A Slam Poet at a Green Business Conference? What's the world coming to?

The title of this article was part of Theo Wilson's poem that tipped me over the edge. Sandwiched in between Friday's session(s) "Greening the Mainstream" and "FutureTopia",  Theo's stand-up routine ended with cheers and tears, hoots and hollers, and in my case, big 'ole goose bumps. In fact, I think I felt a tear drop dribble down my cheek by the end. Not what I expected when I dragged my (slightly hungover) self to "work" that morning. What a delicious surprise.

The annual LOHAS Forum, which just ended yesterday, represents a gathering of minds that really is NOT like the rest. The event directors gather the most eclectic group of luminaries, entrepreneurs, scientists, and non-profits out there, from slam poets and Evolutionaries, to internationally-renown Medicine Hunters and award-winning authors.

Attendees come to learn. But they also come to interact. I think that's what strikes me the most about how the LOHAS conference is unique -- it's a collaborative event. I feel as if I'm amongst my tribe of people here, even though most of them I've never met before. It is a true meeting of the minds -- a place where business and soul intersect. I mean, I challenge anyone to not be just a little intrigued by a panel titled "Liberating the Corporate Soul?"

Throughout the three day event, I was curious, how will  the conversation go between the executive at Coca-Cola and The Medicine Hunter, Chris Kilham? Will the young, hopeful entrepreneur seek out advice from the Non-Profit Executive Director at Pachamama Alliance? It was fascinating to witness lively conversations between folks who seemingly would never otherwise interact.

Good on you LOHAS folks. It's time that we start talking to each other, even if we don't think we want or need to. Thanks for providing us all with a forum to do just that.

Pippa Sorley is co-founder of eConscious Market, one of the Internet’s leading online green retailers. She has 15+ experience working for both nonprofit organizations & corporations within the Natural Products, LOHAS, and Sustainable Business sectors. She lives in the Republic of Boulder, Colorado.

The Latest LOHAS Consumer Trends

The below article is brought to you as part of elephant journal’s ongoing coverage of LOHAS Forum. For our complete coverage, be sure to follow elephant on Twitter and Facebook.

I walked into the main ballroom at the St. Julien and scanned the dimly lit room for a seat while Steve French, dressed in a large paper bag, and Gwynne Rogers, covered in plastic bags, began speaking on stage. I knew right then this wasn’t going to be just any presentation.

Not knowing much about LOHAS until two weeks ago I was excited to learn more about who the LOHAS consumer is – and who they’re growing to be. French and Rogers took us through various statistics, facts and opinions with humor as well as knowedge.

The first topic on deck was the green movement. French gave the first point stating that green is as strong as ever and the recession has been a good thing in regards the green market.

He gave a number of great points including, that sustainability itself is not sustainable. Businesses must look at why consumers are buying in the first place. Even though he acknowledged it was “an oxymoronic statement,” French insisted we were shopping our way to sustainability.

The greenest product you can buy is the one you don’t buy.

On the opposing side, Rogers stated it was naïve to think that the recession hasn’t had an effect on the green marketplace. Showing that consumption of organic food and natural cleaning products, for example, have fallen at an average of 10%.

Most consumers are taking into account the price of the products and not acknowledging their carbon footprint. 70% of consumers base their purchase decisions on price.

It was great to discuss both positive and negative views, especially when it comes to the green movement. So much information and opinions can be extremely one-sided. And to get the info in costume made it that much better.

Some interesting facts about the LOHAS consumer:

• – Different segments: naturalites, drifters, conventionals, and unconcerned – but we didn’t talk     much about the unconcerned since, as French said, “we don’t like them.”
• – Generally the first ones that try new eco-friendly products
• – High interest and active in social media and gorilla marketing
• – Used to predict upcoming trends
• – Always looking for the “deeper green” – greener versions of existing products

French and Rogers also ran through the positive and negatives of operations for your business.

Is it better to have a green product or to run your operations in a green way?

On one side, the view was that the product itself doesn’t have enough impact and therefor how you make the product should be ethical and green. On the opposing side, the product should be green because that’s what consumers are paying for.

Rogers took both approaches – go big or go home, stating that if you’re going to make the effort to create a green product for consumers, you might as well go all the way in your production as well.

In the realm of how to market to LOHAS consumers, “Keep it simple, stupid.”

There has been an information overload when it comes to the green movement, but some still don’t even know what sustainability means – 15% haven’t even heard of it. Yes, you read that correctly.

The most important things to take away from French and Roger’s presentation:

• – It doesn’t have to be paper or plastic, we have to integrate new products, sources, etc., without alienating others – and people
• – Needs to practical and sustainable
• – Work towards producing green products and operations
• – Think beyond your current geography

Overall, find a balance.

And for the lucky ones you have a tablet.

David Snell, Chief Marketing Officer for QuickMobile, an app consulting firm based in Canada, speaks about how mobile technologies are revolutionizing the way business travelers work and play. An undeniable global focus on a greener environment has encouraged businesses to constantly look for methods to support the call for sustainability.

The Apple iPhone has been by best friend since the beginning in 2006 where my silver 2G is just too memorable to likely end up in scraps. Perhaps to it's deathbed somewhere over in the far East—I will not let him go. Snell comments on how this phone started it all and how the iPhone was the frontrunner in the mobile revolution. The device has changed its outfit between prototypes but the iPhone 4 still stands by the same functional and fun morals, however now it is having a greening effect.

Snell has been to a lot of these conferences and at the end of each, he notices how brochures and waste pile up. LOHAS looked to change this by coming to QuickMobile with an idea of an online brochure. The LOHAS app is free in the Apple App Store, ultimately removing unnecessary waste.

Snell's presentation was in no way an advertisement for Apple or QuickMobile, it was the realization that the mobile world is changing and this is for the best. Our phones are now our computers, our tablets are our organizers; they play movies, book flights even turn on our cars' engines. These mobile devices are decreasing the footprint and changing our world.

I used to play Sim City when I was a kid, and I always named my city "Utopia." So a talk entitled "Futuretopia" really got my idealistic jazz on. Man, I was excited.  I imagined it painting a vision of the future of a harmonious union of sustainability, sufficiency, spirituality, beauty, and appropriate use of advanced technologies that could inspire humanity to get far beyond the current fu*k-everything-but-me paradigm and into an interconnected matrix of sustainable winning.

And I left feeling like..."Dammit, humans, can't we do a little better?"

I guess what it comes down to is, the talk was a lot more...practical, than I was hoping for. I honestly can't fault it for that. It's not the speaker's fault that I was on my idealistic high horse to start with.

A few highlights:

• Blinds that can store solar energy, solar batteries, improved microwaves
• Design for disassembly. Why don't we just pull the motherboard out and put a new one in?  Why are computers "disposable"?
• Design for up-cycling.  Design it so that when it's done, it can be used for something else. A cruise ship that becomes a home or hotel built into the side of a hill.  (Now, that's a bit more like what I'm talking about.)
• Stop rewarding consumption
• Mandate strict building codes
• Tax energy use on a sliding scale
• Are you yawning yet? 

elephant journal is proud to be the official new media partner with LOHAS Forum. Click here for our ongoing LOHAS coverage, and be sure to follow our live coverage on Twitter. [Our editor Waylon Lewis is honored to serve on two panels during this event.]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDkT3fPRn3U[/youtube]

elephant journal:  Tell me about your experience with LOHAS.

Marc Barasch:  I’ve been around since almost the beginning.  New age business had been bifurcated, and suddenly people were beginning to figure out how to put their spiritual ideas into business.  It started with good ol’ tofu companies, small granola businesses just beginning to advertise and act like real businesses.

elej: How have you seen it change over the years?

MB: It’s been a mixed blessing. You lose some of the authenticity of the core intent as companies sell to larger conglomerates.  It’s wonderful thatit propagates the meme and distributes the products at a scale that a small company never could have done.  There are tremendous benefits to that.  But from my somewhat outside observation, you also lose some of the integrity. For example, if you look at Ben and Jerry’s, when they were acquired by Unilever, I believe they intended to keep a very progressive business model, including a fixed ratio of how much top executives were paid. However, that model was not kept.

So the LOHAS community needs to ask:  how can LOHAS not replicate some of the disparities and discontinuities of the prevailing system that are collectively driving us off a cliff?  I think it’s time for companies to not just look at the sustainability and humanity of their organizational development, not just as a CSR add-on or a laudable afterthought, but something that’s included in the raison d’être of the company itself?  I think that’s the question that we need to be asking. What does the company do?  What is the product?  How can we ensure that it’s not increasing consumerism?

How does this push forward a new emergent model, without pushing forward the parameters of a dysfunctional system?  How does it value and push forward what needs to be done in the world?  And quickly?  We need to step out of the matrix and look at this from some zero point and reverse engineer it.  What does the world need, and how do these entities—businesses and corporations—directly serve that need?

In an era where money is de-realized into nothing but bits and bites, a fictive system based on number magic, the priests of the numerate have always worked abstract magic on the masses, and become the elite through magical hand gestures—in this case, tapping on keyboards.

I’m very personally interested in complementary currencies.  Look at Switzerland, for example.  One reason that they’ve been so stable economically is not just because they are neutral, but because they have some very sophisticated complementary currencies to meet social needs, as well.

elej: What do you think we need now?

MB: I think it’s time for radical experimentation, we need hybrid or fusion companies, with nonprofits using the profit system and businesses founded with a social mission first, such as Patagonia.

How do we take on the really large social mission of true transformation, and not just nibble around the edges of real change?  I think that’s not just grandiosity.  It’s necessity.

How do we model as organizations that meet emergent civilization?

elej:  How are you modeling an organization that meets the emergent civilization?

MB: This might sound pretentious, but I really took a cue from something Thomas Keating once said, something to the effect of, “I get up every morning, and I decide what will do the most good.  This simplifies things tremendously.”

6 years ago, when Field Notes on the Compassionate Life came out, I thought, “If I’m talking about compassion, I need to enact it.”  So I stopped my entire career trajectory from that point forward, and asked how I could do the most good and accept whatever answer I was given.  I asked myself, "what does the universe want?" And I’ve followed that question pretty loyally for these last 5 years.

That lead to a lot of coincidences, that eventually led me to planting trees in Ethiopia, to start.  I started the Green World Campaign, and watched it grow into a mostly volunteer-driven organization that’s now operating in 5 countries (Kenya, Ethiopia, Mexico, Philippines, India).  We’ve planted close to 500,000 trees.  We’re involved in regenerating communities.  We’re restoring the economy and ecology of the world’s poorest places, doing work that serves people and planet.  In the model of agroforestry that humans and nature have been co-creating since the beginning.

The idea that our relationship to the natural world is to avoid keeping our own destructive hands off it, is inadequate, completely. We’re supposed to work in an integral way together. Renew communities as we renew the environment.

How do we take the holistic model that we all ascribe to philosophically and apply it in the real world, particularly at the bottom of the pyramid, with the people and places that our collective fate is inextricably entwined?  Collective enactment of the global village.

As a critique, we’re very good at created “enlightened, green-gated communities”.  But how does this affect the poorest of the poor?  Trickle down economics.  Everything is connected.  Everything should be seen as interactive parts of a whole.

Reforestation is a quantifiable healing strategy.  We are using interactive new media and new technologies.  It’s part of the DNA of GWC.  We have an alliance with Digital Globe, the largest satellite imaging company, to be able to show donors over time degraded areas turning green.

A tree is a deeply embedded meme in the human psyche.  We’re a tree-planting species.  We always have been.

We’re operating in many domains, whether it’s carbon credits for eco-stoves, creating social enterprises by sourcing commodities like herbs and teas, non-timber forest products, how to partner with indigenous communities in a way that empowers them and also introduces appropriate technology and new agronomic strategies that are harmonious with their traditional agricultural practices.

We are not only providing environmental education, but also working on linking that up with schools in the US, so kids can get a sense of the global village.  I’m big on creating positive feedback loops in a way that empowers global citizens. Doing good doesn’t have to be only through large corporations and large environmental groups.  How do we self-aggregate and do something that we can see that benefits all of us?

How do we all learn from each other?  I’m taking pains to pick and search partners that are mission-aligned and have a real global citizen mindset.  Some sort of understanding of the spiritual underpinnings of human existence, if you will. We’re not aiming to be USAID.  We want to work with the LOHAS community.  We’re propagating ideals in the context of the developing world that are really building global community that includes the poorest of the poor.

Our model is infinitely scalable.  With proper funding, we could scale this up almost immediately.

I call this work Green Compassion.  And the movie “I Am” also relates to this.

elej: Tell me about I Am.

MB: I got a call from Tom Shadyac, who wanted to make a film about the book.  A large part of the film is based on the book.  Here’s a guy who had earned about $2.1B dollars gross for the studios thru his Jim Carey and Eddie Murphy movies.  As much as possible, I want Green World Campaign to be congruent with the ideals presented in the movie and the book. Everything I do is informed by my own healing work and experience, and my background in Buddhism.  It all stems out from that.

Interviewer's note:  And that's what it's all about.

By Deb Robins

Leadership is an extremely important commitment. That is why there are so few truly great leaders on the planet at any given time. Great leadership hinges on a dedication and commitment to learning -- the type of learning that demands a willingness to traverse the divide between success and failure. Leadership provokes thoughtfulness and contemplation so that the knowledge you have acquired can be successfully interpreted and passed forward in service to inspire and uplift others.

When I was named one of the top executive coaches in the country in the field of leadership training, the first thing I did was up my own ante on learning more about myself, the world of which I am a part and what exceptional leadership means. I did not allow my ego to fool me into thinking that I, by any stretch of the imagination, knew it all.

Thus, it is with great humility and gratitude that I accepted the invitation of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) to speak with some of the world's top leaders and discover the keys to their individual success: Dan Millman, best-selling author of "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" and "The Four Purposes of Life;" Casey Sheahan, CEO of Patagonia; Gretchen Bleiler, professional snowboarder and Olympic silver medalist; Ted Ning, director of LOHAS; and Freddie Ravel, former keyboardist from Santana.

Casey, Dan, Gretchen, Freddie and Ted -- in your experience, what choices have you made professionally or personally that provided the most growth-knowledge that undeniably lead to your greater success?

Casey Sheahan:

There have been two insights that have propelled Patagonia forward at a faster pace in the last three to four years. First, is the awareness that inspiration is a more powerful leadership tool than motivation because people will do anything for love but can be paralyzed by fear. Second, is the powerful effect of intention versus traditional metrics based goal-setting. If you can create a strong vision of how you want your company to look and feel far into the future, this is like looking at a three-dimensional satellite photo of the planet showing where you want to go, as opposed to a two-dimensional roadmap. Metrics make you focus on short-term outcomes; vision causes you to focus on the process and behaviours that really get you there.

In my talk I will explain how Patagonia's success has sprung from a series of transformative moments in the work and home lives of its leadership team -- from company owners, Yvon and Malinda Chouinard, to myself. I will speak to the challenges and opportunities I face in running one of the most socially responsible companies in the world. Patagonia's mission and values have proven legendary in their power to effect positive change in modern apparel manufacturing. As a side benefit, 1 percent of Patagonia's sales are donated to small activist groups working to preserve the global environment. But for all the company's financial and repetitional success, I intend to show that the company's growth accelerated even faster when it brought total awareness to the full spectrum of its real-world impacts and extreme transparency to its daily operations. I believe that being green and being socially responsible are essential now, but it has become equally important to lead with mindfulness, compassion and soul. What's true in the macrocosm for companies is true in the microcosm for its leaders. There is no global transformation possible without personal transformation.

Dan Millman:

We each make choices according to the unique timing and circumstances we meet on the mountain of life -- so noting my own specific choices may not serve anyone else. As the proverb says, "Maybe the only people who profit from the experiences of others are biographers." But I can share this: As I point out in "The Four Purposes of Life," there is no such thing as a future decision; all meaningful choices are made in the moment, and they are made through action. As E.M. Forrester wrote, "How do I know what I think until I see what I do?" Thinking about doing something is the same as not doing it. So don't think without acting (or act without thinking). Make a choice and stand by it until you have seen clearly where it may lead. Faith is the courage to live as if everything that happens is for our highest good and learning.

Gretchen Bleiler:

When I was a senior in high school, I came to a pivotal point in my life: I could go to college like I had always planned on doing and worked so hard for, or I could take a year off and put everything I had into becoming a professional snowboarder. At the time, being a professional snowboarder was not something a lot of people took a crack at; let's just say that route was obviously not the safe bet! I knew that I could go to school, just like all of my best friends, and live a happy life but I also knew that if I really gave it my all I could live an extraordinary life doing what I absolutely loved. A formal education is invaluable but you can also learn about the world and your place in it in other ways. The reason I choose snowboarding is because I knew that this path was my unique way and my individual gift. Every single one of us has a unique set of talents, gifts and skills and when you have the courage to pursue these no matter what or where they lead you, you will run head first into success. The key is knowing when to take that 'leap' and the answer is within you always, you just have to listen and have the courage to act.

Freddie Ravel, Motivational Maestro, CEO of Tune Up To Success:

From as far back as age 5, I have been utterly fascinated with the raw power of music. By 12, I became so intrigued with the piano that I practiced eight hours a day and that singular focus laid the foundation for the blessing of a music career that has taken me all over the world. I also love to work in the business world where there is a constant search for a more sustainable paradigm -- particularly by sharing music as a multi-tasking power tool for so many of our challenges today such as leadership, collaboration and time management. This has kept me in the mode of service, learning and contribution, which in turn sustains my personal and professional life. I believe that we are teachers sometimes and students ALL the time! This is especially true of becoming a father -- we don't raise our kids, they raise us! Finally, I'd say the most important choice I have made is to call my everyday intention toward living in a state of constant gratitude -- when we can be in that perspective, we can see the potential of light in everything.

Ted Ning:

The choices I have made that have had the most impact tend to be the ones I did wrong.

Find the leader inside of you. It's there!!!
In loving, Deb Robins, M.A.

When it comes to greening up the household, there’s a bit of a Green Gender Gap in America.  According to our consumer research colleagues Amy Hebard and Wendy Cobrda, formerly of Earthsense, more women (81%) than men (76%) believe that an individual can make a difference when it comes to the environment. But more men (36%) than women (29%) think they personally are doing enough. So when you take those few bits of data and put them into one living environment, what do you get? A recent piece by our video insights friends at Snippies in New York may help bring it to light.

An entry in the Snippies-sponsored “Families Struggling to Go Green” video contest shows a typical American family (mom, dad, two kids) and what they’re doing to reuse, recycle, renew, conserve and consciously consume. What it reveals is a difference in attitude and behavior between husband and wife. Both recognize the enormity of the problem. But he is less convinced that their family’s efforts will make much difference in the overall scheme of things and tends to do less. She, on the other hand, tends to do more. Three things keep her motivated: 1) a desire to make a difference, 2) a desire to instill sustainable behaviors in their children, and 3) good old-fashioned guilt. She, for example, is loathe to let gallons of water run down the drain while waiting for the shower to warm up, while he “turns on the shower, walks away and goes and does who knows what.”

Let’s look at this from another angle. The unique psychometric research being done by John Marshall Roberts indicates that business women in the sustainability arena may well be the most effective change agents going forward.  Of equal note, Roberts’ preliminary consumer research, segmented by gender, also supports the notion that mainstream women may be the more effective change agents in buying green.

So, what’s the take-away from these findings? Whether you’re a manufacturer or marketer with sustainable consumer products to sell or an ad agency advising your clients, you need to:

1)     Recognize the potential of women consumers to boost your products’ market share.

2)     Convert her environmental emotions into buying action. She who recycles is more likely to be she who buys green.

3)     Provide honest, accurate, meaningful and accessible product information. It’s a deal-breaker if you don’t.

4)     Understand and eliminate the barriers to purchase that stand in her way.

5)     Give her authentic reasons to trust your brand. If she feels you are disingenuous or negligent about the safety, health and well-being of her family, she will go elsewhere.

6)     Hire more women! You won’t find a better gauge of female receptivity to your product development, labeling, merchandising, marketing and advertising.

As an avid tea drinker, I’ve been called a ‘tea addict,’ ‘tea-aholic’ and ‘tea obsessed.’ My friends know that when they come to my house, they will be offered a cup of tea, then a choice of tea from my cupboard full of various types and brands of teas. From locally made loose leaf, to the tried and true Celestial Seasonings, I’ve accumulated a good size collection, which I am constantly adding to. That being said, I enjoy tea, and even more, I love to try new teas and learn about different companies and their unique ‘tea practices.’ When I had the opportunity to try Denver based Teatulía, how could I say no? I’m glad that I didn’t.

Teatulía is named for the region where the tea is grown in Northern Bangladesh. Grown from a single garden in an organic cooperative, Teatulía plants are cultivated by hand, and nurtured by Mother Nature. The garden is located in a pristine environment, nestled against the Himalayas to the North and the Brahmaputra and Ganges Rivers to the South, which offers the perfect climate and location for the plants to thrive. Teatulía is grown 100% organically without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilizers, and the taste of the tea reflects the love and care given to the gardens.

Teatulía offers a line of 9 organic teas, each unique and delicately tasting in its own way. From the smooth, subtle flavor of Black Tea, refreshing White Tea, Spicy Ginger, floral Earl of Bengal, herbal infused Tulsi, energizing Peppermint, earthy Green Tea and more, Teatulía teas are exceptionally high quality, and outshine any of the other teas in my personal collection. Although I enjoyed trying all of Teatulía’s flavors, I have to say that my two favorite were the White Tea and Green Tea, both offering a subtle, smooth flavor that lasts and lasts.

As a self-proclaimed green tea addict, I was naturally drawn to Teatulía’s Green Tea, which has a pure, delicate taste. The green tea world is vast, and within it are many different types of green tea, but from my experience trying various green teas, I’d say that Teatulía’s falls at the perfect medium of ‘not too grassy’ and ‘not strong enough.’ It’s subtle, yet very flavorful, and the tea bag lasts for at least 2 full cups of tea. I will definitely be buying this one!

Teatulía’s White Tea is equally delicious in its own right, and offers a very distinct white tea flavor. Some white teas have the tendency to be weak, or have a more floral taste, but Teatulía’s White Tea is very smooth, yet crisp tasting. At first glance, it doesn’t look so much like a white tea, and is almost brown. However, once you get a taste of its magic, you won’t want any other!

In addition to the company’s delicious, organically grown teas, there’s more. As a company, Teatulía is dedicated to sustainable business practices, and social responsibility is engrained in their DNA. When it comes to environmental integrity, all of Teatulía’s packages are handcrafted and made from biodegradable materials, and each Teatulía tea bag is made from corn silk, which is also biodegradable. In addition, the Teatulía Cooperative creates sustainable prosperity for Bangladeshi women, men and children through education, entrepreneurship, health and cattle-lending programs. Who knew that one tea company could make such a difference in the world?

Whether you are a tea connoisseur, or tea novice, I highly recommend trying Teatulía. In my opinion, there are only a few others out there that can even compare to the high quality offered by this company, in addition to the environmental integrity and social responsibility they stand for. On that note, I’m going to pour myself another cup! Cheers, and as Teatulía says, “To Health. To Life. To Tea.”

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – “FORTUNE Brainstorm Green” is probably the number one environmental business conference in the world. A host of top CEOs, heads of NGOs, and a variety of consultants, private equity investors, venture capitalists and journalists descend upon the spectacular Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel each April — this was my third annual event — to examine the state of green biz.

There was still optimism in the room on April 4-6, but with a strong dash of reality check. As in, many of these guys are not making the returns they expected by now, and a lot of them have tens if not hundreds of millions invested in “Greentech” companies. That said, they still seem confident that their investments will ultimately pan out, even without federal energy legislation.

Many of the firms represented are major, well-established corporations who seem to be making sincere and in many cases effective efforts to operate sustainably. It is impressive that more and more major companies are adding the title “Chief Sustainability Officer” to the C-Suite, as CSOs from dozens of firms were on the attendee roster.

Not surprisingly, a dominant underlying theme was that unless they’re good business, sustainable policies won’t pass muster with management or shareholders. “The key is cheaper. Sustainability is nice but it’s not the driver,” observed Bill Joy, a founder of Sun Microsystems, now a partner and leading greentech investor with the ubiquitous Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins. This sentiment was echoed throughout the conference by various speakers in sessions ranging from “The Future of Climate Policy,” with Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp and James Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy; to “Sustainable Seafood, It’s Not A Fish Story” featuring Greenpeace USA Executive Director Phil Radford and Bumble Bee Foods CEO Chris Lischewski, among many more over two and a half days of speeches, round table discussions, networking and even entertainment.

None other than the Allman Brothers and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell performed with his band, although he was not just the musical interlude. Leavell has written no less than four significant books about the environment, his latest being Growing A Better America, which examines how we can balance population and business growth with the need to offer everybody clean air, water, plentiful food and adequate natural, open land.

A session of particular interest to me was “Urban Green,” which aired out the tremendous population explosion expected in major cities by 2050 and what we can do to keep some semblance of green in the face of crowding and gridlock. “We expect 80 percent of the world’s population to be city dwellers by 2050,” said legendary architect, urban planner and sustainability expert William McDonough. “Beijing will double in size within five years from 20 to 40 million. How do we provide sewage plants? How do we give everyone the basics of clean air, fresh water and adequate food?”

Laura Turner Seydel, Trustee of the Turner Foundation and yes, daughter of Ted, said Atlanta has become a model of the sustainable city. “It takes a concerted effort from government, business and non-profits. Atlanta received matching funds from Coca-Cola and the Turner Foundation, got Atlanta airport to recycle, now the whole city recycles.” This was echoed by Cindy Ortega, Senior Vice President of Energy and Environmental Services for MGM Resorts, developer of Las Vegas’ City Center, the country’s largest LEED-certified development. “Green is being embraced by corporate America, because waste of natural resources is not good for the bottom line.” The overall thrust was that with skyrocketing urban population growth, only a true partnership of city government, NGOs and local corporations will be able to maintain a sustainable way of life.

Security was tight at this green conference, and rightly so, as luminaries such as Richard Branson, former Siebel Systems founder/CEO Tom Siebel (who is now doing a green startup, C3), Wal-Mart EVP Leslie Dach and NRDC President Frances Beinecke, among many others, appeared as speakers and panelists. Even Theodore Roosevelt IV (yes he does look like his great great grandfather) was on hand, he is Chairman of Barclays Capital Cleantech Initiative.

The conference closed with motivational words from pro surfer, fitness expert and all-around-athlete Laird Hamilton, who is otherwise known as the “Force of Nature,” also the title of his book, which chronicles the way to a truly healthy lifestyle (no you won’t look like Laird even if you follow the diet and exercise plan). When asked how the average person can follow his program and achieve true fitness, Hamilton reminded us that the old tenet, “no pain, no gain” is really the answer. “My food often tastes like crap, the workouts are hard, they hurt. But you have to push yourself to the next level if you want to improve your results. Potato chips in, potato chips out … you need to eat jet fuel to do these workouts.”

Indeed, our path to a truly sustainable future will also follow his edict: no pain, no gain. It won’t be easy, it won’t be cheap, and it will take sacrifice on everyone’s part. The conference left me with a feeling that we do have the talent, capital, entrepreneurship, science and dedication necessary to make our society — and the developing world — a sustainable environment with adequate natural resources and energy to meet the needs of all citizens.

Here’s hoping I’m right…

How do consumers know if a business is really green? This age-old question has been nswered by the Green Business Bureau – one of the nation’s fastest growing green certification organizations for SMBs—through the simple use of technology.

In an industry first, GBB has implemented a new, cutting-edge program utilizing Quick Response Code (QRC) technology for its green certified business members. As many mobile phone users have already discovered, the use of QRCs can be fun and educational. Soon, all businesses that carry a green certification through GBB will offer QRCs at the point-of-sale to show consumers just what steps have been taken towards sustainability.

These second generation barcodes, when scanned by a mobile phone, instantly take consumers to a dedicated mobile page. In this case, when the QRC of a GBB member is scanned by a customer, the customer will be introduced to the entire list of sustainability initiatives undertaken by the business, providing increased transparency as to why that business can claim some level of eco-friendliness.

 “Studies show that 40 percent of shoppers want to see more green information at the store level, and 28 percent want to see it displayed prominently on shelves or directly on the menu,” says Marcos Cordero, CEO and co-founder of the GBB.  “The new FTC Green Guides go right along with that by requiring businesses to back up their green claims at the point-of-sale.”

The FTC Green Guide updates, which will go into effect this year, state that it is no longer enough to have a website which outlines green initiatives, but that businesses must now offer information on their green practices in the store and at the register.

 “QRC technology is a perfect fit for the GBB’s existing online platform,” says Cordero.  “It conveys the transparency of our interactive membership website seal and takes it mobile, allowing customers immediate, on-the-spot insight into our members’ green practices.”

The immediacy and accessibility of the QRC technology complements the GBB platform’s real-time updating of green initiatives undertaken by a business. Applications for QRC at the point of sale are endless. QRC can be applied to nearly every conceivable media, including cars and vans, invoices, business cards, entry doors, signage, stickers, menus, hangtags, brochures, hardhats and more.

“The GBB’s platform is built on transparency,” says Cordero. “QRC technology is the next, logical evolution of that goal.”

For more information about the Green Business Bureau QRC program, please visit www.gbb.org/qrc

By Scott James

Hey sports fans, did you see that six professional teams from the Pacific Northwest just banded together to launch a new Green Sports Alliance (GSA)?

With serious endorsements from each of their commissioners and backed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the GSA is bringing a conservation message to the majority of Americans via a trusted channel, professional sports. Eco-resistant sports fans may be more receptive when the pitch comes from their favorite team. As Scott Jenkins, V.P. of Operations for the Seattle Mariners (and arguably the father of green sports) told me, “We can take the lead in changing the American culture of consumption to one of conservation.”

Wow. We’re clearly talking about more than just setting out recycling containers at the stadium gates. An expert panel at the kickoff event of franchisee representatives in Seattle this week discussed a wide range of big picture topics, including citywide transportation issues that have stymied many a metropolitan area. Given the frequency and volume of traffic that sports stadiums generate, if teams and owners back best practices, that should lead to significant progress in many cities.

To date, much of the talk  about sustainability in the world of sports has been about saving behind the scenes. The event’s host, Allen Hershkowitz, Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), challenged the panel: “As each of you seeks to find environmentally preferable products, what will the fans begin to actually see?” The answers included examples from two of the largest profit centers within any sports franchise: concessions and merchandise sales.

The six teams in the GSA can exert considerable pressure on concessionaires like Sodexho and Aramark, that will yield immediate results. In fact, in several stadiums they already have, moving the cups and plates to compostible versions and removing (yes, removing) 90% of the trash bins, replaced with recycling containers.

As the professional players themselves self-identify as Eco Warriors (hey Golden State, here’s your next marketing campaign), they’ll begin to demand gear and equipment that is eco-certified. This will spill over into merchandise sales benefitting the players, the fans and the planet.

GSA Executive Director Martin Tull painted an exciting vision as he talked about the Alliance’s desire to expand quickly across North America to include other pro teams, and to move down into the collegiate level, high school, and club sports. When that happens, conservation will become an American as apple pie and baseball.

Full disclosure: I attended the kickoff event for the Green Sports Alliance in my role as the founder of the first eco-certified sports balls company in North America. But I quickly decided this was worthy of getting in front of Forbes and LOHAS readers; pro and college sports are big business and a core part of North American megapolitan areas.

Spending over $300+ billion dollars annually, the demographic called LOHAS, continues to change the way marketers conceptualize the 4 P's of marketing. LOHAS is Lifestyles of health and sustainability. The consumer group identifying themselves with LOHAS are a megatrend not to be overlooked or taken for granted. Consumers have traditionally expected governments to take the lead in protecting the environment, but now they are looking more to the corporate world to take action, rather than individuals. Increasingly, Asians want economic growth but believe it should be achieved through greener industry Market research conducted in 2010 revealed an untapped multi-billion dollar demand from households with significant purchasing power that relates to exactly this. THE LOHAS Asia and NMI research on China, for example, questioned 1,000 consumers across the five cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou and Shanghai. Results showed that 88% agreed that it is important for companies to be mindful of their impact on society. With China having overtaken Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy, the LOHAS consumer demand is on the rise month by month and there is an urgency for the market to respond. Asia isn’t regarded as a pioneer on the CSR front, but in recent years, action on CSR is growing amongst Asian firms. In Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, and more recently Singapore and Thailand, stock exchanges are playing an increasing role in raising the visibility of businesses and encouraging reporting on sustainability. However, despite years of education on the issue, businesses across Asia still carry the common misperceptions of CSR being equivalent to philanthropy, which is what you do with your profits while CSR is what how you go about making those profits. Given the real concern from knowledgeable consumers, this also means companies have to deliver more than just lip-service and stand true to what they claim. Governments are also helping to develop CSR practices, such as in Singapore with the Green Mark Scheme for buildings as a key initiative to promote sustainability in the building sector. The Singapore Government is also pursuing sustainable fashion as another sector, and launching new subsidies for industry training.
 
Results of LOHAS Market Research 2010
In January 2010 LOHAS Asia partnered with The Natural Marketing Institute in pioneering LOHAS Consumer Research in Asia-Pacific, conducting an online survey across 10 countries. More than 18,000 consumers were surveyed, to provide in-depth research on the LOHAS consumer and marketplace across the following countries: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. Some of the highlights show very real desire for sustainably-made products in Asia, with Indonesia, China and India leading the way. As always, we have to look closely at China and India as the biggest market opportunities, and here we have high numbers seeking sustainably-manufactured products. This is a clear message and opportunity to manufacturers but even more encouraging, they will buy them if they are more available and most are willing to pay a 20% price premium for them. By contrast, there are significantly fewer consumers willing to pay a 20% premium in Korea, Singapore and Australia. But, these are rich economies, so the market opportunity per share point is higher and worth chasing. In one of the clearest messages from this research, consumers in Asia-Pacific are prepared to boycott brands they feel are over-packaged. This behaviour contrasts with experience in other markets in the West, where the likelihood of over-packaging actually damaging purchases is low. This is an area where the biggest markets show the most extreme reaction to the question, with China, Indonesia and India leading the way with a strong likelihood to boycott over-packaged brands.

In April 2010, LOHAS Asia Pte. Ltd launched The HUB, a business network for companies and service providers in tune with LOHASian values to network, market and collaborate in new opportunities and joint-ventures.

Contributed by Liz Smailes, Communications Director, Asia Pacific LOHAS

We have a winner! Of the SpaBuzz Buzzworthy Brand Contest, that is. Throughout 2010 we collected contest submissions from spa brand lovers around the country. Entrants of the contest not only provided samples of their brand’s products, but answered a series of questions about the brand, how it came to be, how it is different from others, and why it is “buzzworthy.” Companies that entered were taking their chance at winning a $2,500 Spa Buzz sponsorship at a 2011 SpaBuzz event, which will garner buzzworthy brand exposure among the leading spa industry professionals. After careful deliberation by the SpaBuzz expert team, has been chosen a winner - OSEA Skincare, an innovative marine-based skincare line that brings together vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids derived from the earth and sea.

OSEA provides luxury skincare products to improve and maintain a person’s skin. Developed with the highest quality USDA organic certified seaweed, OSEA’s products offer the many natural benefits of the plant, including rich vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, high amounts of trace elements, enhanced blood and lymph circulation, skim firming and softening. OSEA’s line of cleansers, hydrators, moisturizers, masks, serums, eye and lip care and body care restore skin to its highest level of health.

While there were many wonderful brands that participate in the Buzzworthy Brand Competition, the OSEA products stood out from the rest in packaging, performance and sustainable business initiatives.  The SpaBuzz expert team had the opportunity to use OSEA’s Ocean Cleanser and Atmosphere Protection Cream, and within a couple of weeks of use, the team experienced a noticeable difference in skin firmness, appearance and moisture levels.  

The OSEA Ocean Cleanser is a gentle marine-based cleanser that effectively removes dirt and impurities while hydrating and re-mineralizing the skin. What stood out about this cleanser is that it easily removed a day’s makeup, and did not leave the skin feeling tight or dry afterward. Made from 100% natural ingredients, including a mineral rich variety of marine algae which is extremely high in vitamins, mineral salts and amino acids, the cleanser is free of any artificial ingredients, and offers the utmost cleansing power compared to other natural cleansers we have tried.

Post cleansing, the team regularly applied OSEA’s Atmosphere Protection Cream, which is a wonderful lightweight moisturizer that leaves the skin feeling soft, without greasiness or a heavy feeling. What’s great about this moisturizer is that it both hydrates the skin and protects from environmental elements and pollution. In today’s world, we cannot always control the environments in which we are, however, this vitamin-rich cream heals skin exposed to the elements, including sun, wind and stress, offering a sense of assurance every time you step outside. The best part? This moisturizer absorbs quickly and easily, allowing for smooth make-up application.

In addition to the company’s diverse line of luxury skincare products, OSEA is dedicated to practicing conscious business aligned with nature, and participates in numerous environmental and sustainability initiatives. Not only does the company use recyclable glass bottles for all if its packaging, OSEA was the first company to sign The Compact for Global Production of Safe Health and Beauty Products in 2002, which is a pledge to phase out the use of toxic chemicals in all beauty products. In addition, OSEA products are 100% free of synthetic fragrances, genetically modified ingredients, petrochemicals, parabens, and sulfates. All products are certified vegan and biodegradable. The company’s founder, Jenefer Palmer, is a sought-after natural beauty expert and advocate for safe, healthy, environmentally friendly cosmetic ingredients. In her words,"Safe cosmetics are a consumer's right and our earth's rightful due."

At SpaBuzz, we are constantly searching for effective, natural skincare and spa brands that are not only effective, but incorporate a mission of environmental stewardship and respect for nature into their business practices. OSEA is an exemplary company that goes above and beyond performance and sustainability, and because of that, we are honored to feature OSEA as the 2011 SpaBuzz Buzzworthy Brand Contest winner!