Coming Up for "Green" Air- The Sustainable Traveler

Many who have overindulged this holiday season and have vacation time coming may be shopping around for one of the latest trends in luxury travel - the "eco" vacation- as a means to do good not only for oneself, but for the planet and of course the environment, as well as communities and social enterprises that could use some help. If you want to do your part without committing to a group or social cause, this might mean simply checking in at the nearest "green" hotel. Today's New York Times (see link above) highlights several northern and southern California hotels where guests are treated to ecofriendly bathroom products (preferably out of a dispenser and not the ocean clogging plastic tubes), sustainable design elements, in-room recycling, and in some cases, such as with the new Gaia Napa Valley, displays of energy usage in the lobby. How do you know if a hotel is really green? "The best starting point is the so-called LEED certification program (for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) of the United States Green Building Council, a program that evaluates everything from materials to energy use to recycling in the construction and operation of a building. A LEED certificate displayed in the lobby means the establishment is serious about being green. Although only five hotels in the United States have this certification, many in the planning stages are incorporating materials and systems intended to gain it," the article states.

For the more adventurous traveler wanting to commit to a socially responsible trip, there are several organizations offering meaningful opportunities to contribute:
*Earthwatch Institute: join a scientific expedition in any number of countries around the world.
*Sierra Club Outings: One-week outings in the U.S. and Canada let you explore the outdoors, by clearing trails in national parks or examining ruins in New Mexico.
*Cross-Cultural Solutions: You might teach English in a low-income community, or care for children in an orphanage. Travel choices include Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, or Latin America.
*Cruise West: The line offers several cruises each year that include volunteer opportunities.

Also, the Rainforest Alliance has an online listing of ecofriendly travel destinations, as well as handy tips for sustainable travel, such as what questions to ask a hotel or lodge before your trip, their policies for reducing energy and water consumption, if they have won any "eco" awards, etc.

So Bon "eco" Voyage, and please post a comment if you've recently returned from a great sustainable trip!

Seeing the Light

Many of us wonder what practical, every day things we can do to help the environment, particularly when going green can sometimes seem overwhelming at times. Switching your light bulbs to CFLs is something you can do right way that will make a significant different down the line. The New York Times reported yesterday that according to the new energy bill signed this week, by 2012 stores can no longer sell the cheap, incandescent light bulbs most of us are used to buying and using in our homes. Though compact fluorescents cost 6 times as much as incandescents, they last 6 times longer and use far less energy. Use of the compact fluorescents, however, is nothing new. The EPA's Energy Star program has been pushing compact fluorescents for 9 years, and other new technologies are on the way, including LED's, which are extremely energy efficient but have not yet been incorporated in the home due to the expense and other factors. A few interesting facts:
*CFLs typically have a life span of between 6,000 and 15,000 hours, whereas incandescent lamps are usually manufactured to have a life span of 750 hours or 1000 hours.
*A CFL can save over US$30 in electricity costs over the lamp’s lifetime compared to an incandescent lamp and save 2000 times their own weight in greenhouse gases.
That's equivalent to the emissions of over 800,000 cars.
*Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb. If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants. Saving electricity reduces CO2 emissions, sulfur oxide and high-level nuclear waste.
Make the switch, and feel good about taking that first step in greening your home...

An Eco Time Was Had By All

On Saturday we attended the Eo Gift festival in Santa Monica, and it was truly a great day, with 150 fantastic exhibitors, folk music, organic munchies, and more. It was good to see so many eco startups, as well as companies that have been around for over ten years, selling everything from hemp clothing, to soy candles, elephant "dung" stationary, bamboo yoga clothes, jewelry made from materials in the Amazon, organic soaps and lotions, and t-shirts galore. It was truly "eco" heaven. The event, the first large scale holiday gift show for the eco-conscious, was founded by Tommy Rosen, a marketing and strategic partnership expert with extensive experience as a film and live event producer. Tommy launched Eco Gift Expo to address the "inconveniences, difficult emotions and incredible waste" associated with the holidays and holiday shopping. In 2005, Tommy co-produced the California Tomorrow Festival as part of The United Nations’ World Environment Day in San Francisco. The festival featured 50 renewable energy companies on display in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza and was attended by tens of thousands of people. This experience was pivotal in Tommy’s decision to commit to helping people make positive, healthful and sustainable lifestyle decisions. Tommy will continue to grow Eco Gift Expo and EcoGift.com to create new avenues for eco-conscious businesses to succeed.

Key Sponsors: Whole Foods, Los Angeles Times

Watch future blog entries for some of our favorite discoveries from the show!

Green, but "Not So Innocent?"

Feature articles in today's issues of both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times highlight a disturbing current trend in the new greening of America. What is it? That green, apparently in many cases, is not what it appears to be. In "Green Projects Generate Splits in Activist Groups," by GREG HITT, the writer points out that some new sustainable projects relying on wind and solar power are being met with opposition by groups such as the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club because of potential damage they can do the environment. "In Southern California," he writes, "a project to expand solar-power is imperiled because activists don't trust San Diego Gas and Electric Co., the local utility, which has proposed building a 150-mile transmission line...Micah Mitrosky, a Sierra Club community organizer, complains the line would run through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. She also isn't comfortable with the idea that it would be used to transmit power generated by fossil fuels, and questions whether the line will ever be used to carry alternative energy. Local Sierra Club officials enlisted opponents at concerts, farmer's markets and street fairs and in late October escorted a delegation of community leaders to Sacramento." Other wind powered projects, such as those planned in Maine and elsewhere, can potentially pose a threat to birds and other wildlife.

In "A World Consumed by Guilt," NT Times writer Paula Schwartz, points out that many consumer goods such as clothing and jewelry that are touted as being sustainable, may not be upon closer review. “Most brands endeavor to tell an honest story,” said Savania Davies-Keiller, a designer for the fashion label DDCLAB, which sells clothes made from corn fiber. “But the brand is reliant on the mill and on the manufacturer of the raw goods. You, as the end consumer, are reliant on the honesty of your brand.” The best way to be green with regard to clothing, the writer states, is to reuse what you currently have. "Perfect doesn’t exist and we’re probably never going to get there,” said Leslie Hoffman, the executive director of Earth Pledge, a nonprofit group that promotes sustainable development and technologies. “We all make compromises every day. Making them with your eyes open instead of arbitrarily is the best piece of advice I could give.”

Treehugger Green Gift Guide

Treehugger, one of our favorite sources for green news, recently posted its 2007 Green Gift Guide. Categories include gifts for the epicurean, pet lovers, yogis, the person who has everything, the jet setter, new parents, the outdoors lover, and many more. There is also an excellent tips page on how to be more ecoconscious this holiday season, including replacing holiday lights with LED lights, buying cards made of recycled paper, getting your name deleted from catalog lists, using soy candles, and reducing your number of shopping trips as much as possible. They also encourage gifts of donations to organizations such as those listed below in lieu of the traditional fruitcake no one wants, or sweaters we already have. Happy Green Holidays!

• Amnesty International
• Architecture for Humanity
• Biomimicry Institute
• Carbonfund
• China Dialogue
• Dropping Knowledge
• David Suzuki Foundation
• The Go Green Initiative
• GreenDimes
• Heifer International
• The Innocent Foundation
• Kiva
• Natural Resources Defence Council
• Nature Conservancy
• o2 Global
• Partners in Health
• Practical Action
• Rocky Mountain Institute
• Sustainable Table
• Tech Soup
• Wiser Earth
• World Bicycle Relief
• World Resources Institute
• World Wildlife Fund's "Extraordinary Gifts" program

Green Makeover for Rockefeller Center Tree

New energy efficient LEDs will replace old fashioned bulbs on the holiday tree, reducing the display's electricity consumption from 3,510 to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day. The daily savings is equal to the amount of electricity consumed by a typical 2,000-square-foot house in a month. "Now, New Yorkers will see an example of green leadership which may inspire them to make greener choices in their own lives," Bloomberg said last Tuesday. The owners of Rockefeller Center, Tishman Speyer, also showed off a new solar energy array that will generate electricity on the roof of one of the complex's buildings, the largest privately owned solar roof in Manhattan. The Rockefeller Center tradition was started in 1931, when construction workers building the first part of the office building complex erected a 20-foot Balsam fir amid the site's mud and rubble. After the tree is taken down in January, it will be cut into lumber to be used in houses built by Habitat for Humanity.

video testimonial by Steven Matt, CEO, One Earth

Ed Begley Fixes the Planet

Actor and environmentalist Ed Begley gets it right on his web site, fixingtheplanet.com, which launched last spring and has great information on sustainability and the environment, including forums, environmental news, resources for upcoming events, being ecofriendly in the home, work, and in your transportation, and many other resources. Most of the information is user-driven, but the forum format is one of the best I've seen for communication from the end user. There are also links to his popular show on HGTV "Living with Ed." And you should try his line of ecofriendly cleaning products--they are nontoxic and work really well - I have tried them. From installing solar panels to riding his bicycle around LA to save on carbon emissions, it's great to see an "ecocelebrity" truly walking their talk. Ed, you're the real deal.

Disaster in the Bay

58,000 gallons of oil spilled into the San Francisco Bay Wednesday morning, the biggest spill in the Bay in over a decade. Already the damage is in evidence, with news images of oil slicked birds washed up ashore and now toxic beaches emerging which will take decades if not more to clean up. An editorial in today's San Francisco Chronicle, asks the right questions:
"While we wait for more details about how an experienced bar pilot could have allowed a radar-equipped, 810-foot-long container ship smash into the Bay Bridge, a few questions leap immediately to mind. How could the Coast Guard - which has been working tirelessly to contain the spill - have misjudged the extent so completely? (Up until 9 p.m. on Wednesday, the Coast Guard said only 140 gallons had spilled from the container ship.) How bad will the damage be - and, because oil spills tend to stay toxic for a decades, for how long?"

Needless to say, there are many disturbing aspects to this story, including the slow response of the Coast Guard as well as a "changing story" that appeared on the news between one broadcast and the next; the concerning news that the ship's pilot had an unusually high number of incidents, and had run aground as recently as last year; and the environmental damage that will take years to repair, if it can be.

Someone would have to be seriously off course to crash into the Oakland/Bay Bridge--there is truly no excuse for this, nor the other incidents of this nature that have occurred over the years, and something must be done. How about ship pilots being subject to physical exams before each and every voyage? The safety of the public and our natural resources is at stake.

Green is Universal.com

Green Is Universal.com is NBC Universal's response to the green movement, to provide an "environmental perspective" to programming. The web site features a new blog, with current entries including: "What can everyday people do to help solve the climate crisis?" by Cathy Zoi, Alliance for Climate Protection; "Philadelphia Awakes from an "Environmental Nap," by Terry Ruggles, NBC 10 Philadelphia; and "5 Environmental Futures That Await Us If We Don't Clean Up Our Act,"by Michael Marano, SciFi.com. There is also a cool "Green is Fun" link that allows users to calculate (and reduce) their carbon footprints, send green e-cards, submit green photos, grow a virtual green forest, and read their green horoscopes. In a night of special programming, the NBC Thursday lineup for tonight highlights a green theme for programs such as "Scrubs," "ER," and "30 Rock," featuring a guest appearance by Al Gore. We are particularly looking forward to "The Big Idea w/ Donny Deutsch (10:00pm ET/PT)" on CNBC, whose description reads: "Going green is a big business and in this hour Donny Deutsch will explore not only the most cutting edge and innovative green initiatives that businesses are implementing, but will also assess the impact that going green makes on a business' bottom line." Congrats to NBC for "seeing the green light," and we look forward to an excellent night of ecofriendly entertainment. Are you watching? Send us your reviews!

Microplace - A Calvert Foundation/E Bay Parternship

We read with interest the latest news development from October 24 regarding the new partnership between E Bay and the Calvert Foundation, an award winning social investment foundation. The press release below describes the launch of a new web site that addresses global poverty.
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MicroPlace, a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay Inc., recently announced the launch of a new website (www.microplace.com) that provides an easy way for everyday people to invest in the world’s working poor by leveraging the power of microfinance, a proven solution to alleviate global poverty. With the launch of MicroPlace.com, consumers in the US can use the internet to make microfinance investments that simultaneously provide a financial return while addressing global poverty. Additionally, MicroPlace’s unique business model creates a self-sustaining marketplace that will serve as an efficient and scalable way for capital to flow into the microfinance industry.

“MicroPlace now offers an easy way for the everyday investor to participate in microfinance; receive a return on their investment; and empower the working poor to lift themselves from poverty,” said Tracey Pettengill Turner, Founder and General Manager of MicroPlace.

Through MicroPlace’s secure platform, everyday people can purchase investments – for as little as $100 – from microfinance security issuers. MicroPlace also enables investors to direct the impact of their investment to a specific country and microfinance institution in the developing world. The microfinance institutions use the funds to make small loans to the working poor, who in turn use the loans to start or expand small businesses and lift themselves out of poverty.

At launch, MicroPlace will offer investment opportunities from around the world, including Africa, Eurasia, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Individuals can visit www.microplace.com to research investment opportunities, make investments, and learn more about microfinance and global poverty. Investments can be purchased using PayPal or a checking account at a US bank. As a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA (formerly NASD), MicroPlace is currently the only broker-dealer specializing in microfinance securities for retail investors.

Working with an industry-leading security issuer MicroPlace has selected Calvert Social Investment Foundation – a leader in community investment that manages investments for over 2,500 individuals and institutions seeking to support communities around the world through their portfolios – as the first issuer to sell investments on MicroPlace. Calvert Foundation will use the funds generated from the sale of securities on MicroPlace to invest in microfinance institutions targeted by investors online. Calvert Foundation will also be responsible for making interest and principal payments to investors.

“Calvert Foundation has been working hard for over 10 years to mobilize individual investor capital to support microfinance,” said Shari Berenbach, executive director of Calvert Foundation. “Working with MicroPlace gives us the opportunity to offer microfinance investments for as little as $100 for the first time. We believe this will enable more individuals to invest in microfinance and help grow the industry as a whole to significantly improve the lives of the working poor around the world.”

Understanding the demand and power of microfinance Microfinance is the provision of financial services to the working poor, primarily in developing countries. Widely recognized as an effective tool against poverty, the most common microfinance service is the provision of small loans – often as low as $50 – to enable the working poor to lift themselves from poverty through their own hard work and entrepreneurial spirit.

Today, 1.3 billion of the world’s working poor live below the international poverty line, earning less than US. $2 a day. Since the inception of microfinance in 1974, more than 100 million people – the majority of them women - have borrowed microfinance loans with historic repayment rates averaging 97 percent. It is estimated that about 500 million people run microbusinesses, yet fewer than 10 million of these people – or about 2.5 percent – are able to obtain loans from banks or traditional lending institutions. To satisfy this demand, the microfinance industry will need substantial amounts of additional investment capital. By providing access to everyday investors in the US, MicroPlace has opened up a substantial new channel to acquire the investment capital the industry needs to grow.

ABOUT CALVERT FOUNDATION

Calvert Social Investment Foundation ( http://www.calvertfoundation.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that uses the power of investment to channel affordable credit to underserved communities, working to end poverty by creating hope and economic opportunity where it is needed most. Individuals and institutions provide investment capital to Calvert Foundation, which utilizes industry leading due diligence to actively manage a diversified portfolio of high social impact investments in the US and abroad.
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What do you think of this unique investment program and have you tried it yet?

Tips to Power Networking

How many times have you attended conferences and felt excited at the outset, only to leave feeling disappointed and wondering if you should have been doing something else instead, or spent your registration money elsewhere? An excellent article in the October issue of The New York Enterprise Report by Liz Lynch highlights 7 tips for networking at conferences. Here is a summary:
1. Consider events outside your industry. While you may always attend your annual industry trade show event, you should broaden your horizons and consider other events that will enable you to do cross marketing.
2. Clarify your goals. If you decide beforehand what your main goals are, it will help you decide what speakers to meet and breakout sessions to attend, as well as keynotes if there are multiple sessions.
3. Don't sell. Most industry experts agree that conferences are intended to foster real relationships and not sales pitches. It's better to make a good impression, and the selling can come later.
4. Focus your discussions. While it's nice to make small talk, find out why others are attending the conference and what they hope to get out of it. You may discover common ground, or ways to partner with someone else.
5. Get the right people to come to you. By speaking up at sessions, asking questions, and making it known to others what you do, you will attract more people.
6. Ask organizers for help. Don't be shy about asking conference organizers and staff for help, by asking for an introduction to a speaker or sponsor.
7. Get out of the conference venue. Take advantage of excursions and other convention activities which will take you to a new venue, such as a show or a restaurant. You never know who you might meet.

Dressing it Up in Westport - Paul Newman and the Greening of a Town

"Recycled barn wood walls, a fieldstone fireplace, soap and towels that are biodegradable; and, the food is eco-gastronomic: organic, healthy and — whenever possible- regionally grown.” (press for the Dressing Room)

We read with great interest a blog feature from Plenty Magazine (October 16th) about chef Michael Nischan, who recently launched with Paul Newman an organic restaurant in Westport, CT, called Dressing Room, in which all the food is sourced from local offerings. He has also led other projects aimed at the "greening" of Westport, such as a nonprofit called Wholesome Wave, through which a new farmer's market was launched in the summer of '06. "In addition to funding and managing the twice-weekly farmers’ markets, Wholesome Wave’s initiatives include developing a network of community gardens; piloting an edible mentorship program between the local schools; and brokering the Green Wave Farm-to-College program, a partnership between Vassar College, food services giant ARAMARK, and a handful of Hudson Valley farmers, to ratchet up the school’s farm-to-table offerings," the article states. Nischan, a native of Chicago, worked as a chef at many high-end restaurants before coming east, and has a philosophy of bringing people not only closer to their food, but closer to good food. His programs are ambitious, and depending on their success, may serve as a model for other programs on a national level. Let us know if you've other heard of other food initiatives similar to this and how they are being implemented --or, if you have tried the Dressing Room, what are your reviews? In the meantime, congratulations to Paul and Michael for a great green effort. Is it dinnertime yet?

Lights Out America

We recently learned of a group called "Lights Out America," a grassroots community group focused on conserving energy and slowing global warming. This Saturday, October 20, from 8-9 pm in San Francisco, the entire city is invited to turn out all non essential lighting for one hour, and to install one compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) instead. According to its home page: "We estimate that turning lights out in San Francisco for even one hour could save as much as 15 percent of the energy consumed on an average Saturday night." Los Angeles and Santa Barbara are also taking part on this day, and efforts are being made nationwide, culminating in a national "Lights Out," on March 29, 2008, from 8-9 pm. These events are inspired by a similar event recently held in Sydney, Australia, called "Earth Hour." In Sydney, 2.2 million people participated. Their one hour of lights out meant that 24.86 tons of carbon dioxide were not released into the air - the equivalent of taking 48,613 cars off the road for one hour! The web site (see links) features a blog, ways to get involved, upcoming events, and ways to donate as well. We think this is an idea whose time has come, and plan on participating. See you on Saturday...and lights out!

Video of John Doerr Speaking on Climate Change at Spring TED Conference

We felt this is a must-see video on climate change. (See link) "I don't think we're going to make it," John Doerr proclaims, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment. Spurred on by his daughter, who demanded he fix the mess the world is heading for, he and his partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers embarked on a greentech world tour -- surveying the state of the art, from the ethanol revolution in Brazil to Wal-mart's (!) eco-concept store in Bentonville, Arkansas. KPCB is investing $200 million in green technologies to save the planet and make a profit to boot. But, Doerr fears, it may not be enough.John Doerr, a partner in famed VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, made upwards of $1 billion picking dot-com stars like Amazon, Google, Compaq and Netscape. (He also picked some flops, like Go Corporation and the scandal-ridden MyCFO.com.) He was famously quoted saying, "The Internet is the greatest legal creation of wealth in history," right before the dot-com crash. But now he's back, warning that carbon-dioxide-sputtering, gas-powered capitalism will destroy us all, and that going green may be the "biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century." So Kleiner Perkins has invested $200 million in so-called greentech, a combination of startups that are pioneering alternative energy, waste remediation and other schemes to prevent the coming environmental calamity. But Doerr is afraid that it might be too little, too late.

Creative Community Enterprises and Sunrise Advisors: Essential, More Than Nice

According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, only 31% of the money Americans donate to charities benefits poor people. The article reported on a study conducted by the Indiana University Center on Philanthrophy and financed by Google, and it also revealed that contributions to charities meeting the most basic of human needs, such as food and shelter, were just 8% of all donations from individuals. That's only $19 billion for the entire United States, less than 10% of what this nation is spending in Iraq on a similar time frame basis. The patterns of giving based on income and socioeconomic status also reveal that the least wealthy give at more than a 2 to 1 basis compared with the wealthiest Americans to benefit the needy.

While all who give, whether to the needy, or in other ways that benefit society (such as to education, the arts, cultural organizations, and beyond) are commendable compared to those who do not, it has been both our personal and professional experiences in our lifetimes that beautiful buildings, while indeed, well, glamorous, do not develop people alone. So however you and we give, and please, even when times are rough, keep doing so as we do, in this age of Katrina as more than a hurricane, but truly reminding us of real injustices throughout the entire land, and that the entire thinking and spirit of helping others, especially in real, urgent need, needs to be rethought and renewed. Beyond a hand out, rather a real hand up.

There are new ways we admire, even more as we learn more, and we call on others who tangibly care (not just talk) to walk the talk with us, and catalyze these new ways of human and spiritual renewal, rather than merely writing a check (or not) -- without thinking it through. Please seriously consider as one way we at Sunrise Advisors would like to devote our careers, earn our livelihoods, and join together with you and others in the real world, promising efforts of Common Ground in New York -- http://www.commonground.org -- and its pioneering efforts to not just provide shelter for the homeless, and admirable nonprofit pathways and programs -- but through the first Ben & Jerry's (surprisingly profitable?) social enterprise franchise and job training program in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, some years ago (and several different, innovative initiatives since), transform individual lives with stability and hope. For more about this, please see the light at:

http://www.allbusiness.com/management/104917-1.html

We also hear some are getting caught up with semantics as to whether social enterprises can only flow from nonprofit ownership, or whether definitely for profit companies with a provably enduring environmental and social conscience -- like a Stonyfield Farm, http://www.stonyfield.com -- should be called something else. Who cares! Except that what we have read and witnessed in this regard can just be a lot of unnecessary, worthless background noise, sort of like Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

Please share this widely with others who both care and think, for you then help us through Sunrise Advisors -- http://www.enterprisesunrise.com and http://www.nonprofitsunrise.com
-- to survive and prosper in hopefully, doing well and doing good. And we want all to know, also, that the environment, as we see it is far more organic and local, and integrated in public health and well being than how it is often seen, as more of an abstract cause. So there really is a direct connection between our environment and offering that hand up to those in need.

Much of the spirit reflected in The Rise of The Creative Class -- http://books.google.com/books?id=4AcGvt3oX6IC&pg=PP1&dq=Richard+Florida&ei=fUEJR6uiHZW0pALopsiiDQ&sig=RUra7f-tg72SfXuFyJGLNJrGavo -- and other works by Richard Florida makes a similar case for arts for the public, not elites, too...as well as through addressing head on the issues of homelessness and poverty in America, and how these can damage the quality of life for us all. More on this quality of life, from a together perspective is inspired through Comeback Cities -- http://books.google.com/books?id=o5sbdWh_B8IC&pg=PP1&dq=Comeback+Cities&ei=pEIJR4qPJZrkowK-742nDQ&sig=jxJSx614tvcbkQz35ttAXJdBkpw (including an opening message by Tom Brokaw), and, with special relevance towards building an enhanced social enterprise economy and (truly) eco-system, a more recent book by Michael Shuman, The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating The Global Competition -- http://www.smallmart.org -- related through a karma connection through time, history, and our hopeful future with an amazingly day-to-day and practical, yet profoundly pioneering work first discovered by us 19 years ago (and recently, deeply reconnected with...), Paul Hawken's Growing A Business -- http://books.google.com/books?id=3ZRpM_7lLUIC&q=Growing+a+Business+Paul+Hawken&dq=Growing+a+Business+Paul+Hawken&ei=O0YJR7nGBZeGpwLJhsjDDg&pgis=1

Making the triple bottom line (financial, environmental, and social) truly come to life is our purpose in this life, ours and hopefully yours. A friend of ours described it as the spirit of L'Chaim (the spirit of life, in a broad sense) which transcends all faiths and cultures. Now that's what, to us, further described at our Website, CCEs, Creative Community Enterprises are supposed to be all about. A real hand up!

Indeed, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, as the saying goes. So, please, individually, and with and through community, beyond self, in the spirit of Paul Hawken, Michael Shuman, Richard Florida, Common Ground, and all who walk the talk -- Let's Go Forward Together!

Thanks for listening with both your heart and mind -- and to our insight and innovation through Sunrise Advisors, from which also flows, hopefully with you and others, a new kind of "together."

Veggie Voyage

I found the following story from the most recent Plenty Magazine e-news very inspiring. It's nice to know that in today's age of consumerism and "keeping up with the Jones-es," that some are making a conscious effort to simplify their lives and discovering they are much happier in the process, and also sending a message on how we can live in harmony with the planet. I plan on keeping up with their Live Lightly Tour web page, which also features a blog, photos, resources, and other interesting elements.


Matt and Sara Janssen know a thing or two about living simply. Thanks to a long-term business trip to Coralville, Iowa in 2005, the twosome realized they could happily survive on fewer material items than they owned. They slowly began to downsize their life, eventually selling their 1,600 square-foot home and resettling in a 385 square-foot apartment. Currently, 30-year-old Sara, 29-year-old Matt, and their 3-year-old daughter, Bella, are traveling around the country in an RV powered by corn oil for what they’ve termed, their Live Lightly Tour. Plenty caught up with Sara to discuss her new lifestyle, her plans, and her RV.

What was the biggest change you noticed when you simplified?

Whenever we’d go into our big house, all we’d see is everything that needs to be done—the lawn needs to be mowed, this needs to be fixed and cleaned. It was just overwhelming. We didn’t have a lot of time because we were working so much, so it just added to our stress. Once we moved into a small apartment, all those things went away and we had time to focus on family, hobbies, and Bella.

Why go through this entire transformation of simplifying?

The culture of America is to buy and consume. That’s what you see. If you go anywhere, [the impulse] is to buy, buy, buy. For us, simplifying is a matter of sanity. Getting back to not having a TV on at night meant we had more time to spend with Bella, and it made us go outside our house more. We spent more time at coffee shops chatting with friends, and at fountains with family. It just totally changes your perspective on life when you don’t have so much chaos around you.

How long will you be gone?

We’re planning on a year, but we don’t really have a time frame, and that’s the exciting part. It’s open. If we find something along the way that interests us, maybe we’ll come back to it.

Why are you doing the tour?

Our goal for the tour is to bring awareness to sustainable living, show people a veggie-oil system, and show them transportation alternatives. Within the green-living realm, transportation is a huge question; what are you doing to help the earth because gas is nasty and expensive?

How do you get the oil to power the RV?

We go to restaurants and knock on the back door, talk to the managers and say, “Hey, we have an RV that runs on veggie oil. Can we come in and fill up on it?” They often look at us strangely and it’s clear they don’t understand. Then they come out, look at it, and usually say yes. We have an on-board gathering and filtering system and we just fill up. It is like an elephant with a hose out of the front.

What do you think stops people from simplifying their lives like you did?

Part of it is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of getting rid of stuff they might need someday. A lot of people find comfort in their material possessions. It is so deep-rooted that they don’t realize attachments they have to possessions, the stability of a full-time job, a house that their parents expect them to have, the car that their friends expect them to drive. There’s a fear of not impressing people, or a fear of failure. I always ask people: “If you want to do it, if you have a desire in your heart, if you want to travel one day, then why don’t you do it right now?” What’s holding them back is that they might fail. I say, “So what, then you go back to your nine to five job.”

Global Warming and the Tooth Fairy

An editorial from today's New York Times "Still Out in the Cold" highlights the frustrating lack of progress being made on the issue of global warming and the recent 2-day summit on the topic. The President is still refusing to commit the United States to a sustained, mandatory program to reduce its emissions. The article states: The divide between the United States and its industrial allies in Europe and Japan is easily stated. They want firm, obligatory targets and a clear timetable for reaching them; Mr. Bush prefers a country-by-country, voluntary approach. They believe that the necessary efficiencies and technologies will emerge only when a stiff price is placed on carbon and nations are forced to meet legally binding commitments; Mr. Bush seems to believe they will spring up magically, as if from the Tooth Fairy.

According to the US. Environmental Protection Agency: If greenhouse gases continue to increase, climate models predict that the average temperature at the Earth's surface could increase from 2.5 to 10.4ºF above 1990 levels by the end of this century. Scientists are certain that human activities are changing the composition of the atmosphere, and that increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases will change the planet's climate. But they are not sure by how much it will change, at what rate it will change, or what the exact effects will be.

Do you have time to wait for the Tooth Fairy?

* * *

10 Ways You Can Help Prevent Global Warming

10.	Plant native, drought-resistant trees and shrubs around your home and outdoor air conditioning unit
9.	Use an electric or push mower instead of a gasoline-powered mower to cut your lawn.
8.	Replace your current home appliances (refrigerator, washing machine, dish washer) with high-efficiency models.
7.	Buy food and other products with reusable or recyclable packaging instead of those in non-recyclable packaging.
6.	Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
5.	Install a solar heated system to provide your hot water.
4.	Recycle your home's waste newsprint, cardboard, glass and metal.
3.	Leave your car at home (walk, bike or take mass transit instead).
2.	Insulate your home, clean your air conditioning filters and install energy efficient showerheads.
	And the number one thing you can do to prevent Global Warming is...
1.	Purchase a fuel-efficient car (rated at 32 mpg or more) to replace your most frequently used automobile.

Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Expo

We recently learned about the launch of a new sustainable lifestyle expo on March 28-30, 2008, at the Portland, Oregon Expo Center. It looks, to use one of our favorite retro terms, "way cool." Entitled the "Better Living Home, Garden & Lifestyle Show," the event features a soundstage for music and special performances, a Toyota mobile interactive hybrid tour, an EcoMetro Pavilion, and a kids and gardeners corner. While the speaker list and sessions have yet to be announced, we've no doubt that this will be a very unique and cutting edge conference, particularly since Portland is truly a city at the forefront of anything eco.

We have visited Portland and were impressed with its renovated downtown and waterfront areas, walkable neighborhoods, and friendly atmosphere. As a former English major and book lover, I became obsessed with Powell's bookstore and must have been in the place for at least 2 hours, and that was just on the first visit. Not to mention the wide variety of excellent restaurants that are constantly being reviewed by The New York Times, probably resulting in large numbers of New Yorkers relocating in order to get more real estate for the money. We were also particularly struck by the fact that most of the city transportation was free, with designated sponsors getting an audio "plug" during the course of your ride. OK, these people have got the right idea....anyway, back to the conference.

According to the conference home page: "The idea of the Better Living Show is to give you access to local resources that will improve your life. The show highlights eight core topics: lifestyle, home/garden, transportation, food/beverage, clean tech, eco adventure, recycling and conservation. All presented in an entertaining way like you've never seen before. From layout and lighting to the food and speakers, the Better Living Show will be unlike any show--green or otherwise--that you've ever seen. The Better Living Show is destined to become the premier sustainable lifestyle show in the country. Show producers Michael O’Loughlin and Stephanie Frisch are veterans of consumer shows and understand what good show design, presentation and marketing can do for attendance and exhibitor success."

We plan on keeping up to date on conference developments and are eager to learn who the keynoter will be and how many attendees are expected.

The Passing of Anita Roddick

The passing of Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, on September 10, is truly a loss. Roddick, a pioneer of social entrepreneurship, was one of the first to embrace the concepts of fair trade and organics, supporting the environment, and protesting animal testing. Starting with a small store in England in 1976, and expanding to over 2000 stores in 50 countries, she is also an inspiring example for entrepreneurs and proof that you can do well, while still doing good. According to a recent write up in The New York Times, "Anita did more than run a successful ethical business: she was a pioneer of the whole concept of ethical and green consumerism,” Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, wrote in The Evening Standard on Tuesday. “There are quite a few business people today who claim green credentials, but none came anywhere near Anita in terms of commitment and credibility.” She will be greatly missed.

Spencer Hoo, Southern California Real Estate Specialist, Joins Sunrise Advisory Board

Spencer Hoo leads The Hoo Group, a southern
California based real estate group, and is a pioneer in
mixed-use and loft residential living.


Irvine, CA, September 21, 2007. Sunrise Advisors, a southern California based partnership founded by Emmett Pickett and Caroline Jaffe-Pickett, is pleased to announce that Spencer Hoo, an innovative real estate leader in Orange County, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties in Southern California, has joined its official Advisory Board. Spencer heads up The Hoo Group, a southern California-based real estate group.

Coming from a multidisciplinary background affords Spencer a unique ability to see potential and value in real estate projects. He received his BA in Studio Arts with Honors (and with a concentration in visual arts and critical theory), from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He also has a solid background in computer engineering and information systems. This combination gives Spencer a truly "multimedia" understanding of marketing, both through online and more traditional means, and not limited to more generic real estate transactions alone. Spencer takes a more organic, integrated view of the overall business community. For example, he is fascinated with "new urbanism," and specifically, loft communities. His interests, studies, and experience have resulted in Spencer becoming a pioneer in live-work and mixed-use (including with retail) loft residential living. Spencer was recently selected as the exclusive real estate loft specialist at the OC Loft Guide, a new website focusing on lofts and loft communities across Orange County, slated to debut in December 2007.

As a skilled market researcher and negotiator, Spencer prides himself on his ability to help clients achieve their real estate and related goals. Having many repeat clients, as well as referrals, illuminates the high level of service that Spencer and The Hoo Group provide, and is rooted in his passion that his clients succeed -- whether it is in a sale, purchase, or lease within residential, commercial, or mixed-use real estate, or other matters. Spencer attributes many of his successes to providing value-added, "win-win" relationships with his clients.

Sunrise Advisors is a consulting partnership designed to help Nonprofit Organizations and Creative Community Enterprises (CCEs) by providing a unique package of services, including public relations, income generating projects, and staffing and marketing assistance. "Our mission is to focus on customized attention for each client in the delivery of strategic guidance, featuring earned income generation approaches and integrated communications," Pickett and Jaffe state. "We are dedicated to the health of the organizations and enterprises we are working with, and their sustainability for the future. Their enduring success is our guiding principle."


For more Sunrise Advisors background information on Carrie
For more Sunrise Advisors background information on Emmett

Co-op America Green Business Awards

We recently began subscribing to Co-Op America's e news and have found the articles to be very informative. The organization focuses on "economic action for a just planet." A recent e-mail highlighted the top 10 Green Business People's Choice Award, which will be announced at the Green Festival on November 10 in San Francisco. Below is the list of nominees. Also, check out the green festivals listings page (see link above) for more information on upcoming events.

1. Flexcar
Seattle, WA * www.flexcar.com
"Flexcar made it possible for me to get rid of my car! My workplace has a corporate contract allowing our employees to use Flexcar during the day. As a result, most of us now use mass transit to get to work."
--David K., Portland, OR

2. Greenfeet.com: The Planet's Homestore
Chico, CA * www.greenfeet.com
“Great eco-friendly products at reasonable prices. Plus, the owners podcast their show, “More Hip than Hippie” every week, which is the best green show we’ve listened to.”
--Cynthia and Larry G., Jacksonville, FL

3. Green Living Now
Huntington, VT * www.greenlivingnow.com
“Amy Todisco is not just a business owner, she is a partner in health to all she serves. She delves deeply into researching the products she sells in order to more completely serve her clientele.”
--Donna H., Fredericksburg, VA

4. Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils
Winnipeg, Manitoba * www.manitobaharvest.com
“I've never met a more enthusiastic, passionate group of people, dedicated to spreading the word not only about the value and sustainability of hemp, but the ways in which each of us can make our mark on this world for the better. I adore them!.”
--Linda S., Boulder, CO

5. Mountains of the Moon
Camby, IN * www.mountainsofthemoon.com
“Mountains of the Moon does something very simple: they give the earth-conscious consumer the ability to be fashion-conscious, and vice versa. Enough said!”
--Julie C., Chicago, IL

6. Only Natural Pet Store
Boulder, CO * www.onlynaturalpet.com
“Fantastic, responsible product selection. Biodegradeable, recycled packaging. Plus, the company runs on wind and solar power. Wow!”
--Aileen W., Sierra Madre, CA

7. Pizza Fusion
Fort Lauderdale, FL * www.pizzafusion.com
“Pizza Fusion introduced me to the concept of a green business, which I knew nothing about. Their way of building their business with the least amount of negative influence on our environment is something that everyone should follow.”
--Chris J., Hialeah, FL

8. ReusableBags.com
Chicago, IL * www.reusablebags.com
“Small Web-based retailer, changing the world one reusable bag at a time. I'm a convert myself and have converted several others into BYOBaggers in less than six months!”
--Kristin F., Middleton, WI

9. UsedCardboardBoxes.com
Montebello, CA * www.usedcardboardboxes.com
“They are taking one of the most wasteful industries in America and are sincerely dedicating themselves to the recycling and greening of the transportation and storage businesses.”
--Daysun P., Los Angeles, CA

10. Yoga Nine/Buddha Body Fair Trade Store
Smithville, NJ * www.yoganine.com
“Laurie Green facilitates health and spiritual growth while being a responsible business person, both in the local community and the global village, by supporting Fair Trade practices.”
--Diane S., Egg Harbor City, NJ

Arctic Ice Shrinking...Is This a Good Thing?

According to a recent Associated Press article and other news stories, arctic ice has shrunk to the lowest levels on record, raising the possibility that the northwest passage (Canada, Alaska, and Greenland), will become an "open shipping lane." I am shocked that the news slant of this recent story is on new possibilities for shipping, when what we really should be concerned about is the rapid rate of global warming. What's the point of shipping anything if no one is alive to receive it? I doubt that the tradeoff of less polution is enough to make this new routing environmentally worthwhile, particularly when you consider the potential damage for oil spills and the harm to our natural resources. At least one Norwegian researcher is quoted as saying: “Shorter transport routes means less pollution if you can ship products from A to B on the shortest route,” he said, “but the fact that the polar ice is melting away is not good for the world in that we’re losing the Arctic and the animal life there.”

What do you think about this growing problem, and how can we change the media focus?

A Better "Live Earth"

I was thinking about the "eco landmarks" of the summer of 2007, and of course, "Live Earth" came to mind. Like many, I logged onto the web site and signed off on my "pledge" to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Like many, I tuned in to watch performers do their thing, from a rather subdued Keith Urban, to a nearly out of control Melissa Etheridge, who sang, talked, and ranted on and on about everything from women's rights to the president. I got my share of public service announcements from Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and I got my post concert e-mail thank you's from the powers that be. There have been some rather dull and disappointing follow up e- mails about growing tomatoes and being sure to watch Leonardo DiCaprio's new film "11th Hour," but not the calls to action one would think. But herein lies the rub. There's a big difference between saying and doing. There's a big difference between signing a pledge with the incentive of seeing your name highlighted on television, and making sure to unplug your cell phone at night to reduce carbon emissions. There's a big difference between rocking out to Shakira, and buying a hybrid vehicle. Life Earth, with all its glitz and glamour, was exactly that: too much glitz and glamour, while the all important message got lost. It's nice to see celebrities try to set an example, but the truth is many of them are about as far from "eco" as you can get, and everyone knows it. What kind of message does this send to today's young people? Fake it until you make it? Even Al Gore himself has been criticized for his luxury mansion which does about as much for the carbon footprint as a pair of stillettos. An excellent Newsweek article "How Green was Live Earth?" by Mathhew Phillips speaks to the "disconnect" between saying and doing. He writes: "...more than a few event staffers were seen carrying around Fiji brand water bottles—an ironic illustration of the vast difference between talking about going green and the difficulty in actually doing it....In the weeks leading up to the event, audience members were sent emails and text messages encouraging them to use mass transportation or to carpool. But the only mass transit available directly to the Meadowlands was New Jersey Transit Authority buses coming from midtown Manhattan. “I would’ve taken the bus, but I wasn’t going to drive all the way into Manhattan just to do it,” said Michael Frank, who drove 30 minutes from his home in Short Hills, New Jersey in his Mercedes-Benz. “That’s the problem with the Meadowlands,” he said. “No trains, no metro stops. You’ve got to drive to get here. You have no choice.”
Next time, I'd like to see an event that doesn't lose itself in the celebrity shuffle, but focuses its message on clear calls to action and yes, raising money, and yes, better follow-up from the messengers. Real change involved doing the hard things, not just the trendy and easy ones. Cute little carbon calculators on the Live Earth home page are not enough to save our planet.

Bottled Water Everywhere....Maybe?

Bottled water has been a major issue this month, starting with the recent disclosure by Aquafina that its water is actually from the tap. Aquafina is the single biggest bottled water brand, and its bottles are now labeled "P.W.S.- public water source. Aquafina's home page goes to a lot of trouble to highlight its 7-step purification process, a "state of the art process that includes reverse osmosis." OK, I suppose that sounds good to the average consumer, but shame on Pepsico for not disclosing this sooner. We all want to know where our water comes from, and if it's not from a natural spring or organic source, the consumer should know. In any case, we have bigger problems, meaning the bottles themselves. An August 12th article in the New York Times (see link) explores the latest "green" trend in bottled water, which is to tout tap water instead, or advocate the use of aluminum bottles, as is being promoted for this year's Fashion Week in New York in September. It's well known at this point that the mayors of several major cities, including San Francisco, New York, Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis, recently urged against bottle water in favor of tap.
Given that "it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil a year just to make the plastic water bottles Americans use, according to the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, plus countless barrels to transport it from as far as Fiji and refrigerate it," we need to all seriously consider tap water and the use of recycled aluminum containers for drinking water. What's the point of saving our health if we exhaust the earth's resources? Let's ask the question now and start changing our ways, or it will all be "water" under the bridge.

Sundance Channel Eco-mmunity

The Sundance Channel recently launched its Eco-mmunity Map, where users can search for "green" businesses, individuals, events, success stories, and hazardous areas. A free "Ezine" you can subscribe to also keeps users up-to-date on the latest news. This morning's mail included an alert about the San Bernadino area of southern California, in trouble due to its high traffic and air pollution stats. The article reads:

California's San Bernadino County is consistently rated one of the worst spots for air pollution in the United States. It's a major hub for trains, trucks and other shipping industry vehicles and is therefore subject to unprecedented amounts of "soot" or particulate air pollution from diesel vehicle emissions. "We need pressure to be placed on the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and the California Air Resources Board to fight this air pollution," San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt said. "It's an emergency situation. People are dying," he said.

San Bernardino resident and Ecommunity member "Clanmesa" expressed his recent frustration with the lack of action on this issue by posting a green action needed marker on the Eco-mmunity Map. If you are concerned and would like to learn more and maybe even send a message to California representatives and the EPA, click the link directly below to open Clanmesa's marker and send the letters linked to his marker."

Anyone interested in the environment should join the Eco-mmunity and subscribe to the E-zine. The map is also quite helpful in identifying important businesses and resources, as well as networking. Has anyone used these resources yet, and what is your view? Let us know!

Tangibly Doing Well and Doing Good

We were so inspired by this posting as brandchannel.com that we want to share it with you here...and highly recommend brandchannel.com (and see below re: Mr. Barry Silverstein and his new book, "The Breakaway Brand") as a wonderful resource(s) for "what" we are trying to do and "how," and hopefully for you!

Newman’s Own
on the side
by Barry Silverstein
July 30, 2007 issue of brandchannel.com

Brands associated with individuals’ names are commonplace. Designer names have dominated the fashion world. Perfumes and cosmetics carry the names of their creators. Celebrity endorsements are a different phenomenon entirely—paid arrangements in which celebrities lend their name to a brand.

And then there is a brand category that combines both: the brand created by a celebrity. This particular category is littered with failures. Reggie Jackson’s candy bar, Frank Sinatra’s neckties, and Diane von Furstenberg’s tissues are just a few examples of celebrity brands gone bad. The George Foreman Grill is one prominent exception that has achieved success.

The fact is, many such brands exist to enhance a celebrity’s name recognition and add to his or her net worth. They tend to be nothing more than me-too products with a novel, notable name. But there is one celebrity brand—Newman’s Own—that came to market quite by accident. Today, it is an international sensation. And incredibly, the brand’s goal is to give its profits away.

Despite his storied acting career and being known for tough guy roles in movies such as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, and The Verdict, Paul Newman is also a man with a sense of humor and humanity. Perhaps these qualities have much to do with Newman’s Own’s success.

The amusing story of the company’s birth is recounted in Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good, a book written by the company founders. “Newman’s Own” was the intended name of a restaurant the actor was supposed to open near his home in Westport, Connecticut. Instead, as Newman and his friend/co-founder A. E. Hotchner like to say, Newman’s Own, the food products company, “started as a joke and got out of control.”

Newman and Hotchner enjoyed bottling home-made salad dressing and giving it as gifts to friends and neighbors for the holidays. Newman was already known for creating his own salad dressings. Even when he went into a restaurant, Newman had the staff mix up a special dressing using ingredients he specified.

Everyone loved the dressing, so Newman and Hotchner thought, why not sell it? They went so far as to visit with a top marketing firm and were told it would take on the order of $400,000 to test market the product. They quickly rejected that idea and blindly went off on their own, investing about $40,000 in the fledgling venture.

No one took them seriously, least of all themselves. In fact, that’s probably what gave Newman’s Own its lasting personality—a blend of Paul Newman’s personage and a quirky sense of humor that pervades the packaging to this day.

In 1982, it is Stew Leonard, legendary owner of one of the country’s most successful supermarkets in Norwalk, Connecticut, who strong-arms a bottler to package Newman’s Own Oil & Vinegar Salad Dressing. Leonard convinces Newman to put a likeness of his face on the product bottle because, he says, “How else do you get their attention?” Newman hesitantly agrees. Newman and Hotchner decide to poke fun at other products and include the phrase “Fine Foods Since February” on the label. Leonard sells 10,000 bottles of the stuff in two weeks and a brand is born.

From the start, Newman decided that if he was going to lend his name to the business, it would be a philanthropic endeavor. At the end of 1983, Newman’s Own’s first full year, the company had sales in excess of US$3.2 million. Newman’s Own gave away the $397,000 of profit to various charities. Twenty-five years later, Newman’s Own has given away over US$200 million.

Charity not withstanding, the brand must represent quality products people want to buy. When Newman’s Own brought its first salad dressing to market, it competed against numerous better-known products from such industry giants as Kraft. At the time, all of the leading salad dressings used sugar, artificial coloring, gums, and chemical preservatives. The ingredients in Newman’s Own salad dressing were all natural. Newman’s Own continued this strategy as it launched brand extensions and new product lines. Salad dressings led to pasta sauces, steak sauce, marinades, salsa, lemonade, and popcorn.

Ten years after its founding, the company started a division called “Newman’s Own Organics,” led by Newman’s daughter, Nell. In 2001, Newman’s Own Organics was spun off as a separate company. The product line includes pretzels, cookies such as “Fig Newmans,” chocolate bars, dried fruit, soy crisps, and coffee. The company has also launched a line of premium pet food.

Newman’s Own may distribute its profits to charity, but it follows principles that contribute to its growth and success as a profitable business entity. The company has expanded to fifteen countries outside the United States, including Argentina, Australia, France, Japan, and Norway. It has struck a co-branding deal with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. It distributes its salad dressings and coffee through McDonald’s restaurants.

On the charitable side, Newman’s Own distributes its profits through the Newman’s Own Foundation to thousands of charities within the United States and in other countries, particularly where products are sold. Newman’s Own also sponsors the PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, given annually to a United States citizen who fights to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression.

Why has Newman’s Own succeeded where other celebrity brands have failed? One reason might be that the company has a brand proposition that can’t be beat. Why wouldn’t a consumer show a brand preference for Newman’s Own when she knows that she can buy a high-quality product while doing some good in the world?

Barry Silverstein is a 25-year advertising and marketing veteran and co-author of The Breakaway Brand (McGraw Hill, 2005).

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Newman’s Own - on the side

Newman's Own and Newman's Own Organics have been very inspirational to us, to the point of us "walking our talk," beyond our seemingly more stable food industry marketing and association publications and communications careers, respectively, to now launch a firm to specifically help the next generation(s) of creative community enterprises and socially responsible businesses, with food and much more, whether they are celebrities (yet) or not. Thanks for your consideration of Sunrise Advisors at enterprisesunrise.com. We hope it really is a shared "new day for creative community enterprises and nonprofits." :-)
Emmett, Sunrise Advisors - July 30, 2007

Words and Intentions and Results

What is a Creative Community Enterprise (CCE)?

It is generally known what a nonprofit organization is in concept, and that outside of the United States, nonprofits are often called NGO's, or non-governmental organizations throughout the world.

However, in recent years, with heightened awareness of the opportunities businesses have become involved with in their communities, and concerning the environment and other global challenges, different terms have been widely communicated to try to describe these changes. "Socially responsible business" has been one such term, yet in our experience, it is can sometimes lack understanding as to specifics. Indeed, the Spring, 2007 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review further explores a specific, greater need for clarity. Even within this illuminating publication, across several interesting articles, there appear to be different interpretations of whether the terms such as "social" and "business" (or similar words) combined should be limited purely to income-generating spin-off enterprises of nonprofit organizations.

Compared with the article starting on page 28, "Social Entrepreneurship: The Case For Definition," which ultimately leads one to believe that, the article starting on page 64, "Secret Agents: Why Method Products Keep Their Eco-friendliness Under Very Attractive Wraps," details how a company, an enterprise, actively competing (effectively) against major consumer packaged goods corporations has environmental sensitivity at its core as a socially responsible, and for profit business (and yes, its profitable!).

Sunrise Advisors -- based on our range of experiences, brought to working within this promising new movement in business, as well as those nonprofits that spin-off income-generating businesses to benefit their organizations, programs, and missions -- has developed a phrase that we feel best describes the kinds of enterprises we hope to help grow.

Creative Community Enterprises (CCEs) are what we like to describe as socially and environmentally-responsible, private sector, income-generating, job creating products and services businesses (even if owned by those sometimes not in the private sector) that view the marketplace -- the world(s) of their customers, neighbors, and fellow citizens of their individual countries, and the Earth -- as inherently interconnected, and that doing well and doing good makes the best operational common sense, including in their own enlightened self-interest.

Sunrise Advisors seeks to focus our energies and services on those Creative Community Enterprises (CCEs) that, in their strategic business planning, commitments to innovation, and daily operations, produce positive, measurable, sustainable results -- financially, and for our environment and our fellow humans -- not as afterthoughts, but rather, stakeholders in essential, shared success.

Back To The Future

We recently visited Old Town San Diego and the California State Historic Park, and I continue to be impressed with the design and longevity of what over time (200 or so years) became "a city within a city." In the midst of all of the modern construction going on around us, and then thinking seriously about our leadership in "a new day for nonprofits and creative community enterprises" through Sunrise Advisors, I now realize that Old Town San Diego, and its remarkable and colorful history, has much to teach us today about what we are working on with our valued One Earth client and its CEO Steven Matt..."sustainability."

Consider this passage from the California State Parks brochure entitled La Casa de Machado y Silvas: The Commercial Restaurant at The Machado-Silvas House:

The original house (c. 1843) was a simple, rectangular, adobe structure with low-pitched thatched or tile roof. Little wood was used for construction due to the lack of available timber around San Diego. Adobe, composed of clay, water, cow manure, and sand, was a highly regarded building material that brought coolness in the summer and warmth in the winter. Whitewash, composed of crushed seashells and lye, protected the somewhat fragile adobe bricks (that have since survived earthquakes, floods, heavy rains, the 1872 fire that destroyed much around it and more) and helped brighten the rooms...The original floors in the house were likely made of compacted earth. Sometime later, they were resurfaced with ceramic tiles -- possibly with tiles salvaged from the Spanish Presidio -- fort -- on the hill above Old Town, common practice around 1835.

So in this time now, 2007, when we are hearing "alarm bells" about global and US deforestation and over development -- "sprawl" -- all around us, and we see so much building, and business and consumer materials that further add to global warming, perhaps there is a very real and very important lesson to be found in a certain adobe casa or house. Later it became a restaurant and more, that across its history, found a way to make good use of cow manure as a sustainable building material.

I have read methane from cows and their wastes are also a huge contributor to global warming, all over this way-too-rapidly "developing" world. Perhaps there are serious opportunities for affordable, environmentally "positive" housing, and related community investment, eco-friendly development or redevelopment, and truly, empowerment...maybe even a "new market" for the otherwise harmful cow manure and methane that could actually generate "new" and better building materials that would generate new US and global blue collar jobs, on the economic merits, that are seriously in need...through looking "back to the future," and learning the good of our past.

Sunrise Advisors hopes to tangibly generate measurable results in that "new day" which must come soon for our environment -- and all of us.