The Penny Ice Creamery, located in downtown Santa Cruz, is one of the many businesses that have made a huge impact on a local economy and launched by a Green MBA graduate. 

The owners and creative visionaries, Kendra L. Baker and Zachary E. Davis, use sustainably grown local ingredients, such as wild fruits, vegetable, herbs, and even flowers to bring ice cream lovers new flavors with each season. A recent Yelp reviewer states, "Some of the best ice cream in Santa Cruz. The flavors here are very strange, so be open! You can still get a lot of the classics, too." There are reports that there are often lines out the door on nice, sunny days. 

Davis is an alum of the Green MBA and the business plan for The Penny Ice Creamery was his Capstone project before completing the program in 2009. He and Baker secured a loan through the Small Business Administration, funded by federal stimulus funds. Davis had a very unique idea: to thank Obama for the loan with a "THANK YOU" video (it's fun to watch!) instead of a card (his mom must have been proud!). In it, Baker and Davis shared how the loan made it possible to contribute to the local economy through creating jobs and buying goods from other local businesses (when they opened their shop, they hired 11 employees and worked with 20 local businesses). The video got the attention of those at The Huffington Post and the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and was soon after "retweeted" by The White House. 

In what came as a complete surprise, in November 2009, Vice President Joe Biden called Davis to thank him for creating the video and recognizing the Administration for the stimulus package. What was even more thrilling was a call the following January, when the pair was invited to sit in Michelle Obama's chamber during the State of the Union address to the nation.

The journey to Washington DC seems like an incredibly fantastic event to take place during the infancy of a local business! The Penny Ice Creamery is a clear example of the types of companies that are born during (and after) a student's time at the Green MBA. While a trip to Washington DC wasn't a part of Davis' Capstone plan, the entire Green MBA curriculum is designed to support business professionals reach their goals.

Please join us on Tuesday, October 25 in San Francisco for a great speaker and the opportunity to talk directly with Green MBA grads! Register soon and see you there!

Over the past few years, women have made great strides in all areas of sustainability. For example, women hold key positions in large solar companies, are driving sustainability initiatives in Fortune 500 companies, and have started businesses that have greatly impacted the food industry.

There's still so much more to accomplish!

As of 2010, there are only 15 women running Fortune 500 companies; this is an extremely small number which has seen movement only in the past few years. Despite this low number, women hold 39% of the leadership positions in the sustainability field. With the proliferation of environmental and sustainability positions in all sizes and types of companies, the number of women in game-changing, influential roles can only continue to increase. Many sustainability roles have been created in the past few years, and the type of work done within these roles and the impact they have will continue to evolve.

As companies begin to see the importance of supporting and cultivating women's leadership, and more women continue to strive in these key positions, the current business paradigm will positively shift. Women a great opportunity to truly make a mark in this field!

Silicon Valley EcoTuesday will feature Paul Kotta, Owner of Mellow Monk Japanese Green Tea, as our speaker in Palo Alto in less than a week!  Want to learn everything you have ever wanted to learn about green tea, then this event should be perfect for you. Paul Kotta will discuss from field to cup, how green tea is made on artisans’ estates in Japan as well as issues associated with small green tea farms.

As many of you know, green tea is thought to have many benefits. The antioxidants destroy chemicals known as free radicals, which speed up cell death and are believed to be involved in the body aging process. Ever wonder why Japanese elders look so young? Maybe it is due to their cultural green tea drinking.

Mellow Monk’s green tea is thought to contain higher percentage of catechins, antioxidants, due to their tea being produced at independent small tea artisans’ estates. Due to their small size, they harvest only what they can craft into fresh tea that day. If harvested but not immediately produced into tea, oxidation and fermentation occurs that can destroy antioxidants.

Mellow Monk’s tea is made by steaming instead of pan frying. In comparison to frying, this is thought to help preserve more of the disease-fighting antioxidants and keep the tea’s natural earthy flavor.

The green tea family farms are certified under Japan’s Eco-Farmer Program, a voluntary local government program that is monitored by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to promote environmentally responsible farming practices. Mellow Monk is also certified under Co-Op America as a green business as well as a certified green business under the San Francisco Bay Area Green Business Program.

Paul Kotta along with his wife, Akimi Kotta founded Mellow Monk’s Green Teas in 2004.  For more information on Mellow Monk’s Tea go to http://mellowmonk.com

What to do when your scheduled speaker falls ill and can't join us? Turn the 'virtual mic' on ourselves!

We hope Jurriann feels better soon and we do look forward to rescheduling him for an upcoming talk because we love what Ode Magazine is doing. This spontaneous turn of events actually gave us an opportunity to hear more from each other. And what do you know...we have an amazing community so varied and full of creativity. I was struck with the potential we had in the room that night - we are making it possible to green our homes and businesses through renewable energy, zero waste, supporting the local community, serving sustainable food, having a healthy sense of ourselves, healthy indoor and outdoor environments, and are able to create and sell our own sustainable products. Pretty fantastic! Let's help spread the word about these folks. Here is a recap of most everyone we heard from:

Albert Hartman / High Tide
High Tide's products provide on-demand reliable power required for remote geographies, emergency situations, and mass adoption of mobile electronic devices. Check out their bicycle mounted USB charger, RollerGen.

Michael "Merc" Martinelli / Verdafero
Verdafero helps organizations understand, develop, and execute successful sustainability initiatives by  offering consulting and software as a service (SaaS) tools for sustainable business development. Their focus is small and medium enterprises (SME) who want to effectively manage their “Triple Bottom Line” - People / Planet / Profit.

Ingrid Ramsay / Closets Van Go
Closets Van Go and Kitchens Van Go is dedicated to helping you make your home a masterpiece — artistically, affordably and sustainably. They have a mobile showroom and a large variety of green woods and finishes.

Susan Wright / Connect the Dots
Connect the Dots consults exclusively for the nonprofit community to reduce their environmental footprint as they continue to focus on their social missions.

Nicola "Nikki" Ferenz / Gamechanger
GameChanger helps both big and small companies build powerful, breakthrough brands with fast, flexible new approaches to growth and innovation.

Bodhi Vela Cole / Style Consultant
Bodhi believes that everyone’s unique beauty should be celebrated and embraced. Image coaching is a process where your internal world is transcribed into a wardrobe that has you feel your best.

Chris Sofis / Sofistry
Sofisty's primary service offering is centered on Modern Cabana, an eco-fabulous spare room (think art studio, guest room, kids' play room, yoga/exercise studio, massage studio, or brand new office space . . . you get the idea) which will fit in the smallest of San Francisco gardens.

David Nuss / Runka
Runka was born from a concern that all of us share in preserving the planet. The site provides options for purchasing both practical and exotic products that promote recycling and the use of sustainable materials.

Linda Delair / EarthSource
EarthSource's mission is to proliferate the use of FSC-certified, sustainable and environmentally healthy wood products by educating architects, designers, woodworkers and contractors about the cost-efficiency and long-term benefits of specifying such materials for their building plans.

David Callicott / GoodLight
All GoodLight Natural Candles are paraffin-free, non-toxic, clean burning, 100% palm wax that contains no additives or blends, and use cotton wicks containing no lead or zinc or other metals. GoodLight works with the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and GreenPalm organizations pioneering sustainability in palm farming.

Matt Carreira / I Love Blue Sea
I Love Blue Sea sells the largest selection of only sustainable seafood that is sushi-quality fresh at the best prices. The fish is filleted right before it ships to you. The next day it's delivered to your doorstep in all eco-friendly packaging.

Evan Wynns / The San Francisco Energy Cooperative
The San Francisco Energy Cooperative is a consumer owned cooperative corporation dedicated to providing ownership of renewable energy production to anyone who is interested in investing in our energy future and wishes to have a hand in its growth.

We are thrilled to have Jurriaan Kamp, the founder of Ode Magazine, as our speaker in San Francisco this month. Kamp will discuss his thoughts on the power and need for optimism and solutions in ourcurrent world, the role of media and specifically Ode in making a positive impact needed to create a sustainable world.

Ode’s mission is to publish stories about the people and ideas that are making a difference. The magazine for “intelligent optimists,” Ode reports on positive news in the areas of health, science, spirit, life, energy and business. Odemagazine.com is a vibrant community that connects readers from around the globe.

Jurriaan Kamp founded Ode Magazine in The Netherlands in 1995 with his wife, Helene de Puy. The magazine continues to thrive there and in 2007, Ode Magazine’s U.S. offices opened in the Bay Area.

Before founding Ode, Kamp was an editor, correspondent in South Asia and Chief Economics Editor at the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He is the author of Small Change: How Fifty Dollars Changes the World and Because People Matter. Ode Magazine in the Netherlands recently published its 100th issue.

Please join us on Tuesday, September 28th for this amazing opportunity.  To register for the event, click here.

The United Film Festival opens up this Friday and it has something for everyone. From relationships, the rise and fall of the pinball machine, road trips, to animal rights and not to mention midnight screenings of classics such as The Fly (free).

The San Francisco United Film Festival, is about bringing art and creativity together to create a united film community, is excited to be returning to the Bay Area for its second year at the historic Roxie Theater, right in the heart of the thriving Mission district June 11th - June 17th. The festival's focus is to bring together talented filmmakers from~ diverse backgrounds, thus creating a "United" showcase of creative energy and talent.

What is really interesting in addition to Animal Rights, is Saturday is devoted to movies that deal with the environment. Will we start to see a new film movement here? Especially in the wake of what is happening with the Gulf Coast and BP? There are some really great films lined up and I am really looking forward to seeing them (well most). The movie Dive! really hits home because of the excess food that is discarded by both restaurants and grocery stores here in the Bay Area.

Take a look at some of the Environmental films being shown with Homegrown being the Premiere Film.

HomeGrown The inspiring true story of a family "living off the grid" in the heart of urban Pasadena, California. They harvest over 6,000 pounds of produce on less than a quarter of an acre, while running a popular website that is known around the world.

Dive! Follows Jeremy Seifert and his friends as they dumpster dive in the back alleys and gated garbage receptacles of L.A.'s supermarkets. In the process they salvage thousands of dollars worth of good food and uncover a disturbing truth about waste in America. The goal quickly becomes finding out why so much edible food is thrown away instead of being given to those who need it. The result is equal parts entertainment, guerrilla journalism and call to action.

Beyond The Pole A mockumentary film crew follows the first carbon neutral, organic, vegetarian expedition ever to attempt the North Pole. Brian and Mark hope to simultaneously save the planet and get into the Guinness Book of Records- unfortunately, they have never done anything like this before.

So come on out with the family and support these films at the Roxie. Here’s a link to their schedule and to learn more: http://www.theunitedfest.com/sanfrancisco/schedule.htm