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This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

Brian Base, the creator of RideSearch.com, was at the Green Dallas event held this last weekend here in Dallas, Texas. Proforma Green runs the t-shirts for RideSearch.com and both RideSearch.com and Proforma Green had been asked to participate in the event by the City of Dallas.

Well Brian was wearing a shirt we ran for him for the 2008 Plano Green Living Expo back in April (another event we both attended as vendors) and I noticed something.

The RideSearch.com shirts are natural cotton shirts. This means they have no dye in them, they are the color of untreated, undyed cotton.

What I noticed was that these shirts fade, although I am not sure fade is the correct word. As I mentioned the natural shirt, whether organic or regular cotton, are called natural because they have no dye in the shirts. So really there is no color (dye) to fade from the shirt, it is just the natural wear of the cotton.

And it seems that over time these shirts go from a sand tan color to more of a lighter parchment color.

I never really thought of it before but because the shirts have no dye in them they just act like what they are, natural cotton, and the “fading” is a result of their nature. Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t resist a plug for my alma mater, The Thunderbird School of Global Management. (Those of you who keep an eye on who went where to school where, should note that Josh Dorfman, The Lazy Environmentalist is a graduate too!)

For the second year, Thunderbird will be hosting the Annual Sustainable Innovation Summit, a global competition for business school students. Last year, the challenge attracted 118 teams from 59 universities and 15 countries.

Student teams are challenged with developing sustainable innovative business solutions for real-world companies and compete for a $20,000 prize and the title: Global Champions of Sustainable Innovation.

Reflective of the changing manner of education and working groups in the 21^st century teams can be made of students within a single school, within a single major or cross functional teams at different universities. As long as at least one member of the team is currently enrolled in an MBA program or has earned a graduate degree in business; you’re good to go. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

It is September and in the promotional products industry that means it is time to start talking about holiday cards.

Most companies find holiday cards a great way to show appreciation to their best clients or to send a special thank you to their employees.

Most Ecopreneurists will likely say skip the card, save a tree and send email instead. The problem is that a lot of clients expect cards.

So what to do? Read the rest of this entry »

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

OK, the name is a little cheesy but these signs are a great idea for businesses that need eco-friendly signage which still shows a professional edge.

Primarily constructed of bamboo, the Panda Stand is an environmentally friendly retractable banner stand for the exhibit, display and graphics markets. The unit is made from 90% renewable resources (bamboo casing and pole) and designed to maximize visual impact.

The Panda Stand’s eco-friendly style helps to emphasize your message while contributing to a greener planet for us all. In fact I would say the stand itself contributes to your message.

The manufacturer - Megagraphix - is working on using a 100% recycled solution for the banner itself as well as printing the unit using 100% vegetable based dyes.

This sturdy and premium portable display unit offers the same high performance attributes as other retractable displays. Its precision-engineered retraction system makes it easy and quick to set up virtually anywhere - simply unwind the graphic stored in the bamboo base and insert the support pole. Read the rest of this entry »

Have a favorite green company or product that you want to spread the word about? The folks over at Ideal Bite have created a way to recognize the best of the best in green products with their first-ever Best In Green (B.I.G.) Awards. You guys know Ideal Bite, right? They’re the ones sending you those simple tips to greening your life direct to your e-mail. They’ve gathered info on all the products and companies they’ve recommended during the life of Ideal Bite, and all those folks will automatically be considered for B.I.G. Awards, along with reader submissions. Details after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

I now understand that my attempt at blogging from our convention was a little bit of a pipe dream. There were simply so many green products and conversations going on that I was nearly overwhelmed.

Two big take-aways:

1) The industry is certain that green is going to stick this time around. A few vendors placed green (by their use of the word at the time) at 8-12% of the business and with a growth to 20% in the next few years seeming very likely. Ash City is looking for 50% by 2010.

2) This is the interesting point for Ecopreneurs: suppliers are having trouble keeping up with demand in the marketplace, even at the low levels of current business. Problems are at every level of the supply chain, so if you have a green idea, GET IT OUT THERE. Read the rest of this entry »

I just ran across this announcement,Corporate Express to Award $5,000 Office Product Shopping Spree in Ecoffice Makeover Contest on a website I like to read, Green VC.

This contest, open to all U.S. businesses, will award one winning company with a $5,000 shopping spree on the company’s online Ecoffice Source catalog.

Since our readers tend to really, really like our “greening your office” posts, I thought I’d see if anyone wanted to take up the challenge. Sponsored by Corporate Express US Inc. The contest runs June 30, 2008 to Sunday, August 31, 2008. To enter, go to http://www.corporateexpress.com/greencontest to download and fill out the Ecoffice Makeover Official Entry FormEntrants.

Be prepared to submit an electronic presentation of up to twenty slides in length on why your organization deserves an “Ecoffice Makeover” - whether you have just started to work on sustainability or if you’ve already taken significant steps toward going green.

“Purchasing eco-preferable products is just one of the many steps that businesses can take toward greater workplace sustainability,” said Walter Scott, vice president of marketing and e-commerce, Corporate Express US. “Through this contest, we want to help raise awareness with businesses about the breadth of eco-conscious products that are available for the office.”

That and to sell more office products.

Related Posts About Greening Your Office:

Stocking the Green Office: Sustainable Supplies

Eco-Entrepreneurs Are Talking About: Greening Your Office

How To Green Your Law Firm

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

GreenWare cups resemble clear plastic cups but are made from a resin derived from corn called Natureworks® PLA (polylactic acid) resin. If you are a business, festival, music event, stadium or other venue selling drinks in cups, please consider these as a alternative to petroleum based plastic cups.

These cups are 100% compostable and environmentally sustainable as PLA resin is naturally recycled in the Earth.

Other environmental benefits include:
~ 20% - 50% fewer fossil resources used than with petroleum based resins.
~ No ground water contamination because the cups break down into natural lactic acid and metabolites which are recycled into the ground. Read the rest of this entry »

Calling all ecopreneurs, Investors Circle wants to hear about you. The Fall 2008 Venture Circle will be held on November 11^th in Boston and you just may want to attend.

The Investors Circle network has invested over $130 million to date in small companies dedicated to creating a more sustainable future. The Fall Venture Circle brings together angel investors, professional venture capitalists, philanthropic investors, and entrepreneurs and offers the opportunity for green businesses to present their ideas.

A select few companies will be given the opportunity to present at the conference and network with investors. To apply visit Investors Circle.net. and apply by August 1^st.

Read more about Funding your Green Business:

Looking For A Green VC? Check Out SDForum Quarterly Venture Breakfast

One Million Dollar Skoll Awards Provide Mezzanine Funding For Social Entrepreneurs

Find Funding, Make Green Business Connections, and Inspire other Ecopreneurs on EcoSector.com

Clear your calendar! This Tuesday, July 8^th, The SDForum, a non profit specializing in emerging technologies, will be holding a breakfast with a focus on Cleantech

Everyone’s talking about clean technology and a new wave of investments rolling in to fund companies in this sector. Where’s the truth and where’s the fiction? Will the funding come from angel investors, venture capitalists or project finance? And what does this mean for startups? Steve Bengston will present an overview of the investments in the sector and trends by technology within the industry (solar, biofuels, energy..) and then our veteran VC panel will discuss and debate where they feel the opportunities are and what the trends are going forward. Read the rest of this entry »