Could You Eliminate Plastic From Your Life?

Be Green Packaging Blog – Live the Color

Plastic is everywhere. Plastic is in our kitchens, our bathrooms, our offices, and our cars. It’s likely that no matter where you are right now, you are surrounded with plastic, all of which will likely find its way to a landfill for over a billion years.

In 2006, Americans sent almost 60 billion pounds of plastic to landfills. Each hour Americans throw away 2.5 million water bottles. That’s equivalent to 60 million bottles a day and more than 21,000 million bottles a year. With all this plastic going into our landfills and into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, shouldn’t we try to give up on plastic?
 
Jeanne Haegele asked herself this very question and decided to try to decrease plastic’s presence in her life. In How I Gave Up Plastic, Haegele discusses the difficulties she faced near the beginning of her quest.
 
She says, “Grocery shopping was my greatest challenge. I remember my initial trip to the supermarket, when I first learned that so many of my normal standbys were off-limits. Crackers, chips, cookies, pasta… I had no idea what to buy…”
 
Yet Haegele began eating more fruits and vegetables and began shopping at stores with bulk bins, which allow customers to refill their own containers. According to her blog, she has not only experienced significant cost savings, but her diet has become much healthier, adding two more reasons to remove some of the plastic from her life.
 
Haegele’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. She appeared on CNN’s front page with a video debuting her struggles and successes. Click here to watch the video.
 
“I gave up plastic – a bad habit that was hurting the environment – and I’m stronger for it,” says Haegele. “I’ve tested my boundaries, forced myself to think critically about my actions and developed a simpler way of life. I’m happier and healthier than ever.”
 
If you’re as interested as we are in using less plastic, you can read more about Haegele’s endeavors on her blog. Also, check back here in the coming weeks to read more about plastic, its effects, and ways to reduce its prevalence in your life.
 
More information on Be Green Packaging can be found at www.begreenpackaging.com.
 

Be Green…Live the Color.
 
Questions/comments please email: info@begreenpackaging.com

Bikes without Borders – Community Development – Providing the Right Support rather than the Right Answer | 3BL Media

As I was doing my weekend thing this Saturday (groceries, kid stuff, Father’s Day shopping) I tuned into CBC Radio One’s Definitely Not the Opera (DNTO). This week’s program was dedicated to bikes and stories about bikes. I enjoyed snippets as I did my errands but I was captivated by a story about a Canadian non-profit organization called Bikes without Borders (www.bikeswithoutborders.org).    DNTO interviewed its founder, Mike Brcic, and heard his compelling story. What really struck me was how they moved from identifying a need to the development of an organization that is impacting hundreds of HIV/Aids victims, and is providing sustainable employment for communities in Malawi.  

Mike was in Nicaragua with the Canadian NGO, Casa Canadiense, when he met a small girl buying supplies for her family in a local village. Mike describes this as a “defining moment”. In conversation with this girl he learned that she had to walk for two hours a day just to get to school. He immediately recognized that her ten hour days were exhausting and that it was likely to impact her ability to finish school. As he reflected on her story, he was reminded of his childhood in Toronto, where the best ten minutes of his day were the ones he spent riding his bike to school. It was in that moment that Bikes without Borders (BWB) was conceived.  
 
BWB uses bikes and bike-related solutions as a tool for development in marginalized communities. The initiative under discussion on DNTO was Pedal Powered Hope for Malawi. Each bike is used by community health workers who pedal out to rural communities and dispense anti retroviral drugs, take blood samples, and give guidance on medication. In addition, they provide education to the communities as well as support for orphans and palliative care. Amazing stuff…but back to the bikes.
 
BWB works with an engineer who designed the bike ambulances which are then solidly built by Malawians.  This venture has created sustainable work for Malawi, support for a community model of healthcare, as well as bringing needed medication, education, and practical support to HIV/Aids victims. We are encouraged to participate by buying a bike ($100) or a bike ambulance ($400). For more a more complete picture of this amazing social enterprise please visit their website.
 
In deconstructing why this story impacted me so profoundly I realized that often our impulse to be good and to do good in the world is hampered by our lack of understanding of community. It seems like a win/win to collect our old bikes and to send them to the developing world…this, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, it’s just not enough. What Bikes without Borders demonstrates so beautifully is the building of community through understanding the need and providing the right support rather than the right answer.    
 
The Acacia Group’s mission is to offer transformative and unique leadership development for organizations and individuals seeking to live out their global citizenship. To do this we blend knowledge from Corporate Social Responsibility, Community Development and Leadership Development and Learning to emerge new opportunities for excellence for our clients.

Certifying Green Businesses With Green Irene and the Green Business Bureau

While almost everyone wants to do the right thing for the planet, a variety of factors can hold businesses back from taking the sustainability plunge. One of them is uncertainty about what going green really means. When the definition of green is in the eye of the beholder, it can mean just about anything and sometimes has, like businesses claiming that disposable water bottles are green if they use somewhat less plastic. Green Irene and the Green Business Bureau are working together to clarify what makes a business green with a nationwide network that delivers solid green business certification, particularly for small- and mid-sized businesses.

Business sustainability has a wide range of benefits, including saving energy, saving resources, and saving money. Going green gets employees excited about what they’re doing and more engaged about their work, and attracts and retains the best talent. Green brands have proven more valuable on store shelves and on the stock market. Ultimately, green business is just plain good business, which explains the growing number of businesses making the commitment to sustainability.

Still, the confusion about what green means can be a significant deterrent. Communicating your green efforts is important, but the lack of clear definitions can inhibit the urge to talk. Even well-intentioned businesses can be afraid to talk about their sustainability efforts for fear of being accused of greenwashing.

The solution for this problem is clarity of definition and transparency in communication, both of which Green Irene and the Green Business Bureau deliver through their partnership.

The Green Business Bureau has established a framework for green businesses to quantify their sustainability efforts across a broad range of factors, looking at energy use, paper use, the breakroom, cleaning chemicals, transportation, shipping, and many other factors. Their Web-based system to track the status of your efforts is easy to use, and helps you to track improvements over time. Depending on your current level of sustainability, you can receive one of three levels of certification, and receiving the ability to display a seal on your Web site and decal for your business location, and to be featured in their green business listings. Based on your current status, the Green Business Bureau system can also suggest a plan for further improvement of your eco-impact.

“Green business certification is answering a huge demand in today’s eco-conscious markets,” says Marcos Cordero, Green Business Bureau CEO. “Businesses who are making the commitment to green their practices stand to realize significant financial benefits.”

The best green business certifications are those that have teeth in the form of third party verification of green progress, and that’s where the partnership with Green Irene comes in. Green Irene has the nation’s largest network of Eco Consultants, with almost 600 consultants in 47 states calling on homes and businesses to help them go green. Their consultants are a force already in place to certify the sustainability of businesses working with the Green Business Bureau, keeping green claims on solid ground.

“We position ourselves as the outsourced Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) for smaller businesses who would not even think of having the resources of a CSO in house, says PJ Stafford, co-founder of Green Irene. “We help our clients understand and implement the criteria of the Green Business Bureau certification, we verify the client is doing what they believe they are doing and provide unlimited online and human support on their journey to more sustainable business operations. And at a price point starting from just $450 per year, Green Irene and our local, authorized independent Eco-Consultants add a lot of value,” continues Stafford.

The move toward clarity and transparency with steps like this partnership is a parallel to the progress made in the organic food industry. Before the term “organic” was clearly defined, it was used to refer to a variety of different practices, some greener and more eco-friendly than others. Gary Hirshberg, the CE-Yo of organic yogurt producer Stonyfield Farm notes that their industry is one of the few that has asked for more regulation because regulation of the organic industry and the term “organic” provided clarity, removing the confusion of consumers. And with less confusion came greater acceptance of organic foods.

Steps like this partnership are an important step forward in the maturation of the green business world, helping it grow more rapidly and become an integral part of businesses of every size throughout the economy.

Glenn Croston is the author of “75 Green Businesses” and “Starting Green” and the founder of Starting Up Green, helping green businesses to get started and thrive.

via fastcompany.com

Small Business: Grow Your Business Today with 15 Sustainable Business Strategies

Small businesses with the right business sustainability strategies can join the ranks of larger organizations leading in the CSR space.  Why?  Because more small businesses than ever before are subscribing to the idea that they can save money, increase sales, and improve brand value by implementing social and environmental sustainable business strategies.

Powered by the inherent design of a small business, they are perfectly suited for sustainability implementation.  They are more agile and able to quickly respond to changing market conditions, have lower risk than larger organizations, and reduced decision chain – all enabling them to integrate sustainability concepts into their businesses quickly and effectively.

 The key is identifying the best practices of leading sustainability plans and then translating those initiatives to the vision and business practices of the small business.  So, where is the catch?  Oftentimes, the problem is confusion as to where to start. 

 Here to guide you are 15 sustainable business strategies  that integrate sustainability concepts into the business, positively impacting the environment and generate growth opportunities for the year ahead. 
 

1. Office Energy Consumption – Evaluate the average energy use per square foot of office space and implementing best practices to reduce: energy consumption studies, efficiency practices, equipment modifications, etc.
2. Employee Commuting – Offer employees incentives to ride public transportation or participate in car/van pooling.  Consider a bike commuting program.
3. Employee Telecommuting – Reduced office space and transportation as a potential win-win-win practice for businesses, employees, and the environment.
4. Sustainable Design – Consider materials selection, energy consumption, manufacturing, product use and operation, and final disposition, early in the product development process.
5. Water Conservation – Manage water entering the company and look for opportunities to reuse water.
6. Management Systems  – Raise eco awareness and company commitment through established sustainability policies, standards, metrics, and self audits.
7. Environmental Philanthropy – Beyond just corporate volunteering efforts provide access to technology, engineering support, information and research that benefits the local community and the environment.
8. Packaging – Focus on using as little packaging material as needed and making packaging as recyclable as possible.
9. Pollution Prevention – Keep attention on both source control and waste reduction
10. Recycling and Waste Reduction – Anywhere there is a trash can, there should be a recycling bin.
11. Resource Conservation – Consider material and energy consumption across the entire value chain…reduce, reuse, recycle.
12. Printing Less – Paper makes up about 35% of a typical company’s total waste stream
13. Go Digital – Reduce paper use and get contracts and documents signed more quickly by using electronic signatures.
14. Sustainable Partnering – A key aspect of business sustainability is making sure that you manage your supply chain and partner with companies with similar values.
15. Sustainable Education and Development – There is always more you can do to make your business more sustainable.  Encourage education and innovation within the organization.

LBG Canada July Community Investment Webinars

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) June 30, 2010 – LBG Canada will be offering two webinars during the month of July. The first is a webinar is Identifying & Analyzing Community Partners using CharityCan.  The second will demonstrate the use of the 7-step approach to do performance measurement of priority projects.  

All webinars are for LBG Canada participants only. To find out more about LBG Canada and how to participate in LBG Canada webinars, please visit www.lbg-canada.ca or contact info@lbg-canada.ca. Click here to see the full calendar of events. 

IDENTIFYING & ANALYZING COMMUNITY PARTNERS USING CHARITYCAN – July 8 at 1pm MST

CharityCan is an online tool that helps companies make more informed decisions about the community partners they support.  With in-depth information on Canada’s 85,000 charitable organizations, users can:

• Search for non-profit organizations by region, focus area and size

• Analyze charities based on a variety of categories, financial filters and key ratios

• Compare organizations through ranking tools and peer group comparisons

In this webinar and live-demo, you’ll learn about how CharityCan (www.charitycan.ca) is helping companies identify, analyze and evaluate their current and potential community partners. 
 
THINKING THROUGH PRIORITY PROJECT PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT – July 22 at 11am MST
 
Upon using the benchmarking data to assess their overall portfolio, LBG Canada companies turn to the LBG Canada 7-step approach to plan, manage and evaluate priority projects.  This webinar is for those wanting to learn how to use the LBG Canada 7-step approach or those seeking a refresher.  Through the use of real  LBG Canada examples, learn how this approach can help you maximize the value of your key projects.
 
To find out more about LBG Canada webinars, please email info@lbg-canada.ca.
 

Be an Eco Inspiration this Holiday Weekend

It is that time of year, when many of us engage in the fun and festive activities of summer that bring out our creative and youthful spirit.  If you are like me, you are probably overjoyed with the idea of digging into your warm weather toys and heading to the beach, camping, or maybe just to the park for a fun day in the sun.  Focusing on the coming long Independence Day holiday weekend as an opportunity, my mind is swimming with possibilities to express my own sustainable lifestyle passions.

Promoting sustainable living and inspiring others can take all forms and shapes.  In our sustainability consulting, we address eco awareness and the integration of sustainability concepts into daily living.  The easiest way to inspire others to living a sustainable lifestyle is by living the joy and the expression of the value you find in the sustainability concepts that you embrace in your life.  

As a personal consultant, I am always looking for creative ways to introduce sustainability concepts into daily living.  Fresh air outdoor activities can lift one’s spirit and remind us of the simple joys in life.  Here are some fun personal sustainability actions that can expand your eco awareness and may just engage others around you this weekend.

 1.    Check out the local Farmer’s Market for local fruits and veggies.
2.    Plan a bike adventure and invite your friends.
3.    Enjoy a local park and have an organic picnic.
4.    Bring a new organic beer to your Independence Day Celebration. 
5.    Try a new organic personal care product to protect against the sun.

 Personal sustainability can touch every area of your life and celebrating its joys and benefits often encourages others to become involved.   What better way to raise the eco awareness than to engage your family and neighbors in the process this holiday weekend.