Dowser » sustainability

DC Comics, Time Warner, Warner Bros Announce Campaign to Increase Aid to the Horn of Africa

Dowser — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:54:37 +0000

On January 23, DC Comics announced a new campaign to support to humanitarian work in the Horn of Africa, where a confluence of drought, famine, and Islamist militia rule have led some 13 million people to starvation. The campaign, called “We Can Be Heroes,” is a partnership with Time Warner and Warner Bros., and features iconic characters from DC Comics’ “Justice League.” These familiar faces, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg, will be broadcast widely on television, inviting viewers to go to the campaign website, where they can donate directly to aid humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa, or purchase goods like mugs or t-shirts whose proceeds partly (fifty percent) will go to the campaign. #

“While many individuals may feel powerless to effect change on their own, as part of a global campaign such as this, their efforts, combined with those of other donors, can create a world of change,” stated the campaign’s press release last week. #

Alongside the advertising campaign, $2 million in cash donations, employee matching funds and consumer matching funds will be donated to Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps over the next two years for their work in the Horn of Africa. #

“We're launching ‘We Can Be Heroes’ now because the situation in the Horn of Africa is dire, and the people there are suffering the worst drought and famine in 60 years. There is urgency to the crisis and we want and need to help now,” Diane Nelson, the president of DC Comics, told Dowser. “We feel fundamentally, that the more people know about what's happening in the Horn of Africa, the more they will want to help. DC Comics' Justice League characters are the perfect heroes to motivate awareness and action for this urgent crisis,” she added. #

Critics of Western aid programs like Dambisa Moyo have argued that ongoing flows of aid to African countries have done nothing to reduce poverty there. The famine in the East Horn is a crisis of a deep, structural nature; it rests on pre-existing, interlocking problems such as the rule of Al-Shabaab, climate change, and agricultural production systems that lack resilience. What can two million dollars do to alleviate a crisis like that? #

“I hope the campaign will draw more attention, more public awareness, and donations,” Michael Kocher,vice president of international programs at the International Rescue Committee, told Dowser. “It is difficult in situations where the onset of an emergency is slow, unlike the tsunami in Japan or the earthquake in Haiti, which got peoples’ attention very quickly,” he added. “Ethiopia was pre-provisioning livestock before the drought, which helped to avert crisis there. But without good governance and security, these preventative measures only do so much.” #

The idea of “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) -- and the DC Comics initiative is a good example of CSR -- was birthed in the last few decades as companies began to envision their stakeholders—and not just their shareholders—as important beneficiaries of their services. But CSR has not gone uncriticized. A few years ago, Forbes Magazine ran a series debating the idea: “Proponents insist that companies should take into account the interests of society as a whole while conducting business and claim they can do so profitably. Critics say only people can have moral obligations, and that companies are already helping the world by providing jobs for workers and goods for consumers. Others dismiss CSR as cynical marketing by rapacious, profit-maximizing multinationals,” Forbes explained in the series overview. #

A recent study by Forbes suggests that CSR may be evolving—perhaps, it could be argued, due to some criticism that it is no more than “window-dressing” or greenwashing. The study looked at CSR in the cases of Eli Lilly, MasterCard, and Hewlett-Packard, and also surveyed a wide array of companies worldwide, and observed a few trends. One of them is that volunteerism has become more important in recent years, indicating that companies seek to engage in social impact projects beyond philanthropy alone. Another is that philanthropy can be most helpful to business goals when the CEO is actively involved in the program. #

Janine Schooley, senior vice president of programs at PCI, a California-based organization dedicated to supporting sustainable development efforts worldwide, shared with Dowser her views on the potential impact of corporate social responsibility campaigns. "Here at PCI we have found partnering with corporations or corporate foundations to be quite strategic and helpful in addressing the needs of the vulnerable communities we serve in Sub-Saharan Africa. Corporate Social Responsibility provides us with yet another tool, another set of much needed resources, whether they be cash, in-kind, or human resources. It takes effort to find the right intersection between a particular CSR focus and PCI's mission, but once we find it, the partnership can be very beneficial to all concerned,” she said. #

How effective will DC Comic's CSR initiative be? Stay tuned. In the coming months we'll be monitoring the implementation of the initiative, tracking what happens from the idea of the aid program to the execution - in the US and in the Horn of Africa. #

On starting over: Troy Holmberg of Coast Coconut Farms

Dowser — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:42:35 +0000

When a good idea is executed poorly the smart social entrepreneur will often scrap the project and go back to the drawing board. In this series entrepreneurs talk about discarding what isn’t working and starting over in order to maximize social impact. #

Troy Holmberg is a co-founder of Coast Coconut Farms a social enterprise that brings sustainable employment and microfranchises to rural Kenya. #

Dowser: What's something concrete you've learned in the last three months?
Holmberg: We started with a technology to make coconut oil that was very appropriate for a small-scale, rural scenario—which was the situation we found ourselves in when we started our project five years ago. Back then, we didn’t have a good idea of who our customers would be and what they would require. As we matured and started to find customers, we were forced to look at more efficient and economical ways to produce our oil. Just recently we took some trips to other parts of the world to see how they are making coconut oil for the world markets. We discovered that the initial technology we were using was not the technology we really needed to service our customers. #

We have since, at considerable cost and time, purchased and installed all new equipment with a process that meets the needs of our customers. We learned that what we should have done in the very beginning was to search out the best technology from around the world and really understand the business and technology before jumping into the business. #

We have also learned that it is critical to have a Western manager on the ground full-time to work with and mentor the Kenyan managers and team. It has made a huge difference and there is a synergy as we combine Western management styles and knowledge with the local knowledge of markets and culture that has made us more successful. But it can’t be done alone with only Western or only Kenyan perspectives and knowledge. #

What is a mistake or mishap you've learned from?
Coast Coconut Farms spent the first three years of its existence struggling to find customers and markets for its product (virgin coconut oil). We got into the business with only a very limited understanding of the market and needs of the customers. We took on the mentality, 'if you build it, they will come.' We started making oil and warehousing it without having any real customers in hand. Those first three years cost us a lot of money, time and mental capital trying to understand how to make our business model successful. #

We are now over that hump, thank goodness, but we are still struggling to manage a business in a third world that is servicing customers in the developed world. Quality, reliability, transportation and costs are all critical issues to our customers that are very difficult for us to control in an environment like Kenya. It can be thrilling and very rewarding as we help create jobs and improve lives, but it is extremely challenging, frustrating and unpredictable. You have to be prepared to work in such an environment. Looking back, we would have taken more time and effort in doing research and due diligence on the market, industry and technologies before jumping in and committing significant resources. #

Interview has been edited and condensed. #

Photo courtesy of Troy Holmberg #

Becoming a sustainability consultant: why systems matter, and boundaries don't

Dowser — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:52:05 +0000

A materials flowchart, courtesy of Except

By now, the field of social entrepreneurship is an established career path, and MBA programs all over the country have launched tracks dedicated to its study. # #

But another field of work, also geared toward environmental and social sustainability, has flown under the radar: sustainability consulting. With unemployment near ten percent and the market sagging, full-time jobs are hard to come by. Being a consultant is a way to use your skills for good and get paid while building up experience. #

Ariana Bain is an industrial and urban ecologist, and she currently works as a consultant for Except, a company dedicated to helping businesses achieve sustainability. (Industrial ecology, Bain explains, is the study of the flow of energy – water and materials – through systems at different time and space scales, and of the environmental and social impacts of those flows.) #

Here Bain shares with Dowser some tricks of the sustainability consultant trade. #

Dowser: What are one or two experiences in your life that led you to do what you do now?
Bain: The most central point was when I was 21, and I stopped eating dairy and soy for medical reasons. I had to read the packaging on everything I ate. I started digging into what was going on with the industrial food system. I started focusing on life cycles – the trajectories of consumer goods. I use those same analytical tools now, within my field of industrial ecology. Looking at the life cycle of a human, a society, an object – you can use the same analytical framework. #

What is a typical day at work like for you?
The main thing I do is work with companies and organizations to deliver a carbon footprint for a product or an activity. I usually split my days into content and management days. It’s important to think about ways we can be more productive. One of the challenges in this field is that we have to know how to do a million things – and do them efficiently, to feel that we actually accomplished them and then move on to something else. It’s really about allocating time. #

How do you find technology helpful in your work?
For one, there would be no way to run this company [Except] without free, cheap, and abundant communication tools, because we are split between the US and the Netherlands. We’re in the process of launching our use of an enterprise wiki – which should aggregate all of the other social media and communication tools that we use. We’re committed to Open Source software like Open Office. I’m a numbers person, and some of the functionality is lost--it doesn’t compare to Microsoft Excel. But we avoid having a lot of resources tied up in software licenses. We have to use certain things, like Adobe programs such as InDesign – we haven’t found an alternative. All our office computers run on Linux. #

Ariana Bain

Our principle is that information should be abundant and available. Knowledge should be in the common space so that we can all create solutions. When we publish our work we publish it with Creative Commons so that everyone can access it. # #

What is something you are learning in your job? Something that challenges you?
The biggest challenge I have, and I think this extends to my company, is that we are a hierarchically flat company – we have no hierarchy. When it comes to management, we assign roles for each project based on peoples’ skills rather than how long people have been at a company. But the hardest part within that is learning how to tell someone what to do, and do it in an equitable way. It’s a question of creating a fluid organization, when people shift back and forth between organizational and content positions. #

Tell me more about the consulting firm you work with.
Except is a collaboration between people, some of whom met in graduate school at Yale. Tom Bosschaert founded the company in 1999. It’s a model for developing a consulting company free of any initial capital investment. A consulting company is not an investible vehicle – so the next way to fund it is to each work really hard to find as many clients as you can, individually, and then building up and merging everything together. #

Our work is mostly corporate sustainability and planning work, and we focus on product development. For example we’re doing a carbon footprint project with a coffee exporting company in Nicaragua. We’re working with them to develop this as a product to sell to future clients. We have about eight projects like this right now where we’re working with other partners to develop a product we can use repeatedly. #

What’s the trick to a successful consultancy?
In consulting you don’t want to be doing one-off projects all the time. Sooner or later, unless people have huge margins on their work, doing projects where you have to reinvent the process flow and the content is not a way to run a business. You need to have a scalable product – and this means developing proprietary databases. The first time you develop a carbon footprint it takes forever, but once you’ve made it you can re-do it pretty quickly with energy and material data. These are startup costs to having a consulting company – doing all that work in the beginning. This is why LEED has been successful – it’s a known product, it’s a certification, it has a set process. #

What is the most important advice you’d give to someone who wants a career that creates sustainable change?
My advice is very oriented toward certain brain types – people who like to think in systems. A lot of people in the sustainability world like to think this way. I wouldn’t think about a career trajectory in terms of boundaries like NGO versus government. I know people working in venture capital positions in government, and others who earn $20,000 a year in the private sector doing jobs they believe in. #

The important thing is for people to decide what level within a system they want to work at. An example of that would be: there are some people who are really good with their hands. So whether that’s being an urban commercial greenhouse grower, or running a kids’ program at a farm, that’s one way to work within a system – whereas other people like myself like to work at a design and numbers level. I am never happier when someone gives me a problem and tells me to work it out and I’m crunching numbers in a spreadsheet. So people need to see where they are most happy and can be most effective within a field. #

Interview has been edited and condensed. #

The Bicycle Coffee Company: Sustainable From Bean To Cup

Dowser — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:47:43 +0000

Every Thursday, thanks to a content partnership with brother-sister duo Journey of Action, we'll be exploring Gen Y changemakers--and how they fit in with the rest of the world. #

In 2010, the United States imported 24,400,00 60-Kilogram bags of coffee. It's the second-largest importer in the world, after the European Union. #

And here is where that coffee came from. This is a heat map showing bags of coffee exported, by country, in 2010 (roll over the countries to see exact numbers in thousands of 60-kilogram bags). The top five, in order, are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Guatemala-- all regions that share, aside from similar weather patterns, developing economies. Coffee is the second-most valuable commodity exported from developing countries, after oil. #

However, the majority of coffee that you see on supermarket shelves is sold at a steep markup that increases the profits of the company selling it to you, without helping the farmer who grew the beans and harvested them under the hot sun. #

By now, most people have heard of "fair trade." But the real-life, on-the-ground effects of the model are often overlooked. So here's a quick breakdown of what fair trade really means: #

Rather than rely on the fluctuating, often low prices that the global commodity market tends to offer, Fair Trade International (FLO) guarantees farmers a minimum per-pound price for their product. That means they can sell beans into a market that promises them a "fair" price, which right now for coffee in the United States is $1.40 a pound, and five cents above market price if the conventional market surpasses the fair trade price. Here are detailed fair trade standards for the United States. #

On the whole, it's widely praised not only because it boosts impoverished farmers' income and marks a small step toward equalizing the very imbalanced global economy, but also because it frees up resources for the greater communities in which farmers live. #

By earning a better price for their crop, farmers are often able to afford goods and services that are considered necessities in the developed world, but are still a form of luxury in developing economies—such as the ability to send children to school. #

Fair trade can also involve companies reinvesting in the community in the form of development projects that benefit entire towns or villages, not just individual families. Because fair trade companies are often built upon principles of providing a quality product to the consumer while also benefiting the product's origin community, you'll often see that kind of reinvestment being made to build a school, recreation center, or even a hospital, for example, or to help with other needs identified by the community. #

Fair trade really established itself in the world marketplace through coffee, but has since expanded to other foods—chocolate, tea, bananas, and some spices are among the most common—as well as to non-edible goods like artisan-made clothing and jewelry. #

Critics' main qualm is that Fair Trade, at least for the coffee industry, doesn't live up to the theory behind its model. They argue that little data exists about its actual results; that their model overlooks multinational companies that may treat producers well; that regulations restrict Fair Trade to small farmers and overlook the poorest segment--migrant laborers; that price standardization, coupled with a rising market price for commodity coffee, often results in low-quality Fair Trade coffee. The farmers sell their high-quality goods on the commodity market, and leave the dregs for the Fair Trade price - which, in turn, roasters don't want to buy. #

"Fair Trade coffee has evolved from an economic and social justice movement to largely a marketing model for ethical consumerism," said Peter Giuliano, president of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and a green coffee buyer based in Durham, North Carolina. #

One solution to the discrepancies? Cut out the middle man, and purchase beans directly from farmers you've visited. #

That's the approach for the young founders of the Bicycle Coffee Co., which delivers coffee to local businesses that is not only fair trade, but is also organic and locally-roasted. They purchase from farmers they met on travels through Central and South America. And they make their zero-emissions deliveries by bike. #

The company has further advantages over other fair trade companies because with minimal overhead costs, it can sell its coffee at the same price as its non-fair trade competitors. That means a consumer does not have to make the choice to spend a premium for a fairly-traded product. (Although to be fair to consumers, at least one study has shown that such a premium does not stop customers from choosing the fair trade option, even if it's more expensive, and even during the recession.) #

Ultimately, its founders aim to build a "micro-replicable business" that's easy to sustain from city to city. Check out the video to see how they're doing it. #

Additional reporting by Blair Hickman #

Weekly Roundup: GOOD Buys Jumo, The CSR Debate Continues, and Sustainability's Potential For Economic Salvation

Dowser — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:45:05 +0000

Every week, we round up the SocEnt news and discussions you need to know. #

GOOD-Jumo merger shakes up social enterprise

The big news in the social enterprise world this week: media conglomerate GOOD acquired do-gooder social network Jumo, the brainchild of Facebook co-founder and Obama's online campaign director Chris Hughes. #

GOOD sees the merger as an opportunity to strengthen their ability to connect organizations with individuals. 15,000 nonprofits and over one million individuals are registered with Jumo, while GOOD's content platform currently receives 3 million unique visitors per month. #

Ben Goldhirsh, GOOD’s CEO and co-founder, said in an e-mail to GOOD members, “It's an experiment. It's evolving.” The public will likely see the partnership’s first outputs late this fall. #

In the meantime, reactions to the merger have been mixed. Philanthro-tech blogger Beth Kanter pointed out to the New York Times that no platform has yet to establish itself as a leader "in the world of online intermediaries set up to help nonprofits." Many wonder if the GOOD-Jumo team could lead the way, and nonprofit tech expert Amy Sample Ward (who criticized Jumo upon its launch) called the merger "probably the best thing that could happen [to Jumo]." #

However, the terms of the deal are a bit shady. GOOD is a for-profit company. Jumo is not, and was seeded by $3.5 million in grants. According to the Times' article, this partnership thus has some legal obligations; the money paid to Jumo must be reinvested in charitable purposes, and there's also the matter that a for-profit venture may now be making money off grants originally intended for a non-profit enterprise. #

Not to mention that no one's actually sure how much GOOD paid. Tech site BetaBeat claims to have learned that the deal went through for a whopping $0 and a seat on their advisory board for Hughes. NBC Bay Area reported the same story. However, in all of the articles listed above, no one from GOOD is talking. According to Goldhirsh, the New York Attorney General must approve the deal before they can release the numbers. #

Bradford Smith, president of the Foundation Center, took the merger as an opportunity to question whether or not foundations need to re-evaluate qualifications for their grants. Most demand their funds be restricted to "charitable, scientific or educational purposes," but, as this merger shows, the lines between for-profit and non-profit have blurred. Most commenters agreed. #

Sean Stannard-Stockton took it one step further on his blog, pointing out that for Millenials, there often is no distinction between non-profit and for-profit, between work and life, between this nonprofit or that. It's all connected. Something that GOOD, he argues, seems to understand. #

The CSR debate continues

Last week, we wrote about an article in The Guardian that spurred quite a bit of debate over the point of CSR. #

And it's still going. #

The big announcement this week was Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility, for $12.5 billion cash. That's about a third of the information giant's reserves, and what credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (yes, the same S&P that downgraded the US) thinks is a bad move. Days later, they downgraded Google from a "buy" to a "sell." #

However, former UN advisor Christine Bader pointed out that this is an excellent opportunity for Google to show its support for conflict-free technology. Many of the minerals included in cell phones come from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. People call them "Blood Phones." #

But Bader thinks that Google's unique propensity for innovation, and corporate motto of "Dont' Be Evil," puts them in prime position to lead the way to a solution. "Perhaps it is naive to think one company can solve a problem others have been working on for years," she writes. "Has a single company ever had such a profound impact on people’s lives? Hang on, let me Google that..." #

There was a bit more CSR news that's been buzzing for weeks, but is still worth pointing out. The first is that Ford's new electric Focus will come with rooftop solar panels for the owner's home. The idea is that this will help offset the price of having to actually charge the car, and reduce the irony in the fact that you're charging an electric car with fossil fuels in the first place. With this move, Ford joins General Motors in the class of "auto companies going solar." #

FastCompany also ran a piece on the Sanya Skypump, a wind turbine for your car, and CNN highlighted Steve Katsaros' solar light bulb - which he decided to sell via a for-profit model after reading Paul Polak’s acclaimed 2008 book, Out of Poverty. #

And finally, it's interesting to view all this news in context with corporate consultant Dr. John Izzo's think-piece on Walmart and the ultimate value of CSR. He acknowledges that companies, Walmart included, often adopt CSR to save face and increase efficiency. And concludes that shouldn't matter. #

"[Walmart's] intent was less about saving the world than saving their image (and dollars)," he writes. "But, to this I add a large “so what?"...While it is easy to criticize companies like Walmart for having less than pure motives, the truth is if Walmart’s team can save hundreds of millions of dollars while improving their reputation, the lessons they learn will reverberate through their supply chain. Personally I care less about their motives than I do about their results and so should you." #

Can sustainability cure our economic woes?

There's been quite a bit of buzz this week around sustainability issues. #

First up: this week in Aspen, thought-leaders from various sectors have gathered to discuss solutions to climate change at the eighth-annual American Renewable Energy Day (AREDAY). The focus of this year's summit is monetizing carbon in the global economy, and it's brought together everyone from Ted Turner to General Wesley Clark to James Cameron to oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle. #

Though the conference doesn't end until Sunday, videos of some keynote speakers have already gone up on the AREDAY site. Conference founder Chip Comins (who seems to be posting about AREDAY on genConnect) also said that this year's conference will present a Road Map of their finding at the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2011. For instant gratification, you can follow the #AREDAY hashtag. #

Next up is a story in the New York Times about universities across America that are now using sustainability as a recruitment tool. Turns out, students now consider sustainability as important as academics or athletics. Princeton Review even released a “green rating" last month for universities, evaluating them based on their “environmentally-related policies, practices and academic offerings.” #

And finally: a must-read article in The Guardian by green guru Simon Zadek, berating rating agencies and governments for failing to acknowledge that sustainability is a proven element of long-term economic success. #

"The fundamentals of the US economy remain mired in the practice of overconsumption, under-investment in public infrastructure and services, and an unsustainable environmental footprint," he writes. He compares it to "building wealth on quicksand" and continues to point out a slew of reports correlating sustainability with economic success. #

Some commenters questioned whether or not Zadek has a solid understanding of ratings agencies. Others took issue with Zadek's assertion that China "and others" are on track to create more sustainable economies than the United States. "If only this line hadn't been included, the argument might have had stronger validity," said one commenter. #

On the other hand, one of the latest panel consensus from AREDAY is that China has renewable energy policies that can't be beat. #

Either way, in an economic environment so tumultuous that the Wall Street Journal is now live-blogging the markets, Zadek's article is worth a read. #

Worthwhile weekend reads #

A few tidbits for your August vacations... #

If you’re not tired of following the reactions to Warren Buffett’s controversial NY Times op-ed, you’ll be interested in this explanation of why his name trended on Twitter and how this indicates the democratic potential of social media.

The NYTimes ran an interesting series of thought-pieces on how to fix the economy. Look for reactions on Twitter at @roomfordebate.

Could “charter” cities, enclaves that are open to refugees, be a solution to humanitarian crises?

Why the for-profit social enterprise ShoreBank was forced to close after over thirty years.

The NY Times reported on how mobile phones can improve rural health care services in in Kenya.

Thinking about B-school? Watch out for these ten biggest lies about an MBA program.

Philanthrocapitalism's critiqued of Rolling Stone's recent article, How The World Failed Haiti.

Fixing The Economy: Could Localism Provide A Boost?

Dowser — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:11:36 +0000

Every Thursday, thanks to a content partnership with brother-sister duo Journey of Action, we'll be exploring Gen Y changemakers--and how they fit in with the rest of the world. #

Financial turmoil. Rough recoveries. Debt. #

The global economy seems to be, in few words, falling apart. And while we can't possibly claim a definitive solution, we do know that it's important to look at other models--like the city of Bellingham, Washington. Its residents have taken localism to new heights, creating an economy that consists almost entirely of local businesses that emphasize environmental sustainability. #

In the video above, they explain how a localized economy is not only empowering, but also a way to generate economic strength during a nationwide recession. #

Though our economy, generally, favors mass production, localism (which covers a range of political philosophies and not just where you get your food) is on the rise, as part of broader efforts to make cities more sustainable. Organizations like the C40, a global group of large cities committed to climate change, and the National Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, assert that urban sustainability means implementing green infrastructure and energy programs, as well as strengthening existing recycling initiatives. Localism is a significant part of this process because everyday citizens and business owners can participate--right now, today, with their own consumer decisions. #

Many locavores also believe that finding ways to keep money in the community could provide resistance to the sagging global economic markets. “When you buy local, 50 percent of the money stays local,” explains Nick Hartrich, the Green Building Program Manager at Bellingham's Sustainable Connections, a nonprofit localizing their town (and the org featured in the video above). In contrast, he adds, buying something from a corporation sends money to strangers in offices in other cities. #

Plus, buying local reduces transportation costs. The carbon footprint of eating an apple shipped from Mexico to New York City, for example, is invisible but massive. #

Both Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, New York have particularly strong “locavore” cultures, which can be seen in celebrated restaurants that source from area farms. Most residents have realized that not only is it more environmentally friendly to consume local goods (often organic, with low transportation costs), but it's also socially rewarding to know the people and places that go into your daily meals and habits. #

And another, of course, is Bellingham. Some snapshots from the video: one restaurateur sources everything that she sells from within 22 miles of her farm. A baker trades her cookies for goods from farmers. Basil and mint come so fresh off the field to the local market that the herbs are still warm from the sun. #

Sustainable Connections supports local Bellingham businesses by fostering relationships that increase production capacity, and by improving sustainability practices. Michelle Grandy, the Communications and Think Local First Program Manager, explained to Dowser, “We’re a membership organization, so our biggest goal is to help our members be more sustainable in their everyday practices.” #

“When a business takes the actions we recommend to them, we then promote the business to the community not only as a local business, but also as a place that’s taking these extra steps to be more sustainable,” Grandy said. This in turn serves as a marketing tactic, and helps the business get new customers. Currently, Sustainable Connections has over 600 members in and around Bellingham. #

One of their most successful programs has been the Zero Waste Campaign. “We send a professional from our local waste hauler to a business to do a waste audit," said Grandy. "They identify things that can be recycled that the business doesn’t know about – sometimes it’s not common knowledge that certain plastics, for example, can be recycled.” #

“I believe that supporting local is so important right now,” said Grandy. “We know that when you spend your money locally, more of it stays in the community and re-circulates – in the long run that's what truly creates jobs. It’s essential that people consider local first when it makes sense for them. And besides the money part, it resonates with people because you're supporting people you know.” #

Haiti First: Confronting the economic implications of relief aid

Dowser — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:00:45 +0000

Mark Danner covered Haiti's tumultuous transition to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s. He knows that foreign interventions have a long history of mixed results and consequences that outsiders often overlook. #

"Like the ruined bridges strewn across the countryside -- one of the few traces of the [US] Marines and their occupation nearly a century ago," he wrote in a New York Times op-ed shortly after the 2010 quake, "these attentions tend to begin in evangelical zeal and to leave little lasting behind." #

How little? Until now, it has been hard to quantify. But a study of development programs in fragile countries -- conducted by Peace Dividend Trust (PDT) -- found that, on average, international agencies spend less than 5% of the money donated for post disaster and post conflict rebuilding programs in country, preferring instead to buy supplies from foreign companies. #

And that cuts out a lot of opportunity for growth within the country--growth that could build an economic infrastructure that lasts after the aid organizations go home. One of Danner's suggestions for promoting lasting change in Haiti is for "the United States and other donors [to] make a formal undertaking to ensure that the vast amounts that will soon pour into the country go not to foreigners but to Haitians..." #

That's the end goal of Haiti First, PDT's "buy local" program that aims to identify Haitian entrepreneurs and connect them to the major international agencies overseeing projects, like the Red Cross, US Agency for International Development and Sean Penn's nonprofit, JP/HRO. Though such relief agencies often try to avoid getting involved in long-term development work, there's a growing appreciation for the urgency of scalable economic opportunity in relief operations. #

"But," says PDT spokesperson Elmira Bayrasli, "a lot of the international organizations that have a mandate to operate in places like Haiti often don't know what the local small business landscape is." #

So Haiti First identifies local business suppliers and gives them a crash course in the process of how international agencies do business. Then when one of those agencies makes a tender to buy supplies, they disseminate them and try to find a match. So far, Bayrasli says, they have facilitated more than $13 million in deals -- a tiny sliver of the reconstruction dollars flowing through the country, but a start. #

It's based on a similar, successful program PDT worked on with the US military in Afghanistan, "I think they're all starting to see that you can't view economic development in isolation...they're starting to look at this very holistically in terms of how that fits in with US national security policy... There are a lot of young men between the ages of 17 and 25 who don't have employment and that is a problem in places like Afghanistan or Haiti." #

It's also, Bayrasli said, an impact of the competitive pressures from social entrepreneurs. "One thing social entrepreneurs are a big advocate of is impact measurement. It's actually forcing organizations like the UN and World Bank to say, well, what is your impact? Don't tell me how many pencils you delivered. Show me what you've done. What are the outputs?" #

William Wheeler reported on the reconstruction effort in Haiti with a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. #

Are we outgrowing how we grow?

Dowser — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:30:50 +0000

Could we have outgrown modern agriculture? Dr. E Ann Clark thinks “agriculture was never designed to be sustainable,” and argues in recent research that we need to re-vision our food production systems entirely for today’s needs. #

We do not have a whole-scale sustainable organic food system today, Clark argues, because agriculture as designed in the North American colonies had the central goal of exporting raw commodities to mother countries. This “design driver” of agriculture, as Clark terms it, did not create a food system intended to be sustainable for its producers. This system is dependent on cheap oil and society’s willingness to bear costs “externalized by seemingly efficient mega-scale production and processing.” This second design driver enables and encourages producers to produce large amounts of homogenous products. We can’t expect agriculture to move towards sustainability, she says, unless we re-design its base to be more in line with today’s needs.

What are the needs that should be driving today’s agriculture? Today’s central “design driver,” Clark says, will be relying on current rather than stored (fossil fuel) energy. Organic practices will become mainstream in a future food system because they require less manufacturing of products used in farming and because organic practices internalize costs of production. Clark predicts that “ecologically sound agriculture…will necessarily rely less on annuals and more on perennials- with a central role for grass-fed livestock.” This does not mean less vegetables, she says, but rather less large-seeded annual grains which occupy the majority of arable lands, require bare soil, and have various other requirements less compatible with most of US farm land than perennials. #

Current research, education and activism on agricultural sustainability focus on how to make the current system less bad, Clark writes, but a more useful way at framing today’s agriculture is through today’s distinct “design drivers.” Food systems not relying on oil will favor smaller, organic, seasonally-oriented and local food. The more policymakers frame agriculture “post-oil realities,” Clark says, the more we can design a food system that is both driven and aided by today’s needs and the land we’re using. What do you think are today’s particular drivers, and how can the way we receive food promote them? #

4food: Creating healthy, sustainable, fast-food meals

Dowser — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:00:51 +0000

While you can’t force people into eating healthfully, perhaps you can make it into an enjoyable or interesting experience, which they’re more likely to choose. That’s the approach that 4food, a restaurant whose first location opened in midtown Manhattan last fall, is taking in their quest to bring healthy fast-food to Americans. #

In “dejunking” fast-food, 4food strives to work within the confines of typical American attitudes toward meals: they want them quick, customized, and tasty. And 4food has found a way to provide all that, while avoiding the calories added by frying, and adding nutritional value to American standards like hamburgers. But 4food sees dietary change as part of a broader reinvention of eating out, which is why they’ve built a restaurant that uses energy in a sustainable manner, incorporates the surrounding cityscape into the dining environment, and incentivizes customers to market the company through social media. #

Dowser: How did you identify the need for this kind of restaurant?
Josiah Perry, co-developer and co-owner: We piloted the project in the Bronx, where we knew that food-related illnesses like obesity and diabetes were prevalent. And we were further motivated to act on this problem when our friend, film-producer George Jackson, passed away at a young age from a massive stroke related to obesity. #

So why is the first location in Manhattan if you saw the problem occurring in the Bronx?
We piloted the project for one year in an apartment in the Bronx, and eventually we’ll have a location there after we open a few more in Manhattan. But it was simply evident to our investors that our launch would be more successful in Midtown. The real estate market was depressed at the time, and we got a good deal on the property. #

How are you providing an innovative solution to dietary problems like obesity?
Well, we didn’t totally reinvent the wheel. We’re serving fast-food. But what’s different about our food is that nothing is fried – it’s baked or boiled – and our burgers use the best ingredients, like naturally-raised, grass-fed beef from Bill Niman’ s ranch. If you eat animals, then you are what they eat, and also how they are treated affects their quality. Also, we cut out the hole in the middle of the burger, because this is the part that cooks the slowest and makes the rest of the burger overcooked, and we put in a customized nutritional scoop. #

The way we do meal customization is unique, too. When you come in to 4food you create a user profile that evaluates your nutritional needs according to how often you exercise, what percentage of your meals is protein or carbohydrate, your gender and weight and so on. Then the system generates a custom burger for your profile. #

Critics might say that this is an individualized solution to what’s really a public, systemic problem: obesity and malnutrition.
We’re hoping to inspire people through our approach to food. People have to take it upon themselves to change their lifestyles, and we’re helping them to do that. #

But we also try to set an example to everyone in the city by creating a restaurant that emphasizes sustainable energy use, transparency, and a pleasant eating experience that connects you to the urban surroundings. That’s why we have these special solar-sensitive light panels on the windows, and open space that makes for a calm environment. We also have open kitchens that allow you to see your meal being prepared, and our receipts display the calorie content of what you ordered so you know how it fits your dietary needs. #

How are you marketing your restaurant and reaching your target communities?
We’re not using traditional marketing. Instead, we’re letting our customers do it through social media like Facebook and Twitter. When you get a customized burger for your profile, you can post it on your social media accounts. Then, every time someone purchases your burger and mentions your name, you get a commission. So you get discount meals, and this keeps you coming back to the restaurant. #

Who in your life has influenced your ways of thinking and working?
My grandmother came to this country from Trinidad, and she arrived with nothing. But she worked really hard, and still managed to cook healthy meals for our family, three times a day. Also, George Jackson, whose untimely death inspired my co-founders and I to start 4food, had the ability to turn people into great producers. The problem was that, while he reached others, he didn’t take good care of himself. #

You’re self-taught in the ways of business: you didn’t finish college and instead struck out on your own, following your dreams until they became reality. What advice would you give to people who have an idea but don’t know how to realize it?
Just start! We started this place with no money, and only an experimental kitchen in the Bronx, where we worked on the recipes for a year. But we were so inspired by George. Just start, and the help will come. #

Interview has been edited and condensed. #

Smaller isn’t always greener: why aren’t American homes more efficient?

Dowser — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:00:13 +0000

Average American homes today are using essentially the same amount of energy per year as they were in 1970s – which seems odd, given the improvement of heating systems and household appliances, and a heightened emphasis on energy conservation. So how are we still using so much?

A new Energy Information Administration (EIA) survey gives several answers -- we have more access to air conditioners and homes are larger across the board. The study also shows that consumer electronics detract from attempts to make homes energy-efficient, and detract from efficiency gains of major appliances. Almost half of American homes have at least one computer, 88% of American homes have two or more televisions, and nearly every home has 1-3 rechargeable electronic devices. Even if our appliances are increasingly energy efficient, we own enough of them to offset that efficiency. #

Having smaller or more efficient devices does not that mean we are going to automatically be more energy efficient – though it may feel that way. Newer technology does not always mean more green – the study notes, for example, that DVR players, which use more energy per unit than DVD or VCR players, are currently used by over 40% of those surveyed and are replacing the use of those lower-energy using players. Attempts to go green are often hampered by advances in quality of life and access to resources. Should we be inhibiting this kind of access to save energy? That’s neither feasible or desirable. What we can do is see our energy usage as a balancing act. #

The EIA survey shows clearly how much energy efficiency is in the hand of consumer choices. Even if more and more efficient electronics and appliances are developed, consumers are the only ones who can consider if their cell-phones are beating out their three-pane windows. #

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. #