The 2011 LOHAS Forum is very excited to have the 2010 women’s champion and 4 X-Games halfpipe gold medalist Gretchen Bleiler as a speaker. Why is she a speaker at a business conference like LOHAS? Because she is not only a kick ass boarder but is also a role model for girls and young women wanting to aspire to be successful in athletcis while being conscious of the environment. 

After winning a silver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics for women’s snowboarding halfpipe, Gretchen decided to use her position as a chance to speak about an issue that is close to her heart - climate change. Gretchen has just kicked off of the “21 Day Reusable Challenge,” an eco-minded call to action asking individuals around the globe to give up single serving disposable plastic water bottles, plastic grocery bags and Styrofoam takeaway containers for 21 days. In addition to wanting to get the public involved, Gretchen has also asked other winter X Games athletes to take the challenge with her going into Winter X Games 15
 
With the idea that it takes 21 days to build a habit, the challenge encourages people to consciously “create a habit” to benefit our habitat. As a speaker at a recent college environmental conference, Gretchen wanted to call students to action. Out of this desire, the 21 Day Reusable Challenge was born.
 
Gretchen says, “Every single one of us has a unique opportunity to create awareness and influence change, so the 21 Day Reusable Challenge is a chance for people to stop using harmful disposable products, and inspire their friends and families to do the same by simply posting videos and photos through their social network.” From there, Gretchen’s Facebook followers vote on the most inspirational stories and the top five individuals with the most liked stories will win products from Gretchen’s sponsors Oakley, K2, Mission Skin Care, ALEX Bottle, and Holga Cameras. 
 
She is also working with sponsors Oakley and K2 Snowboarding to create a signature eco friendly clothing line and products. Gretchen has also started her own sustainable stainless steel reusable water bottle company, ALEX Bottle, with husband and former Oakley Marketing Manager, Chris Hotell.

In collaborating with other industry snowboarders and X Games athletes, Gretchen hopes to spread the message and encourage people to participate in the challenge, incorporating reusable living in their everyday lives while also raising awareness to the amount of disposable waste we are still exposed to on a daily basis. “Our winters depend on how we manage our consumer habits, and since most of these athletes already practice sustainability, this is a chance for them to show it and encourage their fans to do the same” says Gretchen.

It is because of her eco-awareness, creative initiatives with outdoor lifestyle brands and her unique position as a role model for women that we feel she will have a lot of insight into connecting with women. Women comprise a majority of the LOHAS market. Gretchen will be speaking on a panel discussing the growing Sheconomy and ways best to communicate to the female consumers of LOHAS products and services. We look forward to hearing her unique perspective.
 

Green Building Construction for 2011

The U.S. green building market has defied the economic downturn and has a strong outlook for 2011. According to McGraw-Hill Construction’s Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth report the value of green building construction starts was up from $42B to $71B from 2008 to 2010 which is approximately 50% increase and represents 25% of all new construction activity in 2010. According to projections, the green building market size is expected to reach $135 billion by 2015.

Nonresidential Growth

Nonresidential buildings construction has proven to be the strongest sector for green building and represents a $54B market opportunity. Today a third of all new nonresidential construction is green. In five years nonresidential green building activity is expected to triple, representing $120 billion to $145 billion in new construction (40%-48% of the nonresidential market) and $14 billion to $18 billion in major retrofit and renovation projects.

Health Care Construction

Health care construction this year is expected to grow its green share to as much as 40% (valued at $8 billion-$9 billion in 2010) — phenomenal growth in just two years. Education (valued at $13 billion–$16 billion in 2010) and office green construction (valued at $7 billion–$8 billion in 2010) also remain strong sectors, showing high increases in market share, due in part to the fact that bigger projects are the most likely to “go green.” This year, the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED specification is mentioned in 71% of all projects valued at over $50 million.

Primary Reasons for Green Building Growth

* Reduction in operating costs of 13.6% on average for new buildings and 8.5% for retrofits;
* Increase in building values of 10.9% for new buildings and 6.8% for retrofits; and
* Increase in return on investment (ROI) of 9.9% for new buildings and 19.2% for retrofits.

California will add to this growth because on January. 1st California's CalGreen building code takes effect, mandating eco-friendly practices that were previously voluntary.

Green Housing Trends for 2011

The current housing crisis means fewer new homes being built. But are those that are being built designed based on what the crisis has shown us? According to Green House there is a new emphasis on smaller homes with fewer luxuries. The median size of new single-family homes fell from a peak of 2,268 square feet in 2006 to to 2,100 square feet in 2009, says the study by Paul Emrath, vice president for survey and housing policy research at the National Association of Home Builders He says part of the current decline may also be recession-related but he sees other factors at play, such as the desire to lower energy costs and less emphasis on homes as investments. "Not all of these trends are likely to reverse themselves immediately at the end of a recession," he writes. Jenny Sullivan, a senior editor of BUILDER, calls this "portion control." She cites nine other trends for 2011.

Glitz is gone (for now)

Simple and honest architecture is what is in demand as homeowners look to simplify and manage their lives easily – and their houses. Simple beauty will be the focus of interior design with a modest ‘Zen’ approach. Natural finishes, clean lines and less frivolous embellishments will be in style.

Healthy Homes

As people become more aware of wellness aspects more will want to surround themselves with healthier home options such as low VOC paints, stains, and sealants. There will be an increased demand for natural furnishing products made of hay, wheat, bamboo, aspen and other natural fibers that bring more of the outdoor elements inside.

Multigenerational Homes

As more families rely on each other for financial support including mortgage payments multigenerational households are proliferating. These types of homes are increasing for various reasons: boomerang kids moving home to save money; elderly parents who need family support; young parents relying on grandparent care for their kids; and rapid growth among immigrant families for whom shared living is a cultural tradition.

Urbanizing the Burbs

Along with the trend toward smaller homes is the growing interest in urbanism. City planners and developers are creating ways to create artisan shops and walkability into existing hotspots.

DYI Alive and Strong

Homeowners will continue to take care of their own leaky roofs, remodeling projects and other home improvement projects themselves. The value of homeowner improvements is on track to top $117.6 billion in 2010 and $133.7 billion in 2011, according to IBISWorld. Retrofitting existing homes to meet energy-efficient standards is expected to be a boon to business. According to Entrepreneur.com, the aging population's desire to "age in place" is fueling an uptick in universal design. More boomers are bypassing assisted living facilities--for their parents and themselves--and renovating their homes to be tastefully functional and accessible.

I scanned the web for some of the latest food trends and here are a few that caught my eye. They are from a variety of sources including Rachel Ray, Mintel, The Food Channel and Good Food World.

Organic Gardening and Urban Agriculture
Canned, tinned and frozen foods are likely to benefit from consumers’ bunker mentality and the search for stability in a tumultuous world. Certainly there is greater awareness that freezing foods early locks in their nutritious benefits. The continuance of record setting seed sales from garden centres and supermarkets indicates the continued trend towards self-sufficiency such as organic gardening and herb window boxes. Market research firm Packaged Facts in January 2009 estimated that the organic lawn and garden sector reached $460 million in retail sales in 2008, a gain of 12% over 2007. This trend is also created from the foods scares we saw in 2010 of contaminated tomatoes, peanut butter and eggs. People want to take control of what they have on their tables. This also develops self-customization of food. Home canning lets you control the amount of sodium, sugar, or spice. You can season those fruits and veggies to suit your own taste or dietary needs. You can make salsas or pasta sauces that are as spicy or mild as your family likes them, or as low in sodium as your doctor advises. Plus – homemade handmade treats are great inexpensive gifts to others in a time when money is tight.

Role Reversal in Kitchens
The economic slump has hit men hard in traditionally male dominant fields such as finance and construction. Women in the workforce are now better qualified, command higher salaries and work longer hours – which mean men need to do more of the shopping. Plus, many women are employed in fields that are expected to thrive the next few years.  This is leading to a new balance of power and the rise of the “Sheconomy”. About a third of women outearn their husbands according to Reach Advisors. Men will do a lot of bread buying instead of bread winning. Compared to 1970, men have tripled the amount of time they’re spending in the kitchen. The rise of the male metrosexual in recent years may have something to do with it as well. With the success of cooking shows featuring male cooks or hosts have made it more than permissible for men to don an apron; it’s actually become quite fashionable to do so while chopping vegetables and experimenting with obscure spices and exotic ingredients. But as the jobless rate continues to hover near 10 percent, look for more men to cook, not just for fun, but also because their wives will be working late to help fuel the Sheconomy.

Rise in Food Oriented Apps
As smart phones become commonplace more apps will be available for people to find local organic restaurants and grocery stores, Open Table helps reserve a table at a restaurant. Groupon provides specialty coupons to your email inbox, Facebook or Twitter profile from local stores. With the recession not likely to change soon consumers are hungry for bargains, and the new deal-oriented apps let you find them without the need for clipping coupons. It’s the new weapon of choice for the bargain hunter stalking his dinner prey. New apps allow customers to scan barcodes on products for instant savings or by checking in on social networking sites like Foursquare and connecting with other shoppers we’re becoming rewarded in more ways than ever!

Supporting Local growers and Specialty Shops
More people want their local economies to succeed and are choosing to support local farms and restaurants. For many of us, eating honest, fresh and real food has taken on a higher priority in our lives. More consumers are willing to take the time to visit specialty shops for foods of a higher quality and relationship with the merchant. There is a movement that is returning to neighborhood butcher shops, specialty bread stores, and boutique shops for buying food needs. Grocery stores aren’t going away but there is a surge in farmer markets with one-on-one relationships. These may cost a bit more but is attractive for people with the time and money to do it, such as empty nesters and those young singles we used to call yuppies. This trend is about growing and tending—if someone, somewhere, is personally growing and tending to this product, as opposed to packing and sorting on the assembly line, then it’s local. It means someone is personally committed to it. Someone has made sacrifices to bring it to market.

Rise of Superfoods for a Healthy Active Life
Boomers will be seeking natural solutions for energy, health and even sex from cultural foods such as acai, gogi berry, mangosteen and nutmeg.  Many boomers will continue to work—and they’ll demand foods that provide the energy and vitality to get them through the day. And, as sales for Viagra prove, boomers want to stay in shape for nighttime activities, too.  People are working longer into retirement, there is a greater need for products geared towards vitality and health in a more senior workforce. Products such as energy drinks so far have been targeting the younger demographic. Get ready for them and others to be targeted to an older crowd.

Obesity is the New tobacco
We all know the obesity epidemic is rampant in the U.S. More awareness of issues have been brought up by efforts from Jamie Oliver and The Biggest Loser. But despite these efforts it doesn’t look like it is slowing down. There is more social pressure on people to eat healthily. Obesity is being called “the new tobacco” as people are unhappy about their taxes being used to pay for gastric band surgery. Fast food restaurants are facing a decision as to whether they cater to it, or try to counter it with healthier alternatives. We may see some brands embrace gluttony as we saw with the KFC Double Down sandwich. However doing too much of this can damage a brand. Other companies like McDonalds are re-designing their restaurants to have a healthier appeal but they still revolve around essentially unhealthy burgers. But there have been some noticeable changes in food options in places like airports where they are providing healthy food options such as salads, fruits and vegetables and organic chocolate. We are also seeing the rise of natural sweeteners such as agave and stevia in brands such as Fanta and Odwalla We will see fast foods adjust to the demands that their foods are unhealthy in order for them to stay relevant to consumers.

GMO Awareness
With food scares continuing many people have taken it upon themselves to investigate sourcing and ingredients of products and have become more aware of genetically modified foods (GMOs). Despite the claim from companies like Monsanto that GMOs are sustainable and are the only way to feed the world’s growing populations, opponents contest that they do more harm to the environment, farming economies and our health than good. Books such as the Unhealthy Truth and websites such as the Non GMO project that provide scientific data and ways for consumers to identify and shop for non GMO foods. Companies such as Horizon Dairy, Whole Foods 365 private label, and Natures Path are now using labeling to identify themselves as non GMO ingredient products. Unfortunately it is an uphill battle. However there has been a rise in superweeds – weeds resistant to pesticides – and increasing evidence of biotech companies inflating yield estimates and the industry on its heals and plummeting stock.  But GMO products are currently ubiquitous in our food supply. If you are not choosing organic or if it doesn’t say non-GMO on the label, chances are your food contains GMOs, as it is estimated that 80% of conventional grocery products now contain GMO ingredients.

Organic Acreage Continues to Grow
Compared to overall acreage dedicated to conventional agriculture production, the amount of land under organic production is still very small. But it is growing. In the first wide-scale survey of organic farming, published this past year, USDA counted 14,540 U.S. farms and ranches that were under organic production, comprising 4.8 million acres of land in 2008. Certified U.S. organic cropland acreage between 2002 and 2008 averaged 15% annual growth. Globally, organic acreage grew by 9% in 2008, with more than 35 million hectares in organic production. The highest increases came in Latin America and Europe, according to the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Switzerland.


BPA Awareness
2010 saw a rise in concen with BPA (Bisphenol A) used in containers for food and drinks - mostly canned goods. BPA was developed in the 1930s, and commercial uses exploded in the 1950s after scientists discovered its ability to make plastics more durable and shatterproof. BPA is used in thousands of consumer goods, including compact discs, dental sealants, and credit card and ATM receipts, but health advocates say they are most concerned about BPA's presence in plastic food containers, bottles and the epoxy linings of metal cans because it can leach into food and beverages. It is found in the urine of more than 90 percent of the U.S. population, according to federal estimates. Recent FDA research has linked the chemical to cancer, heart disease, Type-II diabetes, obesity, sexual dysfunction and early-onset puberty. FDA officials said they are especially concerned about its developmental  impact on fetuses, infants and young children. Various indepented tests have shown that there are higher levels of BPA exposure than the FDA reports in canned goods. Despite these findings there is resistance by Congress to ban it. As consumers and new parents become more aware of BPA they will seek alternatives to plastic and canned goods such as glass bottled or frozen foods.  Concerns such as BPA will also drive people to freeze and can their own foods and shop locally as previously stated.


Sustainable Packaging on the Rise
Despite the failure of the biodegradable but ultra-loud SunChip bag, there is more interest in biodegradable packaging options and less packaging to emphasize sustainability.  Pike Research estimates that eco-friendly packaging will nearly double in revenues between 2009 and 2014, rising from $88 billion to $170 billion. According to Mintel there will be a greater focus on reduced packaging that promotes environmental responsibility in combination with uniqueness, such as boxless cereal bars or more cereals without the inner bag. Paper Mate recently introduced biodegradable pens with compostable outer shells that break down into organic matter within a year. Following a more traditional route, Kraft Foods plans to reduce its carbon footprint in 2011 by decreasing waste from its plants, eliminating 150 million pounds of packaging material, and cutting CO2 emissions by 25 percent.

Do you have others that you feel I have missed or wish to add? I’d love to hear them.

When it comes to fashion, I’m torn. On one hand, I enjoy a good bargain, and frequently find myself in inexpensive stores, trying to find one-of-a-kind pieces at discount prices. On the other hand, I work in the green industry and I know that choosing inexpensive garments, made overseas, is not the most eco-conscious or socially responsible choice. So what is a girl to do? How do I merry my passion for the environment and social responsibility with my bank account? Luckily there is a solution out there, where unique fashion accessories and social action collide, providing conscious consumers a choice, and the opportunity to look super chic without breaking the bank. That solution is Annie O. Boutique.

Based in Boulder, CO, Annie O. Boutique designs and sources beautifully hand crafted women’s accessories, working directly with female artisan cooperatives around the world. The company creates stunning handbags, embroidered belts, scarves and other accessories using local materials, blending ancient techniques and contemporary design. What is amazing about Annie O., is that through the company’s work with female artisan cooperatives, many women that live in impoverishment and are often victims of domestic violence are provided an opportunity to showcase their artistic skills, make a living and have an improved quality of life. If you ask me, that is an amazing impact, created by one woman (Annie O.) with a passion for design and vision of a better world.

Not only are Annie O. accessories socially conscious, they are uniquely hand-crafted and intricately made.  I guarantee that you will not find as unique pieces as Annie O.’s belts, handbags, scarves and other accessories in your local shopping mall. I personally had the opportunity to wear one of Annie O.’s hand-made belts and use one of her handbags , and I have to say, never before have I received so many compliments!

The Annie O. belt I have worn many times now, is a powder blue, delicately embroidered with vibrant images of floral and detailed bird designs. Hand woven, the belt is made using wool thread and is complimented with a sustainably sourced horn buckle. This belt is not only beautiful, but is extremely versatile and can be worn over long shirts, with jeans, skirts and dresses. I love to wear it with a simple dress, adding a flair of color, or with an oversized shirt and jeans. No matter how I wear it, my outfit is always improved and I leave the house feeling confident and cool. 

The Yuli Clutch is the Annie O. Bag that I have been using on an almost daily basis. A black bag, it is embroidered with vibrant and colorful floral and bird images, and is so bright that you hardly notice the dark background behind the artwork. It’s the perfect size for keys, a small wallet, cell phone and lip gloss – a woman’s necessary items. The bag is as versatile as the belt, dressing up any formal ensemble, or pairing perfectly with any everyday outfit. The best part? Knowing that I am supporting women in need around the world by using, and promoting, this beautiful handbag and amazing company.

What I’ve learned through the discovery of Annie O. Boutique and wearing Annie’s beautiful and socially conscious accessories, is that when it comes to fashion, you don’t have to choose. Before, I was always looking for a bargain, not really thinking about the social impact of the way I was spending my fashion dollars. While I can’t promise that I will never again seek out a deal, I will definitely be more conscious about what I’m buying, where it came from, and how my purchase is helping to make the world a better place. Thanks to Annie O. Boutique, I know that there is fashion out there that I can feel good about, and that by purchasing it I am helping to create positive social change, one handbag at a time.

In my time at LOHAS I have been to a lot of green events. A few years ago there were only a handful of events to choose from and it was a bit of a close circle. However now it seems that green and sustainably oriented events are popping up everywhere. How does one know which are solid and which are just flashes in the pan? I am putting together my travel schedule and like you have to be selective as to where to put my energy and travel budget.

Here is a list of events I have either been to or have heard about that make my list and are organized by month:

September

The International Ecotourism Conference (Sept 8-10 Portland, OR)
The event for the ecoutourism industry that brings a global attendee base.  Eventhough the ecotourism industry is a small section of the overall tourism industry, it is an excellent place to learn what is happening in the space and who’s who. I have not been to this event and have always wanted to and this year is my chance. I look forward to it. Yours truly will be speaking on the future of sustainability trends and the ROI of green travel. Should be fun!

Opportunity Green  (Sept 22-24th Los Angeles Center Studios, CA) – This is their 3rd event and is very green business and design oriented. The speakers are primarily big business with some cutting edge entrepreneurs in the mix. Design conversations range from buildings to automobiles to fashion and the blend of people here is good. The event is really the only national oriented event I know of in LA that is green oriented and it has the LA look and feel. I feel you need to come to this event with a bit of a strategic game plan and set up some meetings to make the most of this event. You can also hear some interesting speakers and chat them up at the cocktail receptions and meals which are quite nice.

West Coast Green (Sept 30-Oct 2nd, San Francisco, CA)
The green building conference for the west coast featuring speakers such as Bill McDonough and an exhibit area of 300. I have not been to the event but I hear great things and if you are in the green building and design market you should go to this or Greenbuild (see below). 

October

Green Spa Network (Oct 3-7, Avon CO)
The Green Spa Network has come from those in the spa industry that are seeking to reclaim the world of wellness from the clutches of pampering and luxury. GSN is a membership organization and looking to get those in the spa world to recognize sustainable product creation and spa properties. This will be their second year convening and are still in infancy but are moving fast and furious to make headway into the spa world. Those in the spa world who truly want to engage green practices should definitely attend this event. 

SoCap (Oct 4-6th, San Francisco, CA)
Honestly, I have not been to SoCap yet and am looking forward to my inauguration to the event this year. I have only heard good things about this event. It appears to have a Silicon Valley type vibe from those that attend from its free form programming and type of people who are there. A great event for start ups and investors looking to match values in socially responsible businesses.

Expo East (Oct 13-16th Boston, MA) 
These are great to get a pulse of the natural products industry. Expo East in the fall is on the east coast (hence the name) and is much smaller than the mega sized Expo West held in the spring (and in Anaheim)  I like Expo East because it is smaller and you can walk the floor without the onslaught of people that Expo West has. You can have conversations in depth at Expo East that are a bit more challenging at West.  Typically the executive teams are at the shows the first few days so if you want to meet top brass you need to schedule meetings or come by booths at the beginning of the shows.  There is also no need to buy meals as only a quick stroll through the exhibit spaces can fill a stomach. Be careful about trying everything you see as sometimes food mixing may not agree with you. I found that out the hard way. Urp!

Bioneers (Oct 14-18 San Rafael, CA)
Bioneers is the gathering of what seems like all the activists, free spirits and dark greenies of California who want to learn about ecology, social justice and indigenous wisdom. It is a public/consumer event so expect to encounter some interesting characters. The general speakers are quite remarkable as they come from all over the globe and the audience can get pretty fired up on issues. They do talk about some of the more difficult issues society faces but I really like this event because the speakers challenge us to question things and help understand some of the issues people don't see in conventional media. If you can't get to the main event there are a few locations that have smaller gatherings and live video feeds into the larger event but they do not capture the energy and the other activities that happen there. As you walk through the crowded parking lot try counting how many hybrids you see or the bumper sticker slogans that have some activist slogan. I don't know which is the larger of the two.

Green Biz Innovation Forum (Oct 19-20th San Francisco, CA)
I have not been to this event but anything that Joel Makeower and his Greener World Media team does I back. They always seem to have the ability to get top speakers and relevant content that makes the event special. I have heard great things from those that have attended and really like the format.  Joel always seems to be on the cutting edge of what’s what in the green business world.

Social Venture Network (Oct 21-24th, Long Branch, NJ)
SVN is a membership organization and has an open door conference in the fall and a members only event in the spring. The members are successful social entrepreneurs such as Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s, Jeffrey Hollander of Seventh Generation and Priya Haji of World of Good. I really like this event as it brings a lot of good and experienced minds together. The matra of this event is bonding and there are men’s and women’s circle meetings to promote this. Expect a lot of hugs and soul sharing which is a good thing to do for us all. Because of the intimacy some of the members feel among peers and get heated in conversations they feel important to them that I see more often here than other events. It is refreshing  especially after seeing many other events that stick to the talking heads format.  The event provides plenty of times to have conversations with members and provide opportunities for mentorship for start ups. Some of these conversations have resulted in future board members and even investment for startups. 

Greenfestivals (Oct 23-24th DC / Nov 6-7 San Francisco, CA)
The Green America Green Festivals as some of the most well attended green consumer events I have attended. Each has a very local focus for the vendors but make sure you go to the speaker sessions because they have outstanding speakers from all over to come and grace the audience with their perspectives. Big hitters such as Deepak Chopra, Dr. Weil, Paul Stamets and a few other TED talk types present and you cant beat the ticket price for a front row seat. I have not been to the DC Greenfest and hear that each of the events reflect the vibe and culture of each city. The SF Greenfest rocks and is packed with all kinds of great booths and events. If you go get ready to be emersed in the dark green side of San Fran - free hugs, poetry, dreadlock and all. Green America is not doing their Green Business Conference this year that typically is right before their San Francisco Greenfest. Instead they have developed a green business pavilion within the San Fran Greenfest that will have business oriented talks. If you have not been to a Greenfestival I highly recommend them as they embody a variety of aspects that LOHAS does – organics, alternative therapies, personal development and social justice elements.

Net Impact (Oct 28-30th, Ann Arbor, MI)
Another event I have heard great things about but have never attended. It is primarily focused on CSR and brings together students and large corporations to openly discuss issues. It is also a great recruiting ground for companies seeking new green talent from recent graduates. The event brings together over 2500 people and has workshops and discussion groups to get down and dirty on complex issues. Their keynote speakers are solid with Majora Carter, Jeffery Hollander and Bill McDonough.

SRI In the Rockies (Nov 18-21 San Antonio, TX)
Anyone who is a financial planner or interested in socially responsible investment nitty gritty must put this event on their calendar. This is a blend of financial jargon and social justice and clean tech orientation. About 800 people attend the event from all over the world and is typically in a mountain setting. Being in San Antonio this year is a stretch.  it is a packed schedule for the most part but they do make time for long networking hikes and excursions . I have seen speakers ranging from Jane Goodall and David Bornstein to Calvert and Domini fund managers at the event. It is a great place to understand how to unravel the complexities of financial issues and know what mutual funds are actually doing as they relate to socially responsible investing. They throw a great evening party and many are not afraid to show off their dance moves.
 
Greenbuild (Nov 17-19th Chicago, IL)
The mother of green building products and originated from the USGBC this is the event for anyone interested or involved in the green building sector. The exhibit area is about 1000 booths and attracts about 25-30,000 attendees from all over the world. The green building industry has really picked up and does not look likely to slow down. I like this event a lot because of the creative energy efficiency exhibits and speakers.

Investors’ Circle (Nov 10-12th Washington, DC)
A membership organization of over 150 angel investors who are looking for solid socially responsible companies to invest in as a group. They have funnelled over $134M into 200 companies addressing social and environmental issues. A great place for LOHAS oriented start ups to present who are seeking seed capital. There is an application process with an extensive screening but nothing too overloading.  The event focuses on vetting good seed capital candidates for an investor audience and mixes in some good quality speakers sucha as Acumen and Ashoka. If you are an investor or seeking funding from a good values base source check out Investor’s Circle.

ISPA Conference & Expo  (Nov 15-18, Washington, DC)
The spa association where everyone in the spa world congregates - green and conventional. If you attend you can see there is a strong emphasis from many about sustainability than ever before but there are still those brands that have their share of green washing along those who just don’t care. Regardless, anyone who is interested in the spa world and creating spa products should attend to understand the trends in the industry. LOHAS has a strong foothold in the wellness and beauty industry and it is a good place to learn macro trends and spa operation techniques. This is probably the most well groomed attendee base I have seen which I have no trouble surrounding myself with.

Spring/Summer

LOHAS Regional Events (April TBD, NYC, LA, Atlanta, Minneapolis)
Taking the LOHAS conference on a bit of a roadshow and working to get some momentum build in these areas. Its tough to go to all these events so we have decided to try to make it easier by providing single day events. Stay tuned for more details!

BALLE (June 15-17th Bellingham, WA)
Business Alliance for Local Living Economies celebrates local businesses and local orientation. There are a lot of local loyalists at the event and mostly smaller and mid size companies, non profits and academia. But the conversations are lively and some really interesting networking. A lot of cross over with speakers from the Greenfests and SVN groups. I like the workshops and the networking here. The production of the event is low key as the focus is on the content and type of people who attend which is really nice.

LOHAS (June 22-24th Boulder, CO)
Of course I have to put this one on the calendar as I think EVERYONE should consider this one. Well...maybe not everyone. We have about 5-600 people attend who are business executives, thought leaders, academia and enterpreneurs. As much as many equate LOHAS with the converted dark greens of the world the event is set up to not be an 'Us' and 'Them' atmosphere. Rather we welcome all who are interested in understanding LOHAS and how it applies the them personally and professionally. We set up plenty of networking opportunities and workshops to provide tangible takeaways. To see some of the videos from previous LOHAS sessions visit our LOHAS YouTube page. We work hard to get a solid program together with a great attendee base. If you have any recommendations or tweaks I'd love to hear from you.

These are only a few of the many that are out there and more to come. I truly feel that any conference you attend is what you make of it and how you prepare ahead of time setting up meetings, scheduling and follow up. With that said, good luck with your planning and hope to see you at one of these events. If you have other events you feel should be added I would love to hear about them. Please share!


 

While companies have always engaged in philanthropy, when American Express began raising money for the Statue of Liberty restoration 25 years ago, engaging consumers directly in the fundraising process through a transactional connection was unique. Since then, cause branding has become increasingly prevalent though the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are sometimes difficult to quantify. One way companies derive Calculated Intangible Value (CIV) is by comparing their three year profits to that of competitors with similar tangible assets.

For Paul Herman of HIP (Human Impact + Profit) Investor, there are more precise measures, and many examples of companies that solve problems and serve human needs experiencing better revenue and tax positions, and lower costs of operation, raising capital and issuing stock. Examples include Toyota’s assent to number one automaker by capitalizing on a new market with the highly profitable Prius, Liberty Property Trust spending 2% more on LEED conpliance reaping 30 – 40% operating cost decreases, Walgreens tax breaks and lower operating costs from installing solar panels on 100 stores, and Burt’s Bees acquisition by Clorox for almost $1 billion. Finally, Herman points to Interface Flor’s re-branding around sustainability resulting in a billion dollar market cap and higher PE ratio than competitors.

Concurrently, companies like Mattel, once profitable based on what Herman calls “the China price”, are seeing their sales and stock plummet while “HIP price” products are increasingly popular and profitable. The furniture company Herman Miller, for example, charges premium prices while investing in sourcing sustainable materials, leading to enviable profit margins.

Nike views corporate responsibility as a catalyst for growth and innovation, concentrating efforts on improving conditions in factories, designing for a better world, achieving climate neutrality and unleashing potential through sports. They call the return on these integrated CSR programs “ROI2”. Youth focused community efforts using sports to inspire social change have obvious benefits for Nike by creating future loyal consumers. Nike has also reduced manufacturing waste by 45% since 1998, in part through closed-loop systems, with vendors receiving back waste materials from the shoe-making process to recycle into new materials for Nike.

PR Week and the marketing firm Barkley released a survey quantifying the positive effects of corporate philanthropic activities. According to their results, 72% of consumers have purchased a brand because it supports a cause they believe in. Corporations report positive PR (65.3%), an increase in sales (26.7%) and an enhanced relationship with target demographics (52%) as a result of cause marketing. 56% of companies also report heightened staff morale and retention and 14.7% cite improved recruitment of quality candidates.

According to Barkley CEO, Mike Swenson, program effectiveness is measurable through cause marketing sales (events with product sales involved), cause event visibility (runs, walks, etc.), and cause branding traction (programs that define the company). In 1995, Barkley’s own client Lee jeans, looking to take advantage of trends toward casual Fridays and more casual workplace dress codes, and improve perception of the Lee brand among 24- 49 year-old women, started Lee National Denim Day benefiting breast cancer research. Brand tracking studies report 60% of women have a more favorable impression of Lee and 33% are more likely to purchase the brand based on its sponsorship of Lee National Denim Day. Further, women aware of the sponsorship are more likely to view Lee as a fashionable brand. Swenson also points to the Dove Self Esteem campaign repositioning a commodity product into a brand with a clear point of differentiation.

Other companies, World of Good for example, successfully established entire brands around CSR practices. The 3 ½ year-old company sells international, fair-trade style sourced hand crafts online and through strong partnerships with retailers like Whole Foods. With 300% annual growth, World of Good appeals to traditional venture capitalists and serves as an example of marrying positive impact with bottom line profitability.

According to another Barkely survey, growing evidence shows that cause branding also positively effects Generation X and Y stock purchases. For companies courting consumers and investors in their 20’s and 30’s, CSR is now an important decision point. At the same time, employees looking to find more meaning in their work are demanding that companies get more involved in problem solving and have a positive social, environmental or health impact.

No longer just something a company has to do for PR purposes, corporate social responsibility has become a significant differentiator for consumers, employees, investors and shareholders. CSR companies are simultaneously investing in the greater good and their own good, resulting in an increase in multiple bottom lines.
 

by Terrie Lupberger

Having attended the LOHAS conference, I was inspired by the varied interest groups from many fields and disciplines– business, finance, filmmaking, academia, etc., - who share a common purpose.  The aim of this group is no less than to be change agents for sustainable living and a healthier planet.

I, too, share this vision, and am particularly interested in what the holders of this vision will need in order to bring the vision to reality.

Do we have the competencies needed to bring this vision to a tipping point?  What do we need to learn in order to be successful?  And, how do we develop the needed competencies when traditional learning is not responding to the demands of our times.  In fact, what and how we are learning, as individuals and as organizations, is part of the problem, not the solution.

The same way that many in our Western Culture believe that more material possessions will make us happy, many believe that more information will bring us wisdom.  Traditional learning practices as modeled in our public education systems and corporate training programs have developed in a frantic pursuit for more information, relating with the world as if all we can do is to explain it in order to use it, in a gruesomely utilitarian fashion. 

I believe that what is needed for us to make our vision a reality are learning practices that include and transcend our concern for conceptual knowledge and effective action while also illuminating the paths toward wisdom and effective living. 

For lack of a better phrase at the moment, let’s call this path towards wisdom Personal Transformation.  And, while that word has been around since the ‘70s and somehow abused, misunderstood and perhaps now trivialized, what it aims for is a shift in the way an individual or organization sees and therefore takes action in their world. 

Transformational learning is a shift in our coherence that allows the emergence of a new observer, one who is able to design new solutions to old problems, who embraces the mystery of life, aware of the power and limits of conceptual learning, and capable of foreseeing new actions and producing unprecedented results, while caring equally for personal and collective concerns. 

LOHAS leaders and visionaries need learning practices that increase our capacity to successfully navigate the complexities of our times and transcend the traditions of thinking that have not only shaped our present commonsense, but that also have a powerful hold on our current approaches to business, education, politics, economics, the environment, etc.

Economist Milton Friedman, a Nobel laureate, once said:  “So the question is, do corporate executives, providing they stay within the law, have responsibilities . . . other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible?  And my answer is, no, they do not.”

 How do leaders for a more sustainable world address this kind of thinking? 

The Dalai Lama writes in the foreword of the book, Essential Spirituality, by Roger Walsh, “In our increasing materialistic world, we are driven by a seemingly insatiable desire for power and possessions.  Yet in this vain striving, we wander ever further from inner peace and mental happiness.  Despite our pleasant material surroundings, many people today experience dissatisfaction, fear, anxiety, and a sense of insecurity.  There seems to be something lacking within our hearts.”

How do leaders for a more sustainable world deal with the fear and anxiety…in themselves and also with those they lead?

William Greider presents in his book, The Soul of Capitalism, another consequence of the traditional knowing and learning:  “Think of the paradox as enormous and without precedent in history:  a fabulously wealthy nation in which plentiful abundance may also impoverish our lives.”  And he adds, “Our situation is unique—learning how to live amid endless plenty and, ironically, how to live well in spite of it.”

 How does the LOHAS leader listen and speak to their marketplace to inspire them towards the same vision of sustainability?

I do not believe the answers to these and other important questions will be found in our traditional learning or commonsense. I believe the answers partly lie in our ability to take the Hero’s Journey as Joseph Campbell wrote about.  We have to be willing to go through our own ‘dark night of the soul’ - to examine the limitations of our own thinking and the consequences thereof.  We need to honestly look at our own incompetencies, presuppositions, and beliefs and assess how they limit our ability to take action.  We need to build awareness of our ‘own awareness’ and be willing to throw out that which is no longer serving us. 

The task for the LOHAS leader then is to acknowledge and embrace the difficulties we face, to build our emotional competencies so we can live our passion and ambitions and fears and resignations with honesty, openness, courage and acceptance.  We must build our capacity to live with uncertainty and determination.  We must develop our ability to listen and speak to those who do not share our vision without superiority or condemnation.  We must develop our capacity to deal with the complexity of moving our vision forward in a world with differing agendas, values, ethics, awareness, etc.   Our call is no less than to engage in transformational learning to develop both the wisdom and courage to build alternative, successful models for sustainability in all domains of life – starting with ourselves.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Terrie Lupberger is a partner in the Newfield Network which offers worldwide learning programs to individuals and organizations that integrate, strengthen, uplift and transform the human experience.  To contact the author, please visit www.newfieldnetwork.com.

LOHAS (acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) provided three days of insightful panels and networking opportunities attended by thought leaders across industries, government, non-profit organizations, research organizations and academic institutions including Faith Popcorn, Joel Makower, Dr. Alan Greene, Philippe Cousteau, U.S. EPA’s Stephanie Owens, Coca-Cola’s Tom LaForge, eBay’s Elisabeth Charles, Edelman’s Henk Campher, Alex Bogusky, Dr. Larry Dossey, 1% for the Planet’s Terry Kellogg, Mother Jones’ Madeleine Buckingham, Malika Chopra, Ode Magazine’s Jurriaan Kamp, among others.

 

Key insights from the LOHAS 2010 Forum include:

“Learning from the Past to Shape the Future”
• “We are in the midst of an evolution of our Cultural mindset from a ‘me’ mentality to a ‘we’ point of view.  This transition is a response to a society where economics, ethics and environment are collapsing simultaneously,” said Faith Popcorn, founder of BrainReserve and best-selling author of EVEolution, Clicking, The Popcorn Report, and most recently Dictionary of the Future.

“LOHAS and LOHOE: How Health & Sustainability are Complemented by Hedonics or Economics”
• The mainstream is more often motivated to act upon hedonic reasoning (i.e. seeking pleasure and avoiding pain) and their choices are constrained by economic realities. 42 percent of the population considers buying eco-friendly or ‘green’ versions of big-ticket items if the price is about the same as conventional versions.
• “Frankly, there is a little HOE [hedonics or economics] in everyone.  It is natural human instinct to gravitate toward those things that bring us both temporal pleasure and long-term satisfaction.  We are all able to act upon our desires within the constraints of our personal economic situations,” said Wendy Cobdra, president of Earthsense.

“The Situation in the Gulf”
• “We spend 1,000 times more money every year in our federal budget for space exploration than we do to understand our oceans,” said Philippe Cousteau, environmentalist and founder of EarthEcho International.  “Knowing whether there was ever water on Mars – not critical to surviving on this planet.  The oceans are.”
• “There’s a lot of talk about boycotting BP while a lot of [BP] gas stations are owned by small business owners…it hurts those people.  What we need to be boycotting is our dependence on oil, single use plastic bags, plastic bottles, coal; shutting off the power; and living in more reasonable houses,” said Philippe Cousteau.
• “The type of dispersant that was chosen, Corexit, was only proved 56 percent effective in a lab.  There were 12 other EPA-approved dispersants, and two were 100 percent effective and they were not chosen.  That was an inside oil industry thing because Corexit is produced as a by-product from the refining process,” said Charles Hambleton, producer of Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.

“Where are the Green Jobs?”
• The Obama administration has made it a priority to connect low-income communities to green jobs based on the billions of dollars placed into the Stimulus Bill.  For example, the U.S. Department of Labor put out $148 million of green job training grants through its Pathways Out of Poverty grants. 
• “The economic business case for sustainability is being made every day by companies as diverse as Patagonia and Walmart. Their effort to green their supply chains is driving the economy and creating new business opportunities, innovations and jobs in support of sustainable business practices,” said Andre Pettigrew, executive director of Denver’s Office of Economic Development.

“Phood and Kids”
• The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has stated that children born in the year 2000 in the U.S. will be the first generation in our country’s history to have a lower life expectancy than their parents due to a projected 33 percent of Caucasians and 66 percent of African Americans and Hispanics contracting diabetes in their lifetime as a result of poor diet.  “We are actually killing our kids with food and this must stop,” said Ann Cooper, author of Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children, chef and educator.
• One in three American children now have autism, allergies, ADHD or asthma.  “As we work together, to inform and inspire each other about ways in which we can protect our children from toxins like growth hormones, pesticides, synthetic dyes and genetically altered ingredients in food, we realize that there is so much that we can do together to create the change that we want to see in our food supply,” said Robyn O’Brien -- author of The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It and founder of Allergy Kids.

“Understanding the Carbon Economy”
• The US represents five percent of the population yet emits 25 percent of the world’s carbon.  “We need to reduce our energy use now and promote renewable energy to offset the remaining energy we consume.  If we all do our part today, we can create a bountiful, healthy future together,” said Margi Gardner, CEO of Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

“Spirituality and Health: What the Fuss Is All About?”
• In 1993, three of the 125 medical schools in the U.S. taught courses in spirituality and health and now 90 schools have such courses.
• In 1997, the Joint Commission on Accreditation strongly recommended that every healthcare institution have a vehicle in place to assess the spiritual history of incoming patients, which is now a requirement.

“Global LOHAS”
• Mobium Group data shows that the Australian consumer market for LOHAS products and services has grown from $12 billion in 2007 to $19 billion in 2009 with 2011 projected at $27 billion.  (Source: Mobium Group)
• “LOHAS in Asia is a brand rather than a movement and, as such, offers a great opportunity for LOHAS companies trying to enter the markets.  By using LOHAS on their marketing material, they are appealing immediately to their target audiences in Asia,” said Adam Horler, founder of LOHAS Asia.

“Convincing Mainstream Consumers to Go Green: What really motivates them to make sustainable choices?”
• Conversations matter – when kids talk to their parents about green issues, it results in behavior change 68 percent of the time.  Those conversations with neighbors and co-workers result in behavior change 56 percent of the time. (Source: Shelton Group)

 

“New Paradigms in Health & Sustainability: What's Working and What's Not”
• Mainstream consumers comprise the majority of users for many LOHAS products such as compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), organic food, natural personal care and natural household cleaning products. There has been an increase in usage of many LOHAS products despite the recession, such as organic foods.  (Source: Natural Marketing Institute)

“The Social Currency of Social Media”
• If Facebook were a nation, it would be the third largest in the world with 50 percent of users logging in daily and over 70 percent of users outside the U.S.  “Measuring ROI with social media marketing is tricky, but the consensus is that more engagement correlates to achieving more marketing objectives.  So your goal should be to cultivate customer communities,” said Joey Shepp, founder of Earthsite.

“The Storytelling Value of Location-based Services”
• “Location-based social media is rapidly increasing in value, popularity and relevance.  LOHAS businesses will benefit from experimenting with tools like Foursquare, Gowalla and Twitter Places to get a feel for how these applications can help engage consumers and grow business,” said Nathan Rice, interactive director for Haberman Group.

Promoting lifestyles of health and sustainability, the annual LOHAS Forum brings together entrepreneurs, government heads, Fortune 1000 executives, investors, research institutions, academics and media for a program designed to inspire innovation and further expand the LOHAS market share.  The 2010 Forum was held from June 23rd to 25th at the St. Julien Hotel in Boulder, Colorado. 

We are globe trotting with a mission!Traveling to the fashion capitals of the world, FASHIONmeGREEN uses local eco-fashion designers to give style influencers from their city an eco-fashion
makeover.

We kicked off this sustainable fashion awareness project and style site with an eco-fashion makeover in Los Angeles, known as The LA Project.Pulling pieces from five eco-designers’
collections; Popomomo, Curatorial, The Battalion, Brigid Catiis and Calleen Cordero, FASHIONmeGREEN chose Lucrecia Chan as the source of LA’s style inspiration for the eco-fashion makeover.

Chan, author of the LA-based fashion blog Fashion Is Poison, fits the bill of a style influencer in every way. With an avid online following and fierce style that is coveted and replicated, Lucrecia had a strong sense of fashion that came through during the FASHIONmeGREEN eco-makeover and photo shoot.

“Versatility, comfort, and the right fit all go hand in hand; wearing clothes that feel like a second skin is very important to me,” states Chan.

So, what happens when you bring a style savvy influencer and the hottest ecodesignerlabels together for a shoot?...Let’s just say that this Fashion Is Poison blogger’s eco-makeover was deadly! Be sure to check out FASHIONmeGREEN’s Shop the Shoot section to scoop up the eco-fabulous pieces worn by Chan in her eco-fashion makeover, and fashion yourself green!

And don’t miss FASHIONmeGREEN’s daily feed called the FMG Daily where of-the-moment celebrity and runway trends are featured with their eco-alternatives.

FASHIONmeGREEN is re-defining eco-fashion, providing a style resource with a conscience!

“For anyones who has ever felt the dilemma of choosing to be eco or chic- FASHIONmeGREEN is their resource for ecofashionwith style standards just as high as the eco ones.” -Greta Eagan, Founder
FASHIONmeGREEN

Businesses the world over are leveraging LOHAS as a way to understand the consumption preferences of a growing number of people who care deeply about personal, community and planetary health and well-being, and are willing to spend accordingly.

While this theme acts as a backbone for LOHAS globally, significant differences exist in the interpretation of LOHAS from one geography to another. Not surprisingly, these differences tend to be largely driven by local cultural, environmental and social nuances.

For example, according to Peter Salmon from Moxie Design Group, LOHASians in New Zealand express their LOHAS values through outdoor experiences, seeking a connection with the landscape and concern about social issues.  This differs from U.S.-based LOHAS consumers, who typically have a stronger focus on personal well-being.  In Australia, the situation is different again, with environmental issues of drought and climate change hitting many Australians hard in their own backyard. Severe water restrictions are forcing Aussies to change how they think about their much-loved gardens and lawns.

CERTIFICATION KEY TO MARKET ACCEPTANCE
A key theme emerging from European and Australian studies is consumers’ desire for certification marks or “trust” marks from credible certification bodies, providing independent verification that the product lives up to its LOHAS claims. Supporting this claim are the findings of a  recent Porter Novelli report, which revealed that Europeans were 32 percent more likely than American consumers to buy products with such marks, and Mobium Group’s Living LOHAS report, which found similar conclusions among the Australian population.

LOHAS IN ASIA
Despite many similarities, key differences have emerged in the use of LOHAS between Western countries and the countries of East Asia—including Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where LOHAS is a booming consumer term. The emergence of LOHAS-branded foods and beverages, fashion labels and even LOHAS department stores heralds a new use of the LOHAS term as it crosses from business-speak into the consumer vocabulary.
While most Western consumers would draw a blank if asked for a definition of LOHAS, approximately 70 percent of Japanese adults at least recognize the term while up to 40 percent can articulate its meaning, according to Toshi Ide of the Japan-based LOHAS Business Alliance.

But how is LOHAS really interpreted in Asia? In China, LOHAS has been roughly translated to mean “good life” and has even been picked up by Chinese state radio. And English-language website Chinadaily.com.cn has published several articles referring to “escaping city life” and enjoying LOHAS experiences on the weekends in the countryside surrounding Beijing.

In Singapore, the city state’s Tourism Board markets the country to its Asian visitors as the LOHAS city—focusing on its spa resorts, authentic Nyonya-style cooking and its water recycling efforts (a necessity in such a small island nation, as the key to its LOHAS claims).

The emergence of LOHAS as a consumer brand has brought with it a range of organizations seeking to capitalize on the term, with varying levels of commitment to the values of core LOHAS consumers offered through a wide a range of products and services.

INNOVATION
Small and medium-size enterprises comprise one sector where serious efforts have been made to address the needs and desires of LOHAS consumers on platforms of personal and planetary health and wellness. In many cases, these businesses have been the keys to LOHAS innovation.

One example of this sort of innovation is U.S.-based Terracycle.net, a company achieving mainstream distribution and significant success turning waste streams into value through a range of innovative products and services, including a novel approach to garden fertilizer.  With major distribution agreements across North America and licensing interest from across the globe, Terracycle has demonstrated that LOHAS innovation can deliver clear business value.

Another example is Australia-based professional garment cleaners, Daisy (www.daisy.net.au). Daisy has managed to eliminate the harmful chemical, perchloroethylene (tetrachloroethylene) from its dry cleaning process, using a water-based alternative to deliver an odorless dry cleaning solution free from harmful toxins. Such is the popularity of the Daisy service, excess demand currently means a wait of three days to have your suit cleaned! But based on the volume of customers prepared to wait, the LOHAS approach to dry cleaning has again demonstrated a commercial payoff.

Similarly, this year saw the launch in France of Velib (www.velib.paris.fr), a Paris-based commercial bicycle sharing operation that provides bicycles for commuters for a nominal fee. With over 10,000 bikes in circulation across 750 self-service docking stations throughout the city, this model is providing inspiration for cities the world over.
It seems that everywhere you look, there are examples of innovations, often by small and medium enterprises that are working toward more sustainable and healthier outcomes for people and the planet.

CONNECTIVITY
One of the difficulties faced by LOHAS consumers and the businesses that supply their needs is seeking out and finding each other—and connecting.
This key theme is driving the emergence of media platforms that respond to LOHAS consumers’ desire for greater connectivity—to other LOHASians and the organizations that manufacture and retail products and services that meet their values criteria.

Examples of recent activity in this space include Gaiam’s acquisition of Lime.com and zaadz.com, two strongly LOHAS-oriented information and social networking sites. Businesses, including U.S.-based Sustainlane, New Zealand-based Celsias, and a range of other sites across Europe, are springing up across the globe to fill this gap for information, referrals and advice. Discovery Channel recently purchased website Treehugger.com as the online property for its soon-to-be-launched Planet Green program.

Across the globe, mainstream consumer and investor interest in opportunities related to renewable energy, organic food, complementary medicine, low-impact transportation and other LOHAS products and services clearly demonstrates that LOHAS businesses have moved out of the fringes and are now attracting significant investor capital and expertise. Companies and investors that embrace the opportunity that LOHAS presents have the opportunity to take a leading position in the industries that will define the 21st century.

Key Facts: LOHAS in Australia
• Nearly 4 million adult Australians (26 percent of adult population) are LOHAS aligned. 
• Individuals with a LOHAS outlook are drawn from all parts of society; their values and world view are not strongly tied to income, geography or gender.
• Australian consumers currently spend $12 billion on goods and services in the LOHAS market segments, with an overall growth rate of 20 percent expected to continue. The market is expected to reach $21 billion by 2010.
• While 8 percent of the population are LOHAS “Leaders” who are highly committed and active participants in fully integrated healthier, more sustainable lives, the LOHAS “Learners” are the largest of the four segments, identified at 46 percent and standing as a largely untapped opportunity. 
• Learners would like to do the “right thing” but are not sure where to start. Solving for their key barriers, which include price and availability, are paramount to unlocking this market.
Source: Mobium Group, www.mobium.com.au, Living LOHAS Report, 2007.

Key Facts: LOHAS, New Zealand
• 32 percent of population Solution Seekers (NZ Equivalent of LOHAS)
• 57 percent female
• Greatest concentration (29 percent) are in the 45-54 year age bracket
• Slight skew toward rural rather than metropolitan locations
• Income profile of NZ LOHAS is growing over time
Source: Peter Salmon, Moxie Design Group, www.moxie.co.nz
Examples:
1. Media/online:
2. Lime – online portal to information, help and advice on LOHAS lifestyle
3. Zaadz and Riverwired – online LOHAS-oriented social networking sites
4. treehugger.com, Celsias.com – innovative online information sources for LOHAS-related themes and online collaboration
5. lohasguide.de (Germany), Sustainlane.com – LOHAS-related product and service listings and market information
6. Mobium Group – Australian research and strategy business focusing on sustainability and well-being; conducted the first research into Australian LOHAS consumers
7. Macro Wholefoods (Australia) – organic and natural foods retail store chain
8. Eco Age (eco-age.com) – a new store in London claiming to provide “a store, showroom, consultancy and destination that will offer inspiration, ideas and specific domestic solutions for all those who want to lead a greener and more energy efficient life”
9. Terracycle – Innovative company that re-uses waste streams and turns them into value-added products
10. Velib – Paris-based bicycle-share company
11. Flexicar.com.au – Australian car-share business winning support from local governments for their eco-friendly and cost-effective car-sharing program
 

Who knew that a laptop bag could be practical, eco-friendly and offer cutting-edge style? Thanks to English Retreads, who recently debuted the Bentley Luxe Laptop Bag, sustainability meets functionality, as well as fashion. English Retreads turns recycling into a bold fashion statement with eco-chic vegan handbags and accessories handcrafted in Boulder, Colorado. The Bentley Luxe is made from repurposed rubber and recycled PET, and expands a growing line of English Retreads vegan totes, clutches, and accessories which combine to make a high-impact fashion statement with low impact on the environment.

The Bentley Luxe accommodates 17” MacBook or 15” PC laptops in a padded and secured compartment; additional features include specialized inside and outside zippered pockets, a mesh bottle holder and adjustable padded shoulder strap. Reclaimed tire inner-tubes are given new life as the external material for the eco-bag and five internal color options of Scarlet Red, Quarry Blue, Jet Black, Apple Green, and Pumpkin are available using a 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottle PET material. 

When asked about the Bentley Luxe, Heather English, Founder and President of English Retreads, said “We recognize the emerging opportunity to integrate fashion and environmental consciousness on behalf of the green consumer's need for a stylish and sophisticated laptop carrier. With the addition of the Bentley Luxe, we are excited to lead the market in innovative repurposed raw material use, while simultaneously delivering on functionality with a unique style all our own – our Company could not be more excited to be able to go to market with our new eco-bag on this very special 40^th anniversary of Earth Day.”

Thanks to English Retreads, every day is a day to honor the earth. Let the new Bentley Luxe Laptop Bag, as well as other English Retreads products, act as reminders of your contribution to reducing, reusing and recycling, all while looking good!

For more on English Retreads go to www.englishretreads.com

Wall Street evaluates companies by dollar figures. LOHAS consumers judge by a different bottom line; whether corporate practices align with consumer values. Is it possible the socially responsible practices LOHAS consumers expect and brand building, revenue enhancement practices investors expect can be one and the same? Some analysts think so.

While companies have always engaged in philanthropy, when American Express began raising money for the Statue of Liberty restoration 25 years ago, engaging consumers directly in the fundraising process through a transactional connection was unique. Since then, cause branding has become increasingly prevalent though the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are sometimes difficult to quantify. One way companies derive Calculated Intangible Value (CIV) is by comparing their three year profits to that of competitors with similar tangible assets.

For Paul Herman of HIP (Human Impact + Profit) Investor, there are more precise measures, and many examples of companies that solve problems and serve human needs experiencing better revenue and tax positions, and lower costs of operation, raising capital and issuing stock. Examples include Toyota’s assent to number one automaker by capitalizing on a new market with the highly profitable Prius, Liberty Property Trust spending 2% more on LEED conpliance reaping 30 – 40% operating cost decreases, Walgreens tax breaks and lower operating costs from installing solar panels on 100 stores, and Burt’s Bees acquisition by Clorox for almost $1 billion. Finally, Herman points to Interface Flor’s re-branding around sustainability resulting in a billion dollar market cap and higher PE ratio than competitors.

Concurrently, companies like Mattel, once profitable based on what Herman calls “the China price”, are seeing their sales and stock plummet while “HIP price” products are increasingly popular and profitable. The furniture company Herman Miller, for example, charges premium prices while investing in sourcing sustainable materials, leading to enviable profit margins.

Nike views corporate responsibility as a catalyst for growth and innovation, concentrating efforts on improving conditions in factories, designing for a better world, achieving climate neutrality and unleashing potential through sports. They call the return on these integrated CSR programs “ROI2”. Youth focused community efforts using sports to inspire social change have obvious benefits for Nike by creating future loyal consumers. Nike has also reduced manufacturing waste by 45% since 1998, in part through closed-loop systems, with vendors receiving back waste materials from the shoe-making process to recycle into new materials for Nike.

In 2008, PR Week and the marketing firm Barkley released a survey quantifying the positive effects of corporate philanthropic activities. According to their results, 72% of consumers have purchased a brand because it supports a cause they believe in. Corporations report positive PR (65.3%), an increase in sales (26.7%) and an enhanced relationship with target demographics (52%) as a result of cause marketing. 56% of companies also report heightened staff morale and retention and 14.7% cite improved recruitment of quality candidates.

According to Barkley CEO, Mike Swenson, program effectiveness is measurable through cause marketing sales (events with product sales involved), cause event visibility (runs, walks, etc.), and cause branding traction (programs that define the company). In 1995, Barkley’s own client Lee jeans, looking to take advantage of trends toward casual Fridays and more casual workplace dress codes, and improve perception of the Lee brand among 24- 49 year-old women, started Lee National Denim Day benefiting breast cancer research. Brand tracking studies report 60% of women have a more favorable impression of Lee and 33% are more likely to purchase the brand based on its sponsorship of Lee National Denim Day. Further, women aware of the sponsorship are more likely to view Lee as a fashionable brand. Swenson also points to the Dove Self Esteem campaign repositioning a commodity product into a brand with a clear point of differentiation.

Other companies, World of Good for example, successfully established entire brands around CSR practices. The 3 ½ year-old company sells international, fair-trade style sourced hand crafts online and through strong partnerships with retailers like Whole Foods. With 300% annual growth, World of Good appeals to traditional venture capitalists and serves as an example of marrying positive impact with bottom line profitability.

According to another Barkely survey, growing evidence shows that cause branding also positively effects Generation X and Y stock purchases. For companies courting consumers and investors in their 20’s and 30’s, CSR is now an important decision point. At the same time, employees looking to find more meaning in their work are demanding that companies get more involved in problem solving and have a positive social, environmental or health impact.

Authored by The SOAP Group

Language shapes the way we think and determines what we can think about,” said linguist Benjamin Whorf. Since advertising is the most read text in our culture (we’re hit with between 300 and 3,000 messages each day), the role that advertising’s language plays in shaping thinking about sustainability should not be ignored.

To look at this issue in a bit more depth, we surveyed 100 green print advertisements from both mainstream and
green-minded publications. The ads were for a variety of goods and services, including building products, food and beverages, automobiles, airlines, investing, electronics, detergents, pet food, and cosmetics among others.

Understanding the most commonly used green words of today, reveals insight into the communications trends of tomorrow. As a marketer, understanding ubiquity and saturation is one of the first steps in identifying what’s next. It is then important to recognize that the pulse of modern language provides the market advantage of differentiation.

Emotion vs. Science
The advertising survey bisected operative words (headlines and positioning content in copy) and word families (e.g.,
carbon, CO2, and carbon offset were grouped as one set) into Emotive (“change,” “progress,” “clean”) and Scientific (“carbon,” ”planet,” ”hybrid”) categories. Hyphenated words, like ”eco-friendly,” were considered emotive. We also looked at language intent: Was the phrase intended to be emotional or scientific? For example, in nearly all cases “green” was used emotionally or aspirationally, not scientifically.

At this primary grouping, science-derived words were used 168 times as opposed to emotional words at 116. This
represents marketers’ awareness that prevailing consumers are looking for factual data when making purchases in green contexts. That said, most of the science was fairly vapid, relying more on the language of science than on science itself. This means that science, as a brand differentiator, still has unclaimed potential.

More interesting, however, is the emotive side of the ledger. “Green” was toppled as the leading operative word in its
own category of goods and services. “Less” is today’s operative. “Less” represented the most common linguistic turn
of phrase, showing up 28 times in 100  ads (“green” appeared 23 times). The phrase “go green” is all but abandoned
today. “Green” and its variations are telltales of greenwashing. Still, it seems that it has been relegated to serving as a shortcut to define the category, but doesn’t offer much depth beyond that.

Is “Less” the New “Green”?
Maybe. Green marketing often takes the shape of its current cultural condition. When energy (fuel, etc.) prices were
painfully inflated, marketing language (and solutions) turned to saving money and distance efficiency. Way back in
2008, one could be green and indulge at the same time, as long as they drove a hybrid to get there. Today, energy prices have fallen, but less immediately controllable economic hardships have replaced them. The current condition is one of anti-overindulgence, simplicity (noted eight times, it is a form of “less,” but not classified as such in our survey), and doing more with well...less. This is a cultural condition of the economic turn. “Less” is on the lips of CEOs, school administrators, advertising sales teams, governors, and kitchen-table budgeters. And, apparently, green marketers have picked up on this fact. No surprise there. But, “less” in these ads is a factor of economics, not life philosophy. This was the case with “green” too, where it was arguably more about social status and trend than a
change in values.

It’s odd how a phrase intrinsically linked to anti-consumption can become the most popular word in marketing goods and services. Like “green,” this is the co-opting of the LOHAS language by the mainstream all over again.

But advertising has never been accused of being “accurate” language, so in a sense what’s odd is that we expect authenticity to play a role in it at all. Or at the very least, we should.

Most advertising is based on use of the superlative. “Very” lost its meaning through overuse, so we installed “very, very” into the language set. “Yes” has had to become “absolutely.” “Green” is currently interviewing for hyper-replacements, both in terms of movement and language. This is evolutionary language theory at its quickest. It will be interesting to watch “less” become a superlative. And, of course, we await lesswashing — where the consumption of less is a contrived illusion.

Encouraging consumers to consume less is an emerging marketing strategy. Engineering ways for them to have the same reward consumption offers is a sustainability strategy.

Author Edward Abbey said, “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” In more theoretic terms, according to ecopedagogy, sustainability is not being realized because it represents the antithesis to the political, economic, and cultural status quo of the powerful forces needed to fuel growth. The ‘less’ backlash is a response to this and marks a real milestone along the pathway to culture change and LOHAS ubiquity.

What is a LOHAS Ad?
What’s the difference between a mainstream ad and a LOHAS ad? Maybe a LOHAS ad is a gadfly. A LOHAS ad may be one that challenges the status quo of not just health and sustainability, but of advertising itself. Maybe LOHAS advertising needs to do more than promote and educate. On some level, LOHAS ads have both an opportunity to simultaneously inspire and make a mess.

Shakespeare said, “Past is prologue.” So how can we use these linguistic trends as an opportunity to create more authentic culture change stemming from the LOHAS business community and emerge into the mainstream (as opposed to mainstream marketing to LOHAS)? There are some new frontiers that are ready for marketing to embrace.
• Local as the new niche market (“The 100 Mile Diet” goes mainstream)
• Overwhelming positivity
• Authentic “me” instead of purchased badges of community
• The acquisition of experience over products
• Activist-based marketing (not guerilla, rather marketing that has a purpose beyond marketing)

Advertisements tend to signify cultural trends. They enforce classic structures of economy and politics. But they can also subvert the same. We are advocating for LOHAS marketers to push harder now more than ever to promote their goods and services through the principles and ideals of the LOHAS marketplace, not just the associated signs and signifiers. Move beyond language, go deeper into the trends, and create new levels of business consumer dialogue and engagement.

In 1968, when Garrett Hardin wrote “The Tragedy of the Commons” he was describing a particular dilemma in which individuals acting independently in their own self-interest ultimately destroy a shared resource—even where it’s clear that it is not in anyone’s long-term interest for this to happen. Today’s green ads may be serving the interest in meeting a company’s quarterly bottom line, but few are acting in the interest of communal sustainability.

Unfortunately, advertising shapes American culture; it shapes our image of ourselves. But it is through deconstructing the codes of advertising that we can begin to learn the limits of these codes. And, in turn, improve the odds of sustainability, social equity, and enduring value.