Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the case of St. Thomas 7-Hot Pepper Sauce, it was definitely the chicken. Without the chicken, there wouldn’t be the fertilizer to grow the hot peppers to make the hot sauce that the sent kids from the St. Thomas projects in New Orleans Lower Garden District off to college.
And without the chickens, Derek Hoeferlin and his architectural students from Washington University would not have had reason to take interest in this little community garden which has begun to harbor interest for it’s uniquely designed “urban chicken coop”, the story of its recovery post-Katrina and the sustainability recipe it holds for other communities across America.
Good ideas have a life of their own. That’s what Paul Baricos, Executive Director of the Hollygrove Growers Market and Farm (HGMF) in New Orleans is learning two years after the Carrolton-Hollygrove Community Development Center (CHCDC) set out to figure out how to bring fresh produce to a neighborhood with no real access to affordable food.
Whether they are “social” entrepreneurships or just plain entrepreneurships, it is clear that New Orleans is laying the right groundwork for a full-scale “and then some” recovery.
By Reenita Malhotra •
April 24, 2009
Tonight on the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION® program VENTURE, host Cris Valerio talks to Brilliant Earth Co-Founder Eric Grossberg, about the diamond industry, working with conflict free diamonds, and how social entrepreneurship drives his bottom line.
He talks about how the15 percent drop in diamond prices in the past six months is actually helping his business,
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1BOG works by grouping customers together into a sort of buying club. Then, after a rigorous selection process, they choose a solar installer who will provide the biggest discount and the best quality. The more people that sign up, the better the discount for anyone buying solar through the program.
If you aren’t familiar with 1 Block Off the Grid, what they do may be best explained by New York Times Magazine:
…in a cultural moment when many individuals aren’t feeling all that rugged, perhaps it makes sense that a company called 1BOG has put collective buying at the center of its business model. The name is derived from the phrase “one block off the grid,” a reference to the goal of rounding up groups of homeowners willing to install solar-power systems on their houses — removing the rough equivalent of one block from a city’s electrical grid.
By Fred Etcheverry •
April 13, 2009
Smart meters will have their own web pages that can be presented on social networks.
I’ve gotten a little leery about product posts lately (”seen on TV” products notwithstanding). Ultimately, with the number of new “green” products out there, such posts could easily become the sole focus of our work here… and I don’t think that’s the kind of content sustainablog readers want or expect. But, I do make exceptions, and was happy to do just that when Ecopreneurist’s Paul Smith approached me about writing a post on Ode magazine.
Why make an exception for Ode? It’s quickly become my favorite magazine… the first (and, so far, only) one I’ve subscribed to on Zinio. Ode’s not only focused on issues that matter to me — social, environmental, and economic change — but also on stories about people making a difference in these areas.
In short, there’s a lot of good news in Ode… and, more and more, we need that.
By Reenita Malhotra •
March 11, 2009
The Walt Disney Company claims to have a long history of environmental stewardship. But for years the company has been the very antithesis of of anything related to environmental awareness.
The very fact that it razed down acres of orange groves in Anaheim to build its first theme park filled with “plastic” fairy tales should speak for itself. Child health activists have been against the company’s use of toxic cleaning materials in their theme parks for the last three years; they even protested outside an annual shareholder meeting in Oakland, CA yesterday.
AT & T has partnered with One Economy and Meraki to bring free WI-FI internet to low income communities Sunnydale Housing Community, San Francisco’s largest low income housing project.
By Brenda Keener •
January 31, 2009
The tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire claims to be the very first 100% sustainable island in the world. Located in the Netherlands Antilles, its waters have been protected since 1979 - making it one of the most pristine snorkeling and scuba diving spots that can be found.
By Reenita Malhotra •
January 28, 2009
Green Businesses are hotter than ever and even in the worst of economies, Ecopreneurs are looking for ways to get get funded and bring their dreams to fruition. However when it comes to the business of K-12 education, it can be challenging to get the show on the road. It helps of course to have a solid business plan and passion to carry out your mission.
Ecopreneurist recently had the opportunity to interview Kristen von Hoffmann, the president and founder of [...]
