Glass America has launched their new 44oz BPA free stainless steel Geyser collection. These huge stainless steel reusable bottles have an EQP of $6.99 with single color imprint. Although all Geyser bodies are finished stainless steel in color, the top accents are available in Black, Purple, Blue, Orange and Green.

At 44oz these are some of the largest stainless steel bottles on the market and will make excellent holiday gifts for any Ecopreneurist targeting the outdoor or active lifestyle set.

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Research by Sunbeam Hospitality and Andis Corporation shows that about 45% of hotel guests leave the bathroom light on as a night light while they sleep. Indeed night lights are so important to travelers that since 2003 the American Automobile Association TourBook includes the availability of night lights in their reviews of hotels.

Why? Perhaps because the National Safety Council reports that most accidents occur in the bathroom, and that poor lighting is the 6th leading cause pf accidents in the home and a major contributor to hotel room accidents. It seems that people just feel better sleeping with a light on.

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I’m especially happy its happening virtually because my favorite CEO, Jeff Schwartz of Timberland, is giving the keynote. If you, like me are out of town, you do not to have to miss it.

It makes sense that a summit on new models of social responsibility should take place making use of a new model of communications. And the event is environmentally friendly as well. By utilizing web conferencing technology, the live summit’s carbon footprint is minimized (because large events can have significant environmental impacts).  According to the organizers:

This is a ground-breaking summit that is using the latest communications technology to reach everyone who can help add to the knowledge necessary to to make social responsibility the way all organizations conduct business.

The summit has all the makings of a must-attend event:

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Even a year gone since the failure of Lehman, fundamental questions remain regarding the core underlying assumptions of our financial system.

Though currently derivatives trading and black boxes appear out of favour, what will replace them in terms of helpful and productive uses of capital still has yet to be determined. This question was what the Conference on Social Capital Market’s, or SoCap09 tried to give some structure to; while the trend towards sustainable investments and long-term ROI seems to have taken the place of actively managed funds seeking 20x returns.

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NComputing is also using a technical solution to green PC use. With distributed computing, nComputing systems draw less than five watts, using 90% less energy than a typical PC, and can be run by solar power or a battery.

Sungeeta Chowdry of the Acumen Fund spoke about the Ripple Effect Project, their collaboration with IDEO (represented by Sally Madsen) to create solutions for customer-centered, sustainable and affordable delivery of water.

They brought together twenty organizations (both for-profit and nonprofit) on the ground in India and East Africa, in addition to the nonprofit Gates foundation, the private company IDEO and the Acumen social venture fund, for a complex cross-sector collaboration. IDEO led a human-centered design process, which means rapid prototyping, speaking to potential users immediately, iterating while continuing to listen, and coming up with a fairly quick solution. The resulting projects are commercial water sales operations, with some unusual aspects such as government ownership of the land and/or equipment in some places.

So why is water sales a more effective and scalable solution than donated aid? Some of the answers are compliance and aligning incentives. Madsen and Chowdry explained that people aren’t always able to make the best health decisions. Using a standard business practice of customer segmentation, IDEO put together a set of behavior profiles, so on-the-ground organizations could talk about more than health, such as by emphasizing the status of buying clean water or following  government direction.

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Oh happy day. I cannot tell you how many clients and fellow Ecopreneurists have in the past gotten very excited about recycled material shirts just to have that excitement evaporate when they are told the shirts are produced overseas.

Well, I am very happy to announce the “discovery” of Concept Eco, which has been cutting, sewing, printing,and embroidering environmentally friendly products for over 16 years in West Palm Beach, FL. And it is Concept Eco who is offering this 50% Polyester from Post-Consumer Recycled Clear Plastic Bottles (PC RPET) & 50% Waste Cotton Tee.

The shirts come in natural and white in youth sizes small through large, and adult sizes small through 3XL. The shirts are a very high quality athletic cut, 1 x 1 rib crew neck, with double needle cover stitched sleeves and bottom hem, taped shoulder to shoulder.

All of which means it looks and feels like a t-shirt, same as any other high quality 50% poly & 50% cotton blend shirt. But this shirt was once a water bottle.

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I find so many of you inspiring, I’m thinking: Could it be you?

They are looking for small businesses that are:

• Innovative
• Give back to the community
• Demonstrate a “customer first” mentality.

If so, they want to hear your story and you might win a $100K grant in cash and marketing support from American Express.

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Check out this clip from the TV show THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST. In the program - which airs on the Sundance Channel Tuesdays at 9 p.m. - host Josh Dorfman is talking to the Lovin’ Cup in New York about an eco-friendly overhaul to their operations.

From the website  “In the Sundance Channel original series THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST, entrepreneur and author Josh Dorfman meets with environmental skeptics — experts in fields as diverse as food, architecture and business — to prove that there are innovative, cost-effective, ecologically sound alternatives that also meet high professional standards”. I encourage all Ecopreneurists to try and catch this program if they can.

In this clip Tonia Guffey is talking to the owners of the Lovin’ Cup in New York about ways to incorporate local fresh flavors into their drinks menu. Actually it is very interesting. At the very end of this clip Josh has a surprise gift for the bar - Flat Tire™ Recycled Rubber Coasters from Americanna.

Here is a link to the clip (sorry I could not figure out how to embed the clip).

For more information on the green credentials of the Flat Tire™ Recycled Rubber Coasters from Americanna contact Michelle Stiles. If you are interested in these items to promote your own business contact your local promotional items vendor or email info@proformagreen.com for information and pricing.

I hope it does, but I would add one more requirement: Make the spending green.

Buying local is itself an excellent greening strategy, in part because of evidence that there are significant social, environmental, and economic benefits to creating local economies. Beyond that, a local green stimulus is a great opportunity to educate staff about what they can do with a few extra bucks.

Here are twelve easy, low-cost things you can do to stimulate the local economy green-ly:

1. Join the locavore movement and buy produce, bread, food stuffs and crafts made within your home town .
2. Buy some high efficiency bulbs.

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/07/28/12-ways-to-make-the-peoples-stimulus-green/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/17/green-grad-advice-an-ecopreneur-promotes-detours-at-high-school-alma-matter-commencement/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/17/green-grad-advice-an-ecopreneur-promotes-detours-at-high-school-alma-matter-commencement/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:35:59 +0000 Lisa Kivirist http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/17/green-grad-advice-an-ecopreneur-promotes-detours-at-high-school-alma-matter-commencement/ That once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that both warms one’s heart and instills a swarm of nervous stomach butterflies came about for me last week:  giving a commencement address at my old high school, Glenbrook South in Glenview, Illinois. 

   While it ranked an honor to receive the distinguished alum award, the five-minute speech proffering advice for the 2009 graduating class proved to be a unique challenge for me, requiring me to think about and process the “Lisa Kivirist” from 1985 when I graduated, when the only “green” I knew was the one in the padded paychecks I aspired to earn, to the green rolling hills of our Wisconsin farm and B&B today, Inn Serendipity and helping others launch green businesses through my book, ECOpreneuring.

   Detours with a dose of serendipity quickly arose as the theme song for my last twenty years, a refrain that I wanted to leave with the graduating class.  Life may take unexpected turns, but remember, as I learned, to keep connected to the core values, your earth mission, figuring out ways to craft a life and livelihood based on your passions.

   Here are some excerpts from my speech:

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/17/green-grad-advice-an-ecopreneur-promotes-detours-at-high-school-alma-matter-commencement/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/11/open-silicon-valley-forum-09-saturday-june-13th-discount-for-green-options-readers/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/11/open-silicon-valley-forum-09-saturday-june-13th-discount-for-green-options-readers/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:11:25 +0000 Ryan Keeshan http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/11/open-silicon-valley-forum-09-saturday-june-13th-discount-for-green-options-readers/ OPEN (Organization for Pakistani Entrepreneurs) Silicon Valley is holding their Forum ‘09 this Saturday, June 13th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. This year, the forum will include a Cleantech track that will bring business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and policy makers together to discuss different perspectives of clean and sustainable technologies for the future. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and want a new and interesting perspective on the subject, head out to Mountain View this Saturday.

   Tickets are $55 in advance and $95 on-site, but OPEN was kind enough to offer Green Options readers a bargain discounted price of $40. The discounted tickets can only be purchased through this link: http://tinyurl.com/OPENforum-DISCOUNT.

   Here is a brief overview of the Cleantech panel sessions:
   Session I: Where’s the Green in Clean? Investment Opportunities, Valuations and the Funding Gap in Cleantech.
   Session II: Innovations in Energy: Viable business propositions after Market Corrections.
   Session III: The Stimulus Act: The Impact of Government Policy on Cleantech Start-ups and Investors.
   Session IV: Workshop: Crafting your personal brand to transition into the Cleantech sector.

   For more information on OPEN Silicon Valley Forum ‘09 Cleantech sessions, click here.
   For a full schedule of events click here.

   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/11/open-silicon-valley-forum-09-saturday-june-13th-discount-for-green-options-readers/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/03/ecopreneur-profile-world-of-good-sells-shopping-with-a-conscience/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/03/ecopreneur-profile-world-of-good-sells-shopping-with-a-conscience/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:55:42 +0000 John Ivanko http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/03/ecopreneur-profile-world-of-good-sells-shopping-with-a-conscience/
   “Empower people in the US to realize that they have power to influence the global economy through their purchasing choices.” That isn’t some pie-in-the-sky wistful, unrealistic dream. That inspiring vision forms the Earth Mission, that driving force behind World of Good as they aim to transform how we shop by connecting us directly that individual who made our product, even if they are half-way around the globe.

   Fostering an economy based on social and economic justice, World of Good, launched by co-founders Priya Haji and Siddharth Sanghvi — just after they graduated from University of California Berkeley Business School — features unique gifts and handcrafts from artisan communities around the world. By selling through an ever-expanding distribution network of retailers nationwide, they are building a whole new economy based on Fair Trade.

   Ten percent of their profits get funneled to their sister non-profit organization, The World of Good Development Organization, which helps support artisan communities and works to strengthen international fair wage standards.

   “Our aim is to make it easy to help customers make a good choice — not to buy more, but to buy differently,” explains Priya. “They can expect quality, convenience and style — yet the products can be made in a way that actually helps the people who make them. Right now, our products are women’s accessories and housewares. As World of Good grows, our aim is to make the choice for people-positive products easy to find in every category of daily life. We want every human-made product to be a tool of relationship and empowerment for the person who crafted it. Imagine every product not as a material thing but as a bridge of connection and transformation.”

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/06/03/ecopreneur-profile-world-of-good-sells-shopping-with-a-conscience/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/17/twitter-for-trees-help-plant-100000-trees-with-unep/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/17/twitter-for-trees-help-plant-100000-trees-with-unep/#comments Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:41 +0000 Krates http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/17/twitter-for-trees-help-plant-100000-trees-with-unep/ June 5th is United Nations World Environment Day.  The U.N. Environment Programme has setup a twitter campaign called ‘twitter for trees’.  All you have to do is ‘follow’ http://twitter.com/unepandyou and they will plant a tree.  The goal is to get 100,000 followers by June 5th.   That plants 100,000 trees, so lets get started!

   If you’d like to promote the campaign, feel free to tweet:

   Please RT: follow @UNEPandYou and a tree gets planted for free.  Plant extra trees for $1 via http://www.mokugift.com

   Mokugift is an official partner of the United Nations Environment Programme.

   Image source: United Nation Environment Programme

   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/17/twitter-for-trees-help-plant-100000-trees-with-unep/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/04/29/ecopreneur-profile-jan-joannides-and-brett-olson-co-founders-of-renewing-the-countryside/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/04/29/ecopreneur-profile-jan-joannides-and-brett-olson-co-founders-of-renewing-the-countryside/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:31:56 +0000 John Ivanko http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/04/29/ecopreneur-profile-jan-joannides-and-brett-olson-co-founders-of-renewing-the-countryside/ In a world overdosed with negativity, Jan Joannides roots for the opposite underdog, building an organization and livelihood around showcasing the positive side of what’s working right.

   As co-founder of Renewing the Countryside, Joannides created a means to showcase positive examples of rural revitalization while simultaneously serving as an inspiring example of how one’s purpose and life can passionately blend.

   As I write about in the Ecopreneur Profile found in ECOpreneuring, the seed for Renewing the Countryside stemmed from Jan’s master’s thesis work in the late 1990s profiling vibrant, diversified Minnesota farms and ranches. “As I interviewed these folks, I became so deeply inspired by their story and commitment to their family farms that I wanted to get these narratives out to the public, since the media often focus just on the negative decline of rural America,” explains Jan. Inspired by a similar venture in the Netherlands, she tapped into grant funding to publish Renewing the Countryside: Minnesota in 2001, showcasing 44 profiles of successful rural enterprises.

   The enthusiastic response to this book led Jan, in partnership with her husband, Brett Olson, to found Renewing the Countryside as a non-profit organization in 2002. Its mission is to strengthen rural areas by championing and supporting rural communities, farmers, artists, entrepreneurs, educators, activists and other people who are renewing the countryside through sustainable and innovative businesses, initiatives and projects. “After all,” she says, “rural America is abundant with prospering enterprises as diverse as colors in the rainbow.” Brett leads the creative side of the organization, developing innovative public education strategies and campaigns.  It’s through our work on the Rural Renaissance book that my wife and I discovered this innovative non-profit organization, an organization that had its pulse on the revitalization happening in rural areas and the net migrations afoot from urban and suburban areas back to rural areas.

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/04/29/ecopreneur-profile-jan-joannides-and-brett-olson-co-founders-of-renewing-the-countryside/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/19/site-lets-companies-jump-into-the-green-game/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/19/site-lets-companies-jump-into-the-green-game/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:48:19 +0000 Sean Sullivan http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/19/site-lets-companies-jump-into-the-green-game/ For those seeking greener pastures and products, average consumers are finding it ever easier to jump right in.

   JumpGauge is an online tool allowing prospective buyers to assess and compare the environmental impacts of a growing number of products.  The site pairs seemingly common, everyday products with icons that denote their uncommon stewardship of the environment. 

   The site is geared more toward mainstream buyers, those otherwise less inclined to delve deeply into the origins and impacts of things they buy. Yet as common consumers continue to turn an ever deepening shade of green, they are seeking ways to spend their green in a more eco responsible manner.

   Enter JumpGauge, a  tool that requires little effort to see what goes into manufacturing and bringing a product to market. 

   As traditional buyers become more aware of how the products they purchase affect the environment, they are learning too that their own interests and those of the planet are often one and the same.

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/19/site-lets-companies-jump-into-the-green-game/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/11/what-the-heck-is-an-obamapreneur/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/11/what-the-heck-is-an-obamapreneur/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:33:27 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/11/what-the-heck-is-an-obamapreneur/

   The English language has a wonderful way of evolving with major or minor events in the economic, social and political history of man. Following the release of words like “Mompreneur” and “Ecopreneur”, the latest buzzword that is floating around the business and economic sphere is “Obamapreneur.” While it is clear that all “Preneur” roads lead to a noble business mission but what the heck is an Obamapreneur?

   President Obama is clearly the man of the moment and although running a business is not officially part of his resume, entrepreneurs are closely examining the way he has run his campaign, and now the country, to model their business strategy after his.  Barry Libert and Rick Faulk, authors of “Barack, Inc: Winning Business Lessons of the Obama Campaign” point out three lesson to entrepreneurs based upon what they have seen in President Obama’s campaign:

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/11/what-the-heck-is-an-obamapreneur/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/10/good-marketing-is-a-two-way-conversation/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/10/good-marketing-is-a-two-way-conversation/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:48:03 +0000 Leah Edwards http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/10/good-marketing-is-a-two-way-conversation/ A Boston-based branding firm Cone LLC recently released a survey that quantifies consumer interest in having a two-way dialog with the companies they buy from. As we often discuss on this blog, social media is a perfect medium for mission-based companies, such as green businesses. And now eco-entrepreneurs have some real stats to chew on:

   First of all 60% of Americans use social media, and the figure is higher for your market, if you sell to younger Americans.

   Cone surveyed almost 1100 adults and found that (of that 60%) 85% feel that companies should interact with their customers via social media.

   I found it interesting that the men surveyed were twice as likely as women to use social media to interact frequently with companies (33% versus 17%).

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/10/good-marketing-is-a-two-way-conversation/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/05/purpose-in-virality-united-nations-came-knocking/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/05/purpose-in-virality-united-nations-came-knocking/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:39:50 +0000 Krates http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/05/purpose-in-virality-united-nations-came-knocking/ The purpose of mokugift is to make make tree planting easy and affordable.  Making that mission a reality isn’t as easy as the concept.

   The last few months at mokugift have been a great learning experience.  Last year we received some great feedback from our users.  In October we were building a new version that enabled people to choose which country their trees are planted in.  We also changed the art from a cartoon style to a 3D graphic model style.  The impact was interesting.  When mokugift first launched, people thought it was targeted to kids.  With the new art and features we were being considered for general gifting.  This improvement also changed the number of trees sent per gift.

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   ]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/05/purpose-in-virality-united-nations-came-knocking/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/04/meraki-brings-affordable-broadband-to-100000-low-income-families/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/04/meraki-brings-affordable-broadband-to-100000-low-income-families/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:17:40 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/02/04/meraki-brings-affordable-broadband-to-100000-low-income-families/

   Given recent green industry talk surrounding free internet and conquering the digital divide,  Meraki, a leading provider of Wi-Fi networking solutions has recently decided to partner with One Economy, global non profit. The partnership pushes digital inclusion by delivering affordable broadband Wi-Fi to more than 100,000 low-income housing families.

   

   Meraki is a San Francisco based private start-up company that was born out of a research project initiated by Sanjit Biswas and fellow Harvard PhD students. Meraki’s Wi-Fi networking technology drastically reduces the cost of deploying reliable Wi-Fi networks. The start-up has successfully implemented its networks in a variety of situations already, both residential and educational. As part of a multi-year agreement, One Economy will deploy Meraki solutions to low-income communities in every location it provides services to starting with major U.S. cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and eventually throughout the globe.

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