If you’re under 25 and need some cash to get your green project to the next level check out the grant offerings at Do Something. They have three grant programs:
Green Grants James Patteron’s Maximum Ride Boys are sponsoring 10 $500 grants to support green projects. The grants are for “anyone with a great idea or existing project focused on issues affecting the environment.”
Deadline: September 30, 2008
Check out this PSA, outtakes and all, about the Green Grants:
Plum Grants
Grants for sustainable community action projects, programs and organizations. These $500 grants can be used to further the growth and success of your program. Plum grants are given out weekly!
Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and stay active for consideration for three months after submission
Animal Action Grants
Although not about the environment, Do Something and the ASPCA have teamed up to create an online resource for young people who care about animals. As part of the launch they are giving out ten $500 grants for projects about animal welfare.
Deadline:October 15, 2008.
Over 25? You can always pass this on to an intern or employee.
In view of the current financial crisis, it is hard to grasp the fact that overnight investment banks once regarded the kings of Wall Street, are teetering on the edge of stability. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers has threatened the survival of Morgan Stanley in spite of the fact that it has just declared great earnings. All eyes are on Morgan and Goldman Sachs, the two big I-banks left standing. Will they go next? What will this mean for corporate social responsibility in the investment banking sector?
Investment Banks have long been the entrepreneurs of Wall Street. Sure they take risk but then look at the return that they bring. In a capitalistic society, who doesn’t respect the work of an entrepreneur? Time and again they have been instrumental for fueling the economy. A high return on investment has enabled many of the investment banks to show a solid to commitment to corporate social responsibility in the last few years.
For those of you who don’t read the LA Times, here’s a green products article you’ll want to catch. Today they featured a detailed story about green chemistry–the companies developing green body care, house cleaning and home building materials and the challenges they face. And, oh ya, also about the multi-millions in revenues they are earning and consumers learn more and care more about what goes into the bodies of their families.
Writer Marla Cone points out that the green products available today are not perfect, but the article is encouraging for the prospects for green businesses. And although she is focused on big companies that are going green, she also gives some good case study material on green companies that have gone big.
“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?
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 »
Editor’s Note: This post was provided by one of our paid sponsors, Ecomugs, a company that offers lead-free mugs as a green alternative to disposable cups, while at the same time providing a healthy work environment and support system for recovering alcoholics.
Here is good news for offices taking steps towards going green - a blossoming company in California makes eco-friendly coffee mugs featuring your logo and employee name. There’s no minimum order required, so even the smallest startups can take advantage of Ecomugs handy dual purpose - the mugs are valuable promotional tools that also serve as a highly effective way to let your customers know that you are doing your part for the environment.
Styrofoam - Alarming Statistics
Did you know that over 25,000,000 styrofoam cups go into landfills every year? Styrofoam makes up 25% of our landfill space and is not recyclable, so any cup you use today will still be around 500 years from now. Incinerating styrofoam is not an acceptable alternative to burying the impervious material, as it gives off over 90 different hazardous chemicals, including styrene vapors and dioxin. Read the rest of this entry »
In my last post I talked about the pitch-to-pitch, that is, how to even get a potential investor to listen to your pitch for funding your green business. In this post, I’m going to assume you have a good plan for networking and outreach to venture capital firms and/or angel investors. The next question is how to distill all of the supporting points for your tremendous chances for success into one paragraph or a brief conversation.
If you are like most entrepreneurs, you are living and breathing your new business or business idea, and everything seems important. And truly it all is. However, you need to step outside of all of that for a moment and extract a few uber-important points.
Look at your business from the point of view of a potential investor. The investor wants high returns with low risk. And if you are reading this blog, you probably have a green venture and will be reaching out to double-bottom line investors, so you need to have a forecast for an impressive environment impact as well.
Four Points to Fit into Your Green Business Elevator PitchRead the rest of this entry »
Long hours, an increasingly saturated playing field: it’s not always a walk in the park for young, green entrepreneurs. But Jack Short and Daniel Lyons make it look easy.
The dynamic, 20-something Missouri businessmen run Factory Green, where they roll out sexy and carbon neutral apparel, accessories, and housewares to college students, a demographic that isn’t too hot on green poster products like low-consumption washing machines or hybrid cars. Read the rest of this entry »
Living in the city, it’s natural that your thoughts may turn at one point or another to daydreaming about having your own produce generating garden. But then they just as quickly get tossed in the mental recycling bin as an impossibility. Or maybe not, but with your erratic schedule, it sits there, limping along. Maybe you’ve been wanting to participate in an urban farm or a community garden , but there again, your life gets in the way. My Farm in San Francisco has come up with a solution: They partner with you to cultivate a specified plot of land in your own yard, from as small as 4′ by 4′ to as big as your whole yard. And the deal maker? You don’t have to do any gardening yourself!
My Farm does all the work, and depending on how much your garden produces, you can get a box of goodies weekly, and also have My Farm chefs make a fresh food feast out of what you and others produce. And what if you don’t have a back yard? The garden’s collective harvest exceeds the needs of the garden owners, so My Farm provides CSA style veggie boxes as well.
Ecopreneurist provides news and advice on sustainable and social entrepreneurship. Learn about new green products and services for the LOHAS demographic, and get marketing and branding assistance for your green start-up business.
From Green Options’ 
Here is good news for offices taking steps towards going green - a blossoming company in California makes eco-friendly coffee mugs featuring your logo and employee name. There’s no minimum order required, so even the smallest startups can take advantage of 
