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Archive for November, 2010
On November 4, 2010, eight students from the Fashion Institute of Technology’s International Trade and Marketing major (ITM) departed from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple and headed to the City by the Bay to attend the 2010 Fall Green Festival.
Equipped with curiosity and excitement, they navigated through the vibrant labyrinth of over 300 exhibitor booths and dozens of speaker sessions, uncovering knowledge and gaining motivation. One student who attended the Bio-Inspired Design: Innovations in Green Products and Business session commented: “It was amazing! I was inspired during a biomimicry session when I learned how designers, engineers and biologists were working together to find innovated design solutions from nature.”
Throughout the 2-day Green Festival, students’ taste for sustainability was tantalized as they were presented with generous samples of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, various organic skincare, and consumed organic treats, such as Alter Eco Bolivian dark chocolate, Palestinian fair trade olive oil, an assortment of cookies and crackers and Nature’s Path granola bars, just to name a few. “They fed us well!” stated another student with a big smile.
Fueled by these sustainable calories, students enthusiastically participated in speaker Q&A sessions, such as Fair Trade Coffee Sustainability from Farm to Cup and Where are we in the Fair Trade Movement? Here, they applied the skills they are learning in FIT’s ITM major to pose tough questions about Fair Trade verses Free Trade and sustainable supply chains.
FIT’s ITM major is a Bachelor of Science program that prepares students to become global business leaders. Courses include Import/Export Regulations, Global Marketing, Global Sourcing, and International Corporate Responsibility, among others. Also, in support of the “FIT Goes Green: Infusing Sustainability into our Culture” initiative, the college will host its 5th Annual Sustainability Conference, which is free and open to the public, on April 12, 2011. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Liquid Planet,” focusing on water as one of our most precious resources.
We spent the last day of the trip enjoying some of San Francisco’s precious resources. Students explored the bay area. I visited Muir Woods and was amazed by what nature creates with a single seed. The height, presence, health and longevity of these redwoods, among the tallest trees on the planet, which have been nurtured by the earth for hundreds of years, is truly majestic.
The Green Festival was sowing the seeds of sustainability into the hearts and minds of our students and they are growing into mindful, global citizens and leaders, who will be as magnificent as the west coast redwoods.
By Shireen Musa, an Assistant Professor at FIT – (The Fashion Institute of Technology-State University of New York). She teaches International Corporate Responsibility, among other courses, in FIT’s International Trade and Marketing Department. www.fitnyc.edu
Washington, D.C. – November 22, 2010 Green Festival hosted more than 30,000 socially and environmentally conscious participants on October 23 – 24, to celebrate what’s working in regional communities and engage in solutions to create a cleaner, greener and more socially-responsible world.
A project of Green America and Global Exchange, two leading non profit organizations dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than twenty-six years, Green Festival serves as a foundation to explore and build sustainable solutions to benefit communities and the environment, discover new environmentally-friendly products and practices and connect with like minded individuals from all over the nation.
Green Festival stimulated the green economy by giving back $20,000 to more than 300 local, regional and national sustainable businesses through the new “GF Bucks” admissions policy.
Also, new this fall, Green Festival gave 10,000 free tickets, a $150,000 value, to local non profit organizations and asked community members to give back to their local communities in exchange for free admission.
Green Festival’s new admissions policy, “Pay it Forward, Get it Back at Green Festival,” engaged community members with 10 local non profit organizations to create year-round community engagement. These non profit allies engaged with new volunteers and donors by providing free Green Festival admission as incentive. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) raised over $800 in new membership fees through their promotional ticket offers.
“We are very excited to be a Green Festival nonprofit ally, and really appreciated tickets to reward our members and reach out to new people,” said WABA Membership and Development Coordinator Jenn Bress. “We marketed the promotion through Facebook, Twitter and the new WABA blog and as a result, recruited not only valuable funds to strengthen WABA, but most of all, a brand new generation of bicycling enthusiasts!”
Programming highlights of the weekend included inspiring presentations from Ralph Nader, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! and Corporate Innovator Ford’s Sustainable Business Strategies Director, John Viera. Participants had the opportunity to test drive Ford’s newest line of hybrid vehicles, including the Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid outside of the convention center.
Additional fun highlights included stellar performances from local musicians, a fun and interesting Old Timey Seed Swap in the Mother Earth News Fair Pavilion and stylish, high energy eco-fashion runway shows featuring adult couture, teens, kids clothing and green weddings.
Green Festival partnered with T-Mobile to recycle old, unused cell phones in exchange for free admission. T-Mobile representatives were thrilled to report that an impressive 960 cell phones were collected at Green Festival for recycling, as well as a large amount of phone accessories, such as wall and car chargers.
Recycling cell phones is incredibly important, as it aids the recycling of energy and preserves a significant amount of precious resource metals, including gold, silver, copper and palladium.
In a continuing commitment to green event management, Green Festival diverted over 8,000 lb. of waste over the weekend, for a 94% percent diversion rate. Only 540 lb. of waste went to landfill. In 2009, almost 15,000 lb. of waste was diverted and 1,000 lb. went to landfill.
The 2010 resource recovery rate from Washington DC Green Festival represents a sizeable decrease in the overall ecological footprint of the event and an encouraging increase in efficiency of waste management.
Special thanks to: Bgreen, Honest Tea, MOM’s, Corporate Innovator Ford andWUSA.
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About Green America
Green America is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1982, providing the economic strategies, organizing power and practicing tools for businesses and individuals to address today’s social and environmental problems. Its Green Business Network is the largest national network of businesses screened for their social and environmental responsibility. www.greenamericatoday.org
About Global Exchange
Global Exchange is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has successfully increased public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change. www.globalexchange.org
About Seven-Star, Inc.
Seven-Star, Inc. is the nation’s premier green full-service event company focusing exclusively on green events. Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services for environmentally Responsible and socially Respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences and concerts. From the greening of the 2007 International Live Earth events, to the 2008 Democratic National Convention events, to producing the nation’s largest consumer Green Festivals, Seven-Star has defined itself as the company for eR/sR event production. Seven-Star is the first event company to have won the EPA’s Gold Waste Wise Award for Excellence in recognition for their proprietary system of event waste diversion, which has consistently achieved greater than 85%. www.sevenstarevents.com
Los Angeles, CA – November 18, 2010 Ford is the inaugural winner of the first-ever Nielsen Automotive Green Marketer of the Year award. The award was presented today by The Nielsen Company at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in recognition of the brand that made the greatest strides in gaining consumer awareness and positively shifting consumer perceptions for their environmentally friendly marketing initiatives.
Ford has built significant awareness over the past year around their hybrid vehicles and fuel-efficient cars with key campaigns for Fiesta and Fusion Hybrid, as well as their Drive One 2.0 brand ads featuring hybrids and miles-per-gallon (MPG) related ads. In addition, Ford’s official sponsorship of Fox’s reality show American Idol, which put specific emphasis on the hybrid offerings, has helped drive increased awareness of their green message among millions of people every week. Last season, American Idol’s popular Ford Music Video Challenge, in which exclusive Ford music videos aired each week, featured the Fusion Hybrid and Escape Hybrid among other vehicles, successfully grabbing the attention of consumers. Meanwhile, the company continued to break ground in social media with the launch of new apps aimed at expanding its reach to a new class of prospective car-buyers.
“The Automotive Green Marketer of the Year award is not just about great creative, although we all know that’s a crucial element of any effective ad campaign,” said Lois Miller, President, Nielsen Automotive. “However, this is bigger than one creative. This award is for the auto marketer who was most effective at leveraging its brand to further the ‘green’ movement and create positive awareness for all the auto industry is doing to drive fuel-efficiency and eco-friendly practices. This was best exemplified by Ford.”
Methodology
To determine the finalists and winner of the Automotive Green Marketer of the Year, Nielsen leveraged three research studies – a cross-media survey, and separate analyses of data on TV advertising effectiveness and social media “buzz.” These three studies were then analyzed to understand awareness levels and perceptions for ‘green’ auto marketing across media types. Auto manufacturers that ran any national TV ads with “green” themes between October 2009 and September 2010 were eligible for consideration.
In the cross-media survey of nearly 7,000 U.S. consumers, Nielsen found that 85% of consumers said they recalled seeing a ‘green’ auto ad recently and, on average across the 23 brands measured, 67% of consumers said they had a more positive opinion of green marketing after seeing the ad. Further to that, 41% of consumers said the ad increased their consideration to buy the featured vehicle.
As TV continues to be an important medium for auto marketers, Nielsen analyzed its TV ad effectiveness data for green automotive ads based on the reactions of 2.5 million TV viewers who had seen the ads. Nielsen found that green auto ads resonated better than the average auto ad with 12% higher Message Recall, the percentage in which a viewer can recall an ad, the brand or vehicle featured in the ad, and the green message conveyed.
Nielsen also examined consumer sentiment through social media, a key emerging platform for auto marketing. With nearly 60,000 messages analyzed for auto brands, consumers view their green auto marketing efforts in a positive light with 12 times more positive “buzz” than negative.
The remaining four finalists for Automotive Green Marketer of the Year included:
* Chevrolet, whose highly-anticipated Volt launch has generated much consumer interest and discussion around their green offerings;
* Honda, which is still generally associated with fuel efficiency, garnered attention this year with its notable use of 3-D technology in ads;
* Mercedes-Benz, whose new diesel-electric hybrid S-400 debuted at last year’s LA Auto Show and was launched on television during the Academy Awards; and
* Toyota, which leveraged the strong launch work behind the Prius from mid-2009 and saw strong returns from these ads at the end of the year and for their other Prius initiatives.
“Looking at all automotive brands in the study, the five nominees rose to the top across the three studies,” said Miller. “They gained the most awareness and positive perceptions from consumers around their green marketing initiatives. Ultimately, in a challenged economic environment, this was no small feat.”
Via Nielsen.com
Elemental Herbs Recognized by San Luiz Obispo Chamber of Commerce for Commitment to Sustainability
Nov 18
San Luis Obispo, November 16, 2010 Elemental Herbs was among six businesses honored with a 2010 Green Award by the SLO Chamber of Commerce for their commitment to sustainable practices and products. Other 2010 Green Award winners included Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, Solarponics Energy Systems INC, San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, Avila Bay Athletic Club & Spa, and Tolosa Winery.
According to the award guidelines, Green Award nominees include over 50 businesses, organizations and individuals who voluntarily undertake efforts, projects or operational improvements to reduce pollution, improve resource conservation and sustainability, or improve air and water quality. Criteria to select award finalists include environmental impact and sustainability, transferability to other businesses, business benefits, innovation and overall environmental leadership.
Elemental Herbs, based at Four Elements Farm near Morro Bay, California, offers a diverse line of organically grown, plant-based formulas that smell good, feel good, and are practical and useful for everyday needs. From skin repair and lip care to sun protection and fast pain relief, the products’ ingredients stay true to the company’s roots by always putting the planet first. They have been an exhibitor at Green Festivals for a number of years and provide products to the Green Festival Store, most notably their smooth textured organic healing lip balm.
To find out more about SLO 2010 Green Award Winners, visit www.slogreenbusiness.com. To learn more about Elemental Herbs, visit them on the web at http://elementalherbs.com/.
Chicago, November 12, 2010 This week, Soul of Green Correspondent Bianca Alexander, Esq. took home the coveted Chicago/Midwest EMMY for Outstanding Achievement for Individual Excellence on Camera: Programming – Program Host/Moderator/Contributor. The EMMY honored her work on the groundbreaking first season of Soul of Green on nextTV on Saturday, November 6, 2010.
Bianca co-created the original program with her husband and partner Michael Alexander in the hopes of “bringing inspiration, hope and healing to the African- American community—and the world—by highlighting the visionaries and entrepreneurs on the leading edge of the green and environmental justice movements.”
Launched online in 2008, Soul of Green made its network TV debut as a bi-monthly segment on the second season of EMMY-award winning nextTV. Next TV is produced by the Chicago Urban League, and airs Sundays on Fox (WFLD) at 8:00AM and on my50 at 12:30PM. The Soul of Green segments include entertaining stories on entrepreneurs such as Chicago vintage fashion icon Bryant McLemore Smith, vegan soul food institutions Soul Vegetarian and Karyn’s restaurants, a VIP tour of the African-American designed Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago and an enlightening interview with politico turned organic foodie and Chicago Mayoral candidate, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun.
Alexander’s first EMMY comes after a nearly decade-long career as host and on-air personality, including gigs on cable channels Lifetime, TV One, TV Guide and monthly appearances as a conscious living advocate on networks across the country including NBC, ABC and WGN. On stage, Bianca thanked God, her husband Michael and Next TV production team, and the city of Chicago for the win. “This Emmy is just one more illustration that viewers, producers and the television world are ready for programming that is entertaining, sexy and also helps us evolve as a planet and a community.”
Season One of Soul of Green on nextTV can be seen online 24/7 on www.soulofgreen.com and Sundays on Fox and my50 in Chicago through May 2011.
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About Conscious Planet Media
Through its original multi-platform series, Conscious Living TV, Soul of Green, and Triple Bottom Line and national broadcast television news and lifestyle shows, Conscious Planet Media is redefining the role media plays in shaping a more just and sustainable world. Conscious Planet Media is lead by award winning journalists and green industry experts, Bianca and Michael Alexander. For more information, visitwww.consciousplanetmedia.com.
About the Chicago Urban League
Established in 1916, the Chicago Urban League is a civil rights organization that empowers and inspires individuals to reach and exceed their economic potential. The Chicago Urban League supports and advocates for economic, educational and social progress for African-Americans through an agenda focused exclusively on economic empowerment as the key driver for social change. For more information, visitwww.thechicagourbanleague.org