If you didn’t hear yet about Zumbox, you need to recheck your news resources.

In the last couple of weeks you hear about them everywhere - from an announcement on two new clients: the cities of San Francisco and Newark (NJ) that will start using their web-based mail delivery system to an announcement on a partnership with New York City for Five Borough Pilot Program.

So what is exactly Zumbox? according to their website “Zumbox delivers paperless mail online – from street address to street address. What used to only be sent as paper mail can now be sent without the paper. How? We’ve created a nationwide paperless postal system with a Zumbox for every street address in the United States, including yours.”

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“Where the Buttercups Grow” is a great children’s book, and we’re not saying it just because we’re collaborating with the publisher, Aaspirations Publishing, to plant a tree for every copy sold, but because we really think so, and that’s also the feedback we got from couple of kids in the Eco-Libris family we asked to check it out.

This book is beautifully written by Shelley Meyer and vividly illustrated by her daughter Tessa Meyer (in the photo above at the first book launch in Surrey).

Here’s the short version of what this book is about (the longer version can be found here):

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“Jared’s nutritional advice in Clean Plates has the power to transform your individual health and our collective well-being.” Deepak Chopra, M.D., chairman and co-founder of The Chopra Centers for Wellbeing.

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I asked Josh my favorite biofuel question at the time: If Willie Nelson can figure out how to run a car on vegetable oil, why can’t Detroit? I’d like to think we bonded a little over that. He had me test drive a diesel Volkswagen and told me that he had written some books and was going around the country in the Veggie Van, lecturing on the benefits of biofuels. He also said he was working on a film. I didn’t think much of the film making bit. I live in L.A. Every one is working on a film about something. Still, Josh had a sincerity and contagious optimism about him that was distinctly antithetical to being just another L.A. film guy.

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GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily discusses the challenges of greening business operations in the face of peak oil and climate change with Andre Angelantoni of Inspiring Green Leadership.

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Are you planning to have a rewards program similar to RecycleBank’s one in the future?
We’re not planning to offer points for using Zumbox. Instead, we’re focusing our efforts on continuously enhancing the user experience through our relationships with third party mail senders and content providers as well as the development of new features within Zumbox. While reducing paper waste is a key goal for us, we want that to only represent one of many benefits associated with Zumbox.

In the cities where we’ve now launched – San Francisco, New York and Newark – mail is currently being sent from the local governments and other organizations, giving people there the ability to start receiving, organizing and storing their mail online. We’re essentially offering everybody a paperless mail option that’s convenient, secure and environmentally responsible.

What’s your comment on the findings presented in the New York Times by Prof. Randall Stross about the effectiveness of using the stick approach to converting customers to paperless billing?
Well, I think that was a very interesting piece, as it underlined the challenge faced by most billers. Incentivizing people to go paperless has not really moved the needle, but apparently a company can get people to convert faster when a paper bill fee is introduced. However, the stick approach doesn’t always stick (pardon the pun). And as the article points out, T-Mobile had to quickly respond to pressure by putting an end to the paper bill fee, and the company has since gone back to the carrot approach or simply the voluntary approach.

But the real issue here is that the voluntary approach does not work for a reason. Current paperless options are just not cutting it for most people. The notifications that are sent via email typically only include a link to the bill, and having to go to different websites and keep track of numerous usernames and passwords just to view bills is highly inconvenient.

Personally, I think people would respond better to the idea of going paperless if there was a better way to go paperless. With Zumbox we’ve created a secure environment where bills and statements (and all other mail) can be sent as digital files and presented online exactly like they appear on paper. In that way, Zumbox mirrors the experience of receiving paper mail; the bill is actually delivered to a customer and appears the way we’re all used to seeing it, only without the paper.

While the stick approach may work temporarily for some, I believe the real solution to the challenge of getting people to go paperless is to create a better option than what has been pushed on people up until this point, which is a big part of what we’re trying to do.

What’s the percentage of paper mail you think you can eliminate with Zumbox?
We have not done any calculations on this.

How do you see junk mail? Will you provide businesses sending it to use Zumbox instead?
First of all, we define junk mail as irrelevant mail, and we have built our system to increase the relevance and reduce the waste associated with paper mail. Having said that, Zumbox is an agnostic delivery platform, which means we offer all mail senders, including marketers, the ability to send paperless mail.

But Zumbox offers a unique kind of control that lets recipients decide what mail they want to receive. Specifically, if you receive a special offer in your Zumbox from a business you do not care for, you can permanently block that mail sender so we will ultimately only receive the offers that are relevant to us.

What is your plan - are you going to focus in the short-term on collaborations with municipalities (such as San Francisco and Newark) to get people use Zumbox and then move over to the business sector?

After a successful pilot in a smaller market earlier this year, we started the first stage of our national rollout in September, with San Francisco and Newark being the first cities. Over the next weeks and months, we will announce other cities that will be a part of this stage of our rollout, and the municipalities themselves will be involved in most cases.

Simultaneously though, we are talking to several national businesses and non-profit organizations about sending paperless mail to their customers and supporters in these markets, and we are also inviting local businesses and other organizations to participate. The goal is to create eco-systems, if you will, in the rollout markets so there are enough senders and recipients of paperless mail to make it meaningful for both sides.
Meanwhile, Zumbox is already available nationwide so anybody can start using the service right now.

What is the required penetration rate of Zumbox to make it work?I’m not sure there is a general penetration rate required for Zumbox because these eco-systems can be created anywhere, all with different levels of participation. For instance, a community may embrace the service even if there are only a few critical mail senders initially, and most businesses will find Zumbox meaningful as long as they can start reducing their paper usage and the cost associated with that.

What will happen with USPS if you guys win?
While Zumbox is the first paperless postal system and clearly the first all-digital alternative to traditional postal systems, it is not the first competitor the USPS has ever seen. FedEx, for instance, started offering speedier delivery, but the Postal Service still offered a valuable service. Our service obviously represents a more dramatic shift, as we offer digital delivery, but we do not aim to replace the Postal Service and we certainly do not expect to do that. All we want to do is offer people a paperless alternative. We expect the world to be big enough for both paper and paperless mail.
Thank you Joergen!

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks about achieving personal productivity, sustainability, and a simpler and happier life with Leo Babauta, founder and lead blogger at ZenHabits.

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Are you planning to have a rewards program similar to RecycleBank’s one in the future?
We’re not planning to offer points for using Zumbox. Instead, we’re focusing our efforts on continuously enhancing the user experience through our relationships with third party mail senders and content providers as well as the development of new features within Zumbox. While reducing paper waste is a key goal for us, we want that to only represent one of many benefits associated with Zumbox.

In the cities where we’ve now launched – San Francisco, New York and Newark – mail is currently being sent from the local governments and other organizations, giving people there the ability to start receiving, organizing and storing their mail online. We’re essentially offering everybody a paperless mail option that’s convenient, secure and environmentally responsible.

What’s your comment on the findings presented in the New York Times by Prof. Randall Stross about the effectiveness of using the stick approach to converting customers to paperless billing?
Well, I think that was a very interesting piece, as it underlined the challenge faced by most billers. Incentivizing people to go paperless has not really moved the needle, but apparently a company can get people to convert faster when a paper bill fee is introduced. However, the stick approach doesn’t always stick (pardon the pun). And as the article points out, T-Mobile had to quickly respond to pressure by putting an end to the paper bill fee, and the company has since gone back to the carrot approach or simply the voluntary approach.

But the real issue here is that the voluntary approach does not work for a reason. Current paperless options are just not cutting it for most people. The notifications that are sent via email typically only include a link to the bill, and having to go to different websites and keep track of numerous usernames and passwords just to view bills is highly inconvenient.

Personally, I think people would respond better to the idea of going paperless if there was a better way to go paperless. With Zumbox we’ve created a secure environment where bills and statements (and all other mail) can be sent as digital files and presented online exactly like they appear on paper. In that way, Zumbox mirrors the experience of receiving paper mail; the bill is actually delivered to a customer and appears the way we’re all used to seeing it, only without the paper.

While the stick approach may work temporarily for some, I believe the real solution to the challenge of getting people to go paperless is to create a better option than what has been pushed on people up until this point, which is a big part of what we’re trying to do.

What’s the percentage of paper mail you think you can eliminate with Zumbox?
We have not done any calculations on this.

How do you see junk mail? Will you provide businesses sending it to use Zumbox instead?
First of all, we define junk mail as irrelevant mail, and we have built our system to increase the relevance and reduce the waste associated with paper mail. Having said that, Zumbox is an agnostic delivery platform, which means we offer all mail senders, including marketers, the ability to send paperless mail.

But Zumbox offers a unique kind of control that lets recipients decide what mail they want to receive. Specifically, if you receive a special offer in your Zumbox from a business you do not care for, you can permanently block that mail sender so we will ultimately only receive the offers that are relevant to us.

What is your plan - are you going to focus in the short-term on collaborations with municipalities (such as San Francisco and Newark) to get people use Zumbox and then move over to the business sector?

After a successful pilot in a smaller market earlier this year, we started the first stage of our national rollout in September, with San Francisco and Newark being the first cities. Over the next weeks and months, we will announce other cities that will be a part of this stage of our rollout, and the municipalities themselves will be involved in most cases.

Simultaneously though, we are talking to several national businesses and non-profit organizations about sending paperless mail to their customers and supporters in these markets, and we are also inviting local businesses and other organizations to participate. The goal is to create eco-systems, if you will, in the rollout markets so there are enough senders and recipients of paperless mail to make it meaningful for both sides.
Meanwhile, Zumbox is already available nationwide so anybody can start using the service right now.

What is the required penetration rate of Zumbox to make it work?I’m not sure there is a general penetration rate required for Zumbox because these eco-systems can be created anywhere, all with different levels of participation. For instance, a community may embrace the service even if there are only a few critical mail senders initially, and most businesses will find Zumbox meaningful as long as they can start reducing their paper usage and the cost associated with that.

What will happen with USPS if you guys win?
While Zumbox is the first paperless postal system and clearly the first all-digital alternative to traditional postal systems, it is not the first competitor the USPS has ever seen. FedEx, for instance, started offering speedier delivery, but the Postal Service still offered a valuable service. Our service obviously represents a more dramatic shift, as we offer digital delivery, but we do not aim to replace the Postal Service and we certainly do not expect to do that. All we want to do is offer people a paperless alternative. We expect the world to be big enough for both paper and paperless mail.
Thank you Joergen!

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily discusses green marketing for businesses with Maryanne Conlin, a lead writer for Ecopreneurist and Inspired Economist, and a green marketing consultant with expertise in targeting LOHAS consumers. [Courtesy of our friends at GreenLivingIdeas.com]

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This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Are you planning to have a rewards program similar to RecycleBank’s one in the future?
We’re not planning to offer points for using Zumbox. Instead, we’re focusing our efforts on continuously enhancing the user experience through our relationships with third party mail senders and content providers as well as the development of new features within Zumbox. While reducing paper waste is a key goal for us, we want that to only represent one of many benefits associated with Zumbox.

In the cities where we’ve now launched – San Francisco, New York and Newark – mail is currently being sent from the local governments and other organizations, giving people there the ability to start receiving, organizing and storing their mail online. We’re essentially offering everybody a paperless mail option that’s convenient, secure and environmentally responsible.

What’s your comment on the findings presented in the New York Times by Prof. Randall Stross about the effectiveness of using the stick approach to converting customers to paperless billing?
Well, I think that was a very interesting piece, as it underlined the challenge faced by most billers. Incentivizing people to go paperless has not really moved the needle, but apparently a company can get people to convert faster when a paper bill fee is introduced. However, the stick approach doesn’t always stick (pardon the pun). And as the article points out, T-Mobile had to quickly respond to pressure by putting an end to the paper bill fee, and the company has since gone back to the carrot approach or simply the voluntary approach.

But the real issue here is that the voluntary approach does not work for a reason. Current paperless options are just not cutting it for most people. The notifications that are sent via email typically only include a link to the bill, and having to go to different websites and keep track of numerous usernames and passwords just to view bills is highly inconvenient.

Personally, I think people would respond better to the idea of going paperless if there was a better way to go paperless. With Zumbox we’ve created a secure environment where bills and statements (and all other mail) can be sent as digital files and presented online exactly like they appear on paper. In that way, Zumbox mirrors the experience of receiving paper mail; the bill is actually delivered to a customer and appears the way we’re all used to seeing it, only without the paper.

While the stick approach may work temporarily for some, I believe the real solution to the challenge of getting people to go paperless is to create a better option than what has been pushed on people up until this point, which is a big part of what we’re trying to do.

What’s the percentage of paper mail you think you can eliminate with Zumbox?
We have not done any calculations on this.

How do you see junk mail? Will you provide businesses sending it to use Zumbox instead?
First of all, we define junk mail as irrelevant mail, and we have built our system to increase the relevance and reduce the waste associated with paper mail. Having said that, Zumbox is an agnostic delivery platform, which means we offer all mail senders, including marketers, the ability to send paperless mail.

But Zumbox offers a unique kind of control that lets recipients decide what mail they want to receive. Specifically, if you receive a special offer in your Zumbox from a business you do not care for, you can permanently block that mail sender so we will ultimately only receive the offers that are relevant to us.

What is your plan - are you going to focus in the short-term on collaborations with municipalities (such as San Francisco and Newark) to get people use Zumbox and then move over to the business sector?

After a successful pilot in a smaller market earlier this year, we started the first stage of our national rollout in September, with San Francisco and Newark being the first cities. Over the next weeks and months, we will announce other cities that will be a part of this stage of our rollout, and the municipalities themselves will be involved in most cases.

Simultaneously though, we are talking to several national businesses and non-profit organizations about sending paperless mail to their customers and supporters in these markets, and we are also inviting local businesses and other organizations to participate. The goal is to create eco-systems, if you will, in the rollout markets so there are enough senders and recipients of paperless mail to make it meaningful for both sides.
Meanwhile, Zumbox is already available nationwide so anybody can start using the service right now.

What is the required penetration rate of Zumbox to make it work?I’m not sure there is a general penetration rate required for Zumbox because these eco-systems can be created anywhere, all with different levels of participation. For instance, a community may embrace the service even if there are only a few critical mail senders initially, and most businesses will find Zumbox meaningful as long as they can start reducing their paper usage and the cost associated with that.

What will happen with USPS if you guys win?
While Zumbox is the first paperless postal system and clearly the first all-digital alternative to traditional postal systems, it is not the first competitor the USPS has ever seen. FedEx, for instance, started offering speedier delivery, but the Postal Service still offered a valuable service. Our service obviously represents a more dramatic shift, as we offer digital delivery, but we do not aim to replace the Postal Service and we certainly do not expect to do that. All we want to do is offer people a paperless alternative. We expect the world to be big enough for both paper and paperless mail.
Thank you Joergen!

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with Danielle Brigida, a marketing and social media expert working with the National Wildlife Federation, about the use and value of social media for wildlife preservation and other environmental causes. [Courtesy of our friends at GreenLivingIdeas.com]

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This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Are you planning to have a rewards program similar to RecycleBank’s one in the future?
We’re not planning to offer points for using Zumbox. Instead, we’re focusing our efforts on continuously enhancing the user experience through our relationships with third party mail senders and content providers as well as the development of new features within Zumbox. While reducing paper waste is a key goal for us, we want that to only represent one of many benefits associated with Zumbox.

In the cities where we’ve now launched – San Francisco, New York and Newark – mail is currently being sent from the local governments and other organizations, giving people there the ability to start receiving, organizing and storing their mail online. We’re essentially offering everybody a paperless mail option that’s convenient, secure and environmentally responsible.

What’s your comment on the findings presented in the New York Times by Prof. Randall Stross about the effectiveness of using the stick approach to converting customers to paperless billing?
Well, I think that was a very interesting piece, as it underlined the challenge faced by most billers. Incentivizing people to go paperless has not really moved the needle, but apparently a company can get people to convert faster when a paper bill fee is introduced. However, the stick approach doesn’t always stick (pardon the pun). And as the article points out, T-Mobile had to quickly respond to pressure by putting an end to the paper bill fee, and the company has since gone back to the carrot approach or simply the voluntary approach.

But the real issue here is that the voluntary approach does not work for a reason. Current paperless options are just not cutting it for most people. The notifications that are sent via email typically only include a link to the bill, and having to go to different websites and keep track of numerous usernames and passwords just to view bills is highly inconvenient.

Personally, I think people would respond better to the idea of going paperless if there was a better way to go paperless. With Zumbox we’ve created a secure environment where bills and statements (and all other mail) can be sent as digital files and presented online exactly like they appear on paper. In that way, Zumbox mirrors the experience of receiving paper mail; the bill is actually delivered to a customer and appears the way we’re all used to seeing it, only without the paper.

While the stick approach may work temporarily for some, I believe the real solution to the challenge of getting people to go paperless is to create a better option than what has been pushed on people up until this point, which is a big part of what we’re trying to do.

What’s the percentage of paper mail you think you can eliminate with Zumbox?
We have not done any calculations on this.

How do you see junk mail? Will you provide businesses sending it to use Zumbox instead?
First of all, we define junk mail as irrelevant mail, and we have built our system to increase the relevance and reduce the waste associated with paper mail. Having said that, Zumbox is an agnostic delivery platform, which means we offer all mail senders, including marketers, the ability to send paperless mail.

But Zumbox offers a unique kind of control that lets recipients decide what mail they want to receive. Specifically, if you receive a special offer in your Zumbox from a business you do not care for, you can permanently block that mail sender so we will ultimately only receive the offers that are relevant to us.

What is your plan - are you going to focus in the short-term on collaborations with municipalities (such as San Francisco and Newark) to get people use Zumbox and then move over to the business sector?

After a successful pilot in a smaller market earlier this year, we started the first stage of our national rollout in September, with San Francisco and Newark being the first cities. Over the next weeks and months, we will announce other cities that will be a part of this stage of our rollout, and the municipalities themselves will be involved in most cases.

Simultaneously though, we are talking to several national businesses and non-profit organizations about sending paperless mail to their customers and supporters in these markets, and we are also inviting local businesses and other organizations to participate. The goal is to create eco-systems, if you will, in the rollout markets so there are enough senders and recipients of paperless mail to make it meaningful for both sides.
Meanwhile, Zumbox is already available nationwide so anybody can start using the service right now.

What is the required penetration rate of Zumbox to make it work?I’m not sure there is a general penetration rate required for Zumbox because these eco-systems can be created anywhere, all with different levels of participation. For instance, a community may embrace the service even if there are only a few critical mail senders initially, and most businesses will find Zumbox meaningful as long as they can start reducing their paper usage and the cost associated with that.

What will happen with USPS if you guys win?
While Zumbox is the first paperless postal system and clearly the first all-digital alternative to traditional postal systems, it is not the first competitor the USPS has ever seen. FedEx, for instance, started offering speedier delivery, but the Postal Service still offered a valuable service. Our service obviously represents a more dramatic shift, as we offer digital delivery, but we do not aim to replace the Postal Service and we certainly do not expect to do that. All we want to do is offer people a paperless alternative. We expect the world to be big enough for both paper and paperless mail.
Thank you Joergen!

Many of you visit to find the latest, best and most effective natural and organic beauty brands amongst other things. Organic beauty is one of my favorite topics and one I’m passionate about.  And I don’t know about you, but I value honest recommendations from fellow consumers much more than I do when it comes from an owner or employee of a business.  And I know I’m not alone, otherwise Googling “review of X product” would not be the common pastime that it is.  So with that in mind, I’m bringing you the real deal about NatureOfBeauty.com. I’ll clue you in on which products I’m loving right now, the scoop on two hot brands they just launched, share my Christmas gift ideas and divulge how to get free shipping and 15% off your order.

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When it comes to natural and organic beauty and personal care products, you usually get what you pay for. Yes, you heard that about commercial products, too, only to find out the face cleanser that took an entire weekend of tip money worked no better than the Clean & Clear you had been using since you were 14. Unfortunately, with natural products, price often reflects quality. The reason is pretty straightforward: it’s much cheaper to create synthetic ingredients in a lab than it is to source them from nature, let alone from a certified organic farm. Organic ingredients are expensive to sow, expensive to reap, and therefore expensive to buy. You can bet your precious, rapidly-depreciating 401k that more companies would be all over this natural/organic thing if it were cheaper to do.

That’s what makes it newsworthy when I stumble upon a rare exception to the Organic = Spendy rule of thumb, in the form of Max Green Alchemy. They’ve kept their line of skin and hair care simple, focusing on the basics like one shampoo, one conditioner, one hand cream, and so forth. The MGA conditioner was the first natural conditioner I found that actually made my hair soft and manageable. Everything else I had tried thus far, particularly in that price range, left my hair dry and dull (I know I totally sound like an infomercial; my apologies). My husband, whose skin reacts to everything, is equally in love with the line. Oh, and did I mention the packaging and aromas are gender neutral? How about that - you and your partner, regardless of gender, can share in the joys of Max Green Alchemy together!!

The creators of MGA also keep careful watch over their ingredients to make sure nothing is synthetic, no quality is compromised, and no animals are ever tested anywhere along the manufacturing process. I was fortunate enough to get a bit of time on the phone with one of the co-founders, Wil Baker, to learn how they went about creating what I think is easily one of best lines of natural, affordable skin and hair care. Here is an exerpt:

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Bill Roth is the author of the new and important book “On Empty (Out of Time)“, which readers have described as “America’s final “wake-up call”" and “A must read if you want freedom from high pump prices!”.

We reviewed the book at the beginning of the month and I felt afterwards that this issue is way too important and requires an interview with the author to learn more about his views and thoughts on the energy issues we’re facing.

Firstly here’s a little background of the author (see also photo below): Bill Roth has a solid experience in the energy sector, with a career that included posts such as senior VP of marketing and sales with PG&E Energy Services and COO of Texaco Ovonics Hydrogen Solutions. Currently he is the President of NCCT, a San Francisco-based consulting firm helping businesses define and integrate Sustainability into their strategies, performance metrics, branding/marketing and business processes.. He is also Entrepreneur.com’s Green Business Coach.

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I did get the chance to thank Sean and Stephanie last week in person while in San Francisco… they’re good folks, and I highly recommend tuning in regularly for their program.

You can listen to my interview (or any of their shows) directly on their site, This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post., or even subscribe via iTunes.

Are you planning to have a rewards program similar to RecycleBank’s one in the future?
We’re not planning to offer points for using Zumbox. Instead, we’re focusing our efforts on continuously enhancing the user experience through our relationships with third party mail senders and content providers as well as the development of new features within Zumbox. While reducing paper waste is a key goal for us, we want that to only represent one of many benefits associated with Zumbox.

In the cities where we’ve now launched – San Francisco, New York and Newark – mail is currently being sent from the local governments and other organizations, giving people there the ability to start receiving, organizing and storing their mail online. We’re essentially offering everybody a paperless mail option that’s convenient, secure and environmentally responsible.

What’s your comment on the findings presented in the New York Times by Prof. Randall Stross about the effectiveness of using the stick approach to converting customers to paperless billing?
Well, I think that was a very interesting piece, as it underlined the challenge faced by most billers. Incentivizing people to go paperless has not really moved the needle, but apparently a company can get people to convert faster when a paper bill fee is introduced. However, the stick approach doesn’t always stick (pardon the pun). And as the article points out, T-Mobile had to quickly respond to pressure by putting an end to the paper bill fee, and the company has since gone back to the carrot approach or simply the voluntary approach.

But the real issue here is that the voluntary approach does not work for a reason. Current paperless options are just not cutting it for most people. The notifications that are sent via email typically only include a link to the bill, and having to go to different websites and keep track of numerous usernames and passwords just to view bills is highly inconvenient.

Personally, I think people would respond better to the idea of going paperless if there was a better way to go paperless. With Zumbox we’ve created a secure environment where bills and statements (and all other mail) can be sent as digital files and presented online exactly like they appear on paper. In that way, Zumbox mirrors the experience of receiving paper mail; the bill is actually delivered to a customer and appears the way we’re all used to seeing it, only without the paper.

While the stick approach may work temporarily for some, I believe the real solution to the challenge of getting people to go paperless is to create a better option than what has been pushed on people up until this point, which is a big part of what we’re trying to do.

What’s the percentage of paper mail you think you can eliminate with Zumbox?
We have not done any calculations on this.

How do you see junk mail? Will you provide businesses sending it to use Zumbox instead?
First of all, we define junk mail as irrelevant mail, and we have built our system to increase the relevance and reduce the waste associated with paper mail. Having said that, Zumbox is an agnostic delivery platform, which means we offer all mail senders, including marketers, the ability to send paperless mail.

But Zumbox offers a unique kind of control that lets recipients decide what mail they want to receive. Specifically, if you receive a special offer in your Zumbox from a business you do not care for, you can permanently block that mail sender so we will ultimately only receive the offers that are relevant to us.

What is your plan - are you going to focus in the short-term on collaborations with municipalities (such as San Francisco and Newark) to get people use Zumbox and then move over to the business sector?

After a successful pilot in a smaller market earlier this year, we started the first stage of our national rollout in September, with San Francisco and Newark being the first cities. Over the next weeks and months, we will announce other cities that will be a part of this stage of our rollout, and the municipalities themselves will be involved in most cases.

Simultaneously though, we are talking to several national businesses and non-profit organizations about sending paperless mail to their customers and supporters in these markets, and we are also inviting local businesses and other organizations to participate. The goal is to create eco-systems, if you will, in the rollout markets so there are enough senders and recipients of paperless mail to make it meaningful for both sides.
Meanwhile, Zumbox is already available nationwide so anybody can start using the service right now.

What is the required penetration rate of Zumbox to make it work?I’m not sure there is a general penetration rate required for Zumbox because these eco-systems can be created anywhere, all with different levels of participation. For instance, a community may embrace the service even if there are only a few critical mail senders initially, and most businesses will find Zumbox meaningful as long as they can start reducing their paper usage and the cost associated with that.

What will happen with USPS if you guys win?
While Zumbox is the first paperless postal system and clearly the first all-digital alternative to traditional postal systems, it is not the first competitor the USPS has ever seen. FedEx, for instance, started offering speedier delivery, but the Postal Service still offered a valuable service. Our service obviously represents a more dramatic shift, as we offer digital delivery, but we do not aim to replace the Postal Service and we certainly do not expect to do that. All we want to do is offer people a paperless alternative. We expect the world to be big enough for both paper and paperless mail.
Thank you Joergen!

Alaska Governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin performed what some might call a ‘flip-flop,’ in regards to her position on the causes of global warming. Miraculously, Palin is claiming that this has been part of her position all along.

In an interview with ABC News’ Charlie Gibson that aired last Thursday and Friday, Palin said that she believes “man’s activities certainly can be contributing to the issue of global warming/climate change….” When Gibson challenged Palin on what is clearly a sharp change in her position, Palin recoiled and said, “…show me where I have ever said that there’s absolute proof that nothing that man has ever conducted or engaged in has had any affect, or no affect, on climate change.”

But in her most definitive recent statement about the causes of global warming, Palin said, “I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.”

This is not a nuanced-shift in the technical specifics of some obscure policy. This is a drastic change in a major policy question that is apparent to even the most casual political observer. And while I applaud Gov. Palin for apparently coming around viz. climate change (even if it is purely pandering), it is politically dangerous for her to be denying that she ever changed her position. I can’t imagine Palin’s switch will be something the opposition and the media will accept without further inquiry and investigation.

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Are you planning to have a rewards program similar to RecycleBank’s one in the future?
We’re not planning to offer points for using Zumbox. Instead, we’re focusing our efforts on continuously enhancing the user experience through our relationships with third party mail senders and content providers as well as the development of new features within Zumbox. While reducing paper waste is a key goal for us, we want that to only represent one of many benefits associated with Zumbox.

In the cities where we’ve now launched – San Francisco, New York and Newark – mail is currently being sent from the local governments and other organizations, giving people there the ability to start receiving, organizing and storing their mail online. We’re essentially offering everybody a paperless mail option that’s convenient, secure and environmentally responsible.

What’s your comment on the findings presented in the New York Times by Prof. Randall Stross about the effectiveness of using the stick approach to converting customers to paperless billing?
Well, I think that was a very interesting piece, as it underlined the challenge faced by most billers. Incentivizing people to go paperless has not really moved the needle, but apparently a company can get people to convert faster when a paper bill fee is introduced. However, the stick approach doesn’t always stick (pardon the pun). And as the article points out, T-Mobile had to quickly respond to pressure by putting an end to the paper bill fee, and the company has since gone back to the carrot approach or simply the voluntary approach.

But the real issue here is that the voluntary approach does not work for a reason. Current paperless options are just not cutting it for most people. The notifications that are sent via email typically only include a link to the bill, and having to go to different websites and keep track of numerous usernames and passwords just to view bills is highly inconvenient.

Personally, I think people would respond better to the idea of going paperless if there was a better way to go paperless. With Zumbox we’ve created a secure environment where bills and statements (and all other mail) can be sent as digital files and presented online exactly like they appear on paper. In that way, Zumbox mirrors the experience of receiving paper mail; the bill is actually delivered to a customer and appears the way we’re all used to seeing it, only without the paper.

While the stick approach may work temporarily for some, I believe the real solution to the challenge of getting people to go paperless is to create a better option than what has been pushed on people up until this point, which is a big part of what we’re trying to do.

What’s the percentage of paper mail you think you can eliminate with Zumbox?
We have not done any calculations on this.

How do you see junk mail? Will you provide businesses sending it to use Zumbox instead?
First of all, we define junk mail as irrelevant mail, and we have built our system to increase the relevance and reduce the waste associated with paper mail. Having said that, Zumbox is an agnostic delivery platform, which means we offer all mail senders, including marketers, the ability to send paperless mail.

But Zumbox offers a unique kind of control that lets recipients decide what mail they want to receive. Specifically, if you receive a special offer in your Zumbox from a business you do not care for, you can permanently block that mail sender so we will ultimately only receive the offers that are relevant to us.

What is your plan - are you going to focus in the short-term on collaborations with municipalities (such as San Francisco and Newark) to get people use Zumbox and then move over to the business sector?

After a successful pilot in a smaller market earlier this year, we started the first stage of our national rollout in September, with San Francisco and Newark being the first cities. Over the next weeks and months, we will announce other cities that will be a part of this stage of our rollout, and the municipalities themselves will be involved in most cases.

Simultaneously though, we are talking to several national businesses and non-profit organizations about sending paperless mail to their customers and supporters in these markets, and we are also inviting local businesses and other organizations to participate. The goal is to create eco-systems, if you will, in the rollout markets so there are enough senders and recipients of paperless mail to make it meaningful for both sides.
Meanwhile, Zumbox is already available nationwide so anybody can start using the service right now.

What is the required penetration rate of Zumbox to make it work?I’m not sure there is a general penetration rate required for Zumbox because these eco-systems can be created anywhere, all with different levels of participation. For instance, a community may embrace the service even if there are only a few critical mail senders initially, and most businesses will find Zumbox meaningful as long as they can start reducing their paper usage and the cost associated with that.

What will happen with USPS if you guys win?
While Zumbox is the first paperless postal system and clearly the first all-digital alternative to traditional postal systems, it is not the first competitor the USPS has ever seen. FedEx, for instance, started offering speedier delivery, but the Postal Service still offered a valuable service. Our service obviously represents a more dramatic shift, as we offer digital delivery, but we do not aim to replace the Postal Service and we certainly do not expect to do that. All we want to do is offer people a paperless alternative. We expect the world to be big enough for both paper and paperless mail.
Thank you Joergen!

Today we have the pleasure to interview Madeline Kaplan, author of Planet Earth Gets Well‘.

This book is Madeline Kaplan’s first children’s book, and as we collaborate with her to plant trees for copies sold at the book signing events and at other promotional sales, I wanted to learn more about the book and what led her to publish a green-themed book for children.

Firstly, here’s a little bit background (and a photo): Madeline Kaplan holds a B.A. in English literature and an M.B.A from Baruch College. She has published various business articles, but her three grandchildren inspired the writing of Planet Earth Gets Well, her first children’s book. She lives with her husband in New York and Connecticut.

And now to the interview:

What brought you to write Planet Earth Gets Well?

Becoming a grandparent was a transitional moment for me. When I realized that I would be leaving the planet to my precious grandchildren I thought that I must do something that would hopefully have a lasting effect beyond my own lifetime. My grandchildren love me to read stories to them and it occurred to me that the overwhelming problem of global warming would not be solved in my generation. For that reason, I decided to write a children’s book that would introduce the topic in a child-friendly concept and make my personal concern a more public one.

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This week I got a chance to catch up with Etsy’s eco lingerie designer Clare Bare. Clare has incorporated thrifted & vintage fabrics into all her designs, taking a once tablecloth, bed sheets, curtains or old granny’s nightie and transforms it into retro eco lingerie. If that isn’t earth hugs and kisses enough, she uses organic cotton to line her sexy & imaginative knickers. These are the kind of skivvies that a green crafter can get all gushy over. Clare is obsessed with her pet bunny, felt frustrated with pro-fur classes in fashion school, and gives advice about how to get started making your own upcycled creations.

Who taught you to sew?

When I was in sixth grade, I took a mandatory sewing/cooking class- we learned how to make nachos and duffle bags…need I say more? Our teacher was the biggest nerd- it wasn’t a very serious class, but I took it pretty seriously. I remember everything so vividly- I bought all this white cotton fabric with little blue cows and red hearts printed all over it and a pin cushion that looked like a mouse, and for my final project I made a stuffed animal rabbit! Even though it wasn’t considered “cool,” I secretly loved that class. I didn’t really sew again until high school when a relative passed away and left behind an amazing old Singer home machine with a sewing table and an entire sewing kit full of fabric, thread and trim. I had a friend whose mother is the ultimate homemaker and she taught us basic construction skills such as darts, hems, interfacing, etc. We were inspired at the time mainly by the Victoria’s Secret catalog (and our lack of funds necessary to buy their bikinis) so we would stay up all night sewing, thriving off of our creative energy, then drive to the beach and lay out all day in our creations. Ironically, now I think that Victoria’s Secret makes overpriced, poor quality garments that don’t fit well-I strive to do the opposite of what Victoria’s Secret is doing in so many different ways.

You went to Parsons School of Design in NYC, did your studies there influence your decision to begin designing lingerie?

While I was in school, I pretty much learned more about what I didn’t want to do than what I did want to do. Originally I went to school thinking that I would be a fashion design major, but after foundation year I felt that I couldn’t chose just one thing.

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How can you structure your green or mission-driven business, so that you can grow and even possibly sell it one day, without compromising your ideals, beliefs and mission? How can you fund your growth without finding out too late that your new investors are not at all interested in what you are doing for the environment or society, but only in the financial bottom line? While Getting to Scale is not a “how to” guide, it describes a wide variety of case studies that illustrate key findings. It is based on extensive in-depth interviewes with dozens of CEOs and founders of mission driven businesses such Ben & Jerry’s, Stonypoint, American Apparel, and many others.

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On March 18th, I posted the article, “Metropolitan Home Goes Green,“ discussing the magazine’s feature story on a Seattle penthouse.  Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Linda O’Keeffe, the Director of Design and Architecture at Metropolitan Home. Since Ms. O’Keeffe sees design trends as they happen, I asked her a few questions regarding what kind of changes she sees the green movement bringing to our homes.

Green Building Elements: Do you see a significant number of people opting for smaller homes?

Linda O’Keeffe: I do. Even people who can afford more are choosing to live in smaller spaces, sometimes because they are young or because they are empty nesters, but in general, just because it makes more sense now.

GBE: As people scale down, which rooms are they prioritizing, and which ones are they eliminating?

LO: I’m seeing fewer home offices and dining rooms. We were fooled into thinking we’d need a home office. But our offices are paperless now, so there is less to store. And there has been a change in technology, too; people are doing a lot of their work on a BlackBerry while they wait at the airport. Sometimes people with kids want a home office so that they can have a separate space, but even then, often everyone is in the kitchen. The kids can work on a laptop in there, and [parents] can see what they are doing.

Overall, people feel now that rooms should be adaptable: cozy enough for one person to read in, but able to accommodate 30 guests. Also, formal rooms are becoming less popular. They seem almost Victorian. Now we want every square inch of our homes to be usable.

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The Canadian media mavens at GreenLivingOnline.com have allowed me to share my interview with Heather and Wendy, which was first published on GLO a few weeks ago. Keep reading for all the juicy details about the past, present and future of Passenger Pigeon - and eco-fashion as a whole!

The label was previously named Calledyourbluff and was changed to Passenger Pigeon when the brand began using sustainable textiles. Why did the collection change to eco-fabrics? Do you find working with sustainable fibers to be more limiting when coming up with designs?

Wendy: Do we feel limited? Yes and no. In the past we’ve dyed fabric because it only came in beige, and the very reason we use prints so much is because much of the available fabric is quite basic. Working within these limitations means that we have to get pretty creative sometimes, but I think that’s where the charm of our line comes from.

There’s actually a good range of eco-friendly textiles, especially for more casual fabrics like knits and twill. The one thing that we would like to see more of is affordable organic wool and other heavier fabrics for winter. However, it seems every week we get new, exciting swatches from different suppliers. There seems to be a lot happening in the textile industry to develop beautiful, new, sustainable fabrics.

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“I try to reflect both the human and natural environment in my work by using symbols and materials that have meaning to me and represent where I come from. From street signs to native trees, my jewelery has always been a pretty literal representation of my surroundings,” he says.

Along with the natural theme of his creations, Ashley uses small scale mined metals from his home base in New Zealand. “I found that most of the gold from my suppliers in New Zealand is mined or recycled here and in Australia. Both these countries have a relatively good track record with regards to mining practices but the idea of using a local resource and streamlining the path of the metal from the ground to the customer really appealed to me,” he says.

It was my pleasure to chat with Ashley recently about his education of the art of make jewelry, sustainable metal mining, creative inspirations and more. Read on for our full conversation and all its “hand made” details.

What first got you interested in making jewelry? When did you decide to turn it into a career?

I was at a loose end really. I’d spent a few years traveling and working overseas as a chef and knew that that lifestyle wasn’t for me anymore. I did a weekend jewelery course and loved it, It just made perfect sense to me so I bought some tools and started experimenting. Originally I never thought it would be a career. It was never really a conscious decision, it just grew and grew until in about 3 years It was all I did.

Have you even gotten flack for being a straight guy in the jewelry biz?

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Launched a month and a half ago as part of the new EcoGeek blogging network, Wearing the Future is all about “straight talk as much as style, so you won’t have to worry about fluffy, PR-soaked, greenwashing nonsense.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with the blog’s chief editor and head writer, Kyeann Sayer (pronounced like “cayenne” pepper). As a long-time writer for Treehugger.com, Kyeann has an impressive media resume - she has been featured on CNN, MSN, I.D. Magazine, Domino, Spin, Outside, and Women’s Wear Daily … just to name a few.

In our lively conversation, Kyeann and I talk about the beginning of Wearing the Future, her favorite eco-fashion brands, personal style’s place in the world of green living and more - read on for all the juicy details!

Victoria Everman: How did you get connected with Hank Green of EcoGeek? Did the two of you come up with the idea for Wearing the Future together or was he on the look-out for an editor and writer already? 

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