Green Options

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Early pioneers of the green movement must be conflicted: Their message has been heard and the green movement has seeped into every facet of our lives, from cars to buildings to food.  But with the movement’s popularity has come what many see as a hijacking of green sensibilities by people and companies who are trying to sell their products, many of which are either only marginally green or completely unnecessary. If the goal is to leave a smaller carbon footprint, to reduce waste, or to conserve energy or resources, we should buy fewer products, not more.

Let’s not start demonizing the corporations, especially those who have advanced conservationism through energy and fuel saving technologies, new environmentally-friendly products at lower prices, and new ways to recycle.  It’s no coincidence that the popularity of the green movement increased dramatically when corporations began to adopt - and promote - green practices.  Conservationism cannot be seen as the enemy of consumerism, but rather a lens through which to view it.

I’ve been spending a lot of my time these days checking out the wide variety of social networking tools available for growing green business. In particular tools for the B2B market have been springing up and taking hold across the web.
I found this interesting slide show about greenwashing and was struck by the slide above. This says it all in my mind. As green becomes the [...]

I feel the consumerism of back to school season like a stiff wind in my face. I’m sending my oldest off to preschool, and after 3 years of not caring what she is wearing except for holidays and birthdays, forgetting to brush her hair for days on end, and rarely buying things new for her, I am a bit swept up in how to get her ready.

I’ve been obsessing about backpacks. Really, there is a lot to think about: No PVC (vinyl), lead, no or not much plastic, preferably made in the U.S. with sustainable materials. And all this for under 50 bucks.

I can tell you for preschoolers, it doesn’t exist. (Mama entrepreneurs, take note!). After searching each link on the Center for Health and Justice’s list of back to school items without PVC, I found nothing that would work. I’ve also searched some great resources posted recently on Enviroblog.

I think the search for the backpack is really a front for feeling anxious about letting her go. She is beginning that journey, up up and away, and while that is beautiful and exhilarating, it is also painful and sad for me.

Last week I wrote about how much of my hard work when I toiled away for a large advertising agency (definitely NOT sustainability-minded) ended up contributing to the problems facing humanity. It didn’t get me much further ahead financially, either.

When I think about sustainability, I’ve come to the conclusion it needs to be something that’s holistic and inclusive of both my life AND my career, livelihood, or, if you must, “job.” It doesn’t make much sustainability sense [...]

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

Independent Printing has started a blog at www.designed2print.wordpress.com, which has a number of good articles on the changes in the printing industry. The site covers how Independent Printing is staying ahead of the curve by offering not only Forest Stewardship Council paper and vegetable based inks, but also switching to green energy for their plants.

Our number one seller from Independent Printing is their Enviro-binder.

This post was originally published on Eco-Libris blog on August 22.

Last week we wrote here about our partner Chegg and their renting textbooks’ model. This is a great model and it’s an example of the innovative thinking that tries to find an alternative to the current expensive (average of USD 1,000 per year in the US), not environmental friendly and irritating textbook system.

And this search has generated another great idea which has a good chance to influence the future of the textbook industry: open source free online textbooks. This innovative concept comes from Flat World Knowledge (thanks to Springwise for the update!)

How does it work exactly? Flat World Knowledge explains on their website

You probably have a mission statement. At a minimum you probably needed one in order write a business plan. But, too often the websites of company’s that sell green products and services bury their mission statement in the deep recesses of their content. It seems standard to prominently display green-themed graphics and customer testimonials about how services surpass expectations and yield cost savings or LEED certification points. What often does not happen, however, is the public sharing of the green mission statement.

It is a missed opportunity not to put it at the forefront of your corporate communications.  What should you do with your mission statement? Lots.

It’s important for growing companies to keep an eye on the overall market. While much of what makes entrepreneurs great is their ability to think out of the box, it’s what’s happening overall and how they fit into the general scheme of things that determines whether they succeed or fail.

So, I like to highlight some of the greater market trends in this blog. One of those of particular interest, one might say overwhelming interest, to green entrepreneurs is the looming scare of “eco fatigue”.

Is it real?

Will it impact green businesses?

Are you seeing it impact your business?

Here’s some tips from AdAge designed for large established companies but equally relevant for ecopreneurs. What do you think?

The “Economist” debate involves journalists, industry gurus, investors, bureaucrats, and of course economists who have all long been involved in renewable energy. The question:

“Can we solve our energy problems with existing technologies today, without the need for breakthrough innovations?”

This is the defining question of our time.

New innovations, improvements, or breakthroughs are happening all the time in clean tech, especially among renewable energy technologies. Yet technological limitations still plague the various industries. These hurdles include energy storage, energy efficiency, transmission infrastructure and technology, hydrogen power, CO2 capture and sequestration, and producing bio-fuels at an industrial scale. Economics is also a potent issue that both hampers and launches these technologies, hence the host of this debate.

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

Leed’s is teaming up with AmericanForests.org. “Leed’s makes a donation to American Forest’s Global ReLeaf program for every EcoSmart imprint order we produce”.

The thing I like about this new deal is that you don’t have to do anything extra. If the client purchases Leed’s EcoSmart promotional items the donation is automatically made.

Simple. But….

Thin film solar technology has attracted interest from venture capitalists because of its higher efficiency, lower use of limited silicon, and more easily automated production processes. Now, established Japanese players in the solar arena are getting in the thin film game, followed by companies in China and India, as reported in Renewable Energy World.

• Mitsubishi Chemical already produces materials for the solar industry but sees opportunity to produce the cells

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