Business

What is Good for Business is Almost Always Bad for Nature

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Author
Tara Wesely
Ruminator Review
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Paul Hawken challenges this truism in The Ecology of Commerce, explaining how his vision of "natural capitalism" merges goals of profitability and sustainability. Business-as-usual will not be sustainable for anyone. Our living systems are already in decline. We cannot continue to sustain our North American levels of consumption of resources; we would need a few additional planets to do so.

Sustainability in the Office

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Author
Reprinted with permission from Minnesota Waste Wise
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Offices contribute greatly to the waste generated in Minnesota. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), each year the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of office paper, and the average American throws away 1.6 billion single-use pens.
Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Do It Green!, Minnesota,
doitgreen.org
(see Business section)

Minnesota Pollution Control, Agency, reduce.org

Minnesota Waste Wise,
St. Paul, MN, mnwastewise.org

National Resources Defense Council, nrdc.org/enterprise
/greeningadvisor/pa-reducing.asp

Socially Responsible Investing INVESTING FOR A CAUSE

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Author
HECTOR GARCIA
UBS Financial Services Inc.
A growing number of people are investing to achieve change in the future of their communities, the environment and the world. Socially responsible investing (SRI) assets rose more than 324 percent from $639 billion in 1995 to $2.71 trillion in 2007 while total assets under professional management in the US grew less than 260 percent during the same period from $7 trillion to $25.1 trillion; thus, SRI now represents 11% of the total.*

The strategies that define SRI are:

Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Social Investment Forum, socialinvest.org

Friends of the Earth, www.foe.org
/international/shareholder/

UNEP Finance Initiative,
www.unepfi.org/publications
/investment/index.html

Read Up!

The Bridge at the Edge of the World, by James Gustave Speth, Yale University Press, 2008.

EcoKids: Raising Children Who Care for the Earth, by Dan Chiras, New Society Publishers, 2005.

Act Locally!

Blue Green Alliance,
Minneapolis, MN
bluegreenalliance.org

Minnesota Renewable Energy Society, Minneapolis, MN
612-308-4757, mnrenewables.org

Live Near Your Job OR Work Near Where You Live

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Author
CHAD SKALLY
Skally Management
Whether you own or rent your home it pays to move near your workplace. The current estimate of car expenses is 58.5 cents per mile. So for every ten miles your workplace is closer to your home you save $58.50 per week. Assuming you average 30 to 60 miles-per-hour during your commute you will also get an additional two to three hours of extra free time each week.

Green Gatherings NEW PARTNERSHIP FORMED TO HELP EVENTS OF ALL SIZES GO GREEN

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Author
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GREENGATHERINGS PROJECT PARTNERS
In late 2007, a unique partnership named GreenGatherings was formed to shape the greening of events, large and small, in the Twin Cities metro-area, beginning with the 2008 Republican National Convention. With the eyes of the world on our region, the partnership saw a tremendous opportunity to collaborate and showcase the region's environmental practices as well as shape the environmental impact of future events in the area.

The project partners include Ramsey and Hennepin Counties, the Cities of Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Bloomington, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and

Footnotes/Endnotes
ON THE WEB!

How to Host a Green Gathering Checklist,
doitgreen.org (go to "Business")

GreenGatherings Project,
www.mngreengatherings.org

Green Meetings Industry Council,
www.greenmeetings.info/index.htm

How to Host a Green Gathering Checklist,
co.ramsey.mn.us (search for "host a green gathering")

Act Locally!

Green Gatherings Partnership Contacts:
St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health
Amber Dallman, 651-266-1179
Maplewood, MN
amber.dallman@co.ramsey.mn.us

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Rick Patraw, 651-215-0193
St. Paul, MN
Rick.patraw@state.mn.us

Green Business is Here to Stay

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Author
SARA GROCHOWSKI
Do It Green! Minnesota
How important is it to you that a business is locally and independently owned, or that it engages in green practices? How important is it to you that you work for an environmentally friendly company? Or that your office space or production facility is sustainable and healthy? The answer may change depending on where you live and work. What cannot change is the interconnectedness and interdependence of society, our environment, and the economy.

Five Tips to Launch Your Own Green Business: ECOPRENEURING

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Author
LISA KIVIRIST
Co-Author, ECOpreneuring, Rural Renaissance, Edible Earth
Are you at a job that doesn't reflect your mission to leave this world a better place? Feeling those Monday morning blues? Get out of the cubicle track of working for someone else. Blend your green lifestyle with your livelihood and become an ecopreneur: launch a business reflecting your passion for caring for the planet and people.

Here are some tips to get started, with much more detail found in the book, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet Before Profits.

1. Identify your Earth Mission

Footnotes/Endnotes
ON THE WEB!

Green Routes, greenroutes.org

Profiles of sustainable rural businesses,
renewingthecountryside.org

 

Read Up!

ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet Before Profits, by Lisa Kivirist & John Ivanko, ecopreneuring.biz, New Society Publishers, 2008.

Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life, by Lisa Kivirist & John Ivanko, ruralrenaissance.org, New Society Publishers, 2004.

The Angry Trout Café Notebook: Friends, Recipes and the Culture of Sustainability, by George Wilkes, www.angrytroutcafe.com, Northwind Sailing, 2004.

The author in her garden.

Empowering Sustainability THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SUSTAINABLE BEHAVIOR

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Author
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CHRISTIE MANNING (Macalester College), ELISE AMEL (University of St. Thomas), and BRITAIN SCOTT (University of St. Thomas)
The majority of people in the world understand that human behavior is driving serious disruptions of the natural systems we rely on for food, water, and all other resources. Concern about these issues is on the rise: opinion polls show that most Americans think we should do more to preserve and protect the environment. Unfortunately, this concern is not enough because real and perceived barriers prevent us from taking action.

Research in psychology describes three types of barriers:

Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Fostering Sustainable Behavior, cbsm.com

Conservation Psychology, conservationpsychology.org/

Changing minds, changingminds.org

Water Words That Work, waterwordsthatwork.com

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT Butter Bakery

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Author
JESSIE HOULIHAN
Do It Green! Minnesota
Butter Bakery and Café owner, Dan Swenson-Klatt, on how his restaurant is working to lessen their impact on the environment.

Q: How does Butter Bakery's product differ from a conventional restaurant?

Green Banking

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Author
By Rick Beeson and Terri Banaszewski
Park Midway Bank

You have been recycling your household garbage for years. You buy your groceries and cleaning products from your local co-op. Many of your clothes are made from organic cotton. Generally, you live a green lifestyle; however, how green are your banking and investment practices? Have you ever thought about banking or investing with a financial institution that matches your core beliefs and values?

Footnotes/Endnotes

Green Options www.greenoptions.com

Co-op America www.coopamerica.org

Park Midway Bank www.parkmidwaybank.com

Socially Responsible Investing: Making a different and Making Money, Amy Domini, Kaplan Business publishing, 2000.

Co-op America Quarterly newsletter by Co-op America www.coopamerica.org/pubs

Your local bank— visit a community bank near you!

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