Ecopreneurist

In Februrary 2009 mokugift started to see traffic coming from Elle magazine France.  This piqued our interest and decided to find the article.  It turns out that Marion Cotillard mentioned mokugift as one of her favorite sites along with L’alliance pour la planete.  We aren’t very familiar with the entertainment world, so we had to look up this name.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Marion won the best actress Oscar in for her role in 2007’s La Vie En Rose (remake).

Read the rest of this entry »

You hear so much about people striving to live a greener, more sustainable life. You may at times wonder, who else is doing it, and is all that happy talk translating into real world results?

Three friends decided to find out. As they put it,

Mandy, Ryan and Brady are ‘bikepacking’ 12,000 miles to the East Coast and back to California, using solar-powered electronics and leg-powered bicycles.  The result is a feature-length documentary film that will present a realistic experience of seeking out and living in sustainable community.

Started October 2008 and 3800 miles into it as of this writing (with 209 PB&J’s consumed if you must know) they have been filming and Twittering their way across to country, giving a peek into what it looks, feels, and works like to live in sustainable, intentional community, the end result being a film called Within Reach.

It’s clear that these people are 21st century environmentalists - they don’t shun businesses supporting their venture, and in fact proudly list their sponsors on the front page, all of which bear relevance with what they’re doing. This project is Creative Commons licensed, and they are a non profit, allowing for people to support their journey and the making of it into a film afterwords.

So what have they found?

Read the rest of this entry »

Question: What do you get when you mix a team of extremely creative geeks with a whole lot of trash?

Answer: Terracycle.

Paul Smith wrote a series of articles about Terracyle last year.  Founded by Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer in 2001 while students at Princeton, Terra Cycle started as a way to spread the benefits of vermicomposting (that is, composting with worms) to a larger audience. Szaky and Beyer were eventually able to earn startup funds, and by 2004, Home Depot was carrying Terra Cycle Plant Food on their website.

Today the story has developed much further. The Terracyle team now visits landfills on a routine basis to collect whatever garbage they can find, for ultimate conversion into usable products. With computer bags made from billboards, pencils made from rolled newspaper and kites made from Oreo cookie wrappers, Terracycle now has regular sales appointments at major retailers like Office Max and Walmart. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Jill, you are an artist, designer and crafter. Tell us about what you do and what you create.

First and foremost I create detailed native nature drawings. With these, I create an eponymous line of paper goods and fabric accessories. I’ve been an “indie-craftpreneur” since 2001, selling my goods on my retail website and in boutiques worldwide. I also create murals, take on custom art commissions, and the occasional graphic design project for like-minded businesses. Read the rest of this entry »

“We need solutions at the speed of business,” says Hunter Lovins, author, speaker and founder of Natural Capital Solutions in the Naturally Successful DVD, produced by Arnold Creek Productions, Inc., known for its award-winning videos on sustainability used by organizations around the world.

Naturally Successful is an expertly assembled compilation of inspiring interviews of the leading visionaries giving a voice to the emerging green ECOnomy and the businesses that are in the business of remaking the world for the better. The release of this video couldn’t be better timed as millions of Americans explore ways to prosper despite the economic downturn.

“Build your business around your calling,” continues Lovins, who like the many leaders featured in the DVD, recognize opportunities for enterprising ecopreneurs to solve the most pressing problems now facing us, turning some profits in the process while achieving a happier, more fulfilling life. “We’re not in a sprint. We’re in a marathon to save the world…What is it that you love to do? How do you make a business of it?” asks Lovins.

To grasp the scale of the sustainability movement afoot and harness ideas to guide your green business, this 78 minute DVD offers insights on what being an ecopreneur is all about with a focus on building a values-driven business, providing meaningful leadership, achieving results beyond profits, serving customers, thinking long-term, seizing opportunities in new and existing markets, creating a thriving business and embracing a new type of commerce that seeks to make the world a better place. Interviews are woven together like a well-made life raft for anyone setting out to launch a green business that thrives with a triple bottom line.

Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who didn’t know already, this week is “Green Week” at NBC Universal. On Monday (till the end of the week) the network started broadcasting 150 hours of environment-themed programming on its various TV channels and other properties.

Green themed programming includes prime time shows such as “The Office” which will air an episode about the company considering recycled paper. And then local NBC stations are incorporating green-themed stories into their newscasts. As a Healthy Living Consultant, I spent this morning at the Farmer’s Market with NBC11 talking about “How to Have a Green Thanksgiving.” The segment will air on NBC11 this Thursday at 6.45pm so stay posted!

I think it’s a great opportunity for Ecopreneurists.  Both in terms of finding interesting eco businesses…as well as a tool for drawing visibility to your own eco business. Last year, the company launched its first Green Week and also a “Get On Board” program to encourage consumers to reduce greenhouse gases and raise awareness. This year’s theme is ‘Green Your Routine,’ the network will feature tips and resources that offer consumers advice on this area: green cleaning companies, sustainable food producers, greening your commute and so on. More information about the programing can be found here.

So Ecopreneurs, it is time to start creating you NBC pitch.  Your company or product might just be their next Green find!

Bad economy got you down? If you’re looking for some inspiration, this trailer for a new documentary might just do the trick. Often down economy’s are the best time to start a new business -especially a green one.

Greenbiz.com gives a few:

According to McKinsey: “most companies in most sectors have profitable opportunities to save money by cutting energy consumption and gas emissions. Our studies indicate that a lot of companies can reduce them by 20 to 50 percent.” Read the rest of this entry »

Kelly Anderson from RealScreen.com, a magazine dedicated to non-fiction TV and film, in other words, documentaries, educational and fact-based programming, etc. gave me a call this week. In the entertainment industry, green is as hot as it is anywhere and yes, it’s getting a lot of coverage.

Kelly asked me if I could discuss using psychographics to segment the green film market. Could I please weigh in on how eco film makers could better understand the various different green consumers?

Since I discuss that exact topic quite a bit on Ecopreneurist, I was happy to comply. You can read my interview here. While I sound a bit less “together” than I usually am ( I was sitting in my car in a parking lot between appointments during the interview), I think I touched on a few points that it’s important for eco-entertainment entrepreneurs, as well as just about anyone working in green business to understand.

There are a number of different green consumers!

If you are a fan of green documentaries and green TV you might, by this time be beginning to feel a bit, well, fatigued by the green messages bombarding you at every turn. As in most industries, entertainment companies need to take the next step in green marketing.

Green is rapidly becoming mainstream, which is why the approach must change. Read the rest of this entry »

As David Wigder wrote way back in 2006:

For green marketers, video sharing offers a powerful new channel to reach consumers and promote their message.  Specifically, video sharing enables marketers to:

· Engage consumers through compelling, multimedia experiences

· Facilitate word-of-mouth marketing efforts

· Attract highly influential online users they can leverage as brand advocates.  In fact, 28% of users that view online videos regularly “ranked themselves as the first person people come to for recommendations about TV and movies, compared with 12 percent of all online consumers” according to Jupiter Research (Online Video Search, 11/06)

Now even more options are available for eco friendly companies to promote their businesses to those key influencers – innovators and early adopters. Green focused videos on Youtube are rapidly climbing up the ranks of the most popular, spawning dedicated eco-only sites like EcoLive, GoGreenTube and GreenTV. Read the rest of this entry »

Arnold Creek Productions new release takes a look at ecopreneurs and what makes them tick.

“Naturally Successful” is a 78-minute program about how a new type of entrepreneur is changing industries and the world at the speed of business. It features interviews with some of the country’s top business consultants, educators, authors and speakers who are inspiring entrepreneurs worldwide, such as Hunter Lovins, Van Jones, Mark Albion and Michael Shuman.

They offer insights on entrepreneurship, with a focus on building a values-driven business, providing meaningful leadership, achieving results beyond profits, serving customers, thinking long-term, seizing opportunities in new and existing markets, creating a thriving business and embracing a new type of capitalism.

We wrote about this before…now you take a look and tell me: Does this capture the spirit of Ecopreneurs? Tell me what you think?

Related Posts:

Triple Bottom Line: The DNA of a Green Business Starts with People

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Social Entrepreneur?

Naturally Successful: Inspiring Videos for Green Entrepreneurs

Book & DVD Review: Building with Awareness