Top 10 Green Twitterers to Check Out

If you are following the green scene, there are some names that you probably already know in the green twittersphere, like @algore, @treehugger, @grist, and @inhabitat (of course !) — established twitter feeds with relentless streams of good, green content and incredible followings.  But what we love about Twitter is the access it gives you into the everyday lives of individuals doing, reading, or propagating good, green things on a daily basis.  Here’s a quick list of our favorite green twitterers from across the globe and the spectrum of environmental issues:

 

• @sheagunther
  No list of top green twitterers would be complete without Shea.  He’s the founder of the #EcoMonday hash tag and a prolific blogger from Maine who writes about politics, energy, and the earth’s resources.  He’s pulled together his own great list of green twitters for his blog on the Mother Nature Network.
• @dothegreenthing
  Do the Green Thing is a London-based not-for-profit public service that inspires people from around the world to lead a greener life by doing seven simple things.  Members can join via Facebook and share videos about their journey, kind of like a super green YouTube.  The Green Thing’s twitter feed offers a wealth of interesting editorial links, like this story about a chocolate-powered racecar.
• @derekmarkham
  Derek appears on a lot of different round-ups as a top green twitterer.  This dirt-lovin’ all natural papa tweets about a wide variety of issues, from social media to biking.  In a blogosphere rife with mama bloggers, it’s nice to see a such a prolific papa!
• @Litegreen
  Texas-based Sebrina Smith writes for Greenopolis where she posts about a wide variety of topics covering the green lifestyle.  She tweets about everything from recycling to reindeer poop jewelry.  She’s also written her own great list oftop 50 green twitterers.
• @ethicurean
  Bonnie Azab Powell blogs about the fascinating world of food politics.  For anyone who wants to know more about the food industry and how to chew the right thing in a complex food world, the ethicurean blog and twitterfeed are a must-read.
• @kate_sheppard
  As a Washington D.C.-based environmental reporter for Mother Jones, Kate is at the epicenter of the politics of green.  She tweets about all thing environmental from EPA regulations to climate change green-washing.
• @swimwithswain
  This personal twitter feed is essentially the day by day accounts of Christopher Swain, an educator swimming 1500+ miles in the Atlantic Ocean in order to help his students start projects related to improving the condition of the world’s oceans.  It’s pretty epic.
• @OliviaZaleski
  Olivia is one of the most recognizable green journalists of the time as host of CNN, Fortune Mag’s Business of Green series, regular guest on ABC’s “Good Morning America Now” show, and CNNmoney.com’s environmental correspondent.  The fact that she replies to commenters via Twitter makes her all that much cooler.
• @greendig
  LA-based Karl Burkhardt Green Dig blog covers the intersection between environmental news and tech.  His twitter feed is a veritable treasure trove of thought-provoking linkage. 
• @climatehaiku
  And from the annals of Grist staff faves,  an anonymous twitterer posts regular haikus about climate change. Matsuo Basho, this is not.  But you have to hand it to the author for keeping it up this long! 

via openforum.com

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Reality vs. Perception in Corporate Sustainability

Consumers have very little understanding of which companies trying to be more sustainable and which ones are not. Duh, you say? Well, that conclusion was driven home by reading MapChange 2010 from the brand agency Change.

This sustainability brand map study looked at the perceived and actual sustainability scores for 97 companies in 10 sectors and found that they didn’t exactly always mesh. Some companies that were highly sustainable were not perceived as such while some of the less responsible companies were perceived to be more sustainable. Depending on who you talk to, that is another example of a communications failure or an opportunity (or both).

Some of the results were quite eye-opening. In the food and beverage sector, Organic Yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm had the highest actual sustainability score but a below-average perception, which was inverse that of Kraft, Kellogg and General Mills.

In the household sector, the perception of Clorox far exceeded their actual sustainability score (perhaps because of their recently launched Green Works brand endorsed by the Sierra Club?) while L’Oreal didn’t get the acknowledgement they deserved.

But perhaps the most interesting to me was the Internet/Software/Media sector brand scores. In this sector, the perceptions of net giants Google, Yahoo and Amazon all exceeded their actual scores, while the perceptions of General Electric and News Corporation were much worse than their actual scores. GE was surprising considering their highly visible ecomagination brand and their high ranking in other surveys. And News Corp’s well-publicized goal of making their operations carbon neutral appears not to have helped their public perception (perhaps they need to use language the public understands, rather than “carbon neutral”).

The report authors advise brands to generate sustainable innovation quickly and communicate it effectively. The effective companies are those that follow the “5 C’s of Sustainability Branding” they list: competitive, consumer-facing, core, conversational and credible. All are good points, but the one that resonated most with me was “core.”

Tying sustainability to a brand’s core business is another way to ensure it resonates with consumers. If a brand sells hamburgers, its sustainability has to be about hamburgers i.e. organic beef, recycled wrapper, etc. Car brands must focus on making more fuel-efficient, cleaner cars, not saving the rainforest. Don’t do something that is unrelated to what people know you for, or they won’t reward your efforts and you could be seen as greenwashing (emphasis added).

The entire report is well worth the read. Why? the first sentence sums it up nicely: A sustainable image can be a brand’s best source of competitive advantage.

 

Nathan Schock’s personal blog,  http://www.greenwaycommunique.com, is the primary hub for communicating sustainability and bringing people together who do the same.

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Time to Stop Talking About Going Local, and Doing It (pt 3 of 3) Eating and Getting Around

You hear so much about the value of “going local,” but perhaps not so much on how to go about doing it effectively. Thanks much to Wayne Maceyka for sharing copious resources to do so, first covering the value of and need for localizing economies, then who’s doing it, and now for two of the essentials in our modern life: local food and transportation.

 One of the basics of life is nourishment and along with that, moving the foods that provide said nourishment around.  Additionally, we move ourselves and other goods around all over the world as part of the economy.  We currently rely upon inexpensive fossil fuels to keep a national and international supply chain running to do all these things.

Industrial food production is garnering a fair amount of attention for the GHG emissions associated with its production (including transportation) as well as the growing awareness of the health consequences of ingesting it.  We derive industrial fertilizers from petroleum, and the machines that sow seeds, harvest plants, and spread the fertilizer depend upon fossil fuels to operate. 

From a popular culture perspective, Michael Pollan’s book Omnivore’s Dilemma (here’s his recent TED talk),  Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution which premiered March 26 (to name a few) have helped raise the public’s awareness about where our food comes from and what that means to our collective health.

An inherent danger in relying upon a far-flung and energy dependent food infrastructure is the price of oil.  It skyrocketed to somewhere north of $140.00/gallon in mid-2008, and what did that do to global food prices and basic access?  For those of limited means; they struggle mightily.  A recent post on a food security e-mail list had an interesting comment about the ongoing need for local & regional food infrastructure.  I highlighted the potential for regional & local food,

“[Senate Bill] S 510 (and even more so, HR 2749) will make it almost impossible to get local, healthy food to local people by dramatically increasing the cost of preparing local, healthy food for sale and distribution.  We need new cooperative packing houses, new processors, new distributors and new retailers or our food will only be available to the affluent at a premium price.  Not only the poor (both working and unemployed) but also the lower middle class will be almost entirely dependent upon industrial agriculture”

From a transportation perspective, which as we all know the entire global economy depends upon, something that happened within the past six months caught my attention; Warren Buffettís purchase of a rail company, BNSF.  What I found most astounding was an article in one of the logistics industry publications analyzing Mr. Buffett’s investment, the author used the term “peak oil” matter-of-factly.  As we have learned over the course of Berkshire Hathaway’s existence, Mr. Buffett rationally decides to invest with a long-term lens that many ‘investors’ can only dream of.  So, does he believe that weíre heading for the land of energy scarcity?

What I’m getting at is that food and transportation are indelibly linked, regardless of the scale of food production we still need to ship it. 

The closer we produce it to where we consume it the lower the risk that increasing transportation costs affecting its availability. 

What I take from the various reports and analyses regarding energy and food is that local production of (nearly) everything will happen again; preparing for it the right way may prevent the massive societal disruption some predict.

What you can do now:

Visit your local Farmers Market:  Here in Massachusetts, the number of markets has nearly doubles in the last five years (through 2008) and there are more than 4300 markets nationwide, a nearly 20% increase from 1994 through 2006. There’s one nearly every day of the week not more than one or two towns away from where I live.  Check your state’s Department of Agriculture and LocalHarvest.org to find ones near you.

Sign up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share:  Like Farmer’s Markets, CSAs have been booming in popularity.  Basically, you prepay the farm for the goodies youíll receive once the harvest begins (timing varies by region and by their growing facilities); you’re financing their growth (pardon the pun).  Depending on the farm, your level of choice in what you get weekly will vary, some deliver to urban drop-off points and some don’t.  Oh, and it;s generally an abundance of food, so be prepared to share with neighbors and/or friends.  Now is the time to join (and in some popular places, they may already be sold out!)

Check out Slowfood:  Chances are that thereís a chapter near you.  The culture of each chapter varies depending upon the volunteers running it, so it may or may not be the place for you and it’s worth checking out.  If nothing else you may connect with other local food organizations you feel more connected to.

Think about other ways to get around 

This may sound general, and somewhat obtuse, but has some merit.  What would your life look like if gasoline were permanently north of $4.00/gallon?  Could you afford to get to work?  What about bus lines and rail?  Would these be possible alternatives for you?  Check out carsharing.net for options in your area.  I like the goloco model.  What about cycling?  Depending upon where you live and your desire to integrate activity into your daily life this could be a viable way to reduce your dependency on fossil fuels.  Hopping on a plane to visit relatives in Aspen or wherever may or may not be a trivial task in 5-10 years.

I’m not implying that if we all start supporting CSAs and farmer’s markets and ride our bikes everything will be OK.  There are global forces at work supporting an industrialized economy bent on growth (by necessity) that would prefer to maintain the status quo, and we can start having an impact within our families and our communities.  As Gary Hirshberg reminded the crowd at a panel discussion following a special screening of Food, Inc. last Fall, as consumers (a label I really do not like) we have more power than we understand.  Spending our dollars guides the development of business and policy on large and small scales; speaking with them in new ways will make an impact.

~~~

Wayne Maceyka is innately inquisitive. He holds an ME from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a freshly minted Sustainable MBA from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. His passion: creating resilient economies to generate, restore, & preserve capital — social, natural, & financial. Organizations working in the regional food system and those seeking to make “waste” a feedstock are of particular interest to him.  When not “saving the world”, he works for the measurement technology firm Mettler-Toledo.

Hello, I’m Paul Smith. I combine constantly evolving knowledge of sustainable business, social media, and marketing to create powerful, durable results for your company. I write for the GreenSmith Consulting blog.

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

GLOBE 2010 Brings The World to the Individual Level

“A green economy needs to just be the economy,” said Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, a board director at InterFace Global and member of the closing Town Hall session at the 20th anniversary Globe 2010 in Vancouver.  – a sentiment which would be shared by many and echoed throughout the conference.

Held every two years, Globe Foundation gathered over 10,000 participants from more than 80 countries to focus on a variety of themes that included Corporate Sustainability, Climate Change and Energy, Finance and Sustainability, Urban Infrastructure, Clean Technology, and Water: Impacts on Business.

According to many speakers, this year the conference seemed different – more participants, more women, and a greater number of students and young professionals.  One young woman, summed up her generation’s challenge with a question to the panel – as she looks for her first sustainability job, should she work for an oil and gas company and try change them, or work for something new and different? Nicholas Parker, Executive Chairman, Cleantech Group LLC in San Francisco, CA, encouraged her to “work in the lion’s den and help create the change we, and they, need to be.”  Those fossil fuel companies, Parker asserted, are facing necessary and inevitable transformation and we should all welcome and support it.

The Honorable John Yap, Minister of State for Climate Action, Government of British Columbia, Victoria, BC, David Runnalls, President & CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Ottawa, ON  and Tony Manwaring, Chief Executive, Tomorrow’s Company, London, UK rounded out the panel. 

Christopher Henderson, President, Lumos Energy in Ottawa, ON moderated a lively conversation between attendees and panelists that explored — what is a green economy? What is each person going to commit to changing or doing different? How do governments, citizen consumers, businesses and NGOs tell the stories that will effect the swiftest, necessary changes?

Diane Dillion-Ridgle observed that a sense of urgency of the moment is needed, alongside a long horizon view.  “This is the 21st century agenda for the completion of democracy throughout the world,” said Dillion-Ridgle.  Interestingly, she cites language as a key factor in accelerating change.  “We still have such siloed language, and we must integrate economic language to include language of the social component – one that ensures equity and parity. As a society and in business,” she continued, “we simply have to find a way to work horizontally rather than these silos of financials, and human rights and environmental concerns.”

John Yap, British Columbia’s Climate Action Minister, is showcased his provinces’ leadership in climate change legislation.  “Green must become mainstream because climate change is the challenge of our generation.  In BC we made this one of the central planks of our agenda and we now have the first ever CO2 emissions tax in North America.  We also pledge to be the first jurisdiction that is carbon neutral by the end of 2010.”

David Runnalls, founder and CEO of International Institute for Sustainable Development, took a global view of the challenges facing humanity, “There is too much business as usual.  We have to make significant reduction of our ecological footprint.”  He described the dichotomy of both a bottoms up or top down approach and articulated that it requires an integration of both efforts.

The addition of meaning, a spiritual dimension is what is missing in most discussions of a green economy, according to Tony Manwaring of Tomorrow’s Company.  “We must include a different sense of what has value and what is valued.  This means a change of consciousness about how we live and the interconnection of environment and cultural, social and spiritual dimensions.” 

Manwaring asserted that to base the future of our humanity on what we’ve learned in the last 50 years (eg. The industrial revolution and management training) rather than what we have unlearned in the same time is ludicrous.  Our new worldview must be a combination of new learning and re-embracing the old wisdom.

Nicholas Parker’s stark assessment that climate change is not a problem, it’s the symptom of a problem, set the stage for a call to action and greater imagination.  “This failure of imagining the future possible is the greatest challenge we face.” 

“We must accept that for all of us, especially when we consider countries like India and China, fear and a win/lose game will not work, this must be a win/win economy not dependent on government handouts, and includes full cost pricing.”

According to Parker, a green economy is powerful, abundant and inclusive, and is built on innovation and imagination.

What an exciting vision for all of us.

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Twin Firsts: Elegant Roots and C5 company

ElegRoo Blog

Elegant Roots is proud to announce twin firsts!

Avenue Green is the FIRST ready-to-wear jewelry collection from C5 company, known for its exclusive, by-commission-only, custom-designed fine jewelry and its consistent use of recycled precious metals and ethically sourced gems.

And, Elegant Roots is the FIRST in the U.S. to offer C5 company’s Avenue Green, a collection in 100% recycled sterling silver from C5′s designer, Meghan Connolly Haupt.

Avenue Green is a compelling line inspired by the South Bronx –  multi-cultural urban living against the backdrop of the incredible natural beauty of the Bronx Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo. Haupt has perfectly rendered the urban-natural counterpoint with sleek lines within nature’s most profound shapes. Inspired design, all recycled silver, fair-labor artisans.

Join us in welcoming C5 company to Elegant Root’s fine roster of designers and artisans working with an eye on the environment and social justice.

ER5654

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Sustainability Needs Educated Consumers

Everything you buy affects the Earth, but some choices have a lesser impact. Educating yourself about the products you buy can empower you to make a difference in protecting the planet. It’s called “green purchasing,” and it’s easy to do. As a green living consultant, I’ve found the problem is, most people are simply not aware of the problems associated with purchasing less sustainable products, let alone the solutions

 So if the problem is a lack of education who is responsible for fixing it? We are.  Individually, we have a responsibility to seek out information on sustainable products and companies.  The easiest way to promote a sustainable lifestyle is by living your values. Sustainable purchasing is one way to demonstrate that value.  In fact, getting others involved in your purchasing habits is a great way to spread eco awareness to friends, neighbors, and others in your community.  

 Increased eco awareness has generated a wealth of information literally available at our fingertips: the internet.  Next time you are ready to buy, educate yourself with eco awareness.

How can I buy energy-efficient products?
Energy Star

How do I find the most fuel-efficient vehicle?
EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide
Greenercars

How do I find products and services that save water?
Find a Watersense product

How do I learn more about living green? 
TaigaCompany
Greenchoices
SustainLane
VividLife.me

How do I compare products based on environmental attributes?
EPEAT 

How do I find environmental information on food, cosmetics, and household items?
Environmental Working Group
Organic Consumers Association
Skin deep
GoodGuide

How do I compare or engage with companies on their commitment to combating climate change?
Climate Counts
SocialYell
Just Means

  With a little education and pre-planning, it’s easy to maintain eco awareness in your shopping- even during the most inconvenient times.  Sustainable purchasing  is important because it can help you make better choices.  Those choices expand eco awareness within your network of friends and family, positively impact your local economy, reduce your footprint on the environment, and may actually help you save money in the process. 

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Reality vs. Perception in Corporate Sustainability

Consumers have very little understanding of which companies trying to be more sustainable and which ones are not. Duh, you say? Well, that conclusion was driven home by reading MapChange 2010 from the brand agency Change.

This sustainability brand map study looked at the perceived and actual sustainability scores for 97 companies in 10 sectors and found that they didn’t exactly always mesh. Some companies that were highly sustainable were not perceived as such while some of the less responsible companies were perceived to be more sustainable. Depending on who you talk to, that is another example of a communications failure or an opportunity (or both).

Some of the results were quite eye-opening. In the food and beverage sector, Organic Yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm had the highest actual sustainability score but a below-average perception, which was inverse that of Kraft, Kellogg and General Mills.

In the household sector, the perception of Clorox far exceeded their actual sustainability score (perhaps because of their recently launched Green Works brand endorsed by the Sierra Club?) while L’Oreal didn’t get the acknowledgement they deserved.

But perhaps the most interesting to me was the Internet/Software/Media sector brand scores. In this sector, the perceptions of net giants Google, Yahoo and Amazon all exceeded their actual scores, while the perceptions of General Electric and News Corporation were much worse than their actual scores. GE was surprising considering their highly visible ecomagination brand and their high ranking in other surveys. And News Corp’s well-publicized goal of making their operations carbon neutral appears not to have helped their public perception (perhaps they need to use language the public understands, rather than “carbon neutral”).

The report authors advise brands to generate sustainable innovation quickly and communicate it effectively. The effective companies are those that follow the “5 C’s of Sustainability Branding” they list: competitive, consumer-facing, core, conversational and credible. All are good points, but the one that resonated most with me was “core.”

Tying sustainability to a brand’s core business is another way to ensure it resonates with consumers. If a brand sells hamburgers, its sustainability has to be about hamburgers i.e. organic beef, recycled wrapper, etc. Car brands must focus on making more fuel-efficient, cleaner cars, not saving the rainforest. Don’t do something that is unrelated to what people know you for, or they won’t reward your efforts and you could be seen as greenwashing (emphasis added).

The entire report is well worth the read. Why? the first sentence sums it up nicely: A sustainable image can be a brand’s best source of competitive advantage.

 

Nathan Schock’s personal blog,  http://www.greenwaycommunique.com, is the primary hub for communicating sustainability and bringing people together who do the same.

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

4 Steps to Climb the Green Corporate Ladder

There is a new generation of professionals who are turning their sustainability educations, eco awareness, and environmental passions into career ambitions.  However, entry-level and senior level positions are the best places to make career moves in green professional jobs, suggests Peter Beadle, president of Greenjobs.com. 

So the question becomes: How do you climb the green ladder of success once in an organization?

Traditional business practices would tell you to be self-sufficient and work your way up through a combination of drive, determination, and a lot of hard work.  

An alternative approach is to raise your visibility in the organization.  This will expose you to other people in the organization, gain a broader perspective of potential green opportunities, and allow you to identify and refine your leadership qualities.

1.    Step outside the confines of your specific position: Become involved in projects and activities that embrace sustainability concepts and promote business sustainability.  If your company has a sustainability program, this is a great place to start.

 2.    Expand your corporate green network: engage in internal business activities, networking events, internal and external training, professional organizations, and business communities.  An easy option to engage in your company’s community outreach programs.

3.    Avoid being the expert: Keep an open mind to receiving new information that will expand your perspective.  An appreciation of both sides of a discussion about a sustainability concept is often to your advantage.  It also helps you avoid conflict with others seeking to climb the ladder.

4.    Be on the winning team.  Seek out and be a part of the best ideas, even if they are not you own.  It is always better to be in support of something rather than against.  Being part of business sustainability success is a win-win for you and the company.

Keep learning and developing your green knowledge and leadership skills.  Authentic interest in the value-added green projects and business sustainability will differentiate you in the organization. 

We at Taiga Company encourage you to climb the green ladder and make sustainable change in the business world.  Go for it!!!

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Nike Creates 2010 World Cup Soccer Uniforms Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Nike Creates 2010 World Cup Soccer Uniforms Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Whether you play soccer on a professional team or as part of an intramural sport, or even if you just watch your kids play the sport, you’ve got to appreciate Nike’s new green initiative for this year’s World Cup. The eco-friendly initiative: uniforms made from discarded plastic bottles!

That’s right all you David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo fans! This year will be the first time ever that World Cup players will be sporting these uniforms, which are all made from discarded plastic bottles found in landfills in Japan and Taiwan.

According to an article in Ecouterre: “Each shirt comprises up to eight recycled plastic bottles, a move that reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent compared with manufacturing virgin polyester. Besides saving raw materials, Nike also diverted nearly 13 million plastic bottles (or nearly 560,000 pounds of polyester waste) from the landfill – enough to cover more than 29 football pitches.”

Nike is always coming up with new and unique ways to make a green statement, and I totally support this eco-friendly initiative. I can’t wait to see the World Cup players do their thing in these cool uniforms!

Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.

GREENOP5793

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Sustainability and Personal Development Growing Together

As we move into the New Year, our sustainability consulting resources are examining trends beyond the current job market, and we see an increasing demand for a new kind of business contributor.  Aligned with a growing demand for alternative skills is an increasing desire amongst current and prospective job seekers to translate personal eco awareness and business sustainability passions into career ambitions.  We believe this convergence of business sustainability value and personal interest could be one path to stabilizing the global job market.

If you have ever interviewed for a job, you probably know there are a number of factors that go into determining the right candidate. There are often business values that go into the ideal employee selection.  Our professional consulting experience leads us to believe that many of the businesses currently reducing their workforce will soon be returning to the job pool in search of the next generation of passion and innovation. 

In our experience, employers do not always limit their candidate searches to the skills required for a specific job function.  Often included are the personal passions and innovative thinking that might bring needed change to the organization.   In searching for that perfect career path, proactively align career ambitions with business drivers of change.  Highlight:

•    Your interest and passion for business sustainability
•    Your record of accomplishment in applying sustainability concepts in business
•    Your knowledge of the company’s sustainability initiatives
•    How your unique passion could directly benefit the company

The business world has a unique opportunity to capture the inspiration of today’s “green” driven workforce.  By combining traditional business functions with an aligned passion for sustainability, companies are creating attractive work environments for talent. 

At Taiga Company, our professional consulting is focused on creating alignment between a business and its key stakeholders.  A critical aspect of this aligned direction is a strong and stable workforce.  Our business sustainability resources indicate that sustainability is providing top organizations with that common platform to attract, retain and build talent.  We encourage employers and employees to embrace and leverage business sustainability passions to drive change.

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily