The Sustainable Future

Which is better...organic or local?

Have you ever been at the grocery store and felt that little pang of guilt for buying those organic bananas from thousands of miles away? Would it be better to buy something from closer to home, even if it wasn't organic?

Sure, organic is better for you and better for the environment, but what about the fossil fuels burned up in transporting those organic bananas to your local grocery store? Does that offset the positive environmental impact?

If you've ever gone in circles thinking about questions like that, you'll find this article interesting. It takes on the question, which is better, organic or local?

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Global poverty facts and statistics

From my perspective here in Seattle, it's hard to really grasp what a devastating impact poverty has on much of the world. It's hard to even grasp what poverty even means for much of the world's population.

Here is a page from the UN Millenium Project with some poverty facts and figures. Obviously it doesn't paint a picture of the actual day to day reality people face, but it does put it in a big picture perspective.

For example...

• Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
• More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day...300 million are children.
• Of these 300 million children, only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations. More than 90 percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency.
• More than 2.6 billion people-over 40 per cent of the world's population-do not have basic sanitation, and more than one billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water.

I can look at the numbers, but somehow I can't truly wrap my brain around them. I suppose it's an emotional self-defense mechanism of sorts.

Regardless of whether or not I can really comprehend it, as I sit here in my economic ivory tower, it's good to have some kind of reality check on what's really going on in much of the world. It's too easy to get complacent.

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Green mutual fund outshines the market

Want more proof that green has hit the mainstream? Take a look at the performance of the Global EcoTrends green mutual fund.

As this article in TheStreet.com describes it...

Not everyone is sold on environmentalism, but it's hard to argue with the returns of some mutual funds that invest in "green" companies. The recent performance of the Allianz RCM Global EcoTrends Fund (AECOX) should convert skeptics faster than a code-red air-quality alert.

The $131 million fund has appeared in the top 10% of stock funds for several months this year. It advanced 28.13% in the six months through August, smartly outperforming the 5.71% total return of the S&P 500 over the same period.

Even more impressive, the fund turned in a very respectable 4.26% return for the three months ended Aug. 31, compared with a 3.28% decline in the S&P 500.

Since inception in January of this year, it is up 19.3%.

Global EcoTrends isn't the only "green" fund generating attractive returns, but it is more diversified than most of its cohorts. Other recent ecological standouts focus on a single industry, such as clean energy or clean water.

Allianz's fund invests in both of these areas; its "eco energy" investments include renewable energy -- such as wind, solar and geothermal -- in addition to firms involved in energy efficiency, "microgeneration" of electricity and hybrid cars.

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Co-op America's Green Business of the Year finalists

Looking for some business role models to admire? Want proof that the business world isn't really inherently evil and actually has a great potential for good? Want to just plain ol' feel warm and fuzzy about what what entrepreneurs come up with as green thinking starts to permeate our culture?

Look no further than Co-op America's People's Choice Awards. Here are the ten finalists for Green Business of the Year:

1. Flexcar
2.  Greenfeet.com: The Planet's Homestore
3.  Green Living Now
4.  Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils
5.  Mountains of the Moon
6.  Only Natural Pet Store   
7.  Pizza Fusion   
8.  ReusableBags.com
9.  UsedCardboardBoxes.com 
10.  Yoga Nine/Buddha Body Fair Trade Store

Check out their web sites, then vote for them. The winner will be announced  at the Green Festival in San Francisco on November 10th.

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10 ways to cut your refrigerator's energy costs

Your refrigerator is one of the most energy intensive appliances you have. Here are ten ideas to cut its energy use and the resulting costs.

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Carbon offsets: Can you buy carbon neutrality?

When I played the Consumer Consequences game, my score shot up (the higher the score, the less sustainable your lifestyle) when I entered the information about how many miles I fly in the course of a year.

My first thought was, OK, time to explore carbon offsets so I can feel all warm and fuzzy about my low impact lifestyle again. As this article points out, I'm not alone in that way of thinking:

The race to save the planet from global warming has spawned an industry of middlemen selling environmental salvation at bargain prices.

The companies take millions of dollars collected from their customers and funnel them into carbon-cutting projects, such as tree farms in Ecuador, windmills in Minnesota and no-till fields in Iowa.

In return, customers get to claim the reductions, known as voluntary carbon offsets, as their own. For less than $100 a year, even a Hummer can be pollution-free — at least on paper.

Driven by guilt, public relations or genuine concern over global warming, tens of thousands of people have bought offsets to zero out their carbon effect on the planet.

Unfortunately, it's not a slam dunk that buying carbon offsets is going to do anything more than assuage my guilt.

But the industry is clouded by an approach to carbon accounting that makes it easy to claim reductions that didn't occur. Many projects that have received money from offset companies would have reduced emissions by the same amount anyway.

The growing popularity of offsets has prompted the Federal Trade Commission to begin looking into the $55-million-a-year industry.

"Everybody would like to find happy-face, win-win solutions that don't cost anything," said Robert Stavins, an environmental economist at Harvard University. "Unfortunately, they don't exist."

I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so I'm still holding the possibility open that carbon offsets can have a positive impact. But it looks like - as with many things - you have to do your homework and not take the marketing spin at face value.

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Tully's to use only organic, Fair Trade coffee

Here in Seattle, it's not uncommon to see a Starbuck's on one corner and a Tully's coffee on a corner across the street. Recently Tully's announced something they hope will give them a competitive edge, a switch to using nothing but organic, Free Trade-certified coffee, served in 100% recyclable cups.
 

Starting today, all espresso drinks sold by the chain will use only organic, Fair Trade-certified coffee beans. Those beans will cost the Seattle company 17 to 20 cents more a pound than it has been paying.

Tully's also will spend 1 to 1.5 cents more for each of its cups, which beginning today are compostable and recyclable. Most paper coffee cups are not recyclable because of a plastic lining that keeps them from getting soggy. Tully's new cups, made by International Paper, use a plastic lining made from corn.

Tully's hopes the new espresso and recycled cups will attract new customers.

"People demonstrate a willingness to travel for products that support their personal beliefs," said Tully's spokesman Rob Martin.

Because Tully's has only 138 stores, fewer than most multistate coffee chains, the company is hoping it will be alone among those that can offer organic, Fair Trade espresso.

"It's a limited crop, so Starbucks couldn't follow us," Martin said.

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Consumer Consequences (What if everyone consumed like you?)

How many earths would it take to support all 6.6 billion people on the planet if everyone consumed like you? Consumer Consequences is an interesting new site with a "game" that's part educational tool and part sobering look at the reality of our consumption.

You start out with a score of one earth, and as you answer questions about your home, the food you eat, your transportation, etc., that score either goes up or down (unless you grow your own food, generate your own energy, never buy anything, and never go anywhere, don't expect your score to go down). At the same time, facts and tips pop up about that particular area of consumption.

I live - I thought - a reasonably low-consumption lifestyle. My home is cozy (read that, small), I work from home so I don't commute, and I'm not much of a shopper. But I still scored 4.1, meaning it would take 4.1 earths to live my lifestyle. Yikes! I think it was the air travel that really killed my score.

When you're done, you can compare how your score compares to others who have played who have filled out their information, and  get tips on how to improve your score.

So what's your score?

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The year of going car-less

Could you give up your car for a year?

Last year Alan Durning, husband, father of three, and founder of the Seattle-based sustainability think-tank Sightline Institute, did just that. When his eighteen year old son totalled his nineteen year old Volvo, Durning and his wife decided to turn it into an opportunity for a year-long experiment.

If, like me, you're not quite prepared to go there yourself, you're in luck. You can still read about it in Durning's fascinating blog about the experience. And it's not just a running inventory of the logistics of life without four wheels, it's also a thoughtful look at the meaning of that life without those four wheels.

Take, for example, when a columnist at a Seattle weekly paper took potshots at Durning, calling him a moocher for bumming rides from others on occasion. Rather than getting defensive about it, Durning started looking at the "gift economy" of swapping rides with other parents, something they were unable to participate in as a car-less family. As he describes it:

The swapping of rides is a convenience and a practicality, of course. But it’s also a form of community building. In fact, anthropologists regard the reciprocal doing of favors as not just a form of community building but as the essence of community building. That’s because humans, like other primates, seem to be programmed to honor the norm of reciprocity, which Stanford social psychologist Deb Gruenfeld defines as “a powerful and pervasive social rule that compels us to treat others as they have treated us. For example, when others have done us a favor, we feel that we ‘owe’ them one in return.”

When the bonds of mutual reciprocity are thick and stretch in many directions, you have a strong community–one that’s high in social capital. And you’ve got the feeling, as a parent, that many hands are there to support you.  People chip in to help you when bad luck strikes, and you do the same for others.
But subtract the car from this equation, and you’re suddenly out of currency for the most basic exchanges.

He goes on to talk about how he and his wife worked out other ways to participate in the community-building gift economy of parenting.

So what about you? Could you go car-less for a year?

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20 tips for a sustainable business

Sustainability is at best a fuzzy concept (I've seen, oh, maybe a bazillion different definitions for what it actually means). Sustainability with our personal decisions is complex enough, but throw in the bottom line demands of the business world and the multiple parties involved - employees, investors, suppliers, distributors, etc. - and it gets even more challenging to define, much less pursue.

So how does a business take steps towards sustainability in such a sea of complexity? Mal Warwick, co-author of the book Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, offers 20 steps every company can take to move towards sustainability.

Here is a pared down nutshell version. Go to the article for the full article...

1.  Start by rethinking the purpose of your business—and don’t tell me your purpose is to make widgets or make money.

2. Recognize that you’re not the only one in your enterprise who is seeking meaning in your life. Your employees are, too (not to mention all your other stakeholders).

3. Engage your employees as leaders. One of the most meaningful ways you can give your employees a sense that their contributions are valued and their voices heard is by involving them in decision-making.

4. Maslow can also teach you, if you need to learn the lesson, that your employees can’t seek meaning in life unless their most fundamental need is satisfied: to survive—to feed, clothe, and house themselves and their families and to obtain care for them when they’re sick.

5. Consider profit-sharing as a way to boost morale, increase productivity, and foster a sense of ownership among your employees. Businesses that cut employees in on a share of the action through a meaningful profit-sharing program almost invariably find that turnover drops and profits soar.

6. Share the wealth created by your business. Whether you’re a sole owner, or a manager or investor with a commanding share of control, there is no better way to provide for your own financial security in the future than by turning your employees into partners through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan or similar means.

7. Commit your business to the health and wellness of its employees (not to mention your own!). Share the burden of healthcare costs with your employees; if feasible, underwrite it entirely.

8. Build into your core business policies and practices a commitment to diversity and inclusion, taking necessary steps to recruit, train, and support employees that represent the full range of ethnic, gender, and racial diversity of your community.

9. Conduct an environmental and energy audit of your company’s operations, using a third-party auditor.

10. Based on the findings of your environmental and energy audit, draft an environmental policy statement and environmental management system that will guide your company’s resource use in the future.

11. Heed the 3 Rs and 1 C of contemporary recycling: reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost—and involve your customers, too.

12. When designing new products and considering the materials to be used in them, plan for the products’ full lifetime, including their manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal.

13. Take a look around, and assess your suppliers, vendors, and strategic partners. Do their labor standards, environmental standards, and levels of community involvement match your own? Are they the best partners you can find to help you run your business in synch with your values?

14. Find at least one way that you can involve your employees in a high-profile effort to benefit the community or communities where you do business.

15. At least once annually, hold an all-staff meeting (or a meeting in each work unit or facility) to discuss how the company can improve its performance on the non-financial aspects of your business—the social and environmental factors that go hand-in-hand with financial factors in a triple-bottom-line business.

16. Describe your vision, mission, and values in a flyer or brochure, and in a post on your company’s Web site. Distribute it to all your stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and key community leaders.

17. Once or twice a year, involve your employees, customers, or both in selecting a social or environmental issue of shared concern.

18. Once a month, hold a staff meeting where a leading local nonprofit organization may make a brief presentation to familiarize you and your employees with its work.

19. Hold a staff meeting to discuss philanthropy with your employees. Discuss the roles that they, individually and collectively, as well as the company might play in a philanthropic program.

20. Become a spokesperson for the triple bottom line.

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