I felt completely honored when Tony Cooper of Shirlaws told me that he’d like for EcoTuesday to be his “Love” client. I had been learning bits and pieces of the Shirlaws “frameworks” when I would eavesdrop on his coaching sessions he had with my husband, Aaron (of CivicActions). In my head I would apply the red/blue/black framework to my company, EcoTuesday, and visualize the progress that could be made. It was such a gift to start my monthly meetings with Tony.

 

At the very beginning, Tony asked me about the parts of the company that were working and not working and we analyzed all of these areas together. In a short period of time, he supported me in finding solutions for many of the aspects that “weren’t working”. Very soon, the company was on a completely different trajectory. Tony helped me gain the courage and confidence that I needed to make some difficult decisions that I’d been grappling with for a quite awhile. We celebrated the areas that “were working” and applied the same models to other parts of the business.

 

The Shirlaws IP is absolutely incredible. More businesses and businessowners could be more successful if applied the Shirlaws frameworks into their business. The approach is unlike any that I learned in business school. It is more holistic of all areas of a businessowners life – so it is more applicable as people move through different stages of their business, both mentally and physically.

 

Tony is an excellent listener. He was always present with me, as if I were his only client (and I know how busy and in-demand he is!). He has the ability to clearly explain complex issues in ways that applied to me on both a personal level and a business level. These two areas of life are so tightly intertwined! Oftentimes, he helped me take a step back and remove myself from a specific scenario so that I could get a bigger picture of what was going on with an issue, project, or difficult situation. That is so challenging for me to do on my own, since I am so tied to every aspect of my business. He’s smart and incredibly knowledgeable about the business world. What’s most important, though, is that he is incredibly heart-connected and has the ability to go deep to find the core aspects of what motivates and inspires people (or finds those that do the exact opposite). He served as a guide while I navigated through the ups and downs of being a businessowner, essentially “feeding” me questions so that I would essentially develop my own solutions.

 

Tony helped me to let go of the unnecessary parts of EcoTuesday that weren’t serving its future, despite my holding on for fear of “failure.” My monthly meetings with Tony were a place where I could share all of my deepest, darkest fears and insecurities about my business, knowing that he would still love and support me. I could also share my successes and triumphs, many of which I could not achieved without his knowledge and insight.

 

Again, I feel fortunate to have worked with Shirlaws, and more specifically, with Tony. Our time together made a huge, positive impact on all areas of my life.

We're all aware of the virtues of recycling and have become experts at sorting our waste in proper bins. Recycling has become a big business and has generated many jobs in communities all over the country.

 

Before you recycle specific items, can you offer them to others who can "reuse" them instead? Reuse is about taking items that are not useful to you anymore and redistributing them to other people who can continue to use them. This is a great way to ensure that items such as building materials, manufacturing tools, office furniture and other supplies have a longer life cycle before they are recycled or even put into the landfill if they're made of materials that cannot be recycled. Oftentimes, broken reused materials just need a little attention and can be easily fixed, which saves a lot of money for the person or company who acquires the item. One of the best ways to offer or acquire reused items for your home or business is by connecting with others in your area on Freecycle. People in hundreds of communities give away and receive free items with the goal of keeping this "stuff" out of landfills. Reuse is definitely one of the keys to sustainability, and helps to create a cleaner environment and more sustainable economy!

Each month we ask you  to share your "passion" as it relates to sustainability. It's a great way for other participants to learn about what is important to you, and what drives you to do what you do everyday.

 

It seems that many of us are passionate about developing solutions for people to live healthier lives. There are millions of people who live below the poverty line. These people do not have access to clean water, food and safe housing. Global sustainability and the eradication of poverty go hand-in-hand. One of the key points to the Millennium Goals is to reduce poverty by half before 2015 and to improve the lives of at least 100 million humans before 2020.  

 

We are fortunate to have many organizations all over the world that are dedicated to helping people get out of poverty. Our friend Sam Daley-Harris from RESULTS (an organization dedicated to ending poverty around the world) was recently featured in a TEDx NJ Libraries talk discussing "Purpose, Poverty, Pitfalls, and Redemption". This video is a great example of the power that one person or group of people can have when they are truly passionate about what they're doing!

(This is from our July 23rd newsletter. Enjoy!)
We work tirelessly to develop amazing sustainability frameworks for our business. Our companies embrace social responsibility by giving back to the community. We focus our efforts on creating products that are toxin-free and do not create waste. There's still a very important component to this picture: our own personal sustainability.

What does personal sustainability mean to you and what are you doing to educate yourself?

Here are a few suggestions for resources that might be useful to you:

• Make smart choices about your personal products: the Environmental Working Group is an organization full of scientists, engineers and a whole bunch of other smart people who conduct tests on products that might be harmful to your health. Do your research before you make your purchase!


• With The Good Guide, you can research information on 65,000 "healthy, green and socially responsible" food, toy, personal care and household products. The company uses a comprehensive methodology and ratings system so that you can easily and quickly find information that is most useful to you. You can even see if a specific company is a socially responsible business!

We hope these sites support you so that both your business and personal sustainability are in alignment with one another.

Wondering what other EcoTuesday participants do to ensure that their personal sustainability reaches high standards? Ask them this month in person at one of our 9 events across the country! This month sustainable business leaders will meet on July 27th. As usual, we have incredible speakers in each city that will share about their area of expertise. Afterwards, you can share about yourself so that an entire roomful of people will know about the sustainability-related projects you're working on. Be sure to join us and please RSVP beforehand.

Take care, Nikki Pava

I'm pleased to announce our July Sponsors in San Francisco! I've loved visiting their site. The online store has high quality products that promote recycling and the use of sustainable materials. The site is easy to navigate, the photos are clear, and the product descriptions are very informative.

They will be at EcoTuesday in San Francisco in July, with a table to demonstrate some of their products. Also, there will be a few lucky winners within the EcoTuesday group that will win Runka prizes to take home! We hope to see you there! EcoTuesday is very happy to be working with Runka!

 

Here's a little bit more about Runka:
Runka.com is a new website that offers only eco-friendly, sustainable and recycled products.  The site was developed by five partners who have been involved in the recycling industry for over 20 years.  We are excited about the explosion of the green movement and the emergence of so many great products that are now available to the marketplace.

Runka.com travels the country to locate, research and gather items directly from the manufacturers.  We meet personally with each company to determine the quality, production methods and philosophy behind everything offered on our site.  This also allows us to bring many of these items to the consumer at discounted prices.

We strive to provide the customer with a trusted, "one-stop shopping" experience for green household items, gifts, apparel, pet products and other consumables.  It is our goal to make this process seamless and convenient.  The mainstream shopper often does not have the time to search out environmentally safe products even though, given the option, they would prefer to buy green.  The more socially aware consumer will find great deals on natural goods and will reduce their carbon footprint as well.  By visiting one website that has many of the products they use the planet benefits and green shopping is enhanced and simplified.

We invite you to visit Runka.com and take a look at our extensive product line.

In June we were fortunate to have Cyndie Berg, Development Director of Amazon Watch, as our speaker in San Francisco. I was inspired to invite Amazon Watch to join us at EcoTuesday after I watched the documentary called CRUDE, which chronicles the account of Chevron's systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon, one of the biggest environmental disasters in history. It's a must see! Since the invitation was extended - we have encountered yet another environmental disaster - the Gulf oil spill. Her talk was timely and full of pertinent information.

Amazon Watch works in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to strengthen indigenous communities to defend their rights and territories.  In the US, they wage campaigns against companies operating in the Amazon, urging greater corporate social responsibility around human rights and the environment.  Since 2002, Amazon Watch has campaigned for justice in Ecuador, where Texaco (now Chevron, California’s largest company), deliberately dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater in the Amazon, causing an environmental catastrophe which experts have dubbed the “Rainforest Chernobyl.”

As the Gulf oil spill is the big story of the moment, Cyndie discussed the relationship between governments and oil companies. For the last four decades, multinational oil companies have caused tremendous environmental destruction and human rights abuses from Nigeria to Burma to Richmond, California.  Time and time again, governments seeking revenue from oil have refused to impose the kinds of oversight and safeguards that would prevent or mitigate damage. Oftentimes, governments need the money that these huge companies offer them, even if the long-term effects are devastating.

Additionally, she pointed out that Chevron "portrays itself as the cutting edge of renewable energy with its whole human energy ad campaign. It turns out that in 2009 Chevron only invested 2% of its capital and exploratory budget on renewable energy. We're not seeing much of a shift past petroleum." With Chevron's huge budget - we all know that they have more dollars to spare, especially if they are marketing themselves a clean energy researchers.

A key component of sustainability is building relationships. We can all get caught up working in front of our computers for days on end, without leaving our office to have face-to-face interactions with others. True sustainability is based on shared experiences that occur over a long span of time. Here are two suggestions on how you can bring this into your life:

• Participate in "Hands Across the Sand" on Saturday, June 26th. This is an event created by 350.org to bring people across the country together to take a stand against offshore drilling.

• Start an EcoTuesday in your city! It's a great way to bring like-minded people together on a consistent basis. You can be an Ambassador if your city doesn't already have an event (or check in with your Ambassador if you'd just like to help! We love volunteers.).

Another component of sustainability is constant learning: learning about new technologies, new policy, new ideas, and new trends (to name a few!). Our friends at Triple Pundit and the ISOS Group are hosting a GRI Sustainability Reporting Certification Course next month. This is a very hands-on course that will truly add value to your career. Let us know if you sign up!

Recently, EcoTuesday Advisor Maura Fallon-McKnight accepted a position at Grid Alternatives, which is an organization that brings solar technology and training to low-income communities. This, of course, supports these homeowners in decreasing their electricity usage, thus reducing their monthly electricity bill.

In May, EcoTuesday San Francisco had Erica Mackie, the founder of Grid Alternatives, as it speaker. Erica and her business partner, Tim Sears, founded Grid in 2003 and have made a huge impact on the sustainability movement over the past few years. Grid Alternatives has completed over 430 solar installations to date, saving 30,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next 30 years. That's the equivalent of planting about 25,000 trees.

What does Grid Alternatives do to address the need for solar and create a tangible, hands-on project that many people can be part of? "We exclusively serve low-income families in the "barn raising" model," said Mackie. "That means that we get a whole bunch of people, including the homeowners themselves, to be involved in some way during the installation. That can mean that they're with us actually installing the panels, talking about solar at their church, or making food for the volunteers."

One of the great aspects about Grid Alternatives is that it gives those who are not necessarily involved in the solar industry the opportunity to learn about this new technology. The volunteers can come out and help out all day - you don't have to know anything about solar, but you will walk away with a lot of new information. Mackie sais, "we'll teach you the difference between a flathead and a Phillips, how to drill into the panels and what the pressure feels like in your drill so you know when to stop drilling."

Additionally, Grid Alternatives reserves 20% of their installations for job trainings, too. Those who participate in these job training learn real-world skills that they can use to find a job in this blossoming industry.

Mackie perfectly blended the technical aspects of solar with her sincere outlook regarding her inspiration.

"On a personal side, I wanted a job that I could go to and love everyday. I wasn't thinking that Grid Alternatives from 2004-2010 is going to grow 10 fold exponentially and we're goin to go from myself and my partner in the backroom of my rented apartment in Berkeley with a $16,000 budget and not getting a salary to a  $7 million budget and 50 employees across the state doing 300-500 installations a year. I didn't think about that at the beginning."

She continued, "what I thought was, I'm going to do something that I believe in and that I can be passionate about everyday."

On July 31, Grid Alternatives will be hosting a fundraising event called Solarathon, which is their annual "block party." Volunteers can raise money and participate in a solar installation. What a great way to learn about solar! Last year, volunteers installed 16 solar electric systems that will generate over $270,000 worth of clean, renewable power for low-income families over their lifespans. There are only a few spots left! I'd love to see more participants from the EcoTuesday community join us! Learn more about Solarathon.

Like many of you, I've been incredibly saddened by the environmental and social devastation that has taken place in our Gulf coast recently. Each day, thousands of gallons of oil are being pumped into the water, causing incredible harm to many ecosystems near and far. This catastrophe will continue to have a huge impact on the entire area that is still weak from Hurricane Katrina for many years to come. 

Here area a few things that you can do:

• Sign the Green For All petition: urge President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to halt expanding offshore drilling and swiftly pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill.

• Watch the film "FUEL" on Netflix (the DVD will be released on June 22). This film documents the results of our addiction to oil.  Read Josh Tickell's message about the first screening in New Orleans where he has invited BP and its affiliates to attend.

• Learn more about the Gulf oil spill, the areas most affected and the long-term risks in this detailed graphic.

Please come to EcoTuesday to meet other like-minded professionals who are developing sustainable solutions that will work for people and the environment at the same time. By supporting one another through collaboration and exchanging resources, we can truly make a difference in how we do business in the future.

See you on May 25 in cities across the country!

We've had a couple of wonderful changes at EcoTuesday this month. We have a new Ambassador and two other Ambassadors are relocating to new cities! Read more about these changes and learn about what to expect in the coming months.

EcoTuesday and I were recently featured in a new book called Hot, Rich & Green (this is not necessarily how I would describe myself, but it's a catchy, fun and flattering title!), written by Rebecca Harrell Tickell (producer of FUEL). The book shares inspiring stories, formulas and advice from 50 entrepreneurial women who are following their passions and starting green businesses. Other women in this book include Mariel Hemingway (actress), Hunter Lovins (from the Natural Capitalism Solutions), Jennifer Boulden (founder of IdealBite) and Amy Smart (of the Environmental Media Association). I'm honored to be a part of this group of women. Become a fan on the book's Facebook page.

It's time to prepare for this month's EcoTuesday! Please join us on Tuesday, May 25 in cities across the country. Please RSVP. We hope that registering through Meetup is easy for you. There are two steps to registration: join your city's Group first, and then RSVP for this month's event. Make sure you do both steps!

See you in two weeks!