My Farm does all the work, and depending on how much your garden produces, you can get a box of goodies weekly, and also have My Farm chefs make a fresh food feast out of what you and others produce. And what if you don’t have a back yard? The garden’s collective harvest exceeds the needs of the garden owners, so My Farm provides CSA style veggie boxes as well.

While this is all a lovely idea, their intention here is beyond that. We live in a world today where fuel is becoming increasingly expensive, and the cost of transporting produce, both environmental and economic, is likewise increasing. This has already begun to make some food cost prohibitive to the daily needs of people. What needs to happen is that we become better able to meet our needs, locally, without depending on large farms and distribution networks to get it to us.

While such ideas as vertical farming are a potential solution, they are, for the most part theoretical and would require a dedicated political and financial will to bring about, so they cannot, for the moment, be seen as way to meet our needs in the immediate future.

So the next time you look at your backyard filled with Dandelions and Creeping Charlies think about the possibilities. What can you do in your city to feed yourself and your community?

Readers: Please share your successes and ideas about how to meet our community’s food needs, whether it be produce, other staples, etc.

Related Posts About Urban Farming:

A Capitalist Dream: Company Designs and Maintains Organic Garden In Your Backyard : Ecolocalizer

Urban + Farming = Oxymoron? : Eat. Drink. Better.

Urban Farming : Sustainablog

Image Credit: www.myfarm.com

Along comes Be The Change, an environmental leadership program from Silicon Valley based Acterra. They sum it up best when they say:

The program emphasizes building skills that enable people to act within the organizations where they work, live, worship and play to bring about significant changes in how they relate to the natural world.

Awesome.

Basically, they give you the framework, tools, knowledge, and help give direction to and cohesiveness around your desire to make a difference, so that you can powerfully help affect change, wherever you are. And this is where action needs to happen. Yes, we have leaders in government duking it out to sound as climate positive as possible, but in the end, it’s multiple, deeply ingrained actions among multiple types of community and workplace that will lead to a sustained impact.

What does it look like? In a nutshell, it meets once a month for a year, with solo and group activities in between. Just the title of the curriculum components tells a lot: Visionary Leadership, Environmental Information, Skill Building, Networking, Personal Mastery, and Practice.

This practical, ongoing, dedicated approach to creating effective change agents is a model that I think should be studied and replicated in other parts of the world. How about where you live?

Classes start in September.

Readers: What’s happening in your part of the world to help channel peoples enthusiasm into green action?

Additional Reading:

Naturally Successful: Inspiring Videos From Green Entrepreneurs: Ecopreneurist

Stabilizing Earth’s Atmosphere a Priority for Ecopreneurs: Share 350.org Animation Video with all Stakeholders : Ecopreneurist

Fuel For Your Entrepreneurial Brain : Ecopreneurist

What do you do? Build more hotels? That’s one solution, but what about the rest of the year, when there is a lower, more typical demand, and you’re left with capacity far exceeding needs, and resources were used to build these hotels that could have been used elsewhere?

Abilmo, a French company, has a possible solution: They make foldable hotel rooms. Come again? Yes, they have been able to fabricate accommodations that can be set up, without a crane, as many as 25 erected in a day. And they’re not shabby, either. Wood floors, furniture, sound and weather insulated, personal climate control, with all the bathroom needs of a conventional hotel room included. In the space of just under 40 square feet. And quickly removable once they’re not needed.

Exceeding what a typical hotel could offer, these temporary rooms can be customized with graphics. Can we say sponsored accommodations, zeroing out event holder’s cost? For those in need of less elaborate shelter, during a festival, there are other options available, such as the MyHab recyclable structures that are many steps above a muddy tent, stylishly done and well priced.

Shelter need not be overpriced, unavailable, or wasting resources needed elsewhere. “Just in time” shelter is an idea whose time has come.

Readers: What are other examples of how to sustainably manage temporary events that you know of?

Related Posts:

Fuel For Your Entrepreneurial Brain : Ecopreneurist

Eco-Effective Option: Stay in an Airbed & Breakfast : Green Options

Summer Travel Turns up the (Global) Heat : CleanTechnica

What if you could guarantee exactly how much you’d get, based on how long you’ve owned it, at the time of purchase? This is now a reality, via the company Tech Forward. You can buy a product at any store you like, then purchase their Guaranteed Buyback service, which covers a wide range of electronics, from MP3 players to desktop computers.

Who would benefit from this service? Anybody, really, but here are some examples:

• You are going to be in a 2 year certificate program, and know you’ll need a laptop primarily for that, you can now do it, knowing what you’ll have coming back to you when you sell it.
• Or perhaps you are someone who is a fiend for the latest gear or worried about what you’re about to buy becoming outdated (iPod Touch, before the recently announced half price iPhone) Tech Forward’s plan allows you to buy without worry.
• The end buyer, who has a chance to get a quality piece of electronics that they can be assured is of good quality.
• The planet, with a reduced load of toxics from disposed of electronics.

And the kicker? The quoted values are only for products in what they consider “good” condition! As in if it’s what they consider excellent condition, you can get 15% more then you signed up for. What an incentive to take great care of your electronics.

So, given the fickle nature of this industry, what happens to these electronics? TechForward first work to get it sold, which I should think is fairly easy, given that not everybody needs/wants the absolute latest thing, and would be glad to get a well taken care of older device. What if they can’t sell it? Tech Forward will, “recycle, in an environmentally-friendly way, any item that cannot be resold.” I’d prefer if they said how, with who, and where, but that’s something you can ask them about if it matters to you.

But there’s one problem with TechForward. No phones allowed. What to do?

For you, FlipSwap is a great new option that goes beyond what Second Rotation offers. They have partnered with a number of electronics retailers, so that you can go into a shop, have them analyze the phone, and get instant credit, to be used in buying a new one. And FlipSwap isn’t just for single phone returns. They work with cell phone businesses that could perhaps have 1000s of phones in storage. And with both, they don’t charge shipping. From their site, it appears they are quite conscientious with recycling, should it need to happen.

If it’s found that the phone isn’t functional or sellable, FlipSwap, in addition to recycling, will plant a tree. And internally as a company, they “closely monitor our consumption of resources and continually strive to reduce waste.”

Readers: What are other ways you’ve found to responsibly and easily reuse or recycle products? Have you used either of the above services? What’s been your experience?

Additional Resources:

What to Do with Your Old Electronic Devices: Get Paid, Help Those in Need! : Ecopreneurist

How to Green Your Mail : Ecopreneurist

10 Business Practices that Reduce Your Footprint : Ecopreneurist

You might want to try Ecoflame. Their Warming Gel serves the same purpose, but is made from sugar cane derived ethanol, rather then coal or petroleum based as many conventional options are, and the packaging itself is recyclable, the label made from sugar cane. The first question that comes to my mind is, where does this sugarcane come from? Is it harvested sustainably? Yes it’s a renewable resource, but does it consume more then its fair share of resources to be made?

That said, it’s non toxic, and has no toxic emissions. The same cannot be said for the others, that require ventilation in order to not be damaging to you. For those of you that prefer your travel indoors and want a late night hot snack, they have 1 hour “room service” size available. It can safely and quickly be put out with just water.

If you’re doing that summer ritual known as BBQ, their Lighting Gel makes a capable stand in for the usual lighter fluid, and again is sugar cane based, however this time they qualify it with, “from organic matter such as cane sugar.” Hmm. However, it burns smokeless, with no carbon monoxide emissions, and is non toxic. In a benefit that this still city slicker doesn’t understand, it can also burn on ice and snow. Can anybody tell me why you’d want to do that?

If you find yourself somewhere without something to burn, but need heat quick, they have Quick Lighting Gel. Ah, the burning on ice thing, it’s making sense now…From there they have of cooking setups, from the minimal to the full BBQ ready set up.

What if you want to skip man made fuels all together?

Another option to consider is the Woodgas Camping Stove. This intriguing device allows you to use any burnable organic matter in the area, ie pine cones, etc. and has a battery powered fan that helps amplify the flames to maximize the heat created from what you’ve put in. Now, putting in old socks and Silly Putty defeats the purpose, but if you’re out camping, and want to forgo carrying cans of fuel, and the need to dispose or recycle them, this could be an option. And as shown here, it can be solar powered. Having an enclosed heat source will also likely reduce the possibility of setting unwanted fires, that your typical camp fire may pose.

Readers: What are some green options for eco friendly camping or green BBQ that you’re using this summer?

Additional Resources:

Seven Tips For Greening Your Barbecue This Summer - Eat Drink Better

Rothbury: A Music Festival With A Purpose - Sustainablog

My Sustainable Road Trip : Green Options

Camping With Your Kids - Eco Child’s Play

Image Credits : http://www.ecogel.com and  http://www.woodgas-stove.com/

Putting those two together, Llamadas Heladas, a  company that offers among other things a phone booth on wheels, partnered up with TecnoSol, a local renewable energy company, to promote the use of CFLs during Earth Month. Yes month, they don’t mess around  down there. The joint campaign was called No Apagones. Basically, it’s reframing these lights to be a source of less blackouts, due to reduced energy use. They may cost four times a regular lightbulb, but they last 10 times as long, and use less energy, saving you both money and the headaches of power outages. A simple, compelling argument. Watch the video on their site. No Espanol needed, the message is clear.

$7 savings a year may not sound like much to those of us in the North, where there needs to be a greater emphasis on the macro, ecological benefits to convince people here. But there, that $7 is a much greater proportional financial impact. Multiply that times the number of lights they use, and it stands be a substantial amount.

In a move that we could learn from, they have a display that leaves no doubt as to the difference between CFL and regular incandescent lights: A side by side comparison, with power meters showing the amount used. A clear, irrefutable demonstration.

To further encourage purchases, the No Apagones site had a competition between counties, to see who bought the most light bulbs. Competition is often a great way to  encourage greater activity, and in this case, it seems to have worked. Their initial effort resulted in 1700 lights being purchased. Future plans for No Apagones are to partner with larger corporations, perhaps having them give CFLs to each employee.

Stay tuned for a future article on TecnoSol, which provides solar systems for $1000, and is apparently doing phenomenal business in a part of the world that most businesses would see as having too little income, and no interest in things such as renewable energy.

If you as a company shift your lens from one focused on people thinking primarily in terms of environmental benefits, or that you think people will hold on to the perception that it costs a lot, there’s a lot of room to appeal to people in these countries on a much more basic, practical level.

Readers: Where else do you see innovative and/or effective ways to sell renewable energy to the broader public?

Further Resources:

A Powerful Way to Help Your Fellow Entrepreneur on the Other Side of the Planet: Ecopreneurist

World Economic Forum Honors Social Entrepreneurs and Calls For Fast Reform : Ecopreneurist

Social Entrepreneurship is Growing : Green Options

Many people spend a great deal of time working in offices, and to have a mainstream supplier actively promoting awareness about the value of using green office products will likely lead to many people that may not have previously found relevance in their lives to consider more deeply what they choose to purchase for their office, and perhaps other parts of their lives.

Why Office Max?

Why exactly did Terracycle, the scrappy company (literally, reusing scrap production waste in some products) decide to partner with the massive Office Max? Listen up green startups, this is important: They are able to go beyond their youthful  excitement about all things green, and hear from people with decades of experience what consumers are actually buying, where they want things to be greener, and where the most impact can be made. And, having a large, deeply ingrained distribution network, Office Max can also allow Terracycle to more confidently venture into making new products, with a sharply reduced time on the development cycle. This plus being able to produce larger numbers right away leads to  being able to keep their prices at an everyday level, so that a broad segment of the population can and will try them.

Review of  innovative green office products from Terracycle

So where does that lead Terracycle? It leads them to start with 7 new products, and have several more coming soon, including paper made from Mango leaves. More on that below. I had the pleasure of trying many of them out, and here’s what I found:

Trash and recycling cans : Beyond being made from a combination or recycled computer cases and other company’s product production waste (of which there is a lot of) they are quite attractive. With a pattern of lines accenting each side and hand sized grips built in to carry it, this recyclable recycling container is a gem.

Eco binders : Bringing me back to my Pee Chee days, these sturdy, bare paper binders are made from 100% recycled paper and the clips inside 90% recycled metal. And in an industry first, when you’re done with them, you can send them back to be recycled by Terracycle.

A quote of note on the packaging:

Because it is constructed using waste stream resources, our Eco-Binders are priced competitively, allowing you an eco-friendly choice without a premium price.

Natural all purpose and window cleaners : I can’t yet speak from experience of their utility, but I can say they are packaged from former old 1 liter soda bottles, are non toxic, with clean ingredients you can read, and they’re biodegradable. They are doubly certified by Zero Footprint and Environmental Choice, from Canada. And they just look nice, sitting there on your counter! Now if I could just get  motivated to actually clean…

Drink pouch pencil case : Remember drinking Capri Sun as a kid? Remember recycling them? Probably not, as they aren’t. Well weren’t, until Terracycle came along and decided to make pencil cases out of them. Mine is two jade colored Kool-Aid Sports sewn end to end, with a zipper holding your contents in place.

Visually unique, these cases come with a fringe benefit: at 1300 schools and non profits nationally, they collect these juice bags, and Terracycle pays them per bag collected, serving as both a fundraiser and a waste stream diverter. Going even further, these cases are created in their own factory in Mexico. They’re not outsourced, but rather, a new operation entirely controlled by Terracycle to assure quality working conditions, as is the same in their Trenton, New Jersey factory. They are now the largest employer in Aquascalientes.

Beyond these products, they’ve also got a natural degreaser, bathroom cleaner, and drain clearer.

Future green innovation from Terracycle

In conversation with Albert Zakes of Terracycle, he let me in on some intriguing new products being developed, in tandem with the suggestions of Office Max. Of highest priority are paper and pens. Really? Yes, if you think about it, those are some of the most used resources in an office, and in the case of pens, most disposed of.

Rhino paper: Yes, they are currently working on paper made from the dung of Rhinos. And Elephants. Apparently they make a fine sheet of paper without the stink you might expect. However, Office Max encouraged them to innovate in other ways that people with a lower tolerance for funk would like. Thus, they are now creating tree free paper made from fallen Mango and Banana leaves.

Twig pens: They have found a way to create durable, unique pens that are made from fallen twigs, sealed to prevent splinters, and ready to go. They are also working on pens made from recycled tire rubber and newspaper.

Congratulations to Terracycle for boldly stepping out of the garden and into the office and classroom. Stay tuned for future articles on some as yet to be public partnerships and other things in the works.

Readers: Have you used any of Terracycle’s new products yet? Tell us about them! What other innovative green office products do you use, or suggest we check out?

Additional Resources:

Stocking the Green Office: Sustainable Supplies (Ecopreneurist)

Towards a Paperless Office (Ecopreneurist)

Eco Friendly Finger Paints (Eco Child’s Play)

Image Credit: All images courtesy Terracycle

Enviu, together with 8 other innovation labs from Spain, Denmark, Poland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands is soon to be launching the NEXT Europe Alliance. The launch is set for the upcoming iFest, the business inspiration fest in Spain  where there will be, “ideas and energy to solve the issues of the near future.”

Europe’s top sustainable innovation labs? An overview

All of the labs could be the subject of an article each, but aside from the universal thread of a focus on innovation, each one has a different place at the table:

Enviu is a business incubator and sustainability educator, working together with area government and firms, and aims to have a global scope. Innovation Lab is a company which monitors current and upcoming trends for a range of major companies. Idélabratoriet focuses on educating professionals how to effectively ideate, and manage what they come up with effectively. La Fabrique du Futur sums it elegantly when they say,

The future is everyone’s affair and does not just concern experts. We therefore constitute an “in vivo” and “in vitro” laboratory for the detection of emerging practises initiated by avant-garde people, among whom cultural creatives are in the forefront.

Switzerland’s Lift Lab combines innovation consulting, workshop centered conferences, and numerous publications. Again besting us in their command of English, they say, in regards to their blogs, “Follow this reader-enhanced, transparent and interactive exercise, and feel free to participate and add information and opinions!” Pantopicon and Trendbüro likewise serve to act as an extra brain, a people & resource connector, and an innovation accelerator for businesses.

Each of these lab’s sites, and the resources they lead to will likely serve as an inspiration to you. Dig in! See if you can find who said,

Our strength rests on a foundation of comprehensive knowledge, a flair for dissemination and a capacity for innovation. Three building blocks never occurring in isolation.

Readers: Where else do you see innovation sprouting out there, in terms of sustainable and social ventures?

Further resources:

Fuel For Your Entrepreneurial Brain - Ecopreneurist

Who’s the Greenest of them all? Hint: Look to the Developing World!  - Ecopreneurist

Recession Proof Your Green Business : Ecopreneurist

Sustainable Seafood Done Right: Happy Shrimp - Triple Pundit

Image source: enviuilab.blogspot.com

And yet, there may be times that nothing’s coming to you. You’re either stuck for a new idea, or having doubts about or missing pieces to what you’re currently working on. In steps Springwise. Springwise is hub for people to share ideas, and is smartly designed for rapid skimming, by category, keyword, and country.

Now, you may say, what’s new about this? There are lots of business and entrepreneurial blogs and publications out there. Fair enough. Amsterdam based Springwise puts it well when they say,

Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts that are ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. We ferociously track more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as taking to the streets of world cities, digital cameras at hand.

They also enlist the eyes and minds of an additional 8000 Springspotters in 70 countries to keep an on the ground perspective on what’s going on.

What does this look like?

One idea that stuck out to me is the MyHab. In the UK, where music festivals and rain are both abundant, they have created temporary shelter that is durable, waterproof, raised, and recyclable. Rather then have to lug, set up, break down, clean (or perhaps throw away) a tent for the festival, you reserve one, similar to a hotel, and can have them visually customized.

Then when you’re done, you leave, nothing more to do, while MyHab breaks them down and recycles them. Now it might be said why don’t they reuse them, but still, this is a step ahead towards reducing waste and increasing the quality of experience  for festival goers. Or you might say “Hmm, I have an idea to improve upon this service. I’ll do it myself, modifying it for the US. Or help consult with MyHab to further strengthen their offer.”

The ideas here, no matter the category, seem skewed towards the sustainable and the social ventures. But there are others that are nonetheless intriguing, like the pedestrian curtain. Perhaps impractical, but definitely food for thought.

Readers: Where are some of your favorite sources of inspiration for ideas? What are some interesting ideas you’ve seen lately? Please comment below.

Additional resources:

Idea Blob: An Infectious Way To Fund Your Green Business

Green Dreams: Inspiration From Green Design Businesses

How To Approach A Venture Capital Firm With Your Eco Business

Do yourself a favor, and go watch the introductory video on the new KivaB4B site, which makes the most clear, compelling connection between entrepreneurs like yourself, and people in the countries that microfinance serves. It shows, side by side, the similar needs and activities we all have as entrepreneurs — a little boost, a bit of advice, and a lot of encouragement and community.

In a powerful synergy, Kiva, one of the top players in this realm, has partnered with Advanta, a credit issuer that is highly supportive of small businesses, to create KivaB4B. It’s simple really: You as a business owner put money towards someone via Kiva, and Advanta matches it, dollar for dollar, up to $200 a month. This may sound small, but think about it this way: If only 1% of Advanta’s 1.3 million customers put even $50 towards this, that would mean $1.3 million going to these people. Dollars that go a lot farther then they do here, making for a potentially significant positive impact for people just like yourself, really.

You were once (or perhaps you still are) getting started in business, and for many of you, there was some break, some nudge, some sign that you were going to go further than just an idea, just another company failing after a year. KivaB4B now provides you with a simple, no maintenance way to do the same, for the person of your choice, at as little or as much money as you care to put towards this. Not all corporate social responsibility efforts need to be grandiose. Sometimes it’s the smallest of gestures that can have the greatest of impact. And satisfaction.

To see specific examples of who’s giving and who’s receiving, go the the KivaB4B website, and click the Who’s Giving link. You may just recognize yourself in these people. To learn more about KivaB4B, and other happenings in the world of microfinance (or to write about it yourself!) KivaB4B has a community blog here.

Readers: What sort of businesses would you like to support through microfinance? What are some other examples of microfinance and social enterprise development you’ve seen and admire? What are some other models of creating economic and social vitality that exist or your propose?

Additional resources:

Kiva.org - Loans That Change Lives

Another Eco Child’s Play Kiva Loan

Alternative Gifting = Lending and Microloans

Idea Blob: An Infectious Way To Fund Your Green Business

Image courtesy KivaB4B.org

Gorilla  in the Greenhouse, an episodic show premiering today, doesn’t preach at kids, but instead engages them on their terms and empowers them to take action. Animated by the people behind such web classics as The Meatrix, it features four smart kids and a wise green gorilla, facing the big green challenges of our day, with inventiveness, action, and most importantly, a rockin’ song.

Not many people could pull off making a catchy tune about a garbage island in the Pacific Ocean, but in the first episode, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” they show otherwise. With people such as Ralph Guggenheim, one of Pixar’s founders producing, this moves beyond merely being entertainment to being a bridge to further conversation with your children about things happening in the real world, and what can be done about them.

As Eli Noyes, director of the show puts it, “It is by nature interactive, because kids can do in the real world what they see our virtual kids doing. Every imaginary character and action in the show has an analogous real life counterpart.”

For example, in the first episode, the kids overcome a plot by Dr. Morlon Huffelbot to create a trash bag island (sound familiar?) They go undercover at the plastic bag factory, get out their positive green message to counteract Huffelbot’s actions through their social networks, rally cities to ban plastic bags and then create their own eco friendly alternative.  And, in a nod to how times have changed since we watched Schoolhouse Rock, this time it’s the kids making the music, in their band The Greenhouse Gang.

Giving structure and resources to build on your child’s enthusiasm, they’ve created a curriculum to go along with each episode with actions to take, and additional videos to deepen their knowledge. Beyond the garbage island, future episodes will cover sustainable food production, deforestation, global warming, and energy efficiency.

Readers: What other ways do you know of to creatively and actively engage your kids in greening the world?

More Resources:

From Inspiration to Action: 18+

Plastic: Your Worst Nightmare

Children’s Music Parents Can Enjoy

There’s been a lot of energy behind wind power these days, with talk of larger and more dramatic installations every week. But this may leave you wondering, what does it have to do with me? Would I ever want one of these giant towers in my backyard or on my business? Noble though the idea is, for many, this is not an appealing or feasible option, due to space limitations or code restrictions. But then you may wonder, would a micro turbine make a notable dent in my energy needs?

Last week while at the Green California Summit, I saw a beautiful and practical solution to this: Helix Wind. With its elegant, rippled white shape, and the ability to work with any wind greater then 4.5 mph, requiring only 14 feet in height, these turbines bring it all home, literally.

How much power do they bring? 1KW for personal, 2KW for businesses, enough to meet as much as half your energy needs. There’s no need to have a battery to store the power generated as in solar panels, as “net metering,” or power metering that accounts for energy put back into the grid as well as what’s used, can be used as credit towards your energy costs.

There are many micro turbines out there, but none has the unique undulating helix form of this. So? Beyond being aesthetically interesting, this enables it to catch air from any direction, more efficiently, with less needed. The unique shape apparently is also, they claim, completely safe for birds - one of the stumbling blocks to greater implementation of such devices. Silencing other critics is the fact that it’s, well, silent in operation.

Now what about cost, rebates? While not yet as prevalent as the ones for solar (have a look at the DSIRE site for a fine resource for local, state, and federal renewables incentives of all sorts) there are some generous ones happening right now. For example, the Emerging Renewables Program in California gives $1.50-$2.50/watt on systems, up to 30 KW. That’s thousands even for the smallest of Helix Wind’s systems.

To see them in action, have a look at this, below:

So, is wind right for you or your business? With systems such as Helix Wind’s, it’s looking more and more so every day.

Readers: What’s been your experience with wind power? Have any suggestions, hints, tips, products you like? Please share, below.

Additional resources:

Take your Business Off-Grid, or Become a Net Producer of Energy: Learn How at the MREA’s Renewable Energy Fair

Top Five Micro Wind Turbines

Wind Boom Creates Rural Jobs in Texas

In a conversation with Justin Brown of First Global Xpress, I began to find out: All the major international shippers use a “hub and spoke” system to distribute packages. In a case of bureaucracy overriding logic, a package sent from New York to Europe may first go to New Jersey, then go several miles in the wrong direction, to Memphis Tennessee, then back overseas, taking in the sights at several major and regional sorting centers until it arrives. Why? It defies logic, in terms of efficiency, ecology, and economy.

And get this: according to Justin, 30% of jet fuel consumed is during take off. So, add up those extraneous miles, plus the fuel consumed each flight, and you’ve got an enormous carbon footprint here, an unnecessary one.

What to do? Enter First Global Xpress. What’s different about them? First off, they fly direct to the intended destination via the cargo space on a commercial airliner, of which they have reserved space on 95 airlines, and growing. In most cases, multiple flights a day are available to take your package. And generally speaking, your package will get there 24 hours earlier and 20% cheaper then the big boys.

Shipping that’s both more sustainable and affordable, how about that? But that’s not enough for Justin. He is of a new wave of green entrepreneurs that see a way to integrate their emerging green personal values with their business values, for the benefit of all.

Though he could easily say that his company is green, as compared to others, he wisely has chosen to forge on, examining how First Global Xpress can do even better. And even then, he prefers to refer to the company as shipping greener, not green. He knows that overseas expedited shipping will never be totally green, and even encourages clients to seek local options where possible, rather then ship. A sign of a businessman who sees the bigger picture, to be sure.

And Justin has chosen to be very transparent about the process, through the newly launched blog, shipgreener.com Shedding light on the industry, showing their experiments, the successes, the goofs, the whole thing, this is no perfect shiny self promotional wank. Knowing that people don’t want to hear about shipping all day long, he’s got plans to take you along on his NYC bicycle commute, talk to other business people venturing into the green waters, and more.

What else is in store then as far as greener international shipping at First Global Xpress? From how they package their packages to how they get them there on the ground, they will be improving and overhauling how they do what they do. (Details here) In fact, they’ve set the ambitious goal of reducing their overall carbon footprint by 66% by the end of the year. Will they do it? Who knows, but kudos to them for setting such an ambitious goal. Talking to Justin, I can tell you it’s not just hot air. Watch them do it. Better yet, make them your international shipper.

Additional reading:

Interview: Justin Brown of FGX on shipping greener

How to Green Your Mail

Greener Shipping

Eco-Effective Mail: USPS Turns to MBDC to Create Cradle-to-Cradle Packages

The first option that may come to mind is the well advertised Green Dimes service. It does indeed seem to do a great job at reducing mailings, up to 90% in three months, and they plant 10 trees for you while they’re at it. I do have a qualm with tree planting however, as it’s recently been shown that this popular eco guilt reliever has also resulted in the displacement of people in places like Uganda that tree planting companies want to make use of for this now increasingly lucrative business. But I digress…

Green Dimes would seem a fine option, but for one thing - there’s a better one out there. One that costs nothing (vs $20) and goes further to take you off telemarketer lists as well. Who? ProQuo. And how is it that they’re free? They offer a service that you can choose to opt in for catalogs you’d actually like to receive (what a concept!) for which they make a profit from the catalog companies. And they only make these offers if you request they be made. Shocking, I know.

But does this mean they share your private information with third parties in general? In a refreshingly non-qualified statement, they say, “ProQuo will never sell, trade, transfer or otherwise share your information with third parties without your express consent — ever.” I’ll be interested to see how well this business model works. But for now, consumers have a simple, free option to do about that daily annoyance that arrives unbidden in their homes each week.

While you’re waiting for your junk mail to reduce, have you made any creative reuse of it? What other ways have you found to effectively minimize paper use, and mail receiving in your home or business? An interesting option you could combine with this to not even receive mail at all is Earth Class Mail.

Whether or not this has been your experience, it’s a perception that many people hold, and it’s a factor in holding back bike riding from being more widely used mode of transport. What to do? Enter the Bike Tree. These devices address several issues at once, but let me start with the primary: it stores your bikes high up in the air, for all the world to see, and thieves to be foiled, looking like, yes, a tree made of bikes.

How does it work? Simply. You use a smart card that identifies you, and a bike hook glides down. Place your front tire in there, and up the bike rolls until it’s securely stored above, with a dome over the top to keep it dry. What if you need an indoor location, and the ceiling is too short for such a device? They also have another one, that has a more elaborate locking system.

Who would use this? Individual commuters, bike sharing services and people who are already good about using trains rather then their car, but there’s the few miles between their house and the station.

Looking at the site, an additional use comes to mind: festivals. Bike Tree claims they can be assembled and moved in 3-6 hours, making them great temporary storage facilities. And, without a cluster of bikes on the ground, they take up less space, and the base could, for those inclined, serve as a place to sit. My one question is, they don’t show it full of bikes, what happens if the handlebars of adjacent bikes get ensnared?

That said, the site says it hasn’t been updated since 2004, and as of press time, I wasn’t able to find out if they are a functional company at this point. Why don’t you drop them a line and find out for yourself? And if they don’t, let this be an inspiration for other creative solutions to life in the modern world.

What other solutions like this do you see to positively affecting urban life? Please share.

What’s to know about it, from an insider’s perspective? Let me tell you, it was a tremendously beneficial experience, on an educational, personal and professional level. I gained confidence, learning extensively how to give a great presentation, even enjoy the experience, from a starting point of utter terror. I learned how to work in teams, of varying strengths, skills, and personalities, and how to manage when things become, well, unmanageable. I got a broad and deep understanding of what’s going on in the realm of sustainability, in terms of business, government, and society as a whole. And beyond that, I saw how the emerging sustainable business paradigm overlaps with the existing, and how to bridge between the two.

I think the most important lesson I got from being at Presidio is to listen. Listen long enough, and seek out what matters to people, and you’re far on your way to making progress where there may have appeared to be no road to do so before. This was driven home when I got the chance to play the part of Wal-Mart, debating a series of small town stakeholders on whether it should locate in their area. If I, who was quite opposed to the idea in reality, could persuasively argue such a point, who else out there in the real world was doing the exact same thing? Who else is not the “black hat” we make them out to be?

There is much more to tell of my personal experience there, but that’s for another time. Feel free to ask me, directly or in the comments, below.

How is the overall program, you ask? Dynamic, evolving, and full of people, both in the staff and the student body who are passionate about using business as a tool for change. The faculty includes such people as Hunter Lovins, co-author of the book Natural Capitalism with Paul Hawken, and Amory Lovins. She is a woman in demand across the globe, yet she chooses to teach at Presidio. Why? Because, as she said, she wants more colleagues to join her in making a difference on the planet.

The same could be said for the rest of the faculty, who come to Presidio with extensive experience and deep commitment.

And the students? I can’t speak for the entirety of the student body, as I’ve now been out for a year, eons in the evolution of this still relatively young school. But what I can say is, they come from an extremely wide variety of backgrounds, and come for varying reasons. From hardcore environmentalists wanting to know how to make a bigger impact in the broader society, to people with extensive business experience, who yearn for a different way to go about their work in the world. And as I mentioned above, listen long enough, take time to talk with them, and you’ll find they all have something of value to contribute. An asset to you when you’re out in the world trying to do business.

On my first weekend at Presidio was what I consider the tipping point of interest in green business: Hurricane Katrina. From there, the demographics of who has shown up in this realm has steadily shifted, or I should say expanded, to include many people that would perhaps never have considered themselves interested in or playing a part in moving business to a more environmentally benevolent model.

This is being reflected in Presidio’s new Executive Sustainable Management program, aimed at senior level executives. Does that mean they’re shifting away from developing people from the ground level up? No chance. Their MBA in Sustainable Management program continues to get stronger, with new faculty, strong leadership, and an increasingly visible alumni population, which includes people such as Simran Sethi, who hosts The Green on the Sundance Channel, rubs elbows with Oprah Winfrey, and is generally unmissable in just about any media.

Then there’s me. How has Presidio benefited me, a 2007 graduate? One example says it all: I chose to start a consulting practice shortly after graduating, and was able to get two clients, prior to having either a website or a business card. This, purely based on my ability to market myself, and answer the tough questions that were