such as Yahoo and Wal-Mart, they will probably continue to make solar part of their energy mix," says Wu. "But companies that were just beginning to look at investing in renewable energy are slowing down, and financing for unfunded projects is getting delayed."

Though several solar companies have announced major layoffs because of collapsed financing, Monique Hanis, spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based Solar Energy Industry Association, believes the stimulus package, signed by President Barack Obama three weeks ago, will help turn things around. The measure includes $16.8 billion for the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), a nearly tenfold increase.

Three Reasons Why Renewable Energy is Worth a Second Look

• New federal tax incentives make renewable energy projects more beneficial than ever. Analysts suggest you can offset up to half of the total cost of the project by taking advantage of these incentives.

• Many states offer further tax incentives and grants to promote renewable energy growth. Speak to your local utility company to identify resources, partnerships and other opportunities to offset the cost of renewable projects.

• Despite the fact that fossil fuel costs have dropped, pending climate change legislation and an uncertain economy could spell price volatility. Investing in renewable energy is an excellent way to hedge your costs.

"We expect provisions in the bill to stimulate demand, open up financing and create jobs," she says. "We are hopeful that the renewable energy grants, removing a penalty for subsidized financing, and loan guarantees will help free up the credit and investment markets and that the manufacturing tax credit will scale up U.S. manufacturing, which will keep prices coming down."

Lux analyst Johanna Schmidtke agrees. "The final stimulus bill offered a range of incentives for renewable energy," she says, pointing out the $6 billion earmarked to support loan guarantees for renewable energy and electric transmission technologies. The funds are expected to guarantee more than $60 billion in loans.

"That should encourage greater investment from private sector companies who can benefit from these grants," she says. "It should generate a big uptick in renewable energy generation."

Even before the stimulus bill was signed, certain regions still showed enthusiasm for solar energy, Hanis said. In California, for example, the number of grant applications for business and residential solar projects hit record highs in the last five months of 2008. And while she expects that interest to wane in '09, she thinks it will be temporary and localized.

"You'll still see activity where there are federal and state incentives for solar," she says. Along with California, she expects progress to continue in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey, where government programs to support solar investment remain strong.

"I got a call from a manufacturing company in Pennsylvania just yesterday that is still moving forward with a solar water heating project," she says. "And they are very excited about it."

She notes that several major businesses are also showing strong public commitment to solar, despite the economy. For example:

-- Global retailer Wal-Mart announced in January that its Mexican unit installed 1,056 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Bodega Aurrera Aguascalientes retail center in the city of Aguascalientes in central Mexico.

-- Kohl's, the specialty clothing retailer based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., is currently converting four of its nine stores in Oregon to solar power, and also has solar projects underway in California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

-- As part of achieving its pre-certified LEED Gold status for all new store construction, Office Depot will install photovoltaic solar arrays to offset 11 percent of the building's total annual energy costs, and will include active solar tracking skylights that provide light to than 75 percent of the store. These plans will be implemented on every new store construction project going forward.

-- In the next redesign of its hybrid Prius automobile, automotive manufacturer Toyota plans to install solar panels on the vehicle's roof. The panels will power the air conditioning system and fuel its operation even when the main engine is turned off.

"There are definitely pockets of activity," she says of these and other initiatives. "But the larger projects will need additional funding to survive."

A Little Help from Uncle Sam

The new administration, along with the benefits included in the stimulus package, should boost all renewables industries, suggests Karlynn Cory, senior renewable energy analyst for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a renewable energy research and development lab in Golden, Colo.

"It was definitely a step in the right direction, and a lot of issues around liquidity and the tax market got addressed," she says.

One of the most promising additions was the extension of production tax credit (PTC) to 2012 for wind, and to 2013 for all other renewables. The PTC provides a 1.9-cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) benefit for the first 10 years of a renewable energy facility's operation.

The extension also allows utilities and businesses already paying the alternative minimum tax (AMT) to take advantage of that credit, which creates greater incentives to invest in renewable energy. In the past, those companies that took advantage of the AMT were not eligible.

Like-it Recycle Dust Station

2009-03-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

via Coolhunting

If you're the type of person who gets a rush out of visiting The Container Store, then listen up. Last month, the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) mounted a sizable exhibition of Japanese manufacturers at the New York International Gift Fair. One of the participants was the Yoshikawakuni Plastics Company which displayed its like-it line of home storage solutions.

Similar in aesthetic to Muji, the like-it brand got a slew of attention from fairgoers. One of the products we've been able to gather further information on is the Recycle Dust Station (pictured). A compact, multi-tiered solution for home recycling, the station is perfect for urban dwellers short on space but high on eco-consciousness.

The Recycle Dust Station comes in two sizes: a two section at 28" high (perfect for under counters) and a three section at 42" high. The units will sell for $132 and $177 respectively and should be available at a Container Store near you this April.

42% of Execs Say Green Practices Help Edge Out Competitors

2009-03-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

Better than one in three U.S. business leaders say their companies' green efforts give them a leg up on the competition, according to a new survey conducted by Zogby International for Cisco.

Forty-two percent of execs say their companies' environmental and energy-efficiency programs help differentiate them from competitors. A further 30% say that, while such programs both save money and streamline operations, they "only somewhat" help businesses differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

By far the biggest trend in corporate energy efficiency is green IT, the survey finds. Nearly 60% of business leaders are looking to IT to transform how their companies manage energy use and other environmental performance issues. More than half (54%) say their companies are now much more likely to buy IT products that will help their sustainability efforts.

"This survey demonstrates that U.S. business leaders see technology as a viable tool for addressing cost and environmental concerns, especially as they try to maximize their IT investments," says Cisco SVP Laura Ipsen.

Nearly one in three survey respondents (29%) indicate that their corporate environmental strategies will be unaffected by the current economic downturn, saying green strategy is fundamental to business strategy.

via | sustainable life media

What's in your Paper?

2009-03-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Environmental Paper Network

This web-based tool to making better paper choices include a Purchaser's Toolkit - which provides buying guides, model paper policies, a recycling guide and additional resources - and the Paper Steps, and easy-to-understand guide to which paper choices are better, and worse, than others.

Web Site:http://www.whatsinyourpaper.com/

via | green BiZ

How to Get Green Goods Flying Off the Shelves

2009-03-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

By Sarah Fister Gale

Major retailers, such as Target, Office Depot and Home Depot, report strong sales in green goods through the recession and studies indicate consumers’ commitment to buying environmentally friendly products has not fallen off.

Yet even as green product sales continue to thrive, industry insiders say, retailers need to tweak their message to emphasize quality and value in addition to the environmental attributes.

“The challenge is promoting the efficacy and innovation of the product, as well as the sustainable elements,” says Neil Stern, senior partner with retail consulting firm McMillan|Doolittle in Chicago and author of “Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail.” “The message has got to be about value.”

That consumers are continuing to buy items offering a combination of quality and green characteristics bodes well for retailers who've invested time, money and inventory in private label green brands and other green product lines. The 2008 Good Purpose survey from public relations firm Edelman overwhelmingly shows that buyers plan to remain loyal to products that they perceive to have strong social value.

According to survey results, 68 percent of consumers say that even in a recession they would remain faithful to a brand if it supports a good cause; nearly seven in 10 would be prepared to pay more for eco-friendly products.

The results don’t surprise Ron Jarvis, vice president of environmental innovation for Atlanta-based Home Depot. While sales are down overall at Home Depot, its Eco Options label of energy efficient products are outperforming conventional merchandise sales across the board. “We are seeing continued interest in socially conscious products in our stores,” he says. “American consumers still want choices that have less of an impact on the environment.”

Home Depot's Eco Options product line

Jarvis points out that Home Depot sells non-luxury items that people need to buy, regardless of the economy, which gives the company and its green brand an edge.

“We aren’t selling designer luggage made from recycled material, these home essentials that people need.”

He notes that energy-saving products in particular, such as compact florescent light bulbs, are doing extremely well because they have such an obvious long-term financial and environmental benefit. “Customers may pay a little more up front but they see the payoff down the line,” he says.

Despite this strength, Home Depot is tweaking the marketing message -- and price points -- of its green products. The company has launched a price reduction program across the store, lowering prices on thousands of products to make them more affordable to struggling consumers. The Eco Options line is no exception.

Selling Green Products in Trying Times

Be consistent. Communicate information about your green offerings across all media, including the website, advertising, catalogs and store shelves.

Show the value. Consumers won’t buy low-quality products just because they have green attributes. You have to show that they perform as well or better than non-green competitors, ideally at a similar price point.

Make them easy to find. The days of green products aisles and separate sections for green options in catalogs are over. Green products should be stocked side by side with similar non-green offerings so buyers can make comparisons and purchasing decisions on the spot.

Understand why customers are buying green products. For many businesses, green choices are made to support certifications and regulations. If you can help them quickly identify products that meet their needs, you are more likely to make the sale.

“Our advertising message is that these products are great for the environment with new lower price,” Jarvis says. The company is also focusing on "opening price points," which spotlight the lowest priced items in a category.

“Consumers are looking for green products that they can afford,” he says. “Focusing on opening price points in our advertising shows them that they don’t have to spend any more than they would on conventional products to buy green.”

This kind of dual message is critical for marketing green products in a down economy, says Stern of McMillan|Doolittle. He notes that those retailers who got involved in green branding early on, such as Home Depot, Target and Office Depot, are doing a better job of balancing the environmental message with quality and price.

Communicating the value statement is a key component of successful green marketing, agrees Anne Rodgers, spokesperson for Target in Minneapolis.

“Our focus has always been on value, giving consumers affordable options that enable them to live and work in eco-friendly ways,” she says. “That’s a consistent message for us, whether it’s a good economy or bad.”

Rodgers notes that along with pricing green products to be competitive with other product lines, the company stocks green items, such as its bamboo and organic cotton sheets, next to conventional ones so that consumers can make side-by-side feature and price comparisons.

The company also clearly states the environmental attributes on its packaging and signage to educate consumers about their choices.

“You have to offer an assortment of solutions at different price points so consumers can find multiple ways to be eco-friendly,” she says.

The Green Supply Cabinet

That combination of communication and education is critical to successfully positioning green product lines and establishing the corporate brand as an environmental leader, notes Stern.

ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

2009-03-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

This year The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management's Environmental Photographer of the Year competition received over 1,400 international entries for the categories Changing Climates, World of Difference, Quality of Life, The Natural World, and Under 21. A selection of the images is currently being shown at the Apothecary Gallery in Hammersmith, London. The overall winner was Abhijit Nandi, whose image is shown above.

Abhijit Nandi (image above)
"The woman is returning home from a paddy field in a remote village of West Bengal after a long day at work. As a farmer’s wife, she has to manage her home, child and help in the field. She never thought a village woman could be the subject of a photograph, so when I told her that I would like to take a picture, she just laughed. The mother and child, the green paddy field and the blue sky after rain fill me with happiness, hope and joy. There is also a strong suggestion of the renewal of life, with the cow being connected deeply to the fertility cult in Indian mythology."

More Goodness >>>

via | don't panic

Report: Sustainability Efforts Require Individual Leadership

2009-02-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

Companies that put a single person in charge of sustainability programs are much more likely to get their employees behind the effort, according to a new survey of HR execs.

The survey, conducted by human resource firm Buck Consultants, finds that employee involvement in green programs dramatically increases when organizations appoint an individual to lead the efforts. For companies with at least three-quarters of their employees actively involved in green programs, 71% have appointed individual leaders whereas only 29% do not have such a leader.

Incentives programs help too, the survey finds. Among companies that provide rewards to encourage green behaviors, 77% provide special employee recognition, 36% give prize incentives, and 14% offer a monetary reward.

â€œMany employers now recognize that green programs in the workplace can promote social responsibility among workers and help retain top talent,says Don Sanford, managing director of Buckâ€™s communication practice. â€œBut there is still much more that organizations can do. We expect to see future growth in green training programs, environmentally responsible investment options, and recruiting employees with green skills.

Four out of five companies use web- or videoconferencing to reduce business travel - making remote conferencing the top sustainability strategy cited by survey respondents. Other popular strategies include setting policies to conserve paper (76%) and implementing employee wellness programs (68%).

via | Sustainable Life Media

Vital to Business Survival: Assessing the Impact of Environmental Pressures

2009-02-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

By Brandi McManus

Identifying and implementing changes in environmental policies are not simple tasks. Yet pressures from customers, shareholders and competition show that progress is required. Part 2 of Brandi McManus' four-part series "Growing a Green Corporation: Meeting the Next Great Disruptive Challenge of the 21st Century" details how to assess such pressures and act on them.

Assessing the Business Impacts of Environmental Pressures

Identifying, planning and implementing changes in your environmental policies are not simple tasks. Yet, clear pressures from customers, shareholders and competition show that progress in this area is required. So what do you do? How do you measure success? An increasing number of international companies are considering measurement on a "triple" bottom line. This is the measurement of three key metrics -- organizational success, environmental success and economic success.

Growing A Green Corporation

This four-part series covers ...
• Reading the Signs of Change
• Assessing the Impacts of Environmental Pressure
• Investing in Sustainability: Shades of Green
• Building Your Green Team

Organization success includes human capital, or people, and measures fair and beneficial business practices towards employees or the community. These metrics can include: employee training, charitable contributions, community involvement and labor practices. Environmental success is measured by the practices that limit impact on the environment including energy management and manufacturing waste disposal.

Economic success is the profit that all businesses are accustomed to measuring. While measuring the economic or financial bottom line is tangible and easily monitored, social and environmental issues may seem more difficult to monitor and measure. Additionally, many environmental actions can even deliver a significant return on investment.

When it comes to understanding the true impact of energy and the environment, only limited data is available to CFOs. They still need that data translated into actionable information to make informed decisions about their business. This article will discuss the soft and hard assessment on a company's environmental practices.

Motivators and Consequences

Drawing on Daniel Esty's and Andrew Winston's book, "Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value and Build Competitive Advantage," the following table lists the top five environmental issues and their consequences.

Click here for an enlarged view of the chart.

Remembering Inspiration

2009-02-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

When did inspiration - the most natural experience in the world - become such a rare commodity? By John Marshall Roberts

As a writer and speaker on the topic of inspiration, I get more than my share of funny looks. "Oh god. Another wannabe guru peddling easy answers to tough questions." seems to be the non-verbal gist, usually said discreetly from behind world-weary eyes adorning an otherwise sweet and polite social face. As a generally polite fellow myself, I usually say nothing. But I notice. And I wonder...

When did this happen? When did people who could inspire others become relegated to the ranks of magicians and snake-oil salesmen? When did our mistrust of our own deeper nature harden into a cynical shell protecting us from even those who would earnestly seek to contribute to our well-being?

I don't know about you, but I've never met a cynical, smug baby. Nope. Cynicism is learned. Inspiration, on the other hand...well, that's beyond learning. Inspiration is what happens when we unlearn, when we let our guard down and experience the moment, fully and completely, exactly as it is, without the need for justifications, polish, or spin.

Don't believe me? That's fine. But answer me this:

Have you ever fallen madly in love? Have you ever had an amazing conversation that kept you up for until ungodly hours, without a need for food or sleep? Has a brilliant piece of music ever moved you to tears? Have you ever felt transported by the eloquence of a gifted orator? Have you ever felt ineffably connected to a stranger in a moment of crisis? Have you ever been entranced by the timeless charms of a chubby baby?

These are just a few faces of inspiration. It's infiniteâ€”in fact, it's the literal experience of infinity, of that unbounded experiential dimension that each of us carries innate. Socially, it is the recognition that we share this infinite something with each other. Is it hard to imagine that you could incorporate this sort of experience into your everyday life as a duty-bound adult? Yes, perhapsâ€”but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Not only is it possible, but it's necessary and it's inevitable.

We live in a mind-blowing time where a critical mass of people are becoming disenchanted with the old ways, and are actively seeking new ways, or contexts, for living. We seem to be collectively unwilling to continue pretending as though there is nothing more to us than just a temporary body and a pleasure-seeking mind. We seem to be craving something deeper and more sustainable, not just in terms of our outer environment, but also our inner environments. We seem to be ready to reclaim our birthrightâ€”the natural state of inspiration that all those years of forcing and persuading bred right out of us.

As we move forward, we'll learn that our biggest barrier to reclaiming this higher ground and seizing this opportunity rests not in the world outside us, but in our inner willingness to let go of the cynicism that we've accrued to protect ourselves from an apparently dangerous, threatening world. Martin Luther King's "fierce urgency of now" is but the recognition that we are bigger than our piddling fears, and are finally willing to yield to a deeper voice that knows the way. This voice is inspiration, and whenever we meet we either share it or lose it together.

__________

John Marshall Roberts is an author, speaker, and communications strategist for a variety of sustainable and socially conscious clients. His new book, "Igniting Inspiration: A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries," is available here. Find more information on his blog.

This article first appeared on CTN Green.

via | sustainable life media

Making Way for the New Corporation

2009-02-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

The economic reality that everyone is now facing is the necessary dismantling of a flawed system that allowed for the egregious over-valuation of houses, bundled mortgages, re-financed debt portfolios. Now is the time for us to build a new reality, one based upon a new ethos of good economics and the new politics of optimism - but this will require alternatives to current corporate structures. By Sandy Skees

I just finished reading a wonderful paper submitted by Susan Mac Cormac, a partner at Morrison | Foerster, titled "The Emergence of New Corporate Forms," submitted at the 2007 Summit on the Future of the Corporation. Her premise is that the rigid divisions between for-profit and non-profit will no longer work in the new economy because companies and organizations are waking up to need and benefit of combined prosperity/social missions endeavors.

I couldn't agree more.

An example given, of the new Minnesota Socially Responsible Corporation, describes legislation that allows companies to create a corporate structure that integrates "financial success and social responsibility." This bill, introduced in 2007, is another indication that many disciplines and industries, including legal, taxes, corporate designations like B Corporation, and sustainable brands, are all participating in a new reality that is more than a fad, a trend.

Companies - whether early stage or established - that adopt a sustainability focus and match economic prosperity/shareholder value with social responsibility and environmental nurturing will be at the forefront of the new Good Economy.

A sustainability focus helps companies give customers better products that can lead to a better life. When all of us are stretched thin and trying to absorb the reality of our failing systems, the time is right for companies to join the effort by acknowledging their responsibility and opportunity.

What business wouldn't want to create a more profitable and innovative enterprise, all while building stronger relationships with customers, employees, communities and even shareholders?

That's the Good Economy we can all nurture, grow and celebrate.

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Sandy Skees is a senior international public relations/marketing strategist, providing counsel and program development for communications that affect people, planet and profits through stakeholder relationship management.

This article was originally posted on Sandy's blog, Communications4Good.

via | SLM

Blue Thinking: The Next-Generation Green Strategy

2009-02-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

Blue Thinking is the antidote to Green.

It doesn’t go away and it’s not a project with a budget. It is the next generation of thinking emerging from the heart of brands embracing sustainability as business strategy and a driver for innovation. It’s not a green consumer story or marketing idea, not a single product innovation, not one change in the supply chain (but instead many), and nor is it a disconnected concept that should be applied to business because climate change has come upon us. Instead, it is transformational innovation.

The phrase "Blue innovation" instead of "Green" was coined by Bob Isherwood, ex Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Creative Director, who presented at the Sustainable Brands International (SBi) conference in Miami in December. His call is to translate the burden of environmental accountability into a "blue ocean of opportunity" and to make sustainability "irresistible" to people.

In these times of crunched economies and broken industries that have widely exposed the limits to growth and short term planning, there seems to be some debate over how the last couple of years’ obsession with the greening of business and brands will fair up. Anxieties and assumptions that "sustainability" is going to be put on the backburner until a better time further expose the disconnected way we think: like "green" or "sustainability" is a project or a thing that can switched on or off, on-demand.

The new wave of sustainability – Blue not Green – is strategic and opportunity driven. It is a business response to a changing economic landscape (borrowed wealth and externalized social costs are unsustainable) and to world context (planetary resources which fuel the engine of growth are under threat and commodities are increasing in price). It is also a backlash against environmental inertia and negativity; instead it celebrates inspiration and the power of brands to “ignite the power of emotion” (in Isherwood’s words) to drive innovation.

Blue Thinking doesn’t stop just because budgets are getting tight. In fact the opposite: Blue is being embedded in long-term strategic planning, and now more than ever in these transformational times.

Many of the world’s leading consumer brand Blue Thinkers were present at the SBi summit, where I too was presenting some Blue thoughts from OZOlab.

The Blue Thinkers all share a particular quality: they have been moved emotionally as well as rationally by the context of our planet, to transform their business and drive innovation. Ray Anderson is a great example; he speaks passionately about the emotional shift that ignited the business transformation at Interface (the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet) – starting with himself and moving throughout his business to include a powerful response from engineers modeling the machines that produce his materials. Ray talked of “humans overwhelming gratitude to nature” as a driver for innovation.

His story is widely quoted and his company still remains the world’s leading example of sustainability applied as a strategy and fueled by human response to environmental issues. Ray Anderson described Blue Thinking as "Authentic Sustainability." He touched on the efficiency benefits of the transformation innovation his company has been undergoing for 13 years, like 93% efficiencies at the pump in the manufacturing process, and dematerialization – removing materials from his materials-based business. He also touched on systems innovation: driving innovation upstream with DuPont materials.

Lee Scott and the route of transformational innovation he put Wal-Mart on were ignited by the company’s original mission to support less privileged communities and do good. This has been translated into a program that enables emotional engagement in innovation all the way through to shop-floor employees: the Personal Sustainability Project (PSP) established by Adam Werbach (whose company is now a Saatchi & Saatchi-owned business). Wal-Mart is using Blue Thinking to drive innovation through 12 value networks within the business: Greenhouse Gas, Sustainable Buildings, Alternative Fuels, Logistics, Waste, Packaging, China, Forest & Paper, Food, Agriculture and Seafood, Textiles, Jewelry, Electronics and Chemical Intensive Products.

The U.K. brand Marks & Spencer’s Blue Thinking was ignited by a small management team group who embraced environmental issues because they were exposed to global realities through their work with WWF in the U.K. This small team very quickly put together “Plan A, because there’s no Plan B” and presented this powerful message to the world. Plan A is a business strategy that is building a company ready for a sustainable future. It’s a visible and demanding strategic plan; and it has put the not so long ago failing British institutional brand back on the map. The brand and its visible plan is engaging its stakeholders, including customers, in the transformational process. One year in, their "100 Point Plan" to transform the business and supply chain is in full force (they are at about point 20).

Another common and important attribute of emergent Blue Thinking is its strong connection to brand strategy. "Blue Thinkers" dig deep into the heart of the organization, their current role and position in the world, and their core competency and human capital, to strategically shape and define their intent and role in a sustainable world and align it with the core of their brand. It’s a brand strategy exercise with a transformational output and action plan, not just a brand engagement manifesto.

IBM’s recent communication and intent around “Smarter Planet” is an example here. IBM has identified its need to focus on global systems and infrastructure innovation to support sustainable transformation. Why? Because IBM is the leading infrastructure and systems innovator; it has the depth of research and knowledge across multiple industries to tackle some of the toughest world problems. Citing “… you don’t have to look far to see, for example, that only 30% of the potential electricity that is available at the energy source actually reaches the doorstep of the consumer. Or, that significant amounts of traffic congestion are caused by people circling, looking for empty parking spaces, wasting fuel” – John Kennedy, VP of Integrated Marketing Communications, highlights examples where IBM can clearly improve systems. IBM have looked at the world with a systematic lens, looked at the heart of their business, and married the two with strategic purpose. IBM’s purpose is now to make global infrastructure smarter within the frame of our planetary, social and economic challenges. Now could not be a more relevant time to be tackling systems-level challenges.

Understanding consumers, markets, leaders, and corporations, all of us are at the very beginning of economic and social transformation to a sustainable world. Blue Thinkers know they need to engage and bring their stakeholders with them in the process – their employees, customers and the communities they touch. IBM has started to "talk" or communicate to their corporate customers but also individuals, states, governments, NGOs, through what they are describing as “Op-Ed” advertising – or educational advertising. Traditionally IBM only spoke to large enterprises. Today their purpose is to get all stakeholders seeing the systems challenges (and then presumable engaging IBM in the change and infrastructure).

Most brands are at the beginning of a long journey. All understand that Blue Thinking in this broken down economy is significant because business is forced to reflect on current practices and re-engineer to fit with market change. It’s a platform for intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs - change agents within supertanker companies driving change from within the organization and grass root innovators.

Listen to SLM's audio interview with Tamara here.

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Tamara Giltsoff is managing director of OZOlab, an innovation lab and business incubator that aims to identify, create, and market new sustainable businesses with mass consumer appeal.

This article has been reprinted courtesy of PSFK, a trends and innovation company that publishes daily, provides consultancy and hosts events.

360 Paper Water Bottle ::.

2009-02-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

The bottled-water debate continues: A brand design outfit called Brandimage says it has created "an innovative new product that questions the very existence of the plastic water bottle."

The 360 Paper Water Bottle is made from pressed renewable-plant fibers coated with a thin film of PLA plastic - all 100% recyclable, according to Brandimage. Labels can be printed directly on the material using soy- or water-based dyes. In addition, the bottles are designed to bundle together, eliminating the need for separate multipack carriers.

To use:

The top is torn off to access the liquid. To reseal, the removed component peels apart to expose a sanitary plug-fit side, and the remaining part gets tethered to the finger loop to eliminate litter.

"We have undertaken this program without the support of a manufacturing and/or materials supplier partner," Brandimage writes on its website. "We intend to find the 360 Paper Water Bottle a branded home.

The company says "some of the world's largest brands" have already expressed interest in its invention.

The road to consumer acceptance might be a long one, however. Wal-Mart, for example, got a big thumbs-down from shoppers on its resource-efficient milk jugs last year. Kellogg is holding off on switching to compact cereal boxes pending successful testing in limited markets.

Via | Sustainable Life Media

Greener Design Comes Out of the Lab

2009-02-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

Concerns over toxics in everyday consumer products, as well as in the environment, ramped up during 2008, as companies faced continued threats of tainted toys and other products manufactured both at home and abroad. The threat was at times mind-boggling: A study of 1,500 toys tested for toxic substances found that 1 in 3 had significant levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, or other chemicals. Concerns ranged from lead in lipstick to mercury in medicine to BPA in baby products, among dozens of other problematic products. Highlighting the risks from harmful materials in products, toy maker Mattel settled for $12 million a lawsuit brought by 39 states after some of its toys were found to contain dangerous levels of lead.

Along with the growth of concern has come a growing number of solutions, a small but promising toolkit of chemical alternatives and design strategies aimed at wringing out the most toxic ingredients -- and, at the same time, improving some products' performance characteristics.

An emerging field called"green chemistry" enjoyed the limelight in 2008, as California enacted a law giving its Department of Toxic Substances Control the power to set up a framework for dealing with chemicals of concern, instead of on a substance-by-substance basis, the current model that often leads to contentious legislation or litigation.

The need for green chemistry is clear. There continue to be substantive gaps in understanding the health and environmental effects for the great majority of the 83,000 chemical substances listed in the federal government's inventory. And over the past 20 years, more than 20,000 new substances have been added to the inventory, as global chemical production continues to grow at about 3 percent per year. Green chemistry -- the science of addressing pollution prevention at the molecular level— seeks to find safer alternatives.

A few companies have been doing some version of this for years. SC Johnson, for example, the maker of consumer products ranging from Glade to Raid, has been gradually and systematically substituting safer chemicals for toxic ones, a protocol it callsGreenlist. Using Greenlist, the company managed not only to eliminate a chemical it deemed unacceptable in its Windex glass cleaner, but also to improve the product's cleaning power by 30 percent. All told, Greenlist has enabled SC Johnson to remove more than 61 million pounds of smog-producing volatile organic compounds from its products and earned the company a Presidential Green Chemistry Award. Meanwhile, a smaller competitor, Seventh Generation, aiming to promote full disclosure, introduced adownloadable label-reading guide to help consumers understand ingredients in common cleaning products, a searchable and browsable list that explains what each ingredient is, what it is used for, and what effect it has on the environment and human health.

Another blossoming design principle, biomimicry, also gained attention in 2008. A handful of large companies -- including Boeing, Herman Miller, Interface, and Nike -- have begun utilizing biomimicry, which harnesses nature's design solutions for industrial processes, as a design tool. Carpet giant Interface reportedly reaps about a third of its roughly $1 billion annual revenue from its Entropy line of carpet tiles, which were inspired by biomimicry principles. HOK, one of the world's largest architecture firms, formed a partnership to incorporate cutting-edge ideas from nature into its designs for buildings, towns, and cities.

The promise of greener design strategies is bringing companies together to leverage knowledge and forge solutions. More than 50 leaders from businesses and non-governmental organizations came together last year to focus on making consumer products less toxic and with sustainable ingredients. The group is encouraging companies and their supply chains to adopt its guiding principles, which call for disclosing chemical ingredients, avoiding hazardous chemicals, creating a framework for reviewing chemicals, and supporting appropriate policies and standards.

Such partnerships,among companies as well as with activists and government agencies, represent the hallmark of a healthy green business ecosystem, a platform for innovation -- from which the next generation of cleaner and greener policies, processes, and products will likely emerge.

Next: Green Moves Up, and Down, the Chain of Command

I Heard You're a Great Lover

2009-02-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

What makes a bonfire brand? The answer is quite simple: It’s about inspiring folks in an authentic manner to join your conversation and become your evangelists.

Marty Neumeier said it best in his wonderful book Zag: The days of telling everyone you’re a great lover is over. From now on, it’s all about others telling your story for you.

So how exactly do you, the marketing professional, actually accomplish that? In fact, it's a lot like dating:

Stop talking about yourself so much. As the old Chinese proverb suggests, "the unspoken word is heard a thousand times louder than the spoken word." So stop planning marketing and PR campaigns around every little green thing you do. It’s a waste of cash and in many instances, it can create a level of distrust and negative questions around your brand. SC Johnson telling me how green they are by creating their own green label, for example - it falls on deaf ears. You want me to connect? Have someone I respect tell me that you’re a great lover. Doing the right thing should be enough reward unto itself (forgive my altruistic ideals) and if/when others discover your goodness and share your story, well...that’s called gold.

Get in the game with social media. Your brand is officially in the hands of those you serve. So cut your marketing budget in half and invest in great human capital and better product. Yes, your marketing team will freak out and call bullshit, but once the numbness subsides, the great teams, will find energy and abundance in the necessity of thinking anew.

Choose authentic lovers. Partner with those that can tell your story. For example, look at all of the brands that benefited by having distribution with Whole Foods Market. The perception was/is that Whole Foods is the "house of goodness," and so your mere presence suggested you were legit. In many ways, Whole Foods helped shape and define the resonance and authenticity of so many brands (including Seventh Generation). Another example would be B Corporation, fascinating new initiative that seeks to keep conversations objective via a set of comprehensive and transparent social and environmental standards.

Consider your sources. The less we listen to corporations telling us how green they are, the more likely greenwashing will diminish. That said, we should place emphasis on those we trust versus those that pitch. Paying others to tell your story is not recommended. Case in point: Sierra Club endorsing Clorox’s Green Works product line would have been cool, but discovering that Sierra Club was a paid consultant, not so cool. It created all sorts of red flags and produced more questions than confirmation for the authenticity and intentions of both Sierra Club and Clorox. The moral of the story - authenticity cannot be bought.

Ditch your carefully laid plans. Ad agencies better reinvent themselves fast - real fast. Brands need to build bonfires, not media plans and fancy ads.

Be flexible. The Chief Marketing Officer role needs to evolve or it will die. As I have said before, I am not sure what marketing means, but resonance and relevance is vital. That said the tired CMO job description should shift to something far more meaningful. Can I suggest Chief Trimtab, Gardener or Conversationista?

Less is more. "Do-nothing branding" will emerge as a new trend. In other words, we will see bonfire brands grow without any traditional marketing strategies. I kid you not. One of the best things the team did at Seventh Generation was create a product catalog that mirrored a coffee table book. It brought the brand and product to life in a way that previously did not exist. It became a catalyst for discussion at the ground level. So the key for all of us going forward is to really sit and think about what will optimize resonance and relevance without any preconceptions as to what drives a brand. The cool thing is that it is a unique design question for everyone and thus, everyone can create and design on their own accord.

Natural selection. Brand Darwinism will ring true - we will see the collapse of hundreds, if not thousands, of brands based on natural selection. A logo and an idea are not enough any more (thank God!). That said, many brands will find it tough because they lack the authenticity and acumen to grow a bonfire brand. History and tradition are meaningless. It’s all about what you are doing going forward. The good news? A whole new breed of brand will emerge with stronger principles and a greater respect for authenticity.

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Duke Stump has worked as a brand builder for more than 20 years, most recently for Seventh Generation and Nike. He is now principal and chief architect of the NorthStar Manifesto, a brand-consulting studio.

State of Green Business 2009: Green is Growing, But Not Fast Enough

2009-02-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

The second annual State of Green Business Report, created by Joel Makower and the editors of GreenBiz.com, looks at hard data behind 20 indicators to find out just how well companies are doing on addressing environmental issues.

Green business activity has continued to grow, even during a down economy, but the aggregate environmental progress being made is marginal, according to a new report, titled "State of Green Business 2009," the second annual report of its kind published by GreenBiz.com.

The State of Green Business shows that companies are making progress on only a handful of the 20 measures of performance investigated. In some areas, such as in the case of climate change, company commitments and achievements are failing to stem the overall rise of carbon emissions.

"This year's update is a mixed bag of encouraging and discouraging news," says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com and the report's principal author. "But on balance, despite a growing chorus of corporate commitments and actions, we're less optimistic that these activities, in aggregate, are addressing planetary problems at sufficient scale and speed."

The report found many reasons for optimism, according to the authors. Green building is on the rise, spurring new technologies that save energy and money while creating more healthful workplaces. There is a green race taking place in the automobile industry, with every major manufacturer planning to introduce electric vehicles. The leading consumer product makers and retailers are starting to rigorously assess the environmental impact of their products using sophisticated metrics, sending signals up the supply chain that tomorrow's products will need to hew to higher levels of environmental responsibility.

The report marks the second year of the GreenBiz Index, a set of 20 indicators of U.S. business environmental progress. They include macroeconomic measures, such as carbon emissions, toxic releases, packaging materials, and paper use per unit of gross domestic product, as well as the fuel efficiency of corporate vehicle fleets, construction of green office space, investments in cleantech, and the financial costs of companies' environmental impacts.

Among the findings:
• Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States rose in 2007 by 1.4 percent in absolute terms over 2006, but shrank 0.6 percent in intensity -- that is, when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). That's the smallest annual decrease since 2002, when intensity improved 0.4 percent.

• U.S. patents for clean-energy technologies -- wind, fuel cells, hydroelectric, tidal, and geothermal -- in 2008 were at their highest level in seven years.

• Americans are continuing their love affair with the car, and appear unwilling to give up their vehicles for the solo commute to work. Since a high of 77.8 percent in 2003, the number of solo commuters has inched down slowly to 76.1 percent in 2007.

• American industry has been doing more with less energy for decades. The amount of energy required -- in the form of electricity and fuel -- per dollar of GDP has dropped more than 75 percent since 1950.

• The growth of certified green buildings, which for years had been growing from 10 to 90 percent, slowed dramatically in 2008.

• Generation of non-hydro renewable energy -- including solar, wind, and biomass -- grew nearly 7 percent in 2007 from the year before, outpacing the 2.3 percent annual growth in all electricity generation during the same period.

• The packaging intensity of the economy -- the aluminum, plastics, cardboard, and other materials used per dollar of GDP -- continued to decline slightly, as it has for the past several years.

• Over the past decade, the amount of paper used per dollar of GDP dropped by 27 percent and the amount of paper recycled rose -- also by 27 percent.

• Over the past 18 years, disposal and release of chemicals by U.S. companies decreased by 1.77 billion pounds, or 59 percent.

The report also includes the top 10 green business trends of 2007. They include the rise of energy efficiency in commercial buildings; the emergence of water as "the new carbon"'; the growth of college curricula on environmental management; growing company efforts to push environmental thinking to the rank and file; the failings of green marketing to captivate consumers; and the increased use by companies of such green design principles as green chemistry and biomimicry.

To download the free report, visit http://greenbiz.com/stateofgreenbusinessreport.

Americans Believe Green Investing is Poised for a 'Golden Age': Survey

2009-01-31T17:37:00.000-08:00

By GreenBiz Staff

Heightened support from the Obama Administration and the new Congress on environmental issues, strong green elements in the proposed stimulus and anticipated regulatory changes are fueling optimism for green investment, according to Allianz Global Investors.
That's the assessment of results from the latest survey of American investors for the asset management firm, which says Amercians see a "golden age" coming for green investing.
In addition to expecting broad policy change from Washington, D.C., investors are increasingly perceiving firms that seek to address environmental issues as strong investment opportunities, the company said.

"The need for pollution control, clean water and energy efficiency is not going away," Brian Gaffney, managing director and CEO of Allianz Global Investors Distributors, said in a statement. "Investors perceive there is real opportunity here and they want to capitalize on it."
Gaffney said investors' positive outlook on the environmental technology sector reflects their perception of the area as a long-term opportunity. "Investors understand that robust demand for innovation and solutions will fuel growth, and consequently profits, for years to come," he said.
The survey found:

• 78 percent of investors believe that the Obama Administration in its first year will produce more policy promoting business investment in the environment than the Bush Administration produced during its entire tenure
• 74 percent believe that the new Congress will more strongly support policy promoting business investment in environmental technology
• 97 percent believe that exploring alternative fuel sources remains important despite declining gas prices
• 91 percent believe that resolving environmental problems will be a major issue for years
• 69 percent consider it important to look at investing in companies that capitalize on addressing those problems.
• 78 percent say environmental technology has the potential to be the "next great American industry," and 64 percent considered the sector to be the "most desirable" investment opportunity among 10 categories surveyed
• 72 percent contend that plunging stock prices have had no effect on their inclination to invest in environmental stocks
• 48 percent say they are "at least somewhat likely" to invest in environmental companies this year
• 22 percent in 2008 made investments in firms capitalizing in environmental trends compared to the 17 percent who reported doing so in 2007

The survey also found that 52 percent believe the Dow Jones Industrial Average will be higher a year from now than it is today. And 58 percent of the respondents said they think Europe is ahead of the U.S. in trying to tackle the problems — an aspect that could spur investors' interests in American firms engaged in environmental issues.

The survey polled 1,264 adults from December 12 to 19, 2008. GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, conducted the survey over the Internet for Allianz Global Investors.

Participants were required to be at least 25 years old and have primary or shared responsibility for investment decisions in households with financial assets of at least $100,000. The survey conducted December 14-20, 2007 tallied responses from 1,003 completed interviews.

Vital to Business Survival: Reading the Signs of Change

2009-01-31T17:26:00.000-08:00

By Brandi McManus

In this era of heightened environmental awareness, the ability to recognize the transformational power of the green movement -- and act on it -- can be the difference between life and death for a business. Brandi McManus' four-part series "Growing a Green Corporation: Meeting the Next Great Disruptive Challenge of the 21st Century" begins today with a look at the perils of failing to recognize disruptive change.

Muskets, Crossbows and CEOs

In the 18th century, warfare was changed forever. Out were the romantic knights with armor and lances, and in were muskets, artillery and infantrymen. Armies now used gunpowder as an effective means to destroy an enemy from afar. Although early muskets had a limited rate of fire, range and accuracy, firearms allowed anyone to become an effective soldier with very little training. Previous military units like bowman and knights needed years of practice to master their skills. These disruptive changes created an entirely new approach to the art of war.

The prince or king -- the CEO of that era -- who recognized the disruptive force and seized upon it early gained an overwhelming advantage.

Growing A Green Corporation

This four-part series covers ...
• Reading the Signs of Change
• Assessing the Impacts of Environmental Pressure
• Investing in Sustainability: Shades of Green
• Building Your Green Team

Disruptive change is present in every era. It shifts the underlying forces of society, industry or business. In modern times, we have many examples of industries undergoing a disruptive change -- computers, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, newspapers and music to name a few.

The question facing today's CEO may not be a matter of life and death, but it is vital to business survival: What is the next great disruptive change, and when should you act?

History is littered with the failures of companies that did not see disruptive change or technology: Kodak and the digital camera, BMG and digital music, the minicomputer industry and personal computers, and Dell's entrance into printing and the threat it posed to HP. Fortunately, history reminds us of the success of those who ride the wave of disruptive change: Apple with its iPod, General Electric, SAP and Oracle.

There are huge rewards for recognizing the indicators of disruptive change. The penalty for lack of response? Struggle, failure and an ignoble exit.

Business tools of a bygone era.

What in the world is the next disruptive force?

Business leaders in every industry have a powerful interest in figuring out what the next big disruptive change will be. Will society move to e-books? Will voiceover IP dominate the telecommunications industry? Will CD collections be discarded in favor of digital?

Those are important issues, but they pale next to the real change that is coming. The clues to this change are literally all around us -- in the air, under our feet and in our water. The single most important issue of our generation is not only threatening how we do business today, it is threatening our society, economy and health.

This looming issue is the environment.

Once a concern only for hippies and extremists, the environment has become a pressing issue for everyone living in our world today. In "Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value and Build Competitive Advantage," authors Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston write: "In today's world, no company, big or small, operating locally or globally, in manufacturing or services can afford to ignore environmental issues."

Some may argue about the causes of climate change and the role that humans play. But from a business perspective, there is no question that the environment is fast becoming a driving force behind public, governmental and economic activities around the world.

In short, the environment is the new musket.

Ten Insights for Sustainable Brands in an Uncertain Economy

2009-01-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

via | sustainable life media

After nearly a decade of build-up, sustainability and “green” were the issues du jour for much of 2007 and 2008 - but with the recent market crash, the national dialogue has turned more towards keeping a roof over your head than keeping a green roof over your head. So what’s a sustainable brand to do? Here are a ten strategies for honing a compelling green message in this tough economic climate.

1. Take pride in your sustainable brand, and know that there’s a strong core of people out there who still care about sustainability and who will continue to care.

Consumers may not use the word "sustainability," but they’ve been getting on the path for quite some time now — buying organics, recycling, using CFLs, embracing companies that support fair trade and social/environmental causes, seeking out local products, seeking less toxic products for home and body, seeking health and wellness and a more balanced and simplified lifestyle, supporting positive environmental actions and social justice whenever possible. This constellation of behaviors all comprises sustainability: It represents a psychic evolution that people go through over time, and it’s difficult to go backwards once you’ve begun to progress down the path. So while we’ll likely see pullbacks from the double-digit growth we’ve seen in most sustainability sectors in the past decade (because of a general economic slowdown), the fundamentals here are still sound. Sustainability-seeking “conscious consumers” exist along a continuum, defined by all the various “sustainable” actions people may or may not take, and comprise as much as 85% of the US population — with around 20% of the population far enough into this mindset that it’s come to be part of their identities. These people are not just going to evaporate. A recent poll confirms this: 85% of people still want to purchase products from socially responsible companies, economics be damned.

2. If you’re a “core” brand with true sustainability cred, you’ll do just fine, and you’ll probably even outperform the market at large.

If you were just greenwashing, then now would be a good time to stop — the mass market is more concerned with “value” than with values at a time like this (no matter what they might claim on a survey), and the people who were just chasing the green trends will fall away as their 401ks collapse. But if you’re doing some bona fide good in the world, then you’d do well to keep going. The climate isn’t going to stop changing anytime soon, awareness about toxicity issues will only become more sophisticated over time (witness the recent mainstream awareness about BPA and the shift towards glass baby bottles), and the need for sustainability will become more and more urgent as a global issue, even as the economy suffers. (And if Obama’s new green deal falls into place, economic recovery and a burgeoning sustainability scene could become one and the same.)

3. Be socially responsible. Talk about it. Be more socially responsible than ever. Talk about it even more.

Conscious consumers care much more about a company’s internal socially responsible actions (how they treat their employees) than about their environmentally responsible ones. And this sentiment will only grow stronger during a period when job security is at a 35-year low. Companies that treat people well will be seen as islands of enlightenment during this era of massive layoffs and paycuts, and the more that you talk about the real things you’re doing that are truly humanistic, the more that the “conscious consumer” will be drawn to your brand. Did you know that Patagonia lets everyone go surfing when the tide is high? That the revolutionary Brazilian company Semco lets employees (er, “associates”) determine their own salaries? That Google offers everyone on their main campus three organic meals each day? These are the sorts of things that conscious consumers care about, and that will ultimately help differentiate your brand. And – oh yes – it’s the right thing to do. So now is a good time to look deep into your operating principles and find real — not just gimmicky — ways to make employees feel valued and cared about.

4. Anticipate growing anti-consumption attitudes, and focus on offering a quality experience.

In times like this, people will have a natural “sour grapes” attitude towards consumption in general, and will resent the mere existence of goods that they simply cannot afford, even rejecting the very idea of “consumption” if they’re already down the path to sustainability. All of the core tenets of sustainability are consistent with a less “consumptive” lifestyle and a more high-quality offering, so if you’re in this space, you’re probably already poised for success during an economic downturn. Now is the time to ask yourself some serious questions about your product offerings, your brand, and your messaging — “quality” is a core conscious consumer value, and will become even more so as people become (by necessity) increasingly selective about what they buy. Patagonia has actually elected to halt growth altogether — they’ve reduced their clothing line by 30%, proclaiming that people simply do not need that much stuff, and that their products are made to last. As the recession continues, people will become less and less willing to buy items that do not feel lasting, substantial, and soul-nourishing. And they’ll become even more annoyed at the standard tactics and tone of traditional “push” marketing.

5. That said, affordable luxuries and “guilty” escapist pleasures will thrive in this environment, as they did during the Great Depression and every other economic downturn.

If you can tap into these trends, you’ll capture the hearts and minds of people who are living in a state of heightened fear and desperation. The twist: you’re actually giving people something that has a positive impact on their life and the planet (relatively speaking, of course). Whether it’s organic “nutriceutical” chocolate that promises “bliss” on the packaging, or a super-soft organic cotton t-shirt that fits gorgeously and feels like spun clouds, if you offer people small and affordable thrills, they’ll be captivated by whatever you have to offer, and they’ll actually feel good about themselves after the purchase. And if you can cue certain qualities like “handmade,” “nourishing,” “thriving,” or “spiritually uplifting,” your offerings will feel that much more luxurious, because these are the new values that define “luxury” for the conscious consumer who has moved beyond the traditional Western model of luxury (that, frighteningly, China and India are only now beginning to discover.)

6. You’ve probably got less money to spend on marketing these days, but social networks are a powerful way to spread the word.

Pay attention to digital outreach, and two-way communications within the digital space. People who have incorporated sustainability into their identities feel great about touting products in this space — it’s still so difficult to find great “responsible” products and services out there that conscious consumers tend to do a lot of talking within their networks about what they’ve found. And a great find reflects well on a person’s sensibilities and, crucially, their values — unlike purchases in the vast unsustainable space, which merely identify a person as a consumer. So master the digital space, — start twittering, develop a facebook fan base, keep a transparent two-way conversation going with your core consumers (and cultivate evangelists whenever possible), make your own website compellingly interactive, and you’ll find that your marketing dollars go a lot further.

7. Don’t condescend to people with heavy-handed “value” messaging.

As a brand in the sustainability space, you’re focused on a triple bottom line, and your core consumers care about this. By suddenly focusing on cost, you risk seeming manipulative and off-brand. People are perfectly capable of figuring out whether they can afford you or not. “Green” products have had enough trouble gaining traction during the past decade because of premium pricing (among other reasons), and now would not be a great time to draw attention to the not-so-small matter that products and services in this space tend to cost a little bit more. Conscious consumers aren’t buying your product because you’re the cheapest – this was never your value proposition, and never should be. You know about true cost economics, and so do your core consumers. And even the “mid-range” consumers know that “you have to pay a little more” for things that are safer or higher-quality. Don’t compromise your values at a time like this. (But if you’re way out in eco-luxury land, you might have more of an uphill battle these days. Take solace in the fact that even during the Great Depression, low-key luxury still flourished and 75% of people were employed. And that “green” came to be associated with quality and innovation before the 2008 market crash, so its cachet is actually based on something real.)

8. Given that people will, realistically, have trouble affording you, be generous. Very generous.

If you do this with free stuff and loyalty programs, rather than price reductions, people will love you all the more. Price reductions cheapen your brand; thoughtfully architected giveaways feel like gifts and create deep feelings of attachment. During the Great Depression, movie theaters used to give away sets of silverware — piece by piece, week by week — and played to full houses even in the worst of times. Sampling is one of the most powerful known tactics for food products — 24% of people, when given an in-store sample of a product, will buy it instead of the product they intended to buy. So give things away. Give freely and cleverly, and people will flock to your brand, especially in times like these, when a generous sample will take on heightened significance to a heart more accustomed to privations.

9. Understand the deep roots of the sustainability movement. This will give you the deepest clues about what to do, how to express it, and what conscious consumers really want.

To understand a movement, we must look to the beliefs of its innovators and early adopters — this it where it all begins. Sustainability is not a fad or a trend. It’s a seismic cultural shift, and it’s here to stay. Most of our evolutionary history has been spent living sustainably. To the extreme conscious consumer (who would probably balk at the word “consumer”), our current unsustainable mess of a burning planet is seen as a big socio-cultural mistake facilitated by short-sighted application of technological innovation and the amoral reach of unchecked capitalism. Mental illness is, quite understandably, at an all-time high (50% of Americans suffer from clinical levels of stress, anxiety, depression, or personality disorders.) People feel less and less in control of their lives nowadays, and want to gain a sense of peace and purity and balance and real interpersonal connection and soulful depth in their day-to-day existence. And so, things are finally changing. We’re just beginning to come out of a dark age now, and there’s no turning back. Record numbers of MBA students want to incorporate sustainability into their careers; 80% of Fortune 500 companies have CSR reports. Yes, nobody is really there yet – watching corporations take steps towards sustainability is like watching an infant learn to crawl. But we’ll get there. As innovators, we can see that the rest of the world has no choice. They’ll have to catch up, or there will be no more world to live in. As we ease out of decadent late capitalism and into a more sustainable way of life, transparency, authenticity, balance, egalitarianism and distributed models will become the norm – it’s just a matter of time.

10. Think hard about what you’re trying to sell. Question it from every angle, and ask yourself it it’s truly necessary. Change is afoot.

The current economic climate is a direct result of our previous excesses, so correction can actually be a good thing. Peer-to-peer networks are developing powerful alternatives to gratuitous consumption — fashionistas exchange unwanted clothing at “swishing” parties; couchsurfing.com makes hotels obsolete; freecycling, freeganism, and all manner of “borrowing” networks are emerging day by day. These trends challenge conventional purchasing models at every step. So ask yourself what you truly want to give people, whether they truly need it, and — crucially — if they might just find another way to get it. Challenge your own sustainability practices at every point, and we might just make it through alive.

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Hilary Bromberg is chief strategist at egg, a brand development firm in Seattle, Washington.

This column has been adapted from a whitepaper published by egg. Download it here (PDF).

Design is an Avocado: The Layers of Green Design

2009-01-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

via | greener design By Brian Dougherty

There are three distinct ways of thinking about a graphic designer's role: designer as manipulator of stuff; designer as message maker; and designer as agent of change.

I like to think of design as a big, ripe avocado. The outer layer of this avocado represents the physical world of paper and print. This is the obvious part of design that we immediately see-the layer of stuff. Yet if we peel back the skin of the avocado, we discover the meat. This is the realm of brand and information. All of that stuff on the exterior really exists in order to convey information and deliver messages.

If we dive still deeper into the design avocado, we find one more layer-the seed at the center. This seed represents the central challenge around which all of the messages and stuff of design revolve: effecting change.

Designer As Manipulator of Stuff

The kind of graphic design that I learned about in school is a world of typography and images, paper and ink. It is the descendant of Gutenberg and the Bauhaus. It is essentially a world of stuff. In this world, graphic designers are manipulators of words, creators of image, and specifiers of materials.

Within this conception of graphics, green design is a matter of finding and using better physical materials. Designers may research things such as recycled and tree-free papers; or try to find nontoxic inks; or devise folds and structures that result in less waste. When most designers think of green design, these are the common themes.

In the early days of Celery, we immersed ourselves in the world of alternative materials and manufacturing techniques. We collected a library of unusual papers made from bamboo, banana, beer, and a bounty of other materials. We discovered topics outside the typical realm of graphic design, such as biomimicry, biocomposites, and Bucky Fuller. Ten years later, this is still a big part of what we do. We are researching and experimenting on nearly every project we touch.

Designer As Message Maker

Along the way, I have also come to know a different realm of graphic design-one that is not specifically about stuff. In addition to creating physical artifacts (all those booklets, brochures, and banner ads), graphic designers also help clients strategize about how to build strong brands and craft communications that resonate with their target audiences. As such, we are message makers. The messages designers make, the brands we build, and the causes we promote can have impacts far beyond the paper we print on.

This points to a different level of green graphic design. In addition to seeking out better materials and manufacturing techniques, designers can craft and deliver messages that have a positive impact on the world. An obvious example of this sort of green design is when designers work with nonprofit advocacy organizations. For instance, Celery helps the Global Footprint Network communicate with political leaders around the world about sustainable development. We use green materials, of course, but the ideas and messages we work with have much more potential to change the course of world development than our material choices do.

Likewise, green designers may help values-based companies build strong brands and succeed in the marketplace. These companies in turn help to educate their customers about social and environmental issues. Innovative brands can also have an influence far beyond their market share because they can shift the competitive landscape for major industries. A small company like Elephant Pharmacy, which has four stores in the San Francisco area, has carved out a comfortable niche by focusing on holistic wellness and natural products, but it has also influenced larger competitors to focus more on these things.

However, green messages are not limited to nonprofits and green businesses. Community outreach, cause marketing, and corporate responsibility are all well-developed corporate activities that allow graphic designers to work with messages that can have a positive impact. Designers can help companies position themselves as leaders on social and environmental issues, which in turn can influence business operations for years to come.

Designer As Agent of Change

At its core, design is about effecting change. Someone, somewhere is dissatisfied with the way they find things, and they attempt to improve the situation by investing in design.

As designers, we are trying to help clients change the way people think and/or the way they act. In this sense, designers are uniquely positioned to shift not only our own actions, but also the actions of many others who are touched by our work-including our audiences and our clients. We may be hired to change the user's experience of a client's brand. But in the process of doing this, we have the power to change the brand itself. We have the power to influence the substance of a product or service. Green design at this level is about being a force for positive change.

New iPhone App Helps Commuters Track Carbon Footprint

2009-01-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

Companies looking for ways to encourage their employees to carpool or take alternative transportation to work now have a new tool at their disposal - a GPS-enabled carbon footprint application for the iPhone.

Available for free download at the iPhone App Store, the Carbon Tracker, from carbon-management firm Clear Standards, enables users to calculate the carbon footprint from daily commuting, vacations, or business trips.

The application takes advantage of the iPhone's GPS function to estimate distance traveled. Emissions are calculated based on averages from tools developed by the World Resources Institute.

Users can also set monthly "maximum emission" goals and monitor their progress against their own personal carbon footprint reduction targets.

"Although Clear Standards is known for developing carbon management software for businesses, we recognize the important role of individuals in helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," says Richard Mendis, co-founder of Clear Standards. "The Carbon Tracker iPhone app...engages individuals as part of our overall carbon management and sustainability solutions."

Both businesses and their employees stand to gain from cutting commute distances. Sun Microsystems' Open Work telecommuting program, for example, not only cuts the company's building management costs but also saves employees more than $1,700 a year in gasoline and wear and tear on their vehicles, according to Sun's latest statistics.

via | sustainable life media

The Top Ten Reasons Why New Green Products Fail

2009-01-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

Statistics on the exact percentage that fail may be a matter of some debate. Still, most product innovators and academics would agree that more than half of new products fail to meet their financial goals in the marketplace.

Why? EcoStrategy Group has compiled a list of the top ten reasons, based on my personal observation and opinion gleaned from over 25 years experience bringing new technology products to market.

1. Target market is not defined correctly.

A clear definition of the target market is fundamental to creating and launching a product that will be successful in the marketplace. It drives the focus of product development, marketing and sales efforts. Without a clear definition that is commonly understood by all functions, the company can flounder in making critical go-to-market decisions about everything from product features to ad campaigns.

2. Product is mis-positioned.

Positioning a product requires answering the question: "What makes this product (or service) more, better, or different than competing solutions in the mind of the customer?" It seems pretty straightforward but it requires that the marketer understand the value proposition of the product, the competing solutions, and the customer’s perspective.

3. Product’s benefits are not understood by the target customer.

The marketer may not truly understand the needs and values of the target customer or the relative importance of the product benefits. This is a particular pitfall in the clean tech business, where companies may incorrectly assume that “green” benefits are the most important to the buyer when, in fact, they are farther down the list.

4. Product doesn’t address important customer needs.

Products can also miss the mark by neglecting to address a key need. For example, an application software company I worked with offered a product that provided significant benefits to the end users. However, the product was not available to run on certain platforms that had been selected as standards within many IT environments. Until this important customer need could be addressed, the market for the product was limited. Revenue goals were missed.

Product is seen as incomplete, or it requires too many ancillary services or other pre-requisites.

Some technology products require certain existing infrastructures or special expertise in installation and configuration. Or they may require training in order for customer to get the full value of the product. Without these surrounding services, the product offering is not a complete solution from the customer’s point of view. In order for sales to occur, these services must be made available either directly by the vendor or by qualified affiliates.

5. Product costs too much or the total cost of ownership is out of line with perceived benefits.

If the target market believes the total cost of the product is out of line with the benefits it offers, you may be able to reduce the total cost of ownership through price reductions (at a still profitable price) or design changes. Or you may be able to uncover additional benefits and convince the market that they are significant. In many cases, however, this mismatch between cost and benefits is the death knell for the product. It can signify a fundamental failure to offer a solid value proposition.

7. The company is sending mixed messages to the target market.

The mixed messages problem most often occurs when disparate functional groups within a company are responsible for communicating with the market but do not coordinate their efforts. This reduces the overall return on your sales and marketing investments and hinders your ability to maximize revenue.

8. Sales and marketing efforts are not focused and aligned.

With constrained marketing budgets, most technology marketers cannot afford to undertake numerous marketing programs against multiple market segments and still hope to have a significant impact. It's often a wiser course of action to do fewer things but do them better. Save some programs for later. Target specific markets for initial emphasis and then roll out to others.

9. The company is under-investing in marketing and sales efforts.

While spending money in marketing and sales is no guarantee that a new product will be successful (witness the excesses of the dot.com days), underinvesting in marketing and sales can result in significant revenue shortfalls.

10. Market is smaller than originally projected or product is too far ahead of the market.

Estimating market size for a new product is hard. It involves numerous assumptions and a large dose of forecast risk. And, while it is possible to make reasonable estimates, it is the nature of entrepreneurs and innovators to be optimistic. After all, a positive outlook is essential to overcoming the obstacles inherent in creating and launching a new product.

Improving the Chances for Success

The single best way to improve the chances of having successful results instead of a list of reasons is to get a solid understanding of the market and customer needs. The first five reasons in this list are the result of failures to truly and deeply understand the market, the competition, or the needs of the customer.

Excellent execution – particularly in marketing and sales efforts related to the product launch – is also critical. Make the most effective use of expenditures by sending clear, consistent, relevant messages to the market and by making sure marketing and sales efforts are aligned and focused on specific goals.

__________

Karen Janowski is partner and co-founder of EcoStrategy Group, a consultancy focused on cleantech go-to-market strategy and corporate sustainability.

This column has been excerpted from the whitepaper "Why New Clean Tech Products Fail." Download it here (PDF).

Building a Bonfire Brand

2009-01-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

During my first all company meeting at Seventh Generation, I stood up as the new Chief Marketing Officer and mentioned that I had no clue about marketing (yes - a lot of folks looked in disbelief at each other saying ‘who the heck hired this guy?’), but that I did believe in building resonance, relevance and bonfires.*

What rings louder and more true? Saying you are going to create a marketing plan, or saying that you are going to build a plan that optimizes the resonance and relevance between your brand and those you serve? Initiatives informed by the latter consider the whole - you, your culture, those you serve and the greater good. It’s a simple framework for decision-making. Does the initiative optimize resonance and relevance? If yes, proceed. If not, drop it.

Now consider the following. What ignites a greater sense of possibility and emotion - building a brand, or building a bonfire brand? A bonfire brand is something that galvanizes and mobilizes your evangelists. So ask yourself the following: Are folks gathering to talk about your brand? Do they defend your brand? Does your brand have evangelists that tell your story for you? Ardent critics that want to see you thrive? If no, ask yourself and those you serve why not? What can you do to ignite the fire? What are the keys to unlocking the possibility? If your brand is not a bonfire brand, then you need to be concerned, incredibly concerned. You are in essence replaceable. Conversely, bonfire brands have an effortless loyalty from those they serve. A few examples - Apple, TED, Seventh Generation, Nau, Whole Foods, Buckminster Fuller Institute, Kiva, New Belgium Brewery, Patagonia, Burning Man (literally and figuratively), and the Boston Red Sox. It is important to note that what matters most is not the quantity of voices at the bonfire, but the quality and depth.

One last thought. If you are as good as you say you are then people will be drawn to you. They will in essence bring the wood for the bonfire and stoke the flames. You will become a beacon and folks will engage in the bonfire. So for Christ’s sake stop watering down your story to make it mainstream. Let them come to you versus chasing them. You’ll stay true to your core and chances are, you’ll be stronger because of it.

* While I would love to have been the one with the creative capacity to conjure up the term ‘bonfire brand’, I first heard the term several years ago from John Olson @ OLSON & Company in MN. It has resonated with me ever since. FYI - he’s a fascinating, fun-loving and brilliant guy!

__________________________

This column originally appeared on Duke's blog, The Real 100.

Let's Hope "Change" means the Global lead in Energy Technology

2009-01-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

It's time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking America. Roads, bridges, electric lines, harness the sun, and the wind and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. All this we can do; all this we will do. -- barack obama

ZERO Pollution Motors ::.

2009-01-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

Via Core 77

We were excited when we heard about Zero Pollution Motors and their air-powered car back in '07, but with no news from them in all of '08, we assumed that they folded.

The good news is they're still cranking, and will reportedly begin taking orders this year for their air-powered cars, allegedly deliverable in 2010.

Pure Driving: The Revolutionary Compressed Air Vehicle

If you can, imagine a vehicle that runs on air, achieves over 100 gas-equivalent mpg and over 90 mph, has zero to low C02 emissions, seats six, has plenty of space for luggage, cuts no safety corners, and costs no more than an average economy to mid-size vehicle.

This is the expected performance of the revolutionary compressed air vehicle that Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) is introducing to North America. The vehicle is powered by the Compressed Air Engine (CAE) developed by Motor Development International (MDI), a 15-year old company based in Nice, France, and headed by inventor and Formula One race car engineer, Guy Negre.

ZPM will begin taking reservations in mid-2009 for US deliveries of our compressed air vehicle in 2010.

Curious? Click here to see some videos about the tech on the company's website.

State of the 2009 Sustainable Meeting Industry

2009-01-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Meeting Strategies Worldwide is proud to present their inaugural State of the 2009 Sustainable Meetings Industry Report. Trends and forecasts speak to continued economic challenges and increased demand for sustainable meetings. Both present a perfect storm of conditions to continue to motivate all of us to improve the value of what we do by exploring new ideas to be most sustainable and maximize return on investment. In this year's report we set the stage for 2009 by discussing the trends and economic factors that are affecting us all, and then provide you with some ideas to address emerging areas of policy, human interest and technology for events.

Web Site:http://meetingstrategiesworldwide.com/

Green Jobs Could Top 37M in 2030: Report

2009-01-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

By GreenBiz Staff

Green collar jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors employed more than 9 million Americans in 2007, producing more than $1 trillion in sales, according to a new report.

The two industries hold the the potential of generating 37 million jobs by 2030, but this will be more difficult to achieve without the proper policies in place at the federal and state levels, according to the American Solar Energy Society and Management Information Services Inc., which together released the report, "Defining, Estimating and Forecasting the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Industries in the U.S. and in Colorado."

Aggressive policies are needed immediately to maximize green jobs gains, especially in later years, according to lead author Roger Bezdek of Management Information Services. "Every year we lose on the front end has a negative and unfortunate impact at the back end," Bezdek said in a conference call with reporters Thursday.

The report is the second of its kind produced by the two organizations and may be the only example of time-series research on existing green jobs, the vast majority of which are found in the private sector. The groups pegged green jobs in the two industries at 8.5 million, with 972 billion in annual sales.

One of the challenges in producing the report, the authors said, is the lack of agreed-upon definitions of what constitutes the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. The report sets its own standard definition and forecasts growth through 2030 using three scenarios -- business-as-usual, a moderate scenario where some pro-energy efficiency and renewable energy policies are enacted, and an advanced scenario that pushes the envelope on cutting edge technologies, policies and market conditions.

If nothing is done and we proceed in the business-as-usual fashion, the two industries may generate an additional 16.3 million jobs by 2030, compared to 19.5 million in the moderate scenario. The most robust policies could produce 37.2 million jobs by 2030.

Hot sectors with the highest revenue growth included solar thermal and photovoltaics, biofuels and fuel cells. The jobs most in demand will include electricians, mechanical engineers, welders, metal workers, accountants, analysts, environmental scientists and chemists -- the vast majority of which are existing jobs that will take on environmental dimension.

The report also offers an in-depth look at these industries at the state level, using Colorado as a test case. According to the report, the sectors produced $10.3 billion in sales and employed more than 91,000 in Colorado in 2007, comprising more than 4 percent of gross state product.

As many as 613,000 jobs and up to $61.5 billion in sales could be achieved in the state by 2030 under the advanced scenario.

New Belgium Saves Gas, Water with Closed-Loop Brew Kettle

2009-01-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

New Belgium Brewery has cut its natural gas consumption from the beer-making process in half using a brew kettle that boils twice as fast.

The Steinecker Merlin brew kettle, only the second to be installed in the U.S. when it went online in 2005, saves energy by boiling thin sheets of wort - the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing - instead of heating the entire kettle at once. Steam released during the brewing process is recaptured and stored for the next batch, enabling the kettle to boil again more quickly.

The savings have been detailed in the company's first-ever sustainability report, released last week. Other highlights include include:

An on-site cogeneration system, powered by methane from the brewery's wastewater treatment plant, which provides 15% of the electricity and heat for the brewery itself.
A new 55,000-square-foot packaging hall whose interior is constructed from pines trees killed by beetle infestation. The packaging hall is air-conditioned with energy-saving evaporative coolers.

New Belgium's total natural gas consumption increased last year thanks to the new packaging hall but the company says that, in addition to the energy saved via the facility's conditioning system, it expects to further reduce energy use as plant efficiency increases over time.

Since 1999, New Belgium has purchased all of its electricity through a wind power program sponsored by the city of Fort Collins, Colo. At the time, it was the largest private consumer of wind-power electricity in the U.S.

Download New Belgium's 2007 sustainability report here (PDF). Read more about the company's efforts in our interview with chief brandinig officer Greg Owsley.

Doing More with Less

2009-01-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

By Joel Makower via Green BuZZ

Doing more with less. That seems to be a common theme among companies in 2009, which is shaping up to be the Year of Living Frugally. Companies aren't necessarily cutting back (though many are), but they're learning how to be more efficient than ever. That includes ever-more-efficient resource use -- and reuse. Hence, this week's feature story, about corporate "dumpster diving," in which a range of companies are finding treasure among trash.

Companies are also getting better at closing the loop, as Zeftron Nylon's Richard Ranke told GreenBiz.com associate editor Jonathan Bardelline in this week's GreenBiz Radio. The company is turning used carpet back into "virgin" nylon, and back into new carpet, transforming a liability -- used carpet -- into an asset.

There's certainly no dearth of detritus. Consider e-waste, of which some 66.5 million pounds were recycled last year by major manufacturers and retailers, according to new EPA data, a 30 percent rise from 2007. That's good news -- to a point. In our upcoming State of Green Business 2009 report ... Read More

After Life ::.

2009-01-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

By Sarah Fister Gale

Product manufacturers worldwide have invested millions to improve the sustainability of their production processes. From the harvesting of raw materials to packaging on the final product, innovative changes are enabling companies to significantly reduce their carbon footprints.

That cradle-to-grave approach has resulted in novel front-end thinking about the impact products have on the environment. But it's not enough. Until companies approach product design with end-of-life in mind, landfills will continue to overflow with these “sustainably-designed” products whose usefulness have come to an end.

“Cradle-to-grave thinking creates incredible waste,” says Jay Bolus, vice president of technical operations for McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), a private consulting and Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) certification firm in Charlottesville, Va. “The concept has always been to throw things away when we are done with them, but there is no 'away' anymore. Unless we design with the end in mind, our legacy will be our landfills.”

This end-of-life design approach is gaining popularity in many green organizations where designers are incorporating characteristics into new products that allow for easy recycling, repurposing and dismantling when their current usefulness ends.

End-of-life design decisions must happen at the outset of product development for them to be effective, Bolus points out. “That focus informs a lot of other product decisions with respect to materials, how things fit together and how they come apart,” he says.

While this is a fairly new approach for some designers, industries such as floor coverings and automotive manufacturing have been leading the trend to identify and incorporate end-of-life choices that promise reduced waste for generations to come.

Driving A Trend

When people think of innovative green companies, they may not immediately think of the automotive industry, but auto manufacturers have been designing with end-of-life in mind for decades.

“Cars have been recycled for a very long time,” notes Dan Adsit, manager of vehicle environmental engineering for Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Mich. “We are very aware of what materials we use and how to bring them back at the end of a vehicle's life.”

Ford has strict requirements for recyclability in vehicle designs that starts at the drawing board and cascades across the development process. From using recycled materials in new vehicles and minimizing the use of restricted substances, to establishing processes and networks to dismantle, sort and repurpose up to 95 percent of any vehicle at the end of life, the auto industry has gotten end-of-life strategies down to a science.

And a big part of its success is industry members' willingness to collaborate with the competition.

“We believe that collaboration is the way to get things done,” says Claudia Duranceau senior research recycling engineer at Ford. “It allows us to be proactive, to work together to phase out materials, and to make sure we don't duplicate our efforts.”
Even in such a competitive market, all of the players in this industry agree that when it comes to end-of-life processes, there is more money to be made working together rather than apart. And the auto manufacturers benefit from being able to reclaim those materials for use in future vehicles.

“When we recycle cars, you can't tell where the material came from,” says Duranceau.

We Want Renewable Energy & Green Jobs Too: Native American Groups Tell Obama

2009-01-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 01. 7.09

Citing the disproportionate burden Native American populations will bear because of climate change, and have borne because fossil fuel energy development (in particular uranium mining), a coalition of Native groups, including Honor the Earth, the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, the Indigenous Environmental Network, and the International Indian Treaty Council, is asking the incoming Obama administration to give greater support to tribally owned and operated renewable energy projects, as well as green job programs. Here’s why:

Tribal Lands Have Great Renewable Energy Potential
The groups pointed out the energy potential of tribal lands, asserting that renewable energy projects located there could generate an estimated 535 billion kWh/year of electricity from wind power and 17,000 billion kWh/year from solar power. Furthermore, investing in renewable energy would generate more jobs per dollar invested than continued investment in fossil fuels.

Native Nations Have Higher Unemployment, Poverty Rates
On the green job front, the groups say that even though Native Nations have “borne the brunt of destructive energy development that has reaped massive profits for some,” the unemployment rate on reservations is more than twice the national rate, poverty rates are twice national levels, and reservation homes without electricity are ten times the national rate. Furthermore, in the continental US 11% of Indian homes lack complete plumbing, while in Alaska this rises to 33%.

Because of this there is great potential to put people to work improving building energy efficiency, improving local energy infrastructure and building renewable energy projects.

The Obama Economic Stimulus Plan that incorporates a green economy and green jobs portfolio must include provisions for access to these resources by our Native Nations, our tribal education and training institutions, and Native organizations and communities.

Read the full policy recommendations: Energy Justice in Native America and the Next Administration

Sustainability 101: The Human Problem

2009-01-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

By Stephen Linaweaver

These are indeed difficult and extraordinary times for businesses, and the natural reaction is to cut back on areas such as sustainability, which are not quite yet an established function in most companies, don't necessarily bring in direct revenue, and are not core competencies for many.

Cutting back on sustainability now, however, would be a mistake because it will only get more expensive to implement programs in the future, when more of your competitors are doing it as well. One of the most critical elements of understanding sustainability and making it a driver of value is getting out of the starting blocks and up the learning curve.

Here are seven activities you can do, with minimal investment in a down economy, to start getting up that learning curve.

The key is to start. Like any journey, the hardest part is getting off the couch or out the door. Begin now.

Build the Yugo

There is an inclination to reveal a Cadillac when you unveil your sustainability strategy. You don't. Build the Yugo first.

This was a lesson we learned in Silicon Valley during the tech boom. That bubble created several distortions, one of which was the belief that you needed to have your "beta" version perfect before you made the first release. Most of those companies burned through their cash before they had a chance to make a difference.

The mantra we used at the start-up where I worked was "Build the Yugo, Build the Yugo" (this was, unfortunately, after we had been mired in months of trying to get a Cadillac on the showroom floor). The same holds true with sustainability.

Start simple. Measure ... carbon, for starters. What you measure, you can monitor. What you monitor, you can change.

Define Sustainability

It is a wooly word. Ask 50 companies, NGOs, or sustainability consulting firms, and you will get 40 different definitions, while the other 10 will ask you whether you mean business sustainability, environmental sustainability or if you're trying to invite them to a conference they don't want to attend.

Twenty-five years ago, The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." While that is more of a macro-economic definition than micro-economic, that is a good a place as any to start. Sustainability is using resources at a rate that can be renewed or using the earth as a sink at a rate that does not exceed its absorption capacity.

Academics and writers have been focused on sustainability long before we started to notice demonstrable change in climate or "green" entered the hyperbolic realm of Madison Avenue's whiteboards. If you want to get specific, look to Herman Daly, Eric Neumeyer, Kenneth Bolding, Aldo Leopold, among many others.

But for starters, pick a definition that makes sense to you, your employees, and your stakeholders, and go with it.

Know Your Company

Every company will be at a different point on the sustainability awareness curve.

Click for larger image

If you are a company that is or has been a non-believer in climate change, you are making that decision based on emotion -- don't bother with a sustainability initiative. You can't argue with emotion using reason. Exxon is a good example of this. At the top end of the curve, you have complete believers -- such as Patagonia or Seventh Generation, who are also making decisions on emotion. Here you obviously want to appeal to the values of your employees and the culture of your company to ensure the success of initiatives.

In between is a broad spectrum of companies that are all making decisions on sustainability based on rational decision-making -- what makes for good business? Here you want to know what your awareness is, who needs to be convinced, and make a business case for change.

We often see clients whose employees are more aware than management about sustainability. You can have internal champions who can help build the case for initiatives, but remember there needs to be a strong business case. Trying to argue with reason using emotion fails. Emotion is what drives you to advocate for change, while reason is often what makes it happen.

READ ON >>

You Can't Go Green Without Adding a Little Blue

2009-01-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

By Andrew Collier

If you're seeking the green holy grail called sustainability, you'd better be sure it's filled with water. Many companies are hyper focused on carbon footprinting, green buildings, and energy saving treasure hunts; however, the sustainability landscape is evolving, and these green issues will become table stakes. A new, blue dimension of sustainability -- one that affects capital costs, consumer values, and environmental integrity -- is on the horizon and rapidly approaching: water.

Two key factors are going to change the way water is managed inside companies: 1) water availability will change as a result of climate change, and 2) water scarcity will become more widespread as world population continues to grow.

These factors will directly impact the availability of water, thereby influencing its cost and the cost of business operations. Water prices rose 27% between 2001 and 2006 and are forecasted to continue to increase, according to the NUS Consulting Group. To compound these issues, some say that population growth will cause water quality to decline from increases in waste and non-point pollution.

Companies are beginning to realize that water, like energy and carbon, should be a key pillar of a corporate sustainability strategy. Both PepsiCo and General Electric have made commitments to reduce water consumption 20% by 2015 and 2012, respectively. Weyerhaeuser, an $8.8B company in the lumber and wood production industry, set a goal to reduce water at its cellulose fibers mills 20% by 2012.

Despite these impressive commitments, few companies are managing water as a strategic resource. More often than not, companies are dealing with water-related issues in a scattershot fashion by focusing on risks associated with water withdrawal, use, and disposal.

Some of the biggest water-related risks companies face are:

Operational: Changes in water availability or costs could disrupt business operations
Regulatory: New regulations or lawsuits associated with water use could add to capital costs or restrict operations
Reputational: Failing to address social concerns associated with water use could prove damaging to a company's reputation or brand

Developing safeguards for these types of risks can help companies stay off the radar of watchdogs, but they will not offer competitive edge in the market place.

Corporations need to look beyond risk-management when developing sustainability strategies. A successful approach should include defensive (risk-management) provisions as well as offensive strategies that foster growth (innovation and conservation).

Growth Through Competitive Advantage

In order to gain a competitive edge, companies can focus on process and product innovations that deliver cost savings to the company and the consumer through the more efficient use of water. There are three main ways a business can achieve this goal: implementing process efficiency measures, redesigning existing products, and developing new products that enhance environmental performance.

Operational Efficiency: Innovations that reduce water use through elimination, reduction and recycling offer benefits in terms of cost savings, by reducing water, energy, treatment and disposal costs; environmental impact, by reducing pressure on local water supplies; and reputation, by promoting an image as a responsible community member.

READ ON >>

Five Forces to Drive the Green Wave in '09 - Even During a Recession

2009-01-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

Via | Sustainable Media Life *

Making any prediction is a fool's errand, especially in print. But 'tis the season for both reminiscing about what we learned last year - when gas prices are high, people want smaller cars and when banks stop lending, people want no cars - and for making bold predictions (that we hope nobody remembers) about what will happen this year.

After a brutal fourth quarter of 2008, we know that even a trend as powerful as the greening of business will not survive a full-throttle recession unscathed. The downturn has slowed the Green Wave, and until credit unfreezes, environmental investments, like all others, will remain on hold. For those companies just trying to survive, innovation and competitive advantage will take a back seat to cost cutting and sales incentives. Thus the green agenda in 2009 will likely focus on the old-school environmental strategy of eco-efficiency and cost savings (see, for example, this Time Magazine cover story on the continuing importance of energy efficiency).

But when the economy recovers, companies will rediscover the strategic importance of the other pillars of green value (driving revenues, building brand value, and reducing risk). In the meantime, the conditions for creating eco-advantage - many of the critical trends propelling the Green Wave - will grow stronger in 2009, no matter what the economic conditions. Five forces will still drive a fundamental shift in how business operates, even during a recession.

Rising commodity prices (in the medium and long run)
The drive for transparency
Your business customers, greening their supply chains
Your consumers, conflicted and searching
Your employees, looking for more than a paycheck

These two mega-forces and three stakeholder pressures will not go away. The smart companies will make wise investments in the downturn and prepare for the Green Wave to come back in full force. We may look back at the end of 2009 and observe that staying green during the recession saved many companies. Or we'll see some companies go the way of Detroit when energy prices rise again and resource constraints are felt anew. So batten down the hatches, get lean, and prepare for the forces that will keep moving this year.

~Andrew Winston, Founder, Winston Eco-Strategies, Co-author, Green to Gold (Read his "Eco-Advantage" blog here.)

High Commodity Prices
Over the long haul, rising demand from India, China, and elsewhere will drive up the price of everything. While this point was certainly more believable at $145 a barrel, don't be fooled by the recent collapse in commodity prices. This down-cycle is stemming from reduced demand, not more supply, a critical distinction. The world has no more accessible oil, copper, or food than it did six months ago. In fact, at lower prices, marginal production stops and supply drops. When demand comes roaring back, the supply won't be there (it's much harder ramp up production than it is to shut it down). At some point - and it's anybody's guess when - prices will rise very fast. So now is the time to get lean. But even if prices don't go up immediately, commodity markets remain incredibly volatile, placing a real strain on business planning (not to mention poor CFOs trying to predict profit margins). With the ups and downs, reducing reliance on resources and developing a smart supply chain strategy are must-haves.

Greater Transparency
Demand for openness about where products come from and what's in everything is still growing. No recession will put the genie back in that (BPA- and phthalate-leaching) bottle. Companies are releasing more CSR reports than ever and industry organizations, such as the Consumer Electronics Association, are sharing their own data. HP put a list of all its suppliers on the web and then announced the total carbon footprint for the supply chain. How long will it be before companies share data on every company's specific climate contribution in the value chain? Patagonia launched a website just to tell the story of some of its key products and their travels around the world. And Wal-Mart is now selling a jewelry line called "Love, Earth" with an accompanying website that lets customers see which mine the gold came from.

Transparency will become a lever to improve operations (what gets measured gets managed) and a source of competitive advantage over time. As business customers and consumers want to know more, they will trust those with data. In 2009, collect information, build systems, and get ready to be open.

Greener Supply Chains
Of the forces chugging along, this one I'm most sure of. Wal-Mart has not slowed down its pressure on suppliers, which the retail giant proved with a historic meeting in China I attended. Tech companies like Verizon are setting standards and demanding eco-efficiency improvements. And leaders like Nike are helping their suppliers and working with them to reduce footprint (no pun intended). The evolution will be toward more partnering and less demanding, as companies increasingly realize the benefits of working together across the value chain. Let's be honest here: When times are tight it's much easier to force a green agenda, and the costs, onto someone else. So I predict, without going out on too much of a limb, that this pressure will continue.

Growing Market for Smarter Green Products
The recession slows the green consumer movement that was brewing. Throughout 2008, consumers indicated a real interest in greener products (note here, here, and here). And while tight wallets will cause some retreating on this front, a fundamental shift is underway. While 2009 may not be the time to sell premium-priced green products, the demands of "conflicted" or "conscious" consumers who want more sustainable options, but at the same price and quality, will continue. To satisfy these demanding customers, smart companies will create products with, as one of my clients puts it, "no tradeoffs." But perhaps we can we go even further and produce negative tradeoffs, meaning actual benefits? How about greener products that save customers money over their lifetime, such as CFL bulbs or Procter & Gamble's Tide Coldwater (savings come when you stop washing clothes in hot water).

Beyond developing new products, companies can win over confused customers by helping them navigate all the green claims out there. Retailers like Tesco are looking to make decisions easier for customers. As Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy put it, "consumers will reward the businesses that produce" lower-carbon products and services. Those companies will weather the downturn much better than others.

Employee Engagement - Looking for More out of Life
Recessions shift priorities - people are happy to be working at all. But the rising quest for meaning in work and life will only slow, not stop. The younger generations coming into the workforce care a great deal about green and surveys show that employees want more training on sustainability. In many companies, employees are forming their own "green teams" (see stories from tech companies such as Wipro and Yahoo and eBay. While these self-directed groups may not always focus on the most strategic issues (eliminating bottled water is often the first priority), they do lay the groundwork for larger conversations about greening the operations, products, and services of the company. Some companies, such as Alcoa to Wal-Mart, are also helping employees understand their personal connections to sustainability and the planet.

So the critical story during this downturn may be the role of green engagement in keeping morale up (which so many companies are desperate to do). Greening the business, and employees' own lives, will keep everyone from top management to entry level employees interested and excited. With employees on board, the proverbial "flywheel" from Jim Collins' Good to Great will start spinning toward a greener enterprise. Engaged employees will innovate around operations, products, and supply chains, creating stronger companies that will not only survive this economic climate, but also thrive.

Sustainable Consumption ::.

2008-12-29T18:17:00.000-08:00

[Editor's note: In this exclusive excerpt from Joel Makower's new book, "Strategies for the Green Economy, we look at the easy steps to tell your company's green story. You can read a previous excerpt here.]

Joel Makower is executive editor of GreenBiz.com.

Excerpted with permission from Strategies for the Green Economy, by Joel Makower, published by McGraw Hill. © 2008 Joel Makower.

Talking to consumers about buying less stuff just might be the third rail of green marketing. Reducing or limiting consumption is antithetical to marketing, or at least it has been so far. Practically no one seems to want to go there. I'll accept my portion of responsibility. In the late 1980s, when I penned The Green Consumer, I helped advance the notion of solving our planet's environmental ills by making good purchasing choices -- that we could, in other words, shop our way to environmental health. "By choosing carefully, you can have a positive impact on the environment without significantly compromising your way of life," I wrote. "That's what being a green consumer is all about." I didn't stop there:

It wasn't very long ago that being a green consumer was a contradiction in terms. To truly care for the environment, it was said, you had to drastically reduce your purchases of everything -- food, clothing, appliances, and other "lifestyle" items -- to a bare minimum. That approach simply doesn't work in our increasingly convenience- and consumption-oriented society. No one wants to go back to a less-comfortable, less-convenient way of life.

This is still true, of course -- no one wants to be less well off. And, for the large part, few people seem willing to change or be inconvenienced in the name of Mother Earth. Sure, people are making small changes -- turning off computers, swapping out light bulbs, using cloth bags instead of disposable ones, buying hybrid cars, and recycling stuff. All necessary, but hardly sufficient.

Sustainable consumption is decidedly more complex and more global than just environmental concerns. It has to do with satisfying basic human needs and with spiritual, moral, and ethical matters. It has to do with the growing appetite in China, India, and other developing countries for cars, appliances, fashions, fast food, and many of the other things accessible to the consumption class. According to Norman Myers, a professor of environmental science at Oxford University, more than a billion people in 20 developing and transitional nations have recently become wealthy enough to begin consuming like Americans. Sustainable consumption also has to do with the underconsumption that characterizes roughly a third of the world's populace.

So how on Earth do companies acknowledge the elephant in the living room -- sustainable levels of consumption? Should they?

It won't be easy. For better or worse, we live in a commercial world and consumer society. You can see it at work in the cacophony of advertisements and commercial messages that intrude on our daily lives, in the companies and webs of commerce whose existence depends on consumers' endless appetite for more, and in the political leaders who work to promote unsustainable levels of economic growth, often at the expense of ecological and human needs. You can see it at work in our culture of debt and our need for keeping up with the Joneses.

Yet the environmental impacts of our consumption are virtually hidden. Most of us don't see firsthand the roughly 120 pounds of natural resources extracted from farms, forests, rangelands, oceans, rivers, and mines that go into the products that are consumed each day. For example, experts have estimated that the sum of all substances required to support one American for a year, including water used that is no longer available for reuse, totals nearly 1 million pounds -- or roughly 109 truckloads for a family of four. And do we recycle those 1 million pounds of resources? Not likely -- in the United States alone, individuals discard nearly three million plastic bottles every hour and enough steel and iron to continuously supply all the country's automakers.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that average human consumption of water, forests, land, energy, and other natural resources exceeds the capacity of the biologic systems that support our planet by 20 percent. This means that we must change the way we produce goods and services lest we risk "overdrafting" our "ecological account," as ecologists put it, with devastating effects on economies and the environment.

Of course, we suffer in other ways from this buying binge. For several decades now, psychologists, sociologists, and other observers of the human condition have discussed and deconstructed the disparity -- or perhaps it's a gulf -- between consumption and happiness. More, it seems, is not necessarily better in terms of engendering security, self-esteem, meaning, personal fulfillment, or any of the other Maslowian traits that make for individuals, communities, and societies that are healthy, in every sense of the word. Americans, for one, consume more per capita than anyone else, yet we're chronically unhappy.

It would be one thing if all the stuff we buy somehow made us better people, but this doesn't seem to be the case. There is an extensive literature on materialism demonstrating a negative relationship between materialism and well being. For example, in a 1985 study by Russell Belk, now a marketing professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University, materialistic people were found to be possessive, in that they preferred to own and keep things rather than borrow, rent, or throw things out. They were seen as non-generous, or unwilling to share their possessions with others. And they tended to covet their neighbors' stuff, feeling displeasure when others had things they themselves desired. This is no victimless crime. Materialistic lifestyles can infect marriages (by devaluing non-materialistic bonds that keep relationships together during tough times) and parenting (since our children's value systems tend to imitate our own).

The reason we often seem powerless to resist this maelstrom of marketing messages is that we've been conditioned to buy, buy, buy from nearly the moment we emerge from the womb. Journalist Thomas Hine, in his fine book, I Want That, explores the history of acquisition -- finding, choosing, spending -- from our amber-coveting Neolithic forebears to twenty-first-century bargain hunters on eBay. Three of four American babies visit a store, usually a supermarket, by the age of six months, although some start "virtually at birth," he says. "They soon begin to realize that the store is the source of some of the good things that they had previously associated solely with their parents." It's not long before they're pointing at and choosing, often insistently, their breakfast cereals, toys, entertainment, and fashions.

For toddlers, teens, and grown-ups alike, exercising the power of choice in the marketplace is exactly that -- a form of power. Shopping enables us to take control and wield authority in our often-powerless lives. Indeed, as Hine deftly points out, the mere act of going shopping itself can be more important than anything that ends up in one's shopping cart as a result. Shopping, Hine argues, "is an exercise of both profound responsibility and profound freedom."

Not that we manage to exercise the former or achieve the latter. When it comes to navigating the marketplace, rational thinking often gets short shrift. Hine cites a study in which 36 percent of women and 18 percent of men admitted buying things they didn't need. Roughly one woman in four says she "can't resist a sale," and one in three says she shops to celebrate. Hine notes that shoppers "conspire in their own seduction," allowing themselves to be manipulated by marketers.

Given all this, the idea of consuming less rings hollow. We are looking to be seduced, it seems, and the marketing world is ready, willing, and able to beguile us with its respective psychological pheromones.

What is the business opportunity in confronting consumption? Few companies have likely asked this question, and fewer still have made it part of their strategy. Patagonia, for one, raised the issue with an essay in its fall 1993 catalog. After the company had undergone an environmental product audit, the company's founder, Yvon Chouinard, came to the conclusion that "Everything we make pollutes." As a result, the company "decided to make a radical change: We are limiting Patagonia's growth in the United States with the eventual goal of halting growth altogether." The company dropped 30 percent of its clothing line in its most recent catalog. "What does this mean to you?" Chouinard asked his customers. "Well, last fall you had a choice of five ski pants, now you may choose between two. This is, of course, un-American, but two styles of ski pants are all that anyone needs. They contain all that we have learned about design and the best available coatings for weather protection."

Kia, the Korean car maker, promoting its Sedona model in the United Kingdom, attempted to differentiate itself from competitors by encouraging walking instead of driving for short trips, not your typical car company tactic. Kia promoted the notion of a "Walking Bus," in which "a group, or 'bus,' of children walks from home to school each morning quickly and safely under the guidance of trained adult supervisors."

There are opportunities here. "We've all talked about sustainability, but suddenly having to sell less product is what frightens most companies," says Sarah Severn, director of corporate responsibility horizons at Nike. "Selling less isn't necessarily what's called for. Consumption is not the problem. It's the nature of consumption." The problem with most products -- Nike's and others' -- is that their materials have a relatively short life span before becoming unusable waste. Severn believes that companies able to improve on this model may be well positioned to succeed in a society geared toward sustainable consumption. So, for example, if Nike or anyone else could make shoes from materials that can be taken back and remanufactured into new shoes, all done with renewable energy and closed-loop manufacturing systems, "You have a regenerative model," says Severn. "The key is to maximize the use of resources that are already in play, radically reducing virgin materials input, but still meeting the consumer's requirement for innovation and freshness."

As Severn makes clear, this is no bah-humbug movement. The idea of sustainable consumption increasingly is being discussed well beyond the back-to-nature crowd. The Geneva-based World Business Council on Sustainable Development, a global alliance of mostly large companies, convened a summit several years ago to talk about how to respond to a world in which the notion of sustainable consumption gains currency. The meeting -- attended by 3M, British Telecom, Coors, Dow, DuPont, Fiat, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, and others -- was designed to stimulate corporations into considering the subject.

The public already is starting to think about sustainable consumption. For instance, there's the voluntary simplicity movement, which in recent years has grown beyond the Birkenstock crowd to include burned-out yuppies and others wishing to escape the fast-track treadmill. Voluntary simplicity courses now are being taught in schools, even inside companies. And there's the growing attention paid each year to "Buy Nothing Day" (or, in some countries, "No Shop Day"), a small but increasingly global annual Earth Day–like event aimed at promoting reduced consumption, celebrated on the last Friday of November. Few companies' bottom lines have suffered from this day-long rash of anti-consumerism, but that's not necessarily the point. It's all about education, raising consciousness, and a metaphysical smack upside the head just as the holiday shopping season commences. It's an all-too-brief reminder: Think before you shop.

How will your company fare should sustainable consumption, by whatever name, become part of the public conversation? What is the story you will be able to tell? Will anyone believe it?

To a large extent, this is the ultimate green-economy strategy -- enabling customers to reduce their impacts by doing business with your company. What is the opportunity to create products or services that become the green default -- the no-brainer option that is better and greener? What is the opportunity to be disruptive -- changing the economics, the business model, the market perception in a way that renders such barriers as the unaffordability and inconvenience of "going green" moot? What is the opportunity to create products that solve customers' problems -- enabling them to fulfill their needs in a way that makes them genuinely part of the solution?

Why This Downturn Has a Green Lining

2008-12-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

Will "green" take a backseat now that there's a little less green to go around? It shouldn't, argues Andrew Winston. Here's why the time for smart investments in sustainability has never been better.

by Andrew Winston

I recently wrote the opening chapter for a collection of essays from Awareness Into Action called The Sustainable Enterprise Report (it will be published in paper format soon, but you can get it now in digital format -- free -- by signing up for their newsletter). The piece was about the five forces I see bearing down on companies and making green strategy not optional anymore. I'll post more on these later, but in short, the five forces I outline are 1) resource constraints/commodity prices in the medium and long run, 2) transparency, and pressure from 3) business customers, 4) consumers, and 5) employees.

But right before going to press with the book, the market collapsed, so the publisher decided to wait a bit and see how things panned out. They also asked me to write an additional piece about going green in hard times. It's hard to avoid this topic right now. Here's what I said...
"Do you think this green thing will take a back seat now that money is tight?"

I now hear this question more than any other. Times are uncertain, so who really knows what corporate priorities will be over the next year or two? But at the risk of being dead wrong very soon, I'll venture some opinions. First, if there's a deep, prolonged recession, the green movement slows down because everything slows down. Of course some parts of the economy will lose momentum slower than others (the growth of renewable energy, for example, will likely continue but perhaps at a slower pace of growth, much like China's recent 9% GDP rise was oddly seen as recessionary).

Aside from the macro issues, the critical point is that delaying action on sustainability plans may be the absolute wrong thing to do for your business. Being far more efficient and effective with resources remains one of the main pillars of going green. As Dave Steiner, CEO of Fortune 200 company Waste Management, said recently, "When things are this tight, people see that it's about saving jobs and money. There's no better time to take action." This instinct to dive in head first runs counter to the visceral need to batten down the hatches and ride out the storm. But as in most recessions, the companies that have the means to invest in smart ways during down times rebound the fastest when the economy turns around.

A second pillar of green business - using the environmental lens to create new ways to design, manufacture, and provide goods and services that use drastically less resources - still generates lasting value. A sustainability focus helps companies provide customers with better products and to some extent a better life. Is there a better time for product and service innovation than when consumers and business customers are stretched thin? What business wouldn't want to create a more profitable and innovative enterprise, all while building stronger relationships with customers, employees, communities and even shareholders?

These "carrots" of profitability and innovation are important, but the fundamental forces driving the Green Wave make up a powerful "stick" as well. All five of the pressures I outline are still building, as well as the underlying natural forces such as climate change. (The planet doesn't much care whether we're in economic freefall.)

The economic recession won't stem the tide of the Green Wave. Take the issue of business-to-business pressure (or "greening the supply chain"). Wal-Mart recently assembled all its Chinese suppliers in Beijing to lay out the company's expectations and standards on environmental and social issues (see my post on this meeting here). The world's biggest company - and China's seventh-largest trading partner (ranking among countries) - made clear that noncompliant suppliers will be, in the words of CEO Lee Scott, "banned from making products for Wal-Mart." Those are tough words and don't indicate any slowdown in the company's focus on sustainability.
So the Green Wave is here to stay. The recession brings one positive development: The drop in energy prices gives companies and our economy a bit of breathing room to find efficiencies and get off of oil as fast as possible. So take advantage of the reprieve, push your people to do more with less, and innovate to set your company up for rapid growth and success when times get better. They always do.

This blog was first published on Harvard's Business Blog.

via sustainable life media

Ian Yolles: NAU More Than Ever

2008-12-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

Sustainable clothing company NAU was an early victim of the credit crunch - but the scrappy startup managed to reinvent (er, recycle?) itself into a venture that's both environmentally and financially sustainable. Ian Yolles, the company's director of marketing, sat down with SLM contributor Betsy Rosenberg to discuss NAU's past, present, and future. Listen to their conversation here.

via sustainable life media

Status, Style Drive Green Purchases, Moen Study Finds

2008-12-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

- It's no longer enough for green products to offer environmental and cost-saving benefits; consumers expect them to deliver on style as well, according to a new survey by household-fixtures giant Moen.

The study separates consumers into the now-familiar shades of "green" - Dark, Medium, Light, and Non - finding that, regardless of hue, most shoppers appear to share the idea that environmentally preferable products say something important about the buyer.
Here's the breakdown:

Dark Greens, the most eco-conscious group, continue to maintain a sense of responsibility to planet that overrides most other considerations.

Medium Greens tend to skew toward the younger and older ends of the spectrum, although the group includes a hefty dose of affluent green consumers looking for stylish products that will fit in their current home decor.

Light Greens are the young urban hipsters, whose limited purchase power is counterbalanced by "status" and "self-expression" as key motivating factors.

Non-Greens are primarily concerned with making the best buy for the price. If the product is affordable, works well, and looks good (the ideal for any green product), they're sold.

The main takeaway, according to the report, is that consumers aren't necessarily driven by price - they're driven by "value," and a product's environmental performance, while a certainly a boon for the planet, can offer a different kind of payoff for the status- and style-conscious. In fact, four in ten consumers surveyed (39%) said they would be willing to pay more for a green product.
As Moen puts it, "Today’s trends are all about improving your home and ensuring a better tomorrow for yourself, your family, and your world."

via sustainable life media

Econscious Earns Organic Textile Certification

2008-12-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

PETALUMA, Calif. -- Apparel and accessories provider Econscious has become the first U.S. supplier to receive Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification. The company was certified through Oregon Tilth.

The GOTS is a comprehensive, international standard that looks at how textiles are made, from the farming of raw materials to how they are manufactured and ultimately labeled.
The standard says what chemicals are prohibited and allowed at various manufacturing stages like production, spinning and dying; and lays out guidelines for buttons, zippers and other hardware. It also covers wastewater treatment, packing and transportation, audits and social conditions at plants, including worker unions, safe conditions and living wages.

“Our goal is to be the most trusted source for organic and sustainable blank apparel and accessories,” said Econscious President Dale Denkensohn, who helped Patagonia convert to organic cotton in the '90s.

[Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify how Econscious was certified.]

via greener design

Why and How Companies Create Sustainability Programs

2008-12-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

"Live Green or Die” is how a recent BusinessWeek cover story describes General Motors Corp.’s current challenge.1 The automaker is hardly alone in confronting the need to integrate sustainability into its products and culture: A Chief Responsibility Officer magazine survey indicated that 25 percent of Fortune 500 companies expected to appoint Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) as of January 1, 2008.2 And that figure is quickly rising.

Who are these leaders? Where do they come from? What skills do they possess? And what are their most formidable challenges? This paper examines these questions and identifies:
Common “trigger points” that launch formal sustainability programs; Where the capability resides in the organization, how its performance is managed and measured; and What types of leaders are selected to lead these initiatives. The reporting and analyses in this paper are based on interviews with the leaders of formal sustainability programs, CEOs and other executives involved with these efforts among a dozen leading companies in North America and Europe.

download this document here.

via green buZZ

Business, Consumers Must Work Together for Sustainable Consumption

2008-12-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

GENEVA, CH -- Although people want to live more sustainably, there are still plenty of barriers keeping them from acting in tune with their thoughts. A sustainable society won't be born out of just consumer choices, but out of business actions as well.

A new report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development looks at global consumption and the varied ways businesses can bring sustainability to the mainstream.
Global consumption patterns are not sustainable, and have already had detrimental impacts on the Earth. As the report, "Sustainable Consumption: Facts and trends from a business perspective," points out, the world is experiencing rapid population growth, and more people are consuming more, especially in emerging countries.

While survey after survey shows consumers are, on the whole, concerned about their impacts on the environment and willing to act, they do not always follow through with different behaviors. The reasons for that are numerous: some green choices aren't cost effective, it's inconvenient to give up certain things, and there is a general lack of understanding or confusion around areas like product labeling.

The role of business in moving the world towards sustainable consumption is to make sustainability commonplace. Companies must make green choices easy to make as well as easy to understand, affordable and comparable to conventional choices.
Businesses also need to innovate new products and service, harness the power of marketing and new forms of communication to influence consumer choices, and eliminate unsustainable products and services.

For many products, like cars, detergent and electronics, the biggest impacts come from their use. A company could have a LEED certified, energy efficient factory, but if the company makes laundry detergent that requires massive amounts of hot water when its used, it's still contributing to unsustainable actions, no matter how green its operations are. Making detergent that works in cold water, though, helps bring down the environmental impact of all end users.
The report is the result of a year-long study of the relationship among business activities, consumer behavior and environmental and social challenges. It includes an overview of consumption drivers, patterns and impacts.

Along with explaining the key ways in which business can play a positive role, the report shows how businesses have already make strides in those areas. For example, after Nokia found out that two-thirds of power used by cell phones is wasted as "no load" energy (energy sucked up by chargers when they're left plugged in after a phone has been removed) the company started reducing the amount of "no load" energy its chargers consumer, lowering it by 70 percent on average. And, Nokia added alerts on phones that remind users to unplug their chargers.

By GreenBiz Staff

Nau eco-friendly clothing is back in Chicago at Connect – (a new retail showroom located in Wicker Park)

2008-10-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Chicago, Illinois, Connect/ October 10th, 2008 —A sustainable retail and conscious event space is opening in the Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood on November 7th. Connect is one of only two retailers in the world to stock Nau’s entire 2008 fall/holiday collection. Our other collections are founded on sustainability and social responsibility. Connect also stocks sustainable furniture that is placed for real-time utilization. If you like the way our goods fit, look, and feel -- you can order through our interactive showroom with a discount as the incentive. It will be shipped to your business or residence in just a couple of days. Of course, if you want instant gratification, we have the inventory for you to carry out.

Connect is the brainchild of Jonathan Shaun. He worked for Nau 1.0 as a Regional Marketing Connector in Chicago. In June 2008, in response to news that Nau was coming back and looking for select third party retail partnerships Shaun quickly called on his business partners -- Mitch and Nate Lindsay to bring a new ground retail adventure to Chicago with Nau being a focal point.

Who supports Connect? Our customer base is made up of multi-dimensional individuals. They live healthy and balanced lifestyles. The Connect customer is dedicated to supporting the “slow movement”. They are conscious of the products that they purchase. These individuals take personal and professional responsibility to make our planet a better place to live and roam. Our customers will go out of their way to support authentic causes with like-minded businesses that are creative and ethical. These thought leaders align themselves with positive environments and maintain relationships that grow to influence the rest of the world.

Corporate Citizenship: Our collective has monthly conscious fundraising events both in our retail showroom and at external locations. We give select Not for Profit organizations a space to build brand awareness and receive donations. We also give a portion of our sales to Not for Profit organizations.

Bicycle Courier Shipping: We strongly believe in a “one less car” philosophy -- so we have developed a courier program that will deliver your order to your front door via a professional cyclist. Orders must be within the city limits.

Community Stakeholders: Connect has partnered with some of the most influential organizations and businesses to strengthen our communities. Some of these community partners include; Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance, Recycling Services, Creative Pitch, 3.ZERO, Working Bikes, Planet Access Company, Carbon Fund, Heartland Alliance, Ecolect.net, and Academy For Global Citizenship.

Contact for more information:

Jonathan Shaun
 … Connect  …
1330 N. Milwaukee Ave. (cross street at Paulina)
Chicago, IL, 60642
Shaun@connect-chicago.com
www.connect-chicago.com
312.890.3684

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