BTC Elements - Sustainable, Well Designed Goods

I am on a continual quest to find really beautiful sustainable clothing, furniture and accessories. Call me crazy, but even though I want to do the right thing by the environment, I refuse to buy that orange hemp shirt that looks like it's from the 60s (and has been continually worn since the 60s). Seriously, why should I lower my design standards just because I want to be green?

The good news is that our choices are growing and many entrepreneurs are designing beautiful objects that are thoughtful in how they are produced. My find this week is BTC Elements. The online store was founded by Summer Bowen in 2005 and has been growing substantially ever since. Based in Los Angeles, BTC is the acronym for "Be the Change" which is a reference to Ghandi’s quote "you must be the change you wish to see in the world." Bowen adds that "Elements" is a nod to the natural world that we aim to preserve and protect.

I'm not a fan of the clothing (perhaps my body type sans-baby is not quite like the models so I can't relate), but I love her choice in accessories. Take a look at her tennis billboard ditty-bags, used skateboard earrings and potato chip bag baskets. Lovely.

Studying for the LEED Exam? Use Visuals!

Admittedly the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation exam is changing a bit, but for those of you who 1) got grandfathered in and are taking the old exam or 2) want to share with others (clients, partners, etc.) what the LEED certification is all about, go to http://www.leedvisual.com/ for a fantastic graphic representation of each of the "credits" a building can earn. Here is the visual for Contstruction Waste Management: Diverting Construction and Debris from Landfill.

Featured Green Companies: Week of June 12

The following companies were featured on the Supporting Green Companies Facebook page last week. (Supporting Green Companies is sponsored by The Green Workplace blog). If you want to send any of these companies a message of support, "fan" them on Facebook now!

Ice Stone: IceStone makes a range of products--slabs for wall coverings and flooring in addition to countertops--from 100% recycled glass that is mixed with cement to create a highly durable, aesthetically beautiful and green concrete surface. Their factory uses day lighting, graywater recycling and soy based machine lubricants and will recycle 2.6 million pounds of glass in 2006.

Clif Bar & Company: In 2001, Clif Bar & Co. hired a staff ecologist and began working to reduce the company's environmental footprint. Among the changes: shifting to organic ingredients, eliminating shrink-wrap (that saved 90,000 pounds of plastic and $400,000 annually), and supporting a wind farm to offset fossil fuel usage.

New Belgium Brewery: Looking for a better brewski? Try a New Belgium beer. It meets all its energy needs through a combination of wind power purchased from the city and cogeneration of thermal energy from the brewing process. The company recycles or reuses 98 percent of its waste stream--converting spent grain into cattle feed, for example.

Frog's Leap Winery: In 1988, Frog's Leap became the first Napa winemaker to have its grapes certified as organic. Today, Frog's Leap produces 60,000 cases of wine a year, all from grapes that are grown organically. Perhaps more notably, they are grown with water-saving dry farming methods. In February of 2005, the winery essentially “flipped the switch” becoming 100% solar powered.

Seventh Generation: Not only does Seventh Generation have products that are squeaky green, they also offer their employees interest-free loans (up to $5000) to become more energy efficient and reduce their carbon footprint. These loans can be used towards the purchase of fuel-efficient cars or for home improvements.

Open Blue Sea Farms: Free range fish farming. Who knew? Open Blue Sea Farms raises fish in the the open ocean in order to minimize environmental impact. Here's a quick video that explains: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yGpH0S0N8I

G-Diapers: Thanks to one of our fans for suggesting gDiapers as a company to support. You must go to their site and watch the video to really understand how this works (http://www.gdiapers.com/gdiapers101/watch-the-videos). Basically, the diapers are made up of a cute washable "shell" with compostable/ flushable inserts.

The Onion: Greening Your Home the Snarky Way

Check out this slide show from the Onion. One of my colleagues found this... priceless.

Parans Solar Lighting

I recently found Climate Solver on WWF's Swedish website. It showcases 12 young entrepreneurs who are coming up with environmentally businesses. Their solutions are varied and focused on solving one particular problem related to energy production, energy efficiency, construction, transportation, and system innovations. See 12 Climate Entrepreneurs for a white paper on their products and services.

One of the companies, Parans Solar Lighting has concept that struck me as a very realistic option for existing buildings with deep floor plates or no windows (sadly, we have a number of these in Washington, DC). Parans fixtures use fiber optics and LED technology to harvest natural light and save 50% of the energy typically required to light buildings. Considering that lighting is the largest impact on energy use (hence energy cost) for most office spaces, this is a significant savings.

Images from Parans' website.

Baumgartens' Eco-Friendly Products - Less is More

Baumgartens sells all that stuff hidden in your office or home supply closet - from paper plates to binder clips to dusters. One of their latest products is an eco-friendly brand of cleaners that are sold in tablet form. The company claims that they can produce and sell these products at a lower price because:

"... our cleaners create environmental savings at every step in the product lifecycle such as lower shipping costs, 75 percent less warehouse space, 75 percent less shelf space" and they also produce "75 percent less waste in landfills and meet the EPA’s Design for Environment (DfE) earth friendly chemicals standard.”

The company aims to be 100% carbon neutral by 2015.

Soap Hope Uses Ugly Boxes

Soap Hope is a soap company that also sells lotions, shampoo and a few other personal care products. In additional to selling some fairly exotic flavors of soap - like Pine Tar Neem Oil, Prickly Pear or Wild Weeds - they have a sustainable business concept:

• To be the most trustworthy and reliable source for body care products for health-conscious people.
• To carry only products that are 100% all natural and of exceptionally high quality.
• To be the best value anywhere for the products we carry.
• To use businesses practices that create as little impact on the environment as possible.
• To provide our customers with the kind of service that creates lifelong customer relationships.
• To give back to our world community.

The best part...for non-gift-wrap orders, they wrap items in reused cardboard from local retailers who would otherwise scrap their cardboard boxes. It just proves that great things come in recycled packages.

Time to Go Potty!

There's been lots of talk about tax incentives for businesses and homes to "go green" and plenty of CFL lightbulb giveaways....but did you know you can get a free toilet??

The City of Austin, Texas is giving away new toilets as part of a Toilet Replacement Project. After hearing about this, I did a bit of research and found that they're not the only ones. Other similar programs are available in California, Toronto, Miami-Dade County, the Cascade/Puget Sound region, and Calgary, just to name a few.

I wish my municipality would give me a free toilet - as it is, I have full water bottles sitting in my circa-1982 toilets. Functional and free, but maybe not as cool or water-efficient as a new dual-flush toilet!

Image source: Advanced Buildings

Using Social Networking for Social Good

I'm a huge fan of Facebook and all the joy it brings connecting me with long lost friends from all over the world. And based on Facebook's growth, many, many others are huge fans as well! Interestingly, companies have realized this big time and are creating groups and pages for users to "fan" as they see fit. HOK is no different - we've got lots of pages and groups showcasing our work and mission. Go here for HOK Careers. I've been shamelessly promoting The Green Workplace (our new book coming out August 4) on Facebook as well. (Please fan the book, seriously, my publisher will totally love you.)

But here's a thought. With all of these companies vying for our attention on Facebook, what if Facebook users "fanned" for social good? What if, in addition to voting with our wallets and buying green / responsible products, we supported a company's social message with, well... social networking?

Yesterday afternoon we created Supporting Green Companies, just a simple Facebook page with a lame graphic (you designers out there, please help!) As of this minute, less than 24 hours later, the page is up to 1,009 fans - not bad for viral growth! Each update has a link to different companies that are making a positive environmental or social impact with a link to their Facebook page to "fan" if you feel so inclined. I can't think of a faster or more efficient way to become an environmental activist.

So take action today, fan Supporting Green Companies and then fan companies you feel inspired to support on the page. And if you have great ideas of company's you would like to support, send comments and we'll spread the word!

Saving the Earth - One Date at a Time

I ran across a new dating website called EcoDater - a facinating new and green twist to the online dating scene.

Green singles and members of the natural dating community have a new home online: EcoDater.com. EcoDater is an eco-friendly online dating site for green single men and women who care about living a natural, holistic lifestyle. Members include environmentalists, vegans and vegetarians, organic farmers, outdoor enthusiasts, yoga practitioners, activists and much more.

I wish them well... after all, they are out there creating new "passion" for the environment ;). Seriously, I do know a little about online dating. My husband and I run an online dating website called ActForLove.org (a politically progressive a portion of the proceeds go to activist causes and charities). EcoDater has taken a similar approach with a portion of their proceeds going to environmental groups such as the National Resources Defense Council, World Wildlife Fund, and American Forests.