Ecopreneurist

We saw Wal-Mart, a company with worldwide-wide revenues only second to Exxon-Mobile, signal last week in Beijing that it is moving away from “intermittent transactions with many suppliers toward longer-term arrangements with a smaller group of manufacturers“. Then, this week in the news, IBM starts on a roll to eliminate the ‘burden’ of paper — including paper costs, compliance risks and environmental challenges — from their customers’ supply chains with a handful of recently launched software and services.

What is going on here? Both companies are adopting tactics used by sustainability minded entrepreneurs as part of the time tested sustainability supply chain model: measure, purchase local where possible, maintain long-term relationships and integrate accountability at all ‘nodes’ of the chain.

Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who do not know already, Green Options Media has added a new blog to its blog network. The Inspired Economist is a business resource for the “New” Economy. It is the perfect read for individuals and companies who are passionate about economic, social, and environmental challenges.

The Inspired Economist was launched in response to the need for a business publication that covered the growing opportunities and issues surrounding sustainable business. The Founder, John-Paul Maxfield, is excited about joining the Green Options Network saying, “A partnership with Green Options is an incredible opportunity for the Inspired Economist and our readers. It will allow us to gain further visibility, as well as leverage a very talented writer base. It will effectively spread our mission to become the authority on a growing new approach to capitalism and the business framework that is sure to follow.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Ecopreneur Toby Foster’s organic vodka is made from locally grown Alaska potatoes and glacier water and marketed under the name Permafrost vodka. The Glaciar Creek distillery is Alaska’s first licensed distillery and Foster hopes to cash in on the increased interest in the last frontier.

Or does he?

Alaskan entrepreneur Foster has been working on his pet project, an organic vodka for the past 5 years. His eco friendly operation uses only locally harvested product and plans to use the ethanol extracted during the distilling process to help run the plant’s electrical generators. The unused potato parts will be composted for use in plant side gardens planned for the future.

So what does this have to do with Sarah Palin? Not much until a few months ago. Ecopreneurs in Alaska have benefited from the increased interest in all things north of the lower 48. As reporters bundle up and head for Anchorage, coverage of all things Alaska pop up in mainstream media sites and blogs across the web.

But will it last? Will investment dollars follow? Will consumers suddenly start noticing and purchasing goods from the frozen north in an effort to be hip? What impact will the results of the election have…if the GOP wins or loses? Read the rest of this entry »

Since last night’s presidential debate, all I have heard from everybody around me is ‘What about Joe the Pumber’? Clearly, the most talked about man in the U.S. presidential election is now a 34-year-old Ohio resident otherwise known as Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.

Joe was referenced more than 20 times in Wednesday night’s presidential debate, and has quickly found himself caught in a deluge of media attention, political parody and personal scrutiny. Obama and his running mate, Biden, both criticized Joe as a false idol of the Republican cause. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week marked the official launch of The Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Criteria (STC Partnership), a coalition of 27 organizations that has developed Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. About a year ago, the group came together to form the criteria having reviewed more than 4,500 criteria from more than 60 existing certification and other voluntary sets of criteria.

One of the primary challenges of consumer and business travelers is translating the various sustainability practices of travel suppliers exactly because there is not good certifying organization for the travel industry. Without a common playing ground its hard to make educated consumer decisions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Given the release of updated financial news from around the world every hour, readers are increasingly scouring the web to find the most current stories out there. Tip’d is here to answer your needs by delivering the best business stories recommended by other readers. Tip’d (tipd.com) is a community for financial news, ideas, and tips. Given the important political decisions ahead and the evolving state of the economy, this social news site is perhaps more of a necessity rather than a convenient online news asset. Read the rest of this entry »

Energy independence seems to be each country’s topmost agenda in today’s challenging economic climate. While many companies are looking to take advantage of the new tax credits extended to renewable energy industries, others are looking to solve the problem by finding ways to convert emissions into high value, sustainable technology. Carbon Sciences is developing a breakthrough technology to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into useful carbonate products that can be used by the paper, pharmaceuticals and FMCG industries.

Carbon Sciences has recently developed CO2-to-Carbonate technology , an industrial platform for transforming CO2 emissions into high value carbonate products such as precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), a carbon captured product that replaces wood and clay in the paper industry. Carbon Sciences’ clean technology process combines CO2 with industrial waste minerals and transforms them into PCC.

The multi-billion dollar global market for PCC is projected to grow to 10 million tons by 2010. Carbon Sciences attributes this growth to increased worldwide paper consumption and construction. The company has been in discussion with various paper manufacturers to test the use of PCC. An in-house plant will test and optimize the development of this highly valued carbonate product Read the rest of this entry »

Not necessarily. Though consumer confidence is down, recessions are historically the time when emerging trends gain momentum – green is a fast growing trend.

But, if your business depends on retail distribution, now is the time to familiarize yourself with how the grocery channel operates in down markets…which you may not have been a part of until this time.

The effect at retail has more nuance than an upturn in staples sales, as people eat out less and turn to food stores more for their next meal components. Rattled consumers expressed their lowest confidence levels since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, and the lowest expectation levels since the oil embargo and Watergate of 1973, according to the Conference Board.

This means a focus on the consumer benefit for organic foods…not the term “organic” but the health benefit provided. Consumers may be more willing to spend the extra dollars to buy organic if they have the health benefit spelled out in front them at point of purchase.

Or perhaps, no certainly, this is the time to teach consumers how to stretch their menus. During tight times, providing recipes with which consumers may not be familiar is a great strategy. Coupons and selling a value message is paramount. 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 »