During the Thursday morning breakfast, Zhang Yue, chairman and CEO of China-based Broad Air Conditioning woke the crowd up as he spoke through an interpreter. A few minutes before that, I found myself asking a colleague “Who is this guy?” After 10 minutes, I changed my mind. More people should listen to this guy. True, I haven’t done due diligence on his company but if his company does half the things that he says they do then I’m on board. Yue created China’s first “non-electric chiller” and insists on showing consumers how triple paned windows will reduce their need to use air conditioners. Consider that their business revolves around making air conditioners.

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Good start — as we walked in and registered the staff handed me a recyclable, biodegradable, compostable lanyard.

The theme for this year’s conference - Sustainability in a Reset World

After admiring our lanyards and breakfast we jumped into packed conversation with Pamela Passman of Microsoft. Of course we considered today’s launch of Windows 7.

The discussion centered on the sustainability of Microsoft. Now, most people will admit that the technology business isn’t the least sustainable or “dirtiest” business. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t press a heavy carbon footprint. Passman discussed that companies need software to track their own carbon footprint.Microsoft may have many ideas for other comanies but they need to look in the mirror as well.

She admitted the two most pressing issues that Microsoft needs to improve in so far as reducing their carbon footprint that includes:

1- Traveling (lots of it)

2 – Data centers — The data centers continue to be electric and water intensive.
Microsoft claims to be attempting reduce the footprint of these data centers.

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The large gathering at HUB Bay Area’s pre-launch gathering last night at the Brower Center in Berkeley was impressive.

Within the short one hour window that I was there, I met someone from Global Issues Network – an organization dedicated to introducing youth to the power of networking and conversation to solve the world’s most pressing issues; from the Global Micro-Clinic Project – an organization helping economically depressed and conflict ridden areas form partnerships to prevent and manage disease; from Silicon Valley Bank – banking for innovative ideas; and from Solutions – an enterprising LEED certified collaboration of architects offering “new thinking” to help re-architect problems and find solutions.

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Green Irene features a nationwide network of trained Eco-consultants - contract employees who will come into your home or business and do a “Green Makeover“.  This reasonably priced service provides end customers with a comprehensive report detailing money and earth saving changes in areas that range from improving air quality to improving energy usage.   Each Eco-consultant has a website from which most recommended products, such as compact fluorescent bulbs with Energy Star ratings and non-toxic cleaners can be ordered safely and efficiently.

If your consultant recommends work that requires a licensed contractor, Green Irene also has established partnerships with many construction companies who use green methods who will give you a bid on your project.  Upgrading to dual paned windows or eliminating energy sapping heat leaks can be well worth the price of remodeling.

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During the last presidential election, both candidates promised some form of “national service.” While neither was specific, they seemed to favor some form of domestic Peace Corps perhaps by expanding AmeriCorps. Neither candidate was specific about the goals of national service. If one of the goals is to bring people into the workplace then perhaps OJT coupled to work-studies (co-op) may be the answer.

William James coined the term “national service” in his essay, “The Moral Equivalent of War.” According to James, mandatory service could teach peace and democratic values. John Dewey argued that democratic values could not be taught by authoritarianism

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Three and a half years ago, not many would have suspected that New Orleans would ever recover, let alone demonstrate the promise of prosperity after Hurricane Katrina wiped out an already fragile economy.  At the time the levee broke, New Orleans was already suffering from an exodus initiated in the late 80’s when the oil industry began its regional decline.  But the very characteristics that have given New Orleans its unique disposition are those contributing to its stealth recovery.

Communities that support successful entrepreneurship exhibit a similar range of traits.  Not surprisingly, many of them are emotional qualities bred by circumstance and history.   New Orleans was a late addition to the United States, acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.  Literally separated by swamps and rivers, New Orleans benefited from both a distance and unique geographic location.  In combination with its very European roots, quite literally the city enjoyed a more laissez-faire approach to development which lent itself to a certain type of creativity and openness.

This same bayou location plus southern gulf weather has also not been kind to it, which has bred another entrepreneurial quality, emotional fortitude.   One could argue that this is an innate quality but New Orleans has an extra high concentration of this, born of survivor-ship.  From this comes a kind of optimism and resiliency that drives entrepreneurs ever forward.

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New Orleans has produced its share of celebrities over the years but since Hurricane Katrina, musicians and celebrities have been keen to give something back to a city that has given and lost so much. Taking their personal passions to a new level, these celebrities are lending their name and fundraising support to create safe and affordable communities with a long-term view of economic redevelopment and poverty eradication.

New housing programs target specific populations or neighborhoods that have been dislocated by the sequence of events initiated by Hurricane Katrina and which are critical to getting the New Orleans economy thriving again.  This article looks at three different visionary approaches to re-building neighborhoods filled with newly empowered home-owners educated and dedicated to preserving a safe and healthy environment for their children.

Keeping the city safe

In 1980, Dan Aykroyd turned his love for blues music into the cult comedy “The Blues Brothers”.  And now, nearly 30 years later, he is lending his financial and fundraising support to get first-responders back into the city that created the blues.

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Starbucks has decided to stray from its ideals of “real coffee” by adding an instant coffee to its repertoire.

When Howard Schulz, the  Chief Executive of Starbucks, wrote his book “Pour Your Heart Into It” (about the history of Starbucks), he did not conceal his passion for good coffee or for his company. He pooh-poohed the notion of instant coffee and  modeled his company after the Italian barista lifestyle. Schulz’s goal was to introduce Americans to really fine coffee and wean them away from a culture of instant coffee, which by the time he wrote his book had become synonymous with the kind of coffee that is served at gas stations.

After years however, Starbucks has finally copped out. The company has proved that its initial values are not sustainable by creating an instant coffee known as “Starbucks Via” that it will begin serving next month. Apparently the market for instant coffee is so huge (especially abroad) that Starbucks can no longer ignore it. Ironically, the same Howard Schulz says that “This is a transformational event in the history of the company.” (WSJ)

Has the company come full circle? Or have they just become even more boring? In his book Schultz admits that he was afraid that “Starbucks may become another soul-less big chain.” Now with the introduction of instant coffee, the company has become even more soul-less perhaps by abandoning the very culture of “real coffee” that differentiated it the first place.

 Russia has raised tariffs and subsidies. The European Union claims that the “Buy American” proposal in the US stimulus plan violates WTO rules.

Under the Bush administration, the US imposed traffics on French cheese in retaliation for French health rules that restricted the sale of US chicken and beef. As Bush left office he was celebrated by the poultry industry for this retaliation. Such irrational lose-lose behavior is absurd, which is why it’s called “war.”

Until the recent slowdown, world trade was expanding and increasing world prosperity. According to Fareed Zakaria in his recent book, The Post-American World, “China’s growth alone has lifted more than 400 million people out of poverty. Poverty is falling in countries housing 80% of the worlds population.”

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For the last 15 years, Eaton has proven that traditional industry CAN focus on sustainability and still remain in business.  Although a press release in early December mentioned a sizable reduction in employee force, the company still projects a positive Q4 net income per share of between $.90 and $1.00.  This is a guidance revision, which Wall Street never enjoys receiving, but is better than most in our current serious economic situation. 

Most recently, Eaton Corporation has added a sustainability section to their website which details the practices and policies they are implementing - and have implemented in the past.  The corporation has set an aggressive goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 18% by 2012 (GHG emissions were reduced by 9.2% in 2007 as measured against 2006).  Other steps that have been taken or are currently planned include:

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Leaders, wearing traditional Peruvian ponchos, wave during the official group photo of 16th summit of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, in Lima, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008.

The 21 economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which represent more than half of the world’s productive power, assured the world yesterday (Sunday) at the end of a 2-day summit in Lima, that the global financial crisis can be quelled in 18 months.  But how they expect this to happen - or how their governments can help remains to be seen.

The 18-month time-line fits with a calculation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which forecast that developed economies would grow barely 0.1 percent in 2009, and that the world would emerge from the crisis the following year.

APEC, which groups some of the most open economies in the world, warned that countries should not be tempted to use protectionist measures even if job losses mount. APEC members pledged to work together to ease the turmoil, agreed not to adopt new trade barriers for a year and called for better regulation of the financial industry. Their declaration at the end of a two-day summit in Peru supported a declaration by the Group of 20 (G20) major economies at a meeting in Washington last weekend that pledged to maintain free trade despite pressures to protect domestic industries. They are looking at stimulus plans that include boosting government spending and cutting taxes.

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When I look at my email inbox, it seems that double-digit percentages of incoming emails now have something to do with green. Manufacturers, retailers, service providers — they are all finding green angles to their company announcements. Even opening a Twitter account is an excuse to say marketing is going green by reducing the amount spent on print.

As I was participating in an online discussion as part of an industry discussion group, I was pleased to see that a regional lettershop, St. John Associates, was also promoting its sustainability efforts. At the bottom of its posts, as part of its company signature, it included the following:

We are an EPA Certified Green Power Partner!

We buy enough monthly Wind Power RECs to offset 50% of our electricity usage and enough monthly Carbon Offset credits to cover 100% of our direct emissions!

Want to know more about our environmental efforts? Visit our website at . . .

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The WHC is a twenty-year-old partnership between corporations (A-B was a founding member) and environmental organizations (the American Farmland Trust, Izaak Walton League of America, National Wildlife Federation and World Wildlife Fund). The organization was founded in order to “…[help] large landowners, particularly corporations, manage their unused lands in an ecologically sensitive manner for the benefit of wildlife.” The Wildlife at Work program not only certifies wildlife restoration programs, but also provides step-by-step training for companies interested in making unused lands more friendly to animal and plant life.

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After nearly destroying a forest and obliterating a species, one corporation does a 180 and becomes an EcoHero.

The story begins in the 1830’s, when the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company (SCCRC) bought a 100,000 acre plot of longleaf pine forest near Dorchester, South Carolina. Timber from the forest was an essential element in SCCRC’s expansion, development and continued operation. Not only did timber provide material for cross-ties, trestles and bridges, but most of the then steam powered locomotives burned wood to heat their boilers. This meant a nonstop and insatiable demand for timber which the forest was unable to support.

Following the destruction and carnage of the civil war, more timber was needed to repair the railroads of the South. Reconstruction was successful; too successful in fact, and SCCRC developed new lines, became overextended and ran into financial trouble. In 1893, the railroad was reorganized as Southern Railway. Most of the mature timber was gone by this time, and nearly all but 14,000 acres of the original 100,000 acre forest had been parceled out and sold off. Red-cockaded woodpeckers, who depend on longleaf pine forests for their survival, were also close to extinction.

Southern Railway’s 180

In 1920, the railway began replanting longleaf and loblolly pines for pulpwood production. Soon afterward, it began to construct a demonstration area for local landowners who were interested in reforesting their land. Southern Railway also opened up its land to forestry students from Universities all across the South.

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Well, it turns out that the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) were curious as well. So, they went ahead and hired a few consulting companies (SustainAbility and KPMG) to go ahead and survey sustainability report readers.

While some of the responses were not all that surprising, the survey’s results did speak to the trends within the reporting industry.

SustainAbility Chairperson Sophia Tickell discussed the strategic use of sustainability reports.

Reporting was once a way to get sustainability issues onto the corporate agenda. Today the situation is reversing as a growing number of companies make ambitious commitments to sustainability. There is much business as usual but these targets matter because what gets measured gets done and — hopefully — reported against. This shift in where the agenda is set holds real potential to influence products and services — and eventually to shape business models of the future.

Reporting will be important but will need, explicitly, to make clearer links between sustainability issues and core business strategy — something that all stakeholders (including the mainstream investment community) seem to agree upon.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/28/sustainability-reports-who-reads-them-and-why/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/30/forest-stewardship-council-files-suit-against-us-government/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/30/forest-stewardship-council-files-suit-against-us-government/#comments Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:14:01 +0000 Heidi Tolliver-Nigro http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/30/forest-stewardship-council-files-suit-against-us-government/ The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which provides chain-of-custody certifications for forestry-based products (including office and printing papers, as well as the suppliers that print on, distribute, and dispose of those products), has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government, the first-ever legal action in its 10-year history.

The letter from Corey Brinkema, president of the FSC-US, to FSC certification holders is reprinted below. The letter is reprinted from the Print Buyers Online Green Content section.

Dear FSC Certificate Holders,

I have important news to share with you. On September 10th, the Forest Stewardship Council – United States (FSC-US) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government, the first-ever legal action in our 10-year history. I’d like to take a moment to share why we undertook this action and why I believe it matters to all those who value responsible forestry.

Our lawsuit against the U.S. Trade Representative stems from the Canadian Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) between the U.S. and Canada. In September 2006, the SLA settled trade litigation between the two countries related to the 30% duties the U.S. imposed on imported Canadian lumber in 2002. The SLA settlement awarded the U.S. $1 billion. One of the settlement provisions required Canada to “donate” $350 million of this $1 billion to two U.S.-based forestry foundations — the newly created U.S. Endowment for Forests and Communities and the American Forest Foundation. According to the SLA, monies were to go to “meritorious initiatives” in the name of sustainable forestry and forest communities.

FSC-US believes that this enormous disbursement of funds was both illegal and a violation of the American public trust. The law required that these funds be first deposited in the U.S. Treasury and then left to Congress to decide how to spend any funds.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/30/forest-stewardship-council-files-suit-against-us-government/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/29/bailout-rejected-will-free-market-economics-sustain-us-after-all/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/29/bailout-rejected-will-free-market-economics-sustain-us-after-all/#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:30:17 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/29/bailout-rejected-will-free-market-economics-sustain-us-after-all/ It’s official, according to the New York Times, the bailout proposition has been rejected by the House of Representatives. The Dow Jones just plunged more than 700 points and America is standing up for itself as the bastion of free market economics!

According to today’s New York Times, “supporters of the bailout proposal had argued that it was necessary to avoid a collapse of the economic system, a calamity that would drag down not just Wall Street investment houses but possibly the savings and portfolios of millions of Americans. Opponents said the bill was cobbled together in too much haste and might amount to throwing good money from taxpayers after bad investments from Wall Street gamblers.”

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