EcoTuesday Portland held its 2nd monthly Sustainable Business Leaders Networking Forum on February 23rd.  As an Ambassador to EcoTuesday I have to say that it has been an absolute pleasure in witnessing “regular” attendees as well as a growing base of new interest. 

EcoTuesday Portland Carbon Counting:

January Event:  11.7404 CO2 Tons (Metric)

February Event: 1.0187 CO2 Tons (Metric)

For February, we saw a drastic reduction in our event carbon footprint.  Most categories saw a reduction, but the major reduction came from the vendor supply chain emphasis. This reduction is based largely on one time calculations (inputted for January) for existing office equipment; tables, chairs, and couches needed to host events.

EcoTuesday Portland, February 23rd, 2010 (Based on 36 participants)

Energy Used: (based on a 5,000 sq foot commercial building)

0.0114

Attendee Travel: (UP .1724 metric tons of CO2 from January)

0.3681

Organizer Travel: (Both Ambassadors walked to the event)

0.0000

Supplier Travel (DOWN 10.8774 metric tons of CO2 from January)

0.6391

Waste: (DOWN .0002 metric town of CO2 from January)

0.0002

Total CO2 emissions (in Tons):

1.0187 (DOWN 10.6617 metric tons of CO2 from January)

Thank you to the attendees representing such organizations as Umpqua Bank, PDX Mindshare, Allegro Designs, EcoSwag, True Living Synergy Coaching, Courtyard by Marriott, One Green World, Canvas Dreams, From the Rooftops, Oregon Training Network, EcoNexus, SOUK, Bainbridge Island Graduate Institute, What’s Happening PDX, and Ecotrain Media Group.

AB 32.0 and the Rise of Green Digital Media
 
Part 1 of BREATHE LA Green Salon Series Examining the Green Streets of LA
 
DATE: Tuesday, March 16, 2010   TIME: 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. 
LOCATION: California Endowment Center @ 1000 N. Alameda Street, next to Union Station, downtown Los Angeles (free parking)

FEATURED PANELISTS:
    •    Siel Ju, Green LA Girl, former LA Times "Emerald City Blogger"

Having addressed the fundamental topic of local, organic-quality, slow food as a key economic and restorative justice opportunity in our launch, we of EcoTuesday Cleveland now take a closer look at health and wellness though toxicity awareness and illness prevention. Our second Fourth Tuesday event will raise awareness to toxins and carcinogens that still prevail in many common and trusted brand-name products as well as the potent combination of business and wellness opportunity in shifting to natural and organic alter

Our visit with Bob Lilienfeld, publisher of the "Use Less Stuff"newsletter, and sustainability consultant to WalMart, was one of our best events from an interaction perspective. Though our turn out was a little light due to snow, we were able to assemble a very vocal, well-informed crowd.

Bob talked to us about the tendency of so many of us to "use a lot of stuff."  Ranging from multiple automotibiles in a household, to multiple products that do the same thing, to an overadundance of packaging,  Bob presented us with the idea that tangible goods, or "Stuff" can't substitute for the experiences and memories we have as people and families.  Bob talked in detail about the growing trend to acquire and use multiple types of personal technology and the impact that has on personal and family relationships. In many situations, Lilienfeld asserted, we are increasingly drawn to forms of media that we consume alone and in virtual situations, avoiding the need to communicate directly with other actual human beings.  If we "Use Less Stuff", we might have to learn how to actually interact and cooperate mure successfully

Lilienfeld also spoke to us about his work with WalMart, assessing sustainability claims for products that WalMart may market in their stores.  Many kinds of claims are critically evaluated, ranging from packaging content, to types of testing, to product lifecycle impact.  Much of what passes for "sustainable" products truly stretches the truth, and WalMart has laid down the challenge to its suppliers and to itself to reduce the total impact of its operations and the products it sells.

Check out Bob's blog at www.use-less-stuff.com.

Last week's EcoTuesday - the second one in Dallas - was a hit.  The same crew came back, this time bringing friends.  The wine flowed, the group gelled and the speaker inspired.  We couldn't have asked for more.  Our guest speaker was Rob Ganger, Founder and CEO of Pollinator Media Group.

I have loved each EcoTuesday I have ever held, but I have to say this past EcoTuesday was perhaps my favorite-to-date because of the amazing vibe that was created thanks to a switch of venue.

Over sixty people gathered at the Afford Eco House near Marina Del Rey this past EcoTuesday. The founder, Tatjana Luethi, nicely sums up what the home environment created in terms of setting the tone of the evening:

“People seem to enjoy the intimate and warm set up we're providing at the Afford Eco House, also known as the Tivoli House. It has become a central location for meetings and events allowing our community to discuss and challenge conventional thinking and
outdated belief systems. I think the shift going from public to private
venues reflects that shift of the current times. People are looking for
something more intimate, a space that allows them to feel comfortable, to
relax, engage and authentically and genuinely connect with others as they
explore formations and new alliances of shared purposes. We are in a time of
simplifying our lives. It's a time of contraction versus expansion, it's a
time of less than more, it's a time of smaller than bigger. We are shedding
ourselves from excess and the shallow and are learning to live a more
authentic relationship with ourselves and others.”

The home environment was not the only thing that facilitated such a warm and responsive event. We were able to dine on TRULY divine, wholesome food thanks to the generous donation by Large Marge Sustainables, a catering company.

It cannot be stressed enough that these events are possible through the attendees’ future support of our sponsors. This means next time you have a wedding or party, contact Large Marge Catering and the Afford Eco House for compostable dinner wear, etc.

These events simply are not possible without our support of their businesses.
And supporting each other is why people are finding such value in the EcoTuesday community.

After all, what good is a networking event without the follow up?

To book and host your event at the Afford Eco House please contact Tatjana
Luethi: tatjana@affordeco.com

For more information on the amazing practices of our caterer, check out Large Marge here:
http://www.largemargesustainables.com/Mission.html

We are pleased to report that we held a tremendously successful launch event on February 23rd in downtown Cleveland at the Club at Key Center.  A diverse and intergenerational crowd of over 70 energized and engaged participants attended.  Our keynote speaker, Brad Masi of the New Agrarian Center, delivered an impressive oratory capturing the essence of sustainable urban agriculture and permaculture as key drivers for a local food, slow food economy. 

Joel Makower of Greener World Media spoke at EcoTuesday in February, right after hosting two successful "State of Green Business" conferences in San Francisco and Chicago in the weeks prior. It was our Three Year Anniversary, and Joel was a fantastic addition to the celebration.

Joel started out by explaining that there are really two "green economies."

"We don't really have one green economy. We have a couple of green economies. First, there's the green economy of big businesses, such as the GEs, PGEs, and the Nike's. These are the companies that are going through huge fundamental changes in some very exciting ways. Along with them are the VCs and the big dollars going into a few smaller companies, such as Tesla and Bloom Energy. These are big companies with big dollars, or smaller companies with big ambitions."

He continued, "the other green economy is everyone else. It's full of small emerging companies or companies that aren't necessarily green businesses in the sense of offering green travel services, making a green building material, or offering green energy. They've been developed by people who have thoughtfulness around their business and want to run their businesses similar to how they run their lives. Those aren't the ones that get as much attention, and it's a bit challenging. There are a lot of exciting things happening within this green economy."

While Joel is hopeful about what's ahead in business, he is also concerned that innovation is "happening much too slowly."

"Everyday we look at stories that come through GreenBiz.com and see examples of companies that are integrating environmental thinking into their operations and doing it in a way that aligns with their missions, with their product, in some sense, of their business value. Whether its increased profits or decreased costs, etc. This isn't a new story. There's been this confluence that's making this come to the fore and all of these actions are necessary."

"We're seeing this convergence of energy, information, building and vehicle technologies coming together to create this smart world that will start to tranform things in fundamental ways over the next generation. People in those businesses are in the middle of a revolution that they probably don't see. It will be greener technology, better, cooler technology that will allow us to do a number of things we can't do today."
Joel believes that change occurs with the right mix of money, policy, and technology. "The business community is critical to all three of those things," he stated.

Despite these exciting advances in all of these industries, the rate at which change is happening is not happening quickly enough.

"The political climate isn't contributing to big shifts in the environment, food security, job growth and economic development. We're still seeing this as a fight. Why isn't there a sense of urgency here? Why aren't people taking to the streets around climate change and the lack of energy policy? Why isn't this seen as a great abandonment of leadership? I'm concerned that there's this great appetite for green, but there's not an appetite for change."

Joel ended with a "challenge" to the audience to inspire them to act. "I challenge you to understand what it takes to make change."

Anthony Tsai of Urban Solutions made a great point during last week’s talk – “Sustainability can actually save money”. His talk was refreshing for a small business. Small business by definition is barely able to make ends meet. In this tight economic entity, every penny saved is every penny earned. Urban Solutions as a non-profit organization, is helping such businesses save substantial dollars while promoting sustainability principles. Started as an organization to promote businesses in the low-income neighborhood of San Francisco’s sixth street, this organization has grown into helping businesses to become green and at the same time save money. For example, in one of the businesses, they went in and changed the old inefficient fluorescent lamps with efficient ones, saving 40% on their electricity bills. Anthony points out in this instance everybody benefits as PG&E can divert the savings to other areas where it is needed. 

Anthony was advocating for a complete sustainability framework, where one should not limit to just electricity and water to look for sustainable savings. The three main areas where savings are huge include: energy usage; water usage and garbage disposal. Energy and water are fairly well understood. Garbage is the least understood of the three. Anthony prescribed that every business should look into the amount of garbage generated more carefully. They should divert most of the garbage generated into recycling bins. The more they shrink the size of the regular garbage bins, better it is for the environment.

Overall, the talk was quite enlightening to most of the attendees. His experience in analyzing the rainforest in Borneo for carbon credits was unique. The greatest learning from the talk and the experience of Anthony was that it does not take much to be on the path of sustainability. Sustainability begins with everyone looking at their own lifestyle to realize the savings.

We are very excited for this month’s event!  We are honored to have Pamela Gordon, the founder and president of Technology Forecasters, Inc., as our March speaker. TFI is a consultancy that helps high-tech companies reduce environmental impact and profit from doing so. She is also the author of Lean and Green: Profit for Your Workplace and the Environment. 

Gordon will discuss with us how to be “Lean and Green” to reduce corporate environmental footprints, share tips and pitfalls for creating and executing “Lean and Green” roadmaps, as well as outline a strategy to enlist the support of even the non-environmental executives.  In addition, she'll provide examples of mid-sized high-tech companies becoming Lean and Green. With Pamela’s wisdom, you can go from taking baby steps to leaping into innovative and substantive footprint reduction.

 
Gordon is a popular keynote speaker--having presented at high-tech conferences in Canada, Israel, Mexico, Taiwan, and the US. Her insights on environmental sustainability and the electronics industry have appeared in nearly 500 articles, she has been interviewed on numerous television and radio programs, and she guest lectures at several California universities.
 
Click for Pamela’s full bio and and learn more about Technology Forecasters, Inc.
 
Please join us on Tuesday, March 23rd at The Box SF from 6:30 to 9 pm. Register online before (it's free) or it's $10 at the door. See you there!