Green Options » opportunity green http://greenoptions.com/tag/opportunity-green Posts tagged 'opportunity green' Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:00:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Nike’s Lorrie Vogel on Closing the Loop. Part 2- The Human Impact http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/18/nike%e2%80%99s-lorrie-vogel-on-closing-the-loop-part-2-the-human-impact/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/18/nike%e2%80%99s-lorrie-vogel-on-closing-the-loop-part-2-the-human-impact/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:00:09 +0000 Susanna Schick http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/18/nike%e2%80%99s-lorrie-vogel-on-closing-the-loop-part-2-the-human-impact/

Laura Kurgan, Chris Jordan, Lorrie Vogel and Assaf Biderman - Pop!Tech 2009 - Camden, ME

In Part One, Lorrie Vogel explained some of the work Nike is doing to increase recycled and organic content in their products. Our conversation continues with discussing how Nike designers are encouraged to use sustainable principles in their work.

SS: You mentioned something about rewarding designers for innovating around sustainability, how does that work?

LV: As with any company centered on innovation, the process begins with Nike’s designers. To influence the designers to make responsible choices, Nike designers are scored against the Considered Index. In order to get new Considered innovations adopted faster, Nike gives innovation points to designers who come up with a brand new idea, as well as to teams who adopt considered innovations in the first year.

SS: And how are employees outside of the design department scored against the Considered Index?

LV: At Nike, there are so many different groups in different matrices, a lot of them are expected to calculate their CO2 footprint. But the Considered Index is primarily for designers.

SS: Sustainability 101 and Step by Natural Step (mentioned in this press release)- are they teaching personal sustainability practices, or teaching employees how to spot opportunities to be more responsible in the choices they make in their jobs?

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/18/nike%e2%80%99s-lorrie-vogel-on-closing-the-loop-part-2-the-human-impact/feed/ How Nike Considered Uses Innovation and Collaboration to Close the Loop http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/16/how-nike-considered-uses-innovation-and-collaboration-to-close-the-loop/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/16/how-nike-considered-uses-innovation-and-collaboration-to-close-the-loop/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:33:03 +0000 Susanna Schick http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/16/how-nike-considered-uses-innovation-and-collaboration-to-close-the-loop/

This impressive footprint is Nike’s Considered Air Jordan XX3, their first basketball shoe designed using the Considered Ethos.

Lorrie Vogel is the general manager of Nike Considered, Nike’s in-house sustainability think tank. She holds a degree in Industrial Design from Syracuse, and numerous patents. Her work in innovating around sustainability has helped put Nike on Fast Company’s Fast 50 list multiple times. Considering how aggressive Nike’s sustainability goals have been, it’s even more impressive that they are on track to meet their targets.

Sustainability is second only to performance when ranking the critical factors of a product. Nike is committed to making their entire collection as environmentally responsible as possible. Lorrie Vogel spoke at the Opportunity Green conference in Los Angeles, explaining some of the ways Nike is meeting these targets. In this phone interview, Lorrie expands on some of the points she touched on in her presentation. The conversation is split into two articles, in order to go deeper into the many changes that need to happen to increase use of recycled and organic materials in apparel and footwear. We begin with a discussion about materials, and conclude with the human element needed to ensure these changes occur in a timely manner.

From Nike: The long-term vision for Considered is to design products that are fully closed loop: produced using the fewest possible materials, designed for easy disassembly while allowing them to be recycled into new product or safely returned to nature at the end of their life. By 2011, 100 percent of footwear will meet baseline Considered standards, apparel by 2015 and equipment by 2020 – creating better performing products while minimizing environmental impact by reducing waste, using environmentally preferred materials and eliminate toxins.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/16/how-nike-considered-uses-innovation-and-collaboration-to-close-the-loop/feed/ Have you heard about the ecofabulous lounge at the Opportunity Green conference? http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/09/have-you-heard-about-the-ecofabulous-lounge-at-the-opportunity-green-conference/ http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/09/have-you-heard-about-the-ecofabulous-lounge-at-the-opportunity-green-conference/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:05:16 +0000 Susanna Schick http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/09/have-you-heard-about-the-ecofabulous-lounge-at-the-opportunity-green-conference/

A Place to Feel Eco-Fabulous

The  ecofabulous lounge at Opportunity Green was appointed with gorgeous sustainable furniture used throughout the conference space, and is a flawless manifestation of Opportunity Green’s commitment to design. I’ve been to a few sustainability-oriented conferences in my time, and this is the only one that celebrates sustainable design, and helps designers and clients alike to better understand sustainable design. It was so uplifting to see so much creative talent using sustainable principles to make gorgeous clothes and accessories.

The ecofabulous lounge is that chic yet welcoming boutique where you want to just hang out and be surrounded by gorgeousness. The lounge has a corner dedicated to Vie Bungalow, another corner for Arcona facials and product sampling, and the uber-eco PACT underwear, repping for the men, with his & hers boy-cut briefs.The Ekla sofas were gorgeous and seemed a great place to relax and chat with people.

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]]> http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/09/have-you-heard-about-the-ecofabulous-lounge-at-the-opportunity-green-conference/feed/ Green Blogger Meetup in Los Angeles http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/02/green-blogger-meetup-in-los-angeles/ http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/02/green-blogger-meetup-in-los-angeles/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:58:23 +0000 Susanna Schick http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/02/green-blogger-meetup-in-los-angeles/

This event hosted by ecostiletto.com at Environment Furniture looks like a great opportunity to meet our comrades at arms here in the eco blogosphere. I’ll be there for sure. It’s the day before the Opportunity Green conference, so if you’re in town for the conference anyway, be sure to check this out. There will also be a fashion show of vegan clothing modeled by the Project Green Search finalists.

]]> http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/11/02/green-blogger-meetup-in-los-angeles/feed/ Our New Agenda: Opportunity Green and the Emerging Movement http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/09/our-new-agenda-opportunity-green-and-the-emerging-movement/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/09/our-new-agenda-opportunity-green-and-the-emerging-movement/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:49:00 +0000 James Hanusa http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/09/our-new-agenda-opportunity-green-and-the-emerging-movement/ In it’s second year, the Opportunity Green conference, hosted at UCLA, was a big success. Kudos to Karen Solomon and her team! This year was amplified in many ways over last, including major brand name sponsors, media partners and speakers. It was a very progressive sustainability event; mingling movement building, innovation and collaborative culture.

Opportunity Green:

Having attended Opportunity Green last year, I believe the conference has some very unique qualities. As opposed to other sustainability conferences, Opportunity Green’s DNA is L.A.  - A little more style and flash, as well as a concentration on the business upside in going green.

From a crowd perspective, you also see more students involved, which is very valuable. As the dominant industries of L.A., Media and celebrities are well represented as well. I like that Opportunity Green also includes Clean Tech and Venture Capital as core concentration areas. If you are an entrepreneur, this is probably the best conference for exploring the potential to rapidly move from idea to wide scale market penetration.

Manifesto:

Opportunity Green issued a manifesto that resonated with me, framed in the power of coming together. The manifesto speaks to Opportunity Green serving a movement to transform business for good; advancing change and market transformation. It goes on to establish itself as a gathering to create a collaborative, positive culture of change with a focus on innovation and inspiration. An experience acting as catalyst for sustainable, profitable and responsible business. I encourage other corporations to follow suit and position themselves as participating in the movement for positive change.

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]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/09/our-new-agenda-opportunity-green-and-the-emerging-movement/feed/ Opportunity Green - Staying Green and Going Big http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/11/16/opportunity-green-staying-green-and-going-big/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/11/16/opportunity-green-staying-green-and-going-big/#comments Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:05:11 +0000 mcmilker http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/11/16/opportunity-green-staying-green-and-going-big/ This is a guest post from Glenn Croston, author of “75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference”,

At the Opportunity Green conference held at UCLA November 8-9, many themes related to the growth and changing direction of the green business movement were discussed by the great variety of green leaders present.

One particularly interesting theme was about the mixed feelings some green entrepreneurs have about going big with their business.

Everybody is eager for success, but green entrepreneurs often fear that scaling up products to reach the masses requires compromises that would negate the benefit of what they are doing and hurt the brand in the long run.

Most green products today are still niche products, perhaps as a result of this fear. At the conference Josh Dorfman, author of “The Lazy Environmentalist”, said that contrary to what many are saying, “Green has not gone mainstream.” Some products are starting to change this, like the Prius and Green Works cleaning products from Clorox, but even these successes represent a small percentage of the overall market. Organic food is big, but it’s still only about 3% of the food we eat.

Do products have to be small to be green? Do they sacrifice something in going big?

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