In Women We Trust

A Wall-E and Wa$ted just the kick start I needed for green fatigue

Have you seen WALL-E yet? It's about an out of control, consumption-driven world, and yet you feel good when you leave. Pixar has done it again by giving us a look into the future without pointing fingers.

At Terry Gamer's suggestion, (she's the second from the left in the IWWT banner above} I took my Pixar-loving husband to see Wall-E. We were totally amused and amazed at the level of animation that Pixar continues to produce. Go to the site and see for yourself and then treat yourself to the big screen version.  It's easy to understand why it made ca-gillions the first weekend out. I'm giving Pixar two robotic thumbs up for creating such a delightful way to stay engaged while facing our own scary reality show. The statisticss from the last post, (over 75% of our current wastestream is made up of products) backs that up. Wall-E's world isn't so far fetched.

Wall-E has incredible visuals and an in-your-face look at a world with no place to store it's throwaway stuff. The story line is of a hard-working "guy" robot who a bit rusty around the edges. He spends his days building skyscrappers of scrap until one day a very svelte and sleek gal bot (Eve) arrives on Earth. She is everything his world isn't and he is instantly smitten. Her directive is to find a living plant and bring it back to the mothership. Sifting through a wasteland of waste isn't a happy thought; all that "reality" would turn most people off, but the love story between the two bots is just enough sugar to keep us engaged and watching.

Perhaps it was serendipitous that Terry mentioned the film as I had also just seen "Wa$ted" for the first time this weekend. You'll find in on the Planet Green cable channel. The stars of the show, Annabelle Gurwitch and Holter Gramham take one family and shows them how much they waste every year. That's pretty dispressing, but then they show how just a few changes not only bring down their carbon and pollution footprint, but their financial expenditures as well.

Both shows ask me the question, "If not now, when? If not you - who"?  Do you need a jolt out of green fatique? Watch either one and I guarantee you'll be back on track.

Heidi Sanborn: Pay now, or Pay later in a throw away world

I slid into the the Zero Waste conference last week, just in time to hear Heidi Sanborn talk about the Product Stewardship Council. She gave a terrific presentation on the growing problem and cost of household waste and who is responsible, the manufacturers who make the throw away stuff or the taxpayers who must manage the thrown-away stuff?

I couldn't take notes fast enough. The WHOLE presentation is on http://www.caproductstewardship.org/. If you scroll down, you'll see it at the bottom of the page where you can download the whole thing. It puts climate change pollution into a whole new light. Even if you don't think Global Warming is real, our massive waste problem sure is.

But that's just the beginning of the problem. The bigger problem is that WE pay for it on the front end as consumers AND the backend as taxpayers - and that system could bankrupt most communities.

Heidi believes that putting the burden of creating a safe and recyclable product on the manufacturer's shoulders is the answer. But if you were a manufacturer, where do you start and how do you do it and stay competitive with someone else who carried the same product line?

The more I know, the more I'm impressed with how the SMaRT Sustainable Product Standard works to solve pollution problems in air, water, earth and the atmosphere, BEFORE it hits the landfill.

Heidi, with 17 years in integrated waste management, has seen all the solutions come and go.  Check out her presentation. If you weren't motivated to buy less, or buy sustainably before, you will be after you see it. The section on pharmaceuticals is especially eye opening.   

 

Stephanie Barger is Zeroing in on Zero Waste

Meet Stephanie Barger, the Founder, Treasurer and Executive Director for Earth Resource. She's also a nonprofit Consultant and Mortgage banker. On June 26, you can add Event Planner as she and many other concerned business professionals are coming together at the Irvine Ford Plant to learn how to create a zero waste producing business.

That's no small feat. Imagine what you would look like if you had to carry ALL the waste you generate every day in a bag tied to your belt. How long could you function? Now imagine trying to eliminate that "bag" for a whole company.

City planners, big and small business, manufacturers and facility managers will all be there. It's open to the public. If you're in Orange Country next week, you may want to drop by.

June 26, 2008 - 8 am to 5:30 pm at the Ford Motor Company, 1 Premier Place, Irvine, CA 92618.

For more information or to register go here.

And on behalf of Green Consumers Everywhere...

A couple weeks ago, Sustainable Life Media held a highly successful conference on how to market green or sustainable products in a truthful and authentic way. All the speakers and the participants were there to talk/listen on how to talk to this market. Only ONE speaker, Diane MacEachern, was there representing the consumer's side of the table.

The following is her presentation as taped by Mario of Melodies in Marketing.

Yes, we can (and must) Save the World through Mindful Shopping

Over on La M, the debate continues in the comment section on whether we can buy our way out of this global warming problem. The answer is not only "Yes," but "Yes, we have to."

[My thanks to Lynn Johnston for capturing in one cartoon why many give up before trying. On some level we all know our good work can be undone in a manufacturing minute.]

The "Smokestacks" are causing the problem and the ONLY thing that will keep the smokestacks happy is profit. Consumer action is half of the solution, the SMaRT Sustainable Standard is the other half. With both not only have we solved the emission problem, but transformed the market safely and kept our retirement portfolios intact. Yes, as Tom Friedman points out, we'll lose MANY products and companies along the way. Detroit's feeling that pain now, but we also will replace them with mindful companies and products we can all live with.

If you want to see how serious business is about change, take a quick read down today's blog at Sustainable Life Media. The stacks want to do it, they just don't know how to do it and they don't know how to talk about it in terms that breadwinners and buyers can understand. Oh, and by the way, it's also required by the EPA.

Not only do we/consumers have to do it, we have to write about our intent before or after we do it. Every time we write about Sustainable products we like, those products stay in the marketing mix and the other ones die.

GM has FINALLY decided that going small and green will bring bigger profits. Why? Because Toyota and Honda made the top ten brands and ate their lunch. You can't go 10 feet in California without running into either car.

Those top ten brands were made inside of buildings which a consumer can also affect - by DEMANDING that the brands are made using Sustainable Standards that certify when a product is in compliance. INSIDE the SMaRT Sustainable Standard are requirements for conserving energy and lowering emissions, VOCs and PVCs (plus over 1200 other chemicals). Not only do the standards cover their buildings, but also the operations and processes for the entire supply chain as well - even if those smokestacks are in China.   

The SMaRT Standard (Sustainable Materials Rating Technology) covers six areas of product development:

• Safe for public health & environment
• Renewable energy & energy efficiency
• Biobased or recycled materials
• Facility or company requirements
• Reclamation, sustainable reuse
  & end of life management
• Product Innovation

Under these areas, products are required to:

• Provide Feedstock Inventory Documentation
• Document No Input and Output Stockholm Chemicals
• Maintain a Manufacturing Facility Energy Inventory
• Inventory of all bio-based and Recycled Content Materials
• Have EMS Environmental Policies and Targets.
• Have Social Equity Indicator Reporting for Manufacturers
• Compete an ISO Compliant Life Cycle Assessment
• Have Operational Reclamation and/or Sustainable Reuse Program
• Meet Product Performance Durability Standards (long lasting products)

And encouraged to keep going until they have achieved:

100% Reduction of Over 1300 Pollutants covering 12 Environmental Impacts
100% Use of Green-e Renewable Power
100% Post Consumer Recycled or Organic/BMP Biobased Materials
100% Reuse/Product Reclamation
Social Equity for Manufacturer & Suppliers (worker's rights)

That's a pretty big stick, but sticks are also fun to chase - especially if you're one of the Big Dogs attending the Sustainable Brands conference.

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After the requirements are met, the Big Dogs can get competitive and earn higher and higher ratings of silver, gold and platinum. Its not impossible, Forbo/Marmoleum and Knoll Life Chair have already have done it. Milliken carpet is on its way.

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But they can't do it alone.

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They and all the other companies trying to go green need buyers for their Sustainable Certified products, people who appreciate the work that has been done on a very high level.  Which brings us back to the first side of the buyer/seller equation - consumers.

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Take a gander at that top ten list again. If you were hired to change the world, which "demographic" would you focus on to make it happen faster? On that list you have, groceries, cleaning supplies, lotion and potions, cars and home appliances. Without doing a massive research project, take a wild guess on which gender has the greater influence either directly or indirectly buying these products?

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In the end, after all the discussions and  the chatter it's going to come down to tightly linking these three tipping points together - women+companies+sustainable standards.

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That's the new balance of power in this global economy. What happens among them happens about the world and it all starts with the heart of a women making the right choices while her purse is open and being willing to talk about them.

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Men can expedite the process by educating the women in their life on the SMaRT Sustainable Standard or other Standards that use a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) across the entire supply chain. While women are the buyers, you are the "sellers." Let's get to work, shall we?

Your continuing ed starts here:

SMaRT Standard Market Overview - for High C's (9 pages)- Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/mts_smart_sustainable_standard_overview_2.1.08.pdf">Download mts_smart_sustainable_standard_overview_2.1.08.pdf

SMaRT Standard Overview - Supplier Education - (slide show) Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/act_smart_presentation.pdf">Download act_smart_presentation.pdf

SMaRT Standard for Consumer Orientation - (slide show)Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/smart_sustainable_standards_102_consumer_orientation_51008.pdf">Download smart_sustainable_standards_102_consumer_orientation_51008.pdf

Forbo Sustainability Report - for High C's, Supply Chain, Distributors, Investors, Consumers (20 pages) Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/forbo_sustainable_manufacturing_and_marketing.pdf">Download forbo_sustainable_manufacturing_and_marketing.pdf

Could Women Preserve Agricultural?

Coral Rose gave me a head's up on this story that asks, Could Women solve the food crisis? It recognizes the women who keep 80% of third world nation's fed. (thanks Coral)

On Tuesday, the United Nations will open a "food summit" in Rome. Leaders and high-level officials from around the world will meet at the Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters. The F.A.O. says they will discuss the effects of rising food prices, limited resources, climate change, increased energy needs and population growth. ... The International Center for Research on Women says one answer is investing more in female farmers. ... Rekha Mehra is the director for economic and development issues at the Washington-based nonprofit. She says improving women's ability to get resources and technology can directly increase agricultural productivity.... After all, women produce as much as eighty percent of the food in developing countries.

Coral has been doing her part as well. She's been working in the organic farming for the fiber industry the majority of her career. In her blog post today, she addresses how changing agricultural practices which will be needed to bring down climate change emissions.

"The Rodale Institute’s 23-year findings show that organic grain production systems increase soil carbon 15 to 28%. Moreover, soil nitrogen in the organic systems increased 8 to 15%. The conventional system showed no significant increases in either soil carbon or nitrogen in the same time period. Soil carbon and nitrogen are major determinants of soil productivity.

Over on Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, (thanks Diane ) Barbara Kingsolver, Steven Hopp and Camille Kingsolver record what it's like to grow your own the old fashion way. Growing your own was called everyday life when I was 16, now 40 years later I'm still growing things. Looks like the things I learned from my mother, stuck.

Over on Kitchengardners.org, Marge Braker, of Preserve shows us how to make your own small batches of homemade jam in about 15 minutes. Like Barbara, she's preserving more than jam, she's preserving a way to eat better and more backyard local.

The more we change, the more we need to stay the same in some areas. How about you - it's June 1, isn't it time you planted a few seeds?

BlogHer Goes Mainsteam with Advertising Age

Congratulations Lisa, Jory and Elisa for capturing the attention of Advertising Age with the study of BlogHer's bloggers and readers. For those who don't live in the marketing world Ad Age is the defining publication for marketers.

That's why this has such impact, mainstream publications are taking women bloggers seriously - enough to report on research that includes more than mommy bloggers. Consequently, companies will be listening even more to what women bloggers are saying.

To give this some perspective, when I attended the first WOMMA.com meeting a few years ago, women - as the word-of-mouthers of goods and services - weren't even part of the conversation. Go figure. I was dumbfounded. Everyone knew at that point that women bought the majority of consumer goods. It didn't take a big leap of imagination to know that they also talked to each other about their purchases; yet, without a sanctioned study, women as a group of influencers were overlooked.

The study, given in detail in the article, shows just how mainstream blogging and the influence of that action has become; plus the mainstream online women profile is pretty darn close to the women blogger profile.

"Demographically, BlogHer users are fairly similar to average online women, although they skew much higher in the 25- to 41-year-old Gen X range, with 68% of the BlogHer users in that age range vs. 42% of overall women.

With so many similarities, the BlogHer co-founders said they believe their user population is a harbinger of online women's habits and preferences in general. "We are almost a beacon of what's to come," Ms. Des Jardins said.

By Ad Age publishing this study, BlogHer and the women writing the blogs, just became a mainstream media that corporations will want to "court" for their word of mouth endorsements.

Now the question becomes what do we(women) want to tell the courters?

Do we want greener products?  Tell them. Do we want products without lead in the paint or that put toxins into our system. Tell them.  We don't have to go any further than our own blogs to make suggestions.

This is the same study that was unveiled at BlogHer Business this spring. Be sure to read the full article, it's a great tribute to BlogHer and all who contribute to its chorus of voices.

Now what category do I put this under? Marketing to Women or Social Change? I think I'll use both as the buyer/seller conversation just evened up a notch.   

Study Shows Blogging Now 'Mainstream' Among Women

Many Web Users Actively Contributing, Not Just Surfing

By Beth Snyder Bulik

Published: May 28, 2008

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- "Blogosphere" may not be a pretty name for it, but it is a pretty attractive destination -- for women at least, and maybe for marketers courting them, too.
According to a recent study by BlogHer and Compass Partners, more than one-third (35%) of all women in the U.S. aged 18 to 75 participate in the blogosphere at least once a week. And that number increases if less-frequent visits are factored in. Of those women who are online any amount of time, 53% read blogs, 37% post comments to blogs and 28% write or update blogs, according to the study....

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=127354

When do we stop being "those people"?

Back during the first Earth Day in 1970, Pogo put "us" all in the same basket, as in humanity vs. the planet. That's changed in the recent years. Have you noticed how the word "consumers" has taken on the derogatory nature of "those people"? The "us" has fractured into two camps.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like it's getting to be an us vs. them world with corporations lining up on one side and consumers on the other in this big love/hate relationship. The problem is, I live on both sides of the line and it's messing with my head.

When I speak with marketers, they talk about "the consumer" as if they are one, big mass of faceless wallets waiting to be manipulated into a buying frenzy. And because "mommy" gets attached to other words, i.e. soccer mom, mommy blogger, eco mom, enviro mom, moms rising... it's the "moms" that most often become "them" - the unwashed, the sitting ducks, the targets...

Meanwhile, "them" (or us) are being called upon to lead the green charge to change how corporations perform. Apparently they can't do the right thing unless we tell them to do it. 

The article above goes on to say, "In two-thirds of the markets researched (UK, US, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and France) people felt more strongly that companies and their brands should be finding solutions compared to the government."

I agree with that. Manufacturing/consumption did get us into this pollution mess and it will have to get us out. The government is just the middle man in the conversation.

So how do we go from "them" to "us" working together again?

Maybe it begins by stop talking about "us" as someone to market TO and start thinking about "us" as partners to work with.

Is this an impossible balance to achieve in a capitalistic world? I don't think so. Look at Patagonia for some hints on how to do it right. Talk about living your brand. They even Trademarked "Environmentalism: Leading the Examined Life." What does "leading the examined life" have to do with outdoor wear, nothing and everything. For Patagonia it makes perfect sense. They've been walking the environmental walk for decades and the statement rings with absolute authenticity during these paint-it-green times.

Patagonia makes me feel good about the tough decisions I have to make. I can be a responsible adult even though I'm playing in their clothes.

Patagonia IS cooler, faster, stronger, greener...  from the inside out. For that reason, Patagonia continues to build a family of supporters. This is a much different mindset from product evangelists who might just LOVE the functionality of the product, this is about loving the functionality of the whole company and supporting their leadership.

When you cross the line from "home" to "work" the mindset strays from "things that won't hurt my family" to "profit at any cost," but at Patagonia it's home at work. Together we are citizens of the world working together as spiritual and capitalistic partners. They make the stuff I need and I buy it because A) it's going to last a long time and B) I like their style of leadership.

At the same time I'm voting with my wallet for a hoody made of 85% recycled fibers, I'm voting with this post. I want to go on the record that this is the kind of corporate leadership that doesn't make me take sides or feel like a target. We're "us," working together to rebuild society - and definitely not "those people."

The Women of Kenya: Practical Leadership for Troubled Times

Guest Blogger: Kathe Schaaf / Changing the World

As 2008 began in Kenya, her citizens huddled terrified in their homes for protection from a wave of violence and killing sweeping through their country. Anger and frustration over a corrupt national election process had bubbled up into a river of rage that quickly became a familiar ‘us vs. them’ battle drawn along ethnic lines. Thousands of homes were burned and stories drifted into the global media about violent deaths at the hands of angry mobs of young men.

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By February 200,000 Kenyans were living in tents in primitive camps for ‘internally displaced persons’ with little food and even less hope of returning home. All of this unfolded in a country already struggling with incredible challenges; the short list includes high incidence of HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; a shortage of drinkable water and fuel for cooking fires; lack of educational opportunities especially for girls and rural youth; little sustainable employment; and a primitive infrastructure which complicates transportation, hygiene and safety at a most basic level.

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Following the news of these events, I kept saying to myself over and over again: I trust the African women to restore sanity to Kenya. My faith in the women of Kenya has its foundation in relationships with courageous women from that country. In Bondo, Kenya in December 2006, I had the opportunity to attend the Grassroots African Women’s Conference, spending four days in the company of 513 grassroots African women leaders.  These women were remarkable, tackling the enormous problems in their villages with practical ideas using whatever resources they could find.

• Ten mothers in a small village on the shores of the Indian Oceanhad organized to integrate 50 orphans into their families.
• Women in remote rural areas had created their own ‘merry-go-round’ micro-lending programs to develop small businesses and a sustainable source of income for their families.
• Successful strategies for purifying water and solar cooking were being developed, shared and replicated.

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It was easy to develope warm relationships with these women, both at the conference and traveling to visit them in their villages.  I witnessed firsthand their self-sacrifice and hard work, their creativity and persistence, their collaborative spirit and their commitment to their families. I danced with them, singing their songs of hope and enjoyed their easy laughter. I was hugged and welcomed into their homes and their hearts. We nurture our friendships through the miracle of e-mail.

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So when news coming out of Kenya was at its worst, I took solace in knowing that the women would eventually be able to emerge from their homes and do whatever it takes to pull Kenya back together. I knew that they would begin to care for the children and feed the hungry and find homes for the homeless. I knew that they would talk among themselves about the roots of this violence and quietly find ways to bring reconciliation and healing.  I knew that the women of Kenya would show up fully in the face of this craziness and bring sanity back to their land.

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It is what they have always done.

www.KatheSchaaf.com

http://katheschaaf.blogspot.com/

Six Reasons Women will Love the SMaRT Sustainability Standard

Let's get SMaRT(er), shall we? (Sustainable Materials Rating Technology)

If women have to buy the right stuff for their homes and specify the right stuff for their companies and clients, then it's time we all knew about how to go about that process.

I've been told that the subject of Sustainability is just too hard for we mere consumers and citizens of the planet to understand. Oh paLEEEZE. How about we give it a shot. Women are not only the dominate consumer, but the dominate gender in marketing. If we're greenwashing products it's out of ignorance, not stupidity.

First a quickie class in the issues. Have you seen Story of Stuff yet? (kudos to Annie Leonard). It now has over 2 millions views. It's a great example of what is part of a product's Life Cycle Assessment. LCA's pull the documentation of the carbon emissions, energy and waste pollution generated in the production process of goods together. It tallies the "stuff" that goes into other "stuff". When you know the bottom line of where the energy and pollution is being saved/used/abused that's when you can start to improve it.

SMaRT is a standard that quantifies and puts the info into a balanced rule per se. You can't be certified as sustainable if the you're saving energy, but polluting the water, or using safe processes, but destroying forests. It also factors in social equity like child labor, a company must be transparent with its working conditions worldwide. SMaRT is like playing baseball, once you have the rules, you can play on a T-ball level or major league, but the rules and tools are the same.

To keep everyone above board, SMaRT has third party global certification & auditing through Ernst & Young. It's a label you can trust.

The SMaRT scorecard/matrix categories:

1. Safe for Public Health & Environment (pollution footprints)

• SMaRT requires documentation of Feedstock Inventory.
• SMaRT requires input and output of Stockholm Protocol Chemicals. These are the pervasive baddies which greatly affect our food chain: Aldrin, Chlordane, DDT, Diedrin, Dioxins, Endrin, Furans, Heptachlor, Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) Mirex, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Toxaphene. You may know them as insecticides, fire retardants or the plastic in product packaging or the backing of carpet. Input covers chemicals going into the product and output is what happens during the making of the product. SMaRT documents over 1200 Stockholm Protocol chemicals across air, water and earth impacting 3600 touch points. (can you imagine how long it would Congress to pass a bill covering that subject?)
• SMaRT gives points for  minimizing air carcinogens and VOCs, green cleaning using clean greening procedures,   
• SMaRT gives points for minimizing indoor formaldehyde emissions.

Still with me? Moms Rising wants fire retardants out of fabric, form and carpet because of what it's doing to kids, pets and breast milk. In Story of Stuff, Annie notes that breast milk is the #1 Toxic food source, "toxins in - toxins out."  The Center for Environmental Health and Justice wants PVCs out of the system and NOT recycled. They don't want a second chance of putting them into our air, soil or water.

The only way to get these things out of the system is not put them into the system by A) following a standard or B) creating a law to ban it after the fact.

2. Renewable Energy & Energy Reduction (carbon footprint issues)

• An energy inventory is required of current usage and renewable usage.
• Points are awarded on an increasing scale for Cleaner and Greener Certification, Certifications for Climate Change Emission reductions.
• More points are given if the supply chain's energy is also renewable. This covers those who provide materials for the manufacturing of the products even if they are located in China.

3. Biobased or Recycled Materials (more carbon footprint and pollution footprints)

• Once again, an inventory of all materials is required. If a company is using PVCs(plastic) to back a carpet, then this is where it shows up.
• SMaRT gives the most credit to organic bio-based meeting EPA best management practices because these products have no toxic constituents including endocrine disruptors.
• The highest points go to products made with NEW bio-based material vs. recycled material. Why would SMaRT do that? Because it's trying to encourage new products that start green to stay green vs. recycling what got us into this mess and a lot of that came from plastics and that comes from oil - that we're running out of and is getting more expensive.

4. Facility or Company Based Manufacturing (more footprints)

• This is where SMaRT looks at the operational side of manufacturing, is the company walking the walk? Required is an EMS Environmental Policy & Targets, Social Indicator Reporting and that LCA Process. 
• Social Indicator Reporting for Suppliers. It covers the working conditions for the supply chain that may not be in the US. The SMaRT audit happens globally and sweat shop conditions aren't rewarded. 
• Transparent Primary and Secondary Materials Reclamation System (no dumping)
• Environmental Management System Certification
• Sustainable/EPP Product Transaction Disclosures

5. Reclamation, Sustainable Reuse & End of Life Management (keeping the footprint light)

• Points are given for durability. How long will the product last before it needs to be recycled?
• Once that product is ready for recycling, what programs are in place to take it back?
• How much can be reused?

6. Innovation in Manufacturing (preventing footprints from the get-go)

• Cool new products get extra credit for paving the way for others to follow.
• Are they doing more with less material? The get credit for that as well.

Who decided all of the above - a balanced board of of people and interests from trade associations, financial institutes, government, Non-governmental groups, environmental groups, citizens-at-large over eight years of discussions.

Before you say, "Wait a minute, that's not democracy. I didn't vote for any of that," look around you. Everything you sit on, live in, work in, eat or drive were made via standards that you never voted on. Standards help trade groups work together. They are the "laws"of the free market. The SMaRT Standard simply pulled all the multitudes of standards for sustainability together, eliminated the redundancy and provided one, balanced standard that rewards entry level or superior performance.

What SMaRT doesn't reward is greenwash. In fact, it eliminates it. SMaRT is fully transparent and in that transparency peer pressure happens and competition begins. If corporations do one thing really well, it's knowing how to compete. SMaRT just gives them the rules to play by that we all can live with and cheer.