Restaurant Calorie Disclosure

Elegant Roots Blog

Some will say this isn’t the governments business — but with obesity and over-weightness weighing-in at 66% of the population, it is a public health issue. The new health reform law requires chain restaurants to list the calorie counts of their food.

I like the idea — transparency and making informed decisions are high on my list of virtues. That’s what ElegantRoots.com is all about for eco and fair trade gifts. Elegant Roots tells you what you need to make an informed decision about a meaningful gift.

Menu disclosure has already been going on by local rule in some places. I’ve been to a few. At a California Pizza Kitchen I was shocked some of the salads were over 2000 calories while some of the personal pizzas were under 1000. Info is power but I had two reactions: immediate — I finally settled on a selection that I otherwise would have passed over; and longer-term, I’m not so anxious to go out to dinner having now learned that immense calorie counts can seemingly be hidden anywhere.

What will the consequences be, intended and unintended, of this new rule? The restaurants with 20 or more locations will probably begin offering selections that are not absurd — like those 2000 calorie salads might give way to something more reasonable. A few restaurants will tout the “I-don’t-give-a-damn” reaction. But will business be affected overall?

What about the one or two-location restaurants? LOHAS consumers are perhaps more interested in the ingredients than the calorie count. But judging by the number of diet plans, books, and schemes, there are an enormous number of people weight-watching at any given moment. Will a weight-watching restaurant-goer opt for the chain when otherwise they might have visited an individual restaurant? Subway seems to have a lot of success with their Jason dieter’s sandwiches.

Will this rule drive out non-chain eateries? Some may adopt the menu disclosures voluntarily, but that’s not feasible for the great majority?

Let’s hope consumers will use the info to make healthful selections and that restaurants will evolve to offer more and more appealing healthful selections. I’m happy to have the info but I sense unintended consequences lurking.

ER5723

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

Stakeholders: Unlocking the Door of Innovation

Research shows that innovation will be essential for small businesses over the next decade as businesses recover from recent economic hurdles.  Attempting to seize new opportunities and improve competitive positions, business leaders are looking for innovative solutions.  

 Where does innovation come from?  One approach is to look to the leading edge to see what others are doing.  A second approach is to capture ideas as they spring up as seeds of innovation from within the organization.  But there has to be a catalyst, a framework, a discussion or something to generate those ideas.  What is that? 

 As a professional consultant in the role of building business sustainability, the answer is stakeholder engagement. 

 Innovative ideas do not have to come from any one source.  They can generate from within the company at the ground level, from the customers you service, or your suppliers.  Often employees have the information and ideas to make a significant but are limited by the structures of the organization.  One key to success is to create a corporate culture that encourages and rewards innovation at all levels internal to the organization as well as external to the company.

 The World Business Council for Sustainable Development poses 4 questions in the innovation process to ensure success:

 •    How can we ensure sustainability is part of the creative process?
•    How can we ensure that sustainability considerations are part of the management of a development process?
•    When and how can external viewpoints enrich the creative and development process?
•    What processes are going to leverage the value of our intellectual capital?

 An open innovation approach to business sustainability offers stakeholders the opportunity to become engaged in the future of a business.  Recognizing that key stakeholders have a vested interest the success of the company, creates openness to new ideas that promote business success and innovative ideas. 

 As communicated within our business sustainability programs, enabled by the right structure, stakeholder generated innovation can be the company’s greatest asset for change. 

 •    Top level support for an open innovation culture.
•    A consistent management approach that promotes stakeholder engagement.
•    Open and consistent communication of business sustainability goals.
•    Cohesive policies and procedures that clearly define incentives.

  
Within our sustainability consulting with clients, it is clear to us,  that innovation will be essential for small businesses to thrive and survive over the next decade.  Companies becoming more environmentally, socially and economically responsible are driving innovations in sourcing, products, and services.  Commitment to sustainability uncovers opportunities to explore, develop, collaborate, and innovate within your organization and your industry.

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

Sustainable Supply Chain Management: When You Are Not Wal-Mart

Tremendous opportunities lie within the supply chain to evaluate risk and sustainable development opportunities.  Take for instance, the game changing practices that companies like Wal-Mart are currently making in the supply chain.  Innovative – yes.  But, how does a business make sustainable change in the supply chain when your company is not a Wal-Mart?

Traditionally when we think of supply chain management, our thoughts often focus on “big business” reference points.  Companies like GE or Dell regularly come to mind.  However in the larger context of the supply chain, these companies represent a small segment of buyers that have a unique and overwhelming buying power .

Most of the companies we work with in our sustainability consulting practice represent the larger population of businesses that lack the supply chain stroke of a large buyer like Wal-Mart.  Without this tremendous influence to modify supplier behavior through pure necessity, we find many businesses have to bring their supplier stakeholders to the table before setting supplier guidelines and procurement policy. 

Within our professional consulting in building business sustainability, we find that smaller organizations actually have to be “more” actively involved in their supply chain to implement sustainable change.  We find many small business leaders actively engaged in:

•    Strategic Sustainable Sourcing: Actively seeking out desired criterion and qualities in suppliers.

  •    Supplier Management and Development: Actively engaged with business partners to create a mutually defined aligned direction.

•    Supplier Performance Management: Actively engaged in daily changes in supply quality strategic partners and day-to-day procurement.

Creating sustainable business relationships for most companies requires more active involvement to capture the business sustainability benefits that undoubtedly exist within the supply chain.  At Taiga Company, our professional consulting and small business resources encourage collaborative stakeholder engagement in the supply chain to create sustainability alignment and ensure the most effective results.

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

Why We Should Stop Running to Help Developing Nations….and Start Paying Attention

> “Deep in every liberal sensibility is a profound sense that in a world of moral uncertainty one idea is sacred, one belief cannot be compromised: the rich should help the poor, and the form of this help should be aid…[and yet]…across the globe the recipients of this aid are worse off: much worse off. Aid has helped make the poor poorer, and growth slower.” Dambisa Moyo, – Dead Aid

  Over the past 5 decades, developed countries have poured over a trillion dollars (US) into developing countries. Yet for many observers there is little evidence of the sustainable improvements in the lives of the world’s poor that would be expected from this level of investment. Something does not seem to be working. Books are written, suggestions made, studies conducted, debates held, and international commitments made. So why is there this ongoing deep disconnect between the desire of people and countries to help others from making a sustainable and positive difference? 

  Stories and myths abound of well intentioned individuals and organizations that follow the well trod path to developing communities and countries wanting to make a difference and only making problems. And yet there are successes. From my own experiences and readings on the topic I am increasingly curious about the emergence of what appear to be approaches that seem to break from our cultural beliefs regarding development and aid. I am curious about a need for a shift in our thinking:

  From we are experts to I have something to learn from you - North American culture values experts and specialists. We are well educated and we believe that our knowledge is true – therefore if we bring our knowledge to a developing community or country their circumstances will improve. This is a belief that leaves little room in our thinking to hear and perceive the knowledge of the people we are coming to help. 

  From we can bring in a solution from elsewhere and it will work here to your circumstances are unique and need to be understood before a solution can be created – Modernism has led us to believe that processes and structures can be transferred from one context to another and that they will `fit’. Years of organizational experience should be telling us that this is rarely the experience.

  From we can talk about your needs without you in the conversation to you are the most important participants in the conversation – In the Foreword to the book Dead Aid, the contributor Niall Ferguson makes an important observation – “…it has long seemed to me problematic, and even a little embarrassing, that so much of the public debate about Africa’s economic problems should be conducted by non-African white men.” Effective conversations happen when all the people involved come into the conversation and are prepared to listen and be changed by the conversation. It is in conversation where we chose to be open to new possibilities, especially when all perspectives are present.

  From there is one right way to there are multiple and contradictory ways to the outcomes desired – It is uncomfortable for us to live with the ambiguity of multiple and contradictory solutions and we have a socialized preference to reject ambiguity and to move to quickly to action. We want people and governments to move quickly and to make decisions correctly, and we have low tolerance for error. 

  Fortunately there are personal mastery competencies that we can foster that will help us shift our thinking:

  Humility – a belief that there are things that I don’t know and I want to learn from you.
Curiosity – a willingness to be open to other perspectives and to examining my own deeply held beliefs.
Unhelpfulness – as Peter Block identifies in Community : the structure of belonging, don’t be helpful. Being helpful and giving advice are really ways to control others. In community we want to substitute curiosity for advice. (p. 109)
Embrace Ambiguity – I don’t know what I don’t know and things will emerge as we learn together.

  Looking for some more ideas on the challenges involved in international aid? Check out Community Enterprise Solutions and Changemakers. Or, share some of your own thoughts as to how we can move beyond our bias’ and neo-colonial attitudes and behaviors.

  ACAC5701

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

Plenary Session 1: The Convergence of Social Media and CSR Event

The Convergence of Social Media and CSR
Plenary Session 1 at CSR and Social Media 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010, 8:45 am
Priority Code: 3BL1
Toronto

Featuring:
Celesa Horvath, Owner and Principal, Ventus Development Services Inc.

Social networking promises to change not only the way in which companies communicate and interact with their stakeholders, but also their behaviour and performance as corporate citizens. This context-setting presentation will explore social media’s game-changing potential and implications for CSR, including:

• how the accessibility of information will drive transparency and best practice in corporate social responsibility

• how the speed at which information and opinions are shared affects reputation management

• how the scope of, and level of trust in, social networks will transform stakeholder engagement practices

• how the shift from push to pull by user-determined needs will lead to more collaborative, open-source approaches

Celesa Horvath contends that, in the emerging “Attention Age,” the difference between risk and opportunity is a matter of perspective and strategy. Join Celesa as she explores how to leverage social media to enhance corporate responsibility performance and uncover fertile ground for innovation.

Celesa is experienced in developing and implementing sustainability strategies for business, and is founder of the Canadian CSR and SD Practitioners’ Network on LinkedIn.
Click here to find Celesa on her LinkedIn Page
Click here to follow Celesa on Twitter

For more information on this session, or to see a copy of the full agenda, please visit our web site, or contact Joel Elliott at elliott@conferenceboard.ca. Please quote priority code 3BL1 when registering.

CBC5643

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

The Houses That PET Built

The Houses that PET Built

One of the wonderful things about being recycle-minded is that every piece of trash is an opportunity to recreate something wonderful.  At least, that’s the way I felt when I saw testaments to the miracle of recycling — houses, cisterns, furniture, bus stops and even entire schools — made from recycled PET plastic bottles.

Eco-tec, an award-winning Honduran company, has used recycled PET plastic bottles for construction of houses, water tanks, and even schools. 

Using some 8,000 PET recycled bottles, Eco-Tec created the “casa ecológica” or ecological house, as a means of providing sustainable construction methods and employment in Honduras.

70% of the structures built by Eco-Tec are made up of recycled PET bottles reclaimed from landfills and local clean-up projects.  The bottles are filled with sand and sealed before construction use.

Each casa ecologica  has a “living roof” made from sod and turf which insulates the house better than a conventional roof.  And although the roof weighs in at 30 metric tons when wet, the PET bottle walls to support the weight without effort.

Eco-Tec has gone beyond the experimental stages, and has tactually built over a dozen homes and community centers from PET bottles.

It took Tomislav Radovanovic five years and 13,500 plastic bottles to build the 60 sq meter house in Kragujevac, Serbia.

Only the foundation of the property is concrete, and all other parts of the house are made of plastic bottles that Radovanovic collected over many years.  Even the kitchen furniture and windows are made of plastic bottles.

This house can be found at Puerto Iguazu, a frontier town on the border between Argentina and Brazil. This amazing house, made by  Alfredo Santa Cruz and his family, is constructed entirely from recycled materials.  Over 1200 recycled PET bottles, 1300 Tetra Pak cartons, 140 CD cases which are used as doors and windows, and an additional 340 plastic bottles that have been recycled into couches and a bed. Mr. Santa Cruz and family now spend their time teaching others how to use recyclables as building materials. 

“Domestic waste can be transformed into useful stuff. We developed our own technique, which allows people to build a house that’s perfectly functional at a very low cost and with their own hands. This is not just a project, but a reality,” says Santa Cruz.

This striking bright orange schoolhouse in Granados, Guatemala, is constructed primarily of reclaimed plastic bottles. 

After noticing the amount of plastic trash littering Guatemalan streets and realizing that many schools did not even have walls, Peace Corps volunteer Laura Kutner decided to make a difference.

With help of local businesses and volunteers, Kutner began work on a school house made from recycled PET bottles. 

Over 6,000 bottles were filled with plastic grocery bags, chip bags, and other waste, and were placed inside a metal fencing to create the structure. More trash was used to fill up the spaces between the fencing and the bottles.

Using recycled PET plastic bottles for construction offers an affordable, sustainable solution to the need for adequate building construction in developing countries. Wonder if America will ever catch on to this idea…

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.

GREENOP5681

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

Retreads on the Roof( Made from Tires and Plastics)

Retreads on the Roof-Roofing Made from Tires and Plastics

I can’t wait for my roof to start failing. I know, that sounds a bit strange. But as I’ve written here before, Green Depot is one of my favorite stores. All their building materials and home supplies pass through a rigorous filter so I know that what I’m getting is the greenest out there – except for the stuff I make and salvage myself. And they have some very cool roofing that you should know about if you are planning to roof or reroof this year.

Take a look at the picture above. Looks like slate tiles, right? Wrong. It’s EcoStar roofing, made from 80% recycled rubber and plastics, radiator hoses, car bumpers and scrap from baby diaper manufacture. (Not the waste from the diapers themselves – let’s be clear about that!) And unlike old generation green products that cost more and don’t perform as well, these shingles have a 50-year warranty and a 110 mph wind warranty. Plus they install as easily as regular shingles and weigh way less than slate, which saves supporting lumber.

You can get this roofing in a slate or cedar shake look, but without chopping trees or excavating quarries. These recycled roofs provide high-impact resistance to wind, driving rain, hail, falling branches, foot traffic, ice and snow damage.

There are other rubber roofing suppliers that make shingles that look like slate, shakes or tiles from old tires as well. The tire wall section is removed from the tire and the tread section is cut into sections. The actual tread is buffed off from the section and the rubber shingle is coated with either sawdust or slate dust. The tread pieces are left in fairly large pieces so that the shingle benefits from the steel belting originally found in the tire. A plastic tab is attached to the shingle to facilitate the actual nailing of the shingle to the roof.

Some other suppliers include Da Vinci Roofscapes, Royal Building Supplies (Dura), and RuBBuR. Check them out. And then when the roof starts leaking over your head, just retread!

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.

GREENOP5680

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

10 Qualities of a Sustainable Business Leader

Today’s companies and entrepreneurs are presented with the unique opportunity to increase profitability through greater eco awareness and the pursuit of a more sustainable business. Many companies are standing at the crossroads of traditional business and sustainable development asking which road to take.

As a sustainability consultant, I advise clients to look to the leading edge.  Sustainable business leaders are evaluating new markets, new products, and going after the most innovative people.  These organizations are defined by common characteristics:

1.    Company has a genuine commitment to sustainability by management at the highest level, with sustainability principles present in core values and business strategies.

2.    Sustainability strategies are cascaded down through management and are incorporated into organizational and individual performance goals.

3.    Employees are informed, motivated , and actively engaged in the company’s sustainability program.

4.    Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)  for sustainability are fully integrated into the business processes, corporate performance, and employee recognition.

5.    Company has active dialogue with key stakeholders on sustainability issues, including customer to understand how sustainability issues relate to different market segments.

6.    Product stewardship is integrated into the development process, with production and procurement decision-making supporting more sustainable choices.

7.    A Supply Chain Management strategy that aligns company and supplier performance targets to deliver a sustainable supply and stimulate product innovation.

8.    Business risks and opportunities associated with sustainable development are well-understood and communicated to key stakeholders, especially investors.

9.    Defined strategies to ensure business sustainability initiatives add value both to the company and community and to the business.

10.    Transparent reporting on sustainability concepts and sensitive issues, with both positive and negative results.

At Taiga Company, we see the future of business sustainability going far beyond the implementation of individual sustainability concepts.   Many organizations have already adapted their business models to capture value from sustainable development.  The leaders of tomorrow will continue to push the edge of business sustainability to transform entire industry sectors.  The right strategies and small business resources can help bridge your business into the future.

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