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SVN Spring Conference: Gunter Pauli’s Blue Economy

May 11, 2010 in Green, Products and Services, Sustainability by admin | No comments

During a conversation at the Fall 2009 SVN conference over tea, Diana Lee of the Biomimicry Institute added this wisdom to our conversation; “There is no energy crisis in nature.” Waste exists in our minds and in our culture but in the natural world which we are a part of, the outputs of one process become the inputs of another.

The opening night plenary of the SVN Spring Member Gathering delved into this topic with Gunter Pauli, the co-founder of SVN Europe, Ecover, and the Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives (ZERI) took the stage.

Gunter wants you to believe that you can change the rules of the game and throughout the presentation, example after example showed just how much could be done toward preservation and conservation while doing just that. Read the rest of this entry »

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Exposé: DEM Collective

February 25, 2010 in Business Expose, Ecomomies, Green, Products and Services, Sustainable Communities by admin | No comments

What’s behind DEM Collective? What’s the scoop?
This women-owned clothing store in Gothenburg, Sweden is definitely more than meets the eye.  While their hot style of simple t-shirts and beautiful dark blue jeans may be appealing, it is the business practices which caught my attention and ultimately earned this business of being worthy of Exposé! Read the rest of this entry »

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Shades of Green

February 4, 2010 in Green, Products and Services, Sustainability, Sustainable Communities by Kirsten | No comments

What is green?

We all see initiatives and products advertised as being green or sustainable.  Whether this is done as a component of corporate strategy or arises from a true belief of inherent ‘goodness’ most of the time on the scale of true worldwide sustainability, they are not without some impact.

My answer is that there is no black and white definition.

Within communities, corporations, small businesses, governments, and families there are different degrees of progress.  When a corporation is announcing a greening strategy or movement, good for them.  They have made progress.  But by no means are they now officially GREEN with nothing left to do.

Think of this situation like being in a dim room.   In a room that the occupants are used to they can see and because that is what they know, they accept it as being good, normal or right.  There is no questioning whether or not the light can get brighter.  They think it’s as bright as it can be perhaps, or they might not even question that more is possible.

If additional lights were added to the room it would be obvious to the occupants that at first the room was dark and now there is more light.  Who is to say that it can’t get brighter still?  Why settle for what we have if we can have and create a better world and society for ourselves?

It’s obvious when you see a green product.  It’s obvious when you see a sustainable community.   I think the question that we need to ask is can it get brighter?  Can it get greener?  And I believe it can.

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How to present the case for sustainability

November 24, 2009 in Green, Products and Services, Sustainability, Sustainable Communities by admin | 1 comment

Big Bucks advertising and marketing have got it down. They know how to begin marketing to someone at a very early age. They know that the wording of a slogan matters. They know that how you phrase an ad changes people perception. They know the colors and symbols used evoke emotion and connection. We should be using the same effective principles when we’re trying to help people to understand the new ideas and creativity we need to see in our world.

Too much of the green movement and those driving sustainability have been operating by making documentaries, writing books and doing talks.  If that were the best way to get a product or concept to be purchased and believed in, well you’d have tons of pro-Wal-Mart documentaries.  The bookshelves would be lined with books about Target being the solution. Scientific conference sessions would be dedicated to Nikes conforming perfectly to the feet of most humans.  But you don’t see that.  My intuition tells me that one of the reasons those tactics are not primary to corporations is because they don’t create a big demand in a short period of time.

We need to learn from this.  We, as in those of us who are interested in the sustainability of the planet. We need to take a lesson from the corporations who have been so effective in getting their goods and products into our minds. We need to market positivity and transformation in a way to generate ‘fanatic evangelists’ for these life sustaining practices. Gloom and doom, end of the world, ‘you need to change’, and non-interactive mediums will not create vibrantly alive communities. Interactive, hands-on, culturally aware, co-created approaches will.

‘How?’ You ask. Well that’s something for me to continue writing about, and for you to hire me to implement.  Check back in as these ideas unfold through my writing and feel free to share your thoughts via commenting.

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Beef fat => Motor Oil?!

June 22, 2009 in Green, Products and Services by admin | No comments

This motor oil is replacing traditional oil and will be easier to safely dispose of because it is made from beef tallow (or fat), is biodegradable, and contains no hazardous components (Car&Travel June 2009.) This should make me happy, however, the thought of a bottle of beef fat is kind of gross to me just not for the reasons you may be thinking.

I am stuck thinking about how much of our potable (drinkable) water a cow consumes per day (6-30 gallons depending on the cow’s purpose) and how much grain during that same time (dairy cows eat 100 lbs of feed per day).

What will they do to get enough beef fat in order to make this product? I can’t help but think of veal in cages with tubes going down their throats, force-fed. Ducks used for fois gras have a similar life but with mashed corn instead of milk tubed in to fatten their livers.

Beef Fat in a Bottle

Beef Fat in a Bottle

I want to know how production of this product helps versus hurt the environment? How much petroleum will be used to produce one bottle as compared to a bottle of motor oil and folded into that -what is the environmental impact of growing beef to run our cars?

From their site Green Earth Tehnologies states
“G-OIL is made with American-grown renewable animal fats. These saturated fats, whose molecular single-bond carbon chains are similar to common petroleum oils, have no harsh effects on the environment, and drastically cut our dependence on foreign oil. Consider that it takes three barrels of crude oil to make one barrel of motor oil, but it only takes one barrel of animal fat to produce one barrel of G-OIL and thus will reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

I missed the line about how many barrels of oil used to produce the barrel of G-Oil. I am not criticizing. Yet. I just want the information. I have to admit that the less transparent the company, the more likely I would be to criticize. An admission that ‘we are not perfect, but here is our best effort so far’ is great. Pretending to be something you are not… well, that’s another story.

Keep in mind I am not yet fully opposed to this, although I am sure my vegan and vegetarian friends won’t like it. I feel like I need more information. It seems, up front, to be a better alternative to traditional motor oil, but could go either way. I just want to know if this is greenwashing or a good option.

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