Policies for our future

Sometimes we have to be told what to do. As stated in earlier posts, we are learning how important policy is to our future. And though responsible businesses are taking the lead, we need policy to make everyone play nice in the sandbox.

Since it is difficult for the normal person, busy trying to make a living, to keep up with what is going on in our local governments, D2E is working to organize a panel discussion on policy. We want to create a forum for citizens to listen to and speak with their policy makers. The goal is to shed light on how our government can help us move faster towards a more sustainable world. Town, city, state, national and international policy makers have to step up to the plate and help us move forward. What have we done? What are we in the process of doing? And what should we do? Unfortunately the US is behind the game compared with other developed countries, but I have faith that we can catch up.

In today's Globe I read an article by Erin Ailworth:

Under an ordinance set to be considered by Boston city councilors today, commercial waste haulers could lose their licenses if they don't offer recycling services to customers. .... "If there's an area that we can improve in, it would be recycling," said City Councilor Michael P. Ross, who drafted the proposal.

Go Michael! I love hearing that elected officials are taking their responsibilities seriously. This is great news. Our cities have to make these rules, otherwise it might never happen.

Vermont was green before green was cool

Though we normally blog about changing habits, great sustainable businesses and organizations that are making a difference – this is a little human interest entry from the office of D2E.

Like all small business owners, we never stop working. Even while we are relaxing over the weekend we will be reading up on the latest sustainable topics or reviewing blogs and talking to people about our mission. On Sunday Oct 5, during the 50 states in 50 days tour, Good Morning America came to Killington, VT. Ted and I spend a lot of time up in Vermont, so when we heard that this was happening we decided to try our first attempt at Guerilla marketing. What the heck? Right? My grandfather's voice was in the back of my head saying "There aint no free lunches Missy" but I shrugged if off for the excitement and rush of my smiling face and our website being on the screen while America watches the weather report.

So we made a sign - a simple sign - that had the D2E website url on it, and nothing more. I figured that if someone was going to get a glance of it, it should be clear and to the point. I don't watch much TV myself, so I was not sure what size the sign should be... I realized upon arrival that we had made the muthuh of all signs. It was big.



I was able to get into the front row of people that would be standing behind Marisol the weather woman. I decided to use the small sign, since I was up front - and Ted took the big sign to the back. I could see my sign in the monitor that was facing us, so I was sure that I was successful. I strategically put my sign right next to the little girl next to me, thinking the camera would be attracted to her cute face. Reveling in my success, I easily ignored the pain in my knees from kneeling on jagged rocks for an hour while we waited for the two minutes of live TV that we had.

After the weather report, I met up with Ted again only to learn that he was in the back of the crowd with our big sign, holding it above people's heads while they were filming. Apparently he was doing this while they asked us to keep our signs down, so he was scolded and asked to leave. Ted started to really like this guerilla marketing stuff.

In the end, we did not get on national television. They cropped us out! The nerve. But all was not in vein, we did make it to the front page of the Rutland Herald in VT. : )

Considering this was our first attempt we felt that it was a success and it definitely was good fun. The whole crew at GMA was great and Wendy, the producer of the Vermont segment, did a great job. I think they enjoyed their time at the peak as well.

On another note, one of my fellow sign holders was wearing a beautiful IBEX jacket.

MEET JOHN BASSETT: John Bassett Recycled Glass

John Bassett will tell you he’s fascinated by light, structure, line, texture, balance, and color … in that order. Growing up in a family of both artists and thinkers, it’s not surprising that he can articulate his creative process in such exacting terms. What might surprise people is that he can also beautifully articulate what he does for an audience of five-year-olds. And for someone who has recently exhibited his work at the Children’s Museum, he’s has a lot of practice doing just that!

Big question first: So what are you doing to reduce your global footprint?
I make art from recycled stuff.

That works! Now, onto what we’re all wondering: How do you explain your profession to a five year old?
“I melt bottles and make things for people to look at.”

Have you always been a glass artist?
No, I actually worked most of my life as a carpenter, but I’ve been doing glass since 1979.

What is it about glass that you find so interesting?
I’m happiest in the rich, associative world of recycled glass and other found objects. I find myself focused on that most conventional quality of glass—its transparency.

Any early influences?
I was a kid who drew and painted. My uncle, Richard Bassett was a painter, but I think it was really my grandmother’s gardener who was my biggest influence. His name was Joseph LeBeau. Today, he might be considered a “naïve artist.” He also made fantastic, wonderful moving toys for kids using brightly painted Popsicle sticks and discarded lumber. He gave them all away. I have only a very small toy he made and don't know if there are any others left. I think the kids who enjoyed his toys were the only people who appreciated what Joseph made.

That seems sad.
Joseph LeBeau's story isn't really sad, I think. He was loved and is still remembered by me and probably by his family and a few other kids. A lot has changed for the better since the 1940's and 50's when he made his toys. People have learned to see and to value naive artists and the things—buildings, signs, manufactured stuff—we see every day. And people have also learned to value kids’ art. I remember when I was an architecture student about 1963 going into a public elementary school in Cambridge and asking for kids drawings and paintings. Teachers were surprised by my interest and many didn’t save the art—and neither did the kids. That wouldn't happen today.

I’ll bet Joseph be happy that kids are enjoying you’re work.
I think he would!

Visit John at www.basglas.com.


Interview by Anna Goldsmith of the Hired Pens.

One step forward, two steps back

Back in May I wrote an entry about greenwashing. In this entry, I questioned the Sierra Club's criteria for their endorsements, specifically talking about the Chevy Tahoe.

"How is the Sierra Club determining which products to endorse and should we trust them?" – D2E Blog, May 14, 2008

When we saw that the Sierra Club also endorsed Green Works by Clorox, but not any other great cleaning products (like D2E exhibitors Shaklee and Seaside Naturals, or Method or Mrs Meyers) I started to loose faith in their brand. It started to become clear that the Sierra Club was not using their brand as a stamp of approval based on open criteria, but more as a marketing tool.

Don't get me wrong, I am a capitalist 100%. I like to see nonprofits and for profits working together for a common goal. I see all three parts of sustainability as equally important; environment, social and economic. But we have to be transparent about our dealings and the goal is to create a new and improved environment for commerce. At least that is how we see it here at D2E. We see our weekend of exhibitors as the future of business. These people are doing business the way it has to be done in order for us to evolve. (See D2E Criteria here and D2E 2008 footprint here.)

So I was pleased to finally learn some details about the Sierra Club endorsements. Anya Kamenetz lays it out for us in the September issue of Fast Company. I recommend you read the whole article since Kamenetz does a good job reporting. She confirmed my suspicions about the Sierra Club, and she confirmed my belief that consumers are smarter than many marketers think. Apparently the Sierra Club has been taking an undisclosed amount of money from Clorox in exchange for the endorsement, and it made no demands for Clorox to offer recycled packaging or change the environmental profile of any other Clorox products.

"The take-home message for the Sierra Club and other nonprofits may be that they need to draw a careful distinction between two types of nonprofit/for-profit relationships: cause-related marketing and endorsements. .... In endorsement relationships, on the other hand, a group such as the Forest Stewardship Council or the Sustainable Fishery Advocates puts its seal of approval on a product that claims some mission-related benefits. No money should be involved, or that seal isn't going to be worth much." – Fast Company, September 2008

My take on this whole issue is that we are moving one step forward and two steps back. I am happy to see nonprofits working with for profits. But obviously they need to be careful about how they do this. I am also happy that a large company like Clorox is working to create products that are better for the environment and better for people. These large companies can touch more people, thereby expanding the natural market and educating more consumers. There is a moral to learn from the Sierra Club's story, and hopefully it will help us move that one step closer to becoming a sustainable economy.

By the way, in the same issue of Fast Company there is an interview with Jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland. We are big Swartz fans here. This is a business person that is walking the walk.

When old is new again

One person's trash is another person's treasure. Sometimes it is a clever designer finding a new use for an old thing - other times it is curb-side shopping, and other times it is passing on your old stuff to organizations that can redistribute it. It's all good.

One of the great things about this blog is that it keeps us actively looking for sustainable businesses, products, organizations, events and news around town. We learn something new each day at D2E and we love sharing it.

Since finding new owners for old goods is clearly sustainable, today we wanted to feature More Than Words. This is a student-run organization that sells donated books. It's simple: you have some old books that are cluttering your home, they can sell them to raise money. High school students learning how to run a business.

Beauty in simplicity.

Embrace the different shades of green

Some like to hike, others like to bike. Embrace your shade of green and let your friends find their own.

Since the resurgence of environmentalists - shall we say since the premier of An Inconvenient Truth - people have been more actively changing their daily habits. I'll admit that I am one of them. Though I was raised to be aware of politics, care about human rights and be good to the earth, the amount of attention the media has been giving the environment has helped keep me über-aware of my own impact.

So slowly but surely I have been changing my habits. I eat less meat (I am contemplating going back to being a vegetarian, but have not yet made the move). I don't buy bottled water. I use my travel coffee mug religiously. I recycle. I use my own bags for groceries. I ride my bike to work or take public transportation. I am in the process of setting up my compost bin. This compost bin is taking longer than I would like. I seem to be quite tired at the end of each work day and I need to set aside some time to put this together. In the meantime, I will admit that I have been hording veggie scraps in old Chinese take-out plastic containers. I am hiding them from my husband so that he does not get grossed out. So don't tell him.

I have learned that it is easier to change one habit at a time. Taking on too much change all at once can lead to frustration and failure. So once I get the compost bin up and working, my next step is to take on a volunteer job. I am trying to work my schedule so that I can spend some time on ReVision farm. I love what they do, and want to be a part of it.

I am inspired by people every day, and that motivates me to change much more than having someone tisk-tisk me. At this point I would say my shade of green is a sea foam green. I am not a light green, nor am I a grassy green nor a dark emerald green. I have made some great strides in the past year, but I have a way to go.

So back to letting everyone be their own shade of green, Beth Teitell was doing a story for NPR on green shaming/environmental harassment. She called me for some information. I mentioned to her that while attending seminars to learn more about sustainable business people were shaming the fact that we all had to meet instead of having a webinar. I can see their point, but we are human and we still need to interact. There are times when a webinar is appropriate, and there are times when we should meet face-to-face. Anyone that has had to run their own business knows the importance of networking.

You can hear the story, titled "Is an enviromaniac loose in your office?", on
the Marketplace website. Check it out - I'm sure there are many of you out there that can relate.

In the meantime - keep up the good work.

Planet Tran

Last week I traveled to Colorado Springs. It was my first time traveling alone and had an early flight. I wanted to make sure I would reach the airport on time and have everything under control. My past experiences with cabs haven't been the greatest. Once my cab arrived late and nearly made me lose my flight. On another occasion my cab showed up in an SUV and had another passenger inside. Since this was my first time traveling alone I didn't want to anything to go wrong, I wanted to go with a vehicle that was reliable and eco-friendly (if there was such a thing) and there was...it's called Planet Tran!



Planet Tran uses Toyota Prius Gas Electric Hybrid vehicles as taxis. These cars rely on battery power when running at low speed or when the car is stopped for up to 15 minutes. Planet Tran's mission is to start a livery service based exclusively on the Hybrid electric gas Toyota Prius. With Oil prices on the rise these vehicles are the way to go. Planet Tran's vision is "an urban transportation infrastructure that utilizes the most efficient transportation technology available." If a cab drives on average 50.00 miles a year a driver could save $3.850 in gasoline costs per year by switing to a hybrid vehicle.

These fuel efficient cars look slick and are eco-friendly. The driver (Matt) was punctual to the minute, he was standing outside the car, greeted me, carried my luggage to the trunk, opened the door for me and was very courteous the entire drive to the airport. Apparently Planet Tran is known for having drivers that are pleasant and knowledgeable. Best of all their rates are reasonable considering the cost of the car. A Ford Crown Victoria costs $7,000-$10,000 while a Prius ranges between $21,500-$26,000.

A trip from Harvard Square to Logan Airport cost me $40, which is $5-$10 more than a regular cab that consumes more gas and carbon emissions. Think about this next time you need a ride to the airport.

Sustainably Yours
Nathalie Zegarra

No appletini, thanks, but pass the organic wine!

Last night I attended one of the Boston Green Drinks events and thoroughly enjoyed the company. (Greater) Boston Green Drinks meets at a neighborhood pub on the 1st Tuesday and 3rd Wednesday of every month, from 6:30 — 9:30 pm; details of the meeting are sent out to subscribers approximately one week beforehand. If you have any questions or would like to be added to the distribution list to receive monthly reminders, send an email to bostongreendrinks@gmail.com. I highly recommend it!

I met people from all over the city doing great things; from the Charles River Conservancy to EarthWatch to our neighbor, the Lenox, to young students looking to meet professionals already in the sustainable business sector. Since our whole mission at D2E is to promote businesses that are abiding by the triple bottom line* while educating consumers about how to live sustainably in our urban/suburban environment, this was a great place to talk to people about interesting programming options. We always want to hear about the challenges and victories of individuals living in greater Boston. How do you commute? What recycling challenges are you facing? What is the best way for an apartment dweller to compost? We want to know. Send your ideas to info@d2eboston.com.

* Triple bottom line: Financial, social, and environmental effects of a firm's policies and actions that determine its viability as a sustainable organization.

Some green drinks from our exhibitors:

French Rabbit is changing the way wine is made and packaged.

Tetra-Prisma containers are state-of-the-art packaging that will revolutionize the wine industry. 100% recyclable, Tetra-Prisma containers reduce packaging by 90% in comparison to typical glass wine bottles. They may not look as romantic, but they work great for Shakespeare on the Common.

Kunde Wine Estates are looking at every aspect of their business.

For example, cover crops are employed to reduce energy usage, water conservation, control erosion, increase soil fertility, and create habitats for beneficial insects. Vegetation management and the placement of nesting boxes for owls and other raptors throughout the vineyards support a natural, pest free environment. These approaches to winegrowing create a naturally healthy environment which results in well-balanced vines and wines.

So if you like a glass of wine with your meal, consider your sustainable options!

There's good big business, and then not-so-good

At D2E we get über excited about the little things. We applaud printing on both sides, we love hearing that local restaurants are sourcing from local farms (I ate at Hungry Mother last night) and we love seeing people walking down the street with their reusable mugs. These little deeds go a long way. We also love to see big businesses strive to make a difference. These efforts need to happen and below are two examples; Timberland and Dunkin Donuts. One is great, the other, not-so-great.

Timberland
Yesterday I attended an Ad Club event that highlighted Timberland's 2007 Earth Keeper campaign. This was a great example of a big company making a big difference. I had seen their billboards and posters all over town last year, but I did not know about what they did on the back end. Below is a short list to give you an idea of how a media company (Mullen - Media Hub) and a big retail company can put their heads together and come up with some great sustainable marketing ideas.

- All billboards were re-purposed and made into reusable tote bags, sold at Timberland stores. (They raffled two off, but I wasn't so lucky.)

- The energy used to run their TV ads was offset, meaning that the money was invested into renewable energy.

- The Earth Keeper shoe was made with recycled materials (old tires and plastic bottles).

- Recycled materials and soy based inks were used in the packaging. (They put these requirements in their RFP's when looking for vendors.)

It was refreshing to hear a big business talk about the environmental impact and the social impact that their company makes. Timberland was completely honest and upfront with the audience, making no claims to be perfect. They are doing their best to treat the world, the way they would want to be treated.

Dunkin Donuts
On the not-so-warm-and-fuzzy note - our office is in the same building as a Dunkin Donuts store. The store is currently being remodeled, so there is a lot of construction going on outside. Yesterday as I was walking to work, I saw that the crew was disassembling the signs. So I asked if they would be recycling them or just throwing them out. The answer was that they would be trashed. So, since I am a quirky graphic designer and I collect old signs, I offered to take them. I wanted to put the big "715" sign on our office wall, since we are located at 715 Boylston Street and I love this sort of re-purposed/found art. How cool would that be? To have a big 715 sign on our wall? Pretty cool. And I figured I could take the old Dunkin Donuts sign and add it to my personal collection. I assured them that I would not have these signs in public, that they were for our office and my private collection. (I'm not yet able to begin an art collection, so I focus on old signs.)

Alas, I heard through the construction super that they feared there would be a liability issue. Does this seem like a knee jerk fear reaction from corporate America? The owner did not even call me to have a conversation. I think that is what bothered me the most. I had given my card to the construction crew supervisor and he passed it on to the owner with my request. I did not even get a courtesy call to say "Thanks for taking an interest in our brand, but..." And to boot - we have given them a key to our office so that they can access our utility closet during construction. We went out of our way to help them.

I should note that the construction crew and the store manager have been exceptionally nice throughout this whole process. I have not met or spoken with the owner, so I can't speak for him/her.

As a designer, I can understand if this is a branding issue. They may fear that I would hang the sign on a public street or in an adult book store. But if the owner had called me it would have accomplished much more for the brand. I would have felt like a person, not just a number that adds to their bottom line. And there would have been a slight chance that we could have found a better home than the land fill for these signs. Perhaps this franchise owner could have put me in touch with corporate to see if there was a better solution.

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Unfortunately, or fortunately, most decisions in life are not simply about taste. When you decide what to put in your mouth, you are not only contemplating the flavor but also the nutritional value or the cost or the convenience... When you are making personal decisions you can decide what is best for you. Some people care about their weight, others care about energy level, others care about allergies and for some, it is merely about getting a morsel of food. When it comes to business, your decisions affect your brand.

When planning D2E we have to make decisions about what exhibitors we want to participate, what kind of sponsors we are looking for and of course the educational programming. Every decision we make will reflect upon us and send a message to the public. We can rationalize that a Hummer is green when it runs on vegetable oil. But is that the message we want to send to our kids?

Based on all that I have learned in my exploration to live a more sustainable life, I have come to realize that we need to re-think our American dream. This is not an easy task and I do not have the answer. But I am working to change my own habits, one at a time, and I am re-thinking my personal and professional goals.

Based on the previous blog entry, a friend contacted the Sierra Club to inquire about their criteria for endorsing products. Below is the response.

Thank you for contacting the Sierra Club.

We received a couple of emails about this and I got this reply from Carl Pope:
"The comments are accurate. My personal view is that no one needs an SUV -- if you need 4wd a Subaru will do, and if you are a serious rancher or plumber you need a pick-up. A mini-van will handle the soccer team more safely.

But there are no equivalent sized vehicles that get as good gas mileage, no hybrid subaru wagon or mini-van, so I think it was the best new car of this year."

Your support of the Sierra Club is greatly appreciated. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

"Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet."

Best Regards,

David Perry
Sierra Club Information

I wonder if The Sierra Club realizes the power of their endorsement. They are telling people that this is a great vehicle to purchase and you can feel good about it. I think, and I hope, that there is someone out there that really needs this huge SUV. My husband drives a big truck, but he is in construction and he uses it to haul loads every week. So I understand the need for trucks. But I don't understand promoting it as a green option to the general public. I wonder if the Sierra Club is going to taint it's brand with these types of endorsements.

The Tahoe may be the best in it's class, but should we be promoting this class for the environment? Is this like promoting open toe high heels at a rodeo?

Greenwashing Galore

When Betty and I started talking about producing Down:2:Earth, it came from our desire to cut through all the bull. We are both skeptical consumers that want to support businesses that are conducting themselves in a way that is good for the community and the earth, as well as their pockets. We also wanted to learn how we could make a difference ourselves as individuals, as consumers and as small business owners. So we hired a young, enthusiastic environmental major from Tufts (Jennifer Baldwin) and we put together a list of criteria. We also enlisted a board of advisors that consists of some great local sustainable experts.

Considering how much hype the whole green movement has received it is hard to decipher between what is really making strides to improve our life and what is just marketing. So we were pleased to see Beth Daley's story in today's Globe. See excerpt below.

"Just how green should you feel driving the new Chevy Tahoe hybrid sport utility vehicle?

The eight-passenger vehicle is plastered with "hybrid" labels. An automobile magazine panel that included the executive director of The Sierra Club named it the "Green Car of the Year."

But the Tahoe gets only about 20 miles per gallon - not much better than the nonhybrid Honda Pilot SUV, which also seats eight. The celebrated Toyota Prius gets around 46 miles per gallon.

"How a 6,000-pound behemoth can be the green car of the year is beyond me," said David Champion, director of Consumer Reports Auto Test Division. "It's a marketing exercise rather than reality.""

Unfortunately this brings up another question to be answered. How is the Sierra Club determining which products to endorse and should we trust them? The Sierra Club has a great reputation, as far as I know, but now I wonder. Perhaps I am looking at this from the wrong angle. Some people really need powerful vehicles to climb over mountain passes in snowy conditions and haul heavy loads. So perhaps this is a great alternative for that person. This sounds like a job for our research intern. More info to come later.

In the meantime, we will continue navigating this great gray space working to set the bar high and promote the companies that are helping us move to a more sustainable future.

Business as an agent of change

For the past year we at D2E have been researching companies and organizations that we feel add value to the consumer's life, and make sense for our environment and society. Betty and I felt strongly that all businesses should be considering these factors – the end user (value of the product or service), the environment, society and of course profit. I should say profit with a capital P, because it is such and important factor. Profit can mean the money gained so that one can send her kids to college. Profit can be the money gained so that the Non-profit can help more people or animals. If nobody profits, where are we?

I am not an economist or an academic. I am a mere small business owner that has earned my MBA in the trenches. But I have learned the value of business. Business can be an agent of change. We business owners can help society progress in a positive way. We create jobs and we help stimulate the economy. Take Lush as an example (shameless plug - but their stuff is so great). This company offers great bath products to the consumer. Why are they great? 1. They are fun, so they deliver joy to the one using it. 2. They smell good. 3. They will clean your body. 4. They do not conduct any animal testing. 5. They do not contain any toxins. They are made with fresh organic fruit & veggies. 6. No sweat shops. 7. They minimized packaging... This company considered many factors when they were developing their products. They did not ignore the fact that in the end, the product has to work. It has to deliver value to the end user. If a product is merely environmentally friendly it will not live long.

And we can't ignore corporate responsibility. I attended the Boston Business Journal Philanthropy Summit this year and their panel sponsored by State Street on how businesses can help end youth violence in Boston (Urban Violence is a Business Problem). Our society has some serious issues to deal with - and it takes a village to raise a child. Or, perhaps, it takes a conscience corporate community to raise a city.

As for D2E - we decided early on that we wanted to make a difference. How can we use our skills to create something that is useful for the end-user and good for the planet and community? Well, we made a few decisions early on.

1. We created a Board of Advisors that could help us do the right thing. They know a lot more than we do about the environment, so we knew we would need their help in order to avoid green washing.
2. Inspired by Van Jones, we decided that we had to have en event for the youth of Boston. We need to reach out to the kids and let them know why these issues are important and show them the opportunities that are here for the taking. So on Sunday, March 30 at noon we will host a YOUTH FORUM. We will have a panel of professionals from different sectors of the sustainable economy talk about how they got to where they are, and why it is important to pursue a career in this emerging sustainable economy. Why should we care?
3. We decided to focus on design and innovation. Our hope is that in the future one will not gain any marketing points with the green label. So we want D2E to showcase good design and innovation that just happens to consider the planet. On Saturday we will host a symposium on SUSTAINABLE DESIGN. The panelists are a diverse group and they will talk about how design, science and policy all come into play and can help create a more sustainable future.

We at D2E want this event to be beneficial to the consumer. We want to help consumers find products and services that enable them to live their day-to-day lives with style and comfort, while shrinking their footprint. We want to inform and entertain.

So that is my thought for the day, and I hope that you all attend our show and feel we have added value to your life.