Last minute eco-Mother's Day gifts:
>> Get your fair trade flowers from Ten Thousand Villages Pasadena, or from the Fair Trade LA booth at the Santa Monica Festival today.
>> Go shopping with your mom at eco-boutique Regeneration in Eagle Rock. Mothers get a 15% discount until May 15.
>> Give your mom a night of eco-pampering by getting mom-and-daughter tickets to "Beauty and Sustainability: An Eco-Evening of Networking, Pampering and Discovery," happening Tuesday, May 13, 7:30 to 10 pm in Beverly Hills.
>> If you're reading this Monday and your gift's gonna be late anyway, check out my list of eco Mother's Day gifts for any budget.
In other news:
>> The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area could get bigger. In what comes as a surprise, at least to me, President Bush signed legislation ordering the Interior Department to consider making additions to the protected area. Many obstacles -- including the high cost of land -- still remain.
>> How science-for-hire helps keep toxic chemicals legal. Read Newsweek's review of David Michaels' new book, "Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health": "'Product-defense firms' have sprung up to spin the science and manufacture doubt—proudly. One boasted on its Web site of persuading the Food and Drug Administration to let an unnamed drug stay on the market for '10 additional years of sales' before the FDA banned it for harming people." (via enviroblog)
>> Dell says it'll reduce packaging waste, after bloggers call the company on it. A similar incident happened with the iPhone way back when: A girl put up a YouTube video about her 300+ page paper iPhone bill, prompting iPhone to make some quick changes.
>> New(ish) misleading excuse from anti-environmentalists: "It'll hurt the poor." That's what one guy getting money from Exxon claims will happen if polar bears are declared an endangered species.
Photo of fair trade rose courtesy of TransFair USA
 Want a free buck? GreenDimes, a service for reducing the junk mail you receive, will now pay you to join their service. In fact, GreenDimes is offering $1 to the first 5 MILLION people who sign up for its FREE service.
Too good to be true? Well, sort of. The free subscribers won't get the full service that GreenDimes offers. What freeloaders will receive: Do-it-yourself removal from common junk mail and catalog lists. If you want GreenDimes to do the work for you -- for ex., auto-removing your name from lists and monitoring your junk mail -- you'll need to fork over $20.
You may ask how exactly GreenDimes is providing a free service when you have to, you know, do the work yourself. That's a fair question. In fact, the "service" GreenDimes is offering for free now is already offered free by Catalog Choice and ProQuo (reviewed here).
However, no company besides GreenDimes will actually PAY you to reduce junk mail, to my knowledge. Even if you're not that impressed by the free "service" GreenDimes is offering, you can still sign up to get that dollar. If you prefer, you can elect to have a tree planted on your behalf, or get a free trial issue of Plenty magazine, in lieu of the buck.
Perhaps that dollar incentive will entice some people who wouldn't have bothered to reduce junk mail otherwise. If all of them seriously take advantage of even just free service, we'd reduce paper waste fairly significantly.
I guess GreenDimes is betting some people will come on the site to sign up for the $20 or $35 services they offer, instead of just taking their free buck. I just hope this green company doesn't just end up $5 million in the red...
Earlier: Get the 'Do Not Mail' registry started
That's right -- Nau, the eco-friendly, fashion-forward clothing store, is closing its doors -- just two weeks after opening its Beverly Center boutique on May 19.
I guess the L.A. debut was very, very bad timing. According to Nau's website, the company "simply could not raise the funds to continue to move forward."
The news is a bit of a blow to the sustainable fashion community. After all, Nau was a company that was out to prove that you COULD do everything eco-friendly and socially-conscious -- AND make money at it. In addition to making sure all its clothes were made of sustainable materials under fair labor conditions, Nau donated 5% of each sale to progressive causes.
"Nau set out to show that business can be a force for positive social and environmental change. Although our current financial obstacles have proven to be insurmountable, it does not mean our fundamental goal is unattainable." That's part of the statement on Nau's website.
I hope that's true. Of course, many companies -- eco or not -- go under during its first few years. And certainly, there are many eco-conscious fashion companies that're doing just fine -- Patagonia being one fine example. In addition, new enviro-friendly boutiques are opening up at a rapid pace.
The upside: All of Nau's lines are on sale for 50% off! Enjoy.
Photo by Siel
Fred Segal Green celebrated its grand opening today in Santa Monica. Located in a 1200-square-foot space at the back of Fred Segal's east building , this eco-friendly home and lifestyle store showcases the cutting edge of green design.
Collected here are all the gorgeous eco home decorations you've only seen in pictures on Inhabitat. You'll be able to touch and feel the sleek Monacca
laptop bags and calculators, made -- according to the little explanatory sign -- "from ecological wood such as trees that have been pulled down during the programmed maintenance plan of Japanese reforestation."
 Customers have their pick of recycled glassware to pick from -- as well as a whole big set of recycled stainless steel knives with funky designs on the blade, made to last a lifetime.
There's furniture too -- mostly a variety of stylish side tables and stools made from sustainably-harvested wood or scrap and recycled materials.
Eco-conscious pet owners can buy gourmet pet food (below) free of all the weird stuff that apparently goes into the "conventional" pet food. Sustainable pet toys are available too -- though I suspect that the less expensive stuff at My Pet Naturally would be just as beloved by kitties and puppies.
High-end eco products get dissed a lot, because they can make environmentalism seem like an elitist movement for the rich Gelson's crowd. But examining these unique, fairly-traded, hand-crafted, carefully-designed products, I felt vaguely hopeful about a different sort of consumer culture. There's an anti-disposability to these items that serves as a refreshing contrast to today's one-use, throwaway world.
Of course, I can't afford to actually buy the stuff. (above: bamboo bowls)
What I would love to own are these Ronel Jordaan pillowy, river-stone-like cushion-seats. I want a big one that I can curl up on top of, catlike, for daytime naps. But I can't put a grand or so toward fulfilling that desire.
Or to be more accurate, I can only afford a few things at Fred Segal Green. A couple items are actually doable for the regular middle-class person. For example, there are the Daff Feel Filz coasters, placemats, and silverware holders (above), made of eco-friendly merino wool felt. Coasters cost $25 for a set of four.
And perhaps even more practical are these Brelli umbrellas (right), made of biodegradable plastic and bamboo. Cost: just $28 for a small one! Metaefficient raves about them.
Expensive certainly doesn't mean necessary or useful. I have a hard time seeing the practicality of the chair below, for example.
And as much as I heart eco-friendly soap, I'm not sure if it's even possible to make soap that looks crunchier than this soap-on-a-rope stuff.
And is it just me, or is this kinda fugly? (below)
But it's good to see Fred Segal going green. This anti-plastic-bag slogan (below) is all over the store right now:
And all weekend, each department at Fred Segal Santa Monica will hold drawings to benefit local anti-plastic-bag org Heal the Bay.
Go green now, before we all burn up. The store carries a surprising number of memento moris -- made of recycled silver or glass, of course.
Fred Segal Green. 420 Broadway. Santa Monica.
Photos by Siel
I hear the economy's not doing so well, but this downer doesn't seem to have hit the green market very hard, considering all the big green businesses and initiatives making the news. Yes, there's money to be made in environmentalism -- and here's a roundup to some of the contests that can put some of that green in your pocket:
 One Good Chair design competition. Make beauty meet comfort, and get $4,500 to transform that brill idea into a prototype. Downside: You gotta plunk down $50 in faith of your design by May 16. Final designs must be submitted by June 9. (via Inhabitat)
- Go Organic! for Earth Day contest. Just send in photos and an explanation that illustrate why you badly need a grocery makeover. The grand prize winning family will get to go on a grocery store trip to fill up the kitchen with free organic groceries, and a day of cooking lessons with Chef Catelli in their kitchen.
Best of luck with your entries.
 Time flies -- Green Business Networking, a monthly get-together for people with an interest in enviro-conscious business, is already turning two! Join the second anniversary celebration this Tuesday:
When: Tues, April 8, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Where: The Ambrose Hotel, 1255 20th St., Santa Monica
Cost: $10, which includes organic wine, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks.
To commemorate the birthday, GBN's looking for networking success stories. Did you meet someone at GBN that helped you realize your green biz dreams? Then send the story to greenbusinessnetworking@gmail.com with the subject line “GBN success story.” You'll then be toasted at the Tuesday event with organic champagne (or an appropriate alternative).
Can't make it this month? GBN happens every second Tuesday of the month. Plus, EcoTuesday happens every fourth Tuesday of the month.
Earlier: Green business social scene
Wow -- A bag tax really, really works! In a show of how cheap Americans really can be when something shows up as a line item on their receipts, IKEA reports that, since it started charging customers 5 cents per bag, disposable plastic bag use has gone down more than 92 percent in U.S. stores.
And now, IKEA's gonna get rid of that last 8 percent. As of Oct. 2008, IKEA will no longer offer disposable plastic bags at checkout. No, paper bags won't replace the plastic bags. Customers will need to bring their own bag, buy an IKEA reusable bag for 59 cents, or go bagless.
We all know the enviro-benefits of bagging the bag -- but I'm more interested in looking at how IKEA's benefited from this progressive de-bagging policy:
1. Get lots of press attention. IKEA's been all over the news as a progressive, enviro-conscious company due to its anti-plastic-bag program.
2. Have customers pay for your donations to nonprofits. IKEA's basically turning bag fees directly into socially conscious PR, by sending all the nickels collected to American Forests, a nonprofit focused on environmental conservation. Simply by making customers pay for something that used to be "free," IKEA now gets to brag that it's donated more than $300,000 to American Forests.
3. Sell more stuff. IKEA's making money on its reusable bags! Sure, the money from disposable plastic bags goes to American Forests, but IKEA keeps the money for its 59-cent big blue reusable shopping bags. According to IKEA, sales of these reusable bags are expected to exceed company projections by more than 10 times.
Why more companies don't follow IKEA's tactic, I don't know, especially since the anti-plastic-bag move doesn't seem to have hurt IKEA's business any. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart seems to have a new press release about another green move it's making every day -- but hasn't yet made a move bag the bag....
Top photo by Siel; bottom photo courtesy of IKEA
 How much more does 100% post-consumer recycled paper cost? Earlier this month, Green Cities California -- which includes L.A. and 10 California cities and counties -- pledged to make a complete switch to 100% post-consumer recycled copy paper -- though with no set date for finalizing the switch. I'm support the initiative, but I started wondering what the financial implications of this green decision would be.
After all, even though making post-consumer recycled paper doesn't kill trees and saves lots of energy, the eco-friendly paper market still hasn't reached the scale to make it cost-competitive with virgin paper, as I found out the hard way through my research on green business cards.
Santa Monica couldn't tell me how much more the switch to 100% post-consumer recycled paper cost the city, partly because they made the switch back in 2004. Getting an accurate number would mean accounting for inflation, paper use reduction programs, structural changes in the city, etc., making calculations difficult.
Luckily -- at least for this numbers-crunching mission -- the city of L.A. hasn't made a full switch yet. Only 30% of the paper the city of L.A. uses is 100% post-consumer recycled. So I was able to find out what the cost difference of switching the rest of that paper would be from Gerald St.Onge, who does environmentally preferred purchasing for the city L.A.
St.Onge said that 100% post-consumer recycled paper would cost about 50% more than virgin paper. In fact, the reason L.A. hasn't gone all post-consumer recycled already is due to budgetary reasons -- not due to lack of availability, the reason Shannon Parry, an environment analyst for Santa Monica's Environmental Programs Division, pointed to.
"Right now we're tying to [make up] the difference in cost by paper reduction," St.Onge said. The higher cost of 100% post-consumer recycled paper is a bit of a chicken or the egg problem. Due to the added expense, government agencies, companies, and individuals don't buy more of it. But because not enough of it is bought, the recycled paper market doesn't grow as fast in scale to bring down those prices.
Although the city of L.A. hasn't set a deadline to complete the switch too all post-consumer recycled paper, Onge said "we're committed and we're doing everything we can to change all the commodities that are being purchased into environmentally-friendly products." There's reason to be hopeful: Along with the Green Cities California initiatives, L.A. City Council approved an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing statement and program last month, committing the city to opting for eco-friendly products whenever possible.
Image courtesy of Fuji Xerox
Walk into most hair salons and you'll be greeted with a harsh chemical smell, thanks to the ammonia and other chemicals in most hair color products. Now, there's a salon that prides itself in its chemical-free atmosphere: Shades Hair Studio.
Shades is a full-service Beverly Hills salon that's gone green -- or at least much greener. Owner and salon operator Susan Henry, spurred by her own health problems due to working with conventional hair products, created a line of natural hair colors that contain no ammonia whatsoever. These products are better for the environment and for the health of the salon's clients. And because the colors don't stink up the salon, clients can enjoy their experience without inhaling noxious chemicals.
I stopped by Shades for a haircut earlier today, and loved the sunny, chemical-free atmosphere. The salon's brightly lit and heated through passive solar by two large skylights, giving the place an relaxing, airy, open feel.
My stylist, Tina, listened carefully to my ideas about what I wanted for her hair (I took in pictures), made some suggestions, and visually confirmed exactly how much hair I was ready to chop off. After a relaxing shampoo, I finally got my much-needed haircut -- and I'm very happy with it! And although I didn't get my hair colored, I will say the woman sitting two chairs down who got her hair colored strawberry blond looked amazing.
My one beef with Shades: The hair care products are full of parabens, a synthetic preservative avoided by many eco-friendly personal care product companies. Back to Basics, the product line used in my shampoo, contains parabens and is ranked "medium risk" in Skin Deep, a cosmetic database put together by Environmental Working Group. Parabens also taint Susan Henry's own line of hair care products.
Hopefully Shades will green its hair care products as much as it has its hair color. If it doesn't, I may have to see if they'll let me use my own paraben-free, eco-friendly EO shampoo the next time I go in --
Beauty doesn't come cheap at Shades, with haircuts starting at $90 and hair color at $100. Then again, these prices aren't exactly high for a Beverly Hills salon.
Shades Hair Studio. 144 N. Doheny Dr. Beverly Hills. (310) 275-4882
Photo by Siel
The green social calendar's getting more and more crowded! The latest addition to the list is EcoTuesday, a "Sustainable Business Leaders Networking Forum" that's spreading to cities around the U.S. -- and holding its inaugural L.A. event on Tuesday.
When: Tuesday, March 25, 7 pm - 10 pm
Where: Social Hollywood, 6525 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood
Cost: Free for this inaugural event; $10 per person online and $20 at the door for future events
EcoTuesday sounds a lot like Green Business Networking -- down to the fact that both recur monthly on Tuesdays (the former on the 4th Tuesday of the month, the latter on the 2nd) -- except with a lot more structure and possibly less drinking. Here's how Oren Jaffe of eco-biz blog TriplePundit describes it:
Participants arrive and settle in, taking a few minutes to get a beverage and see old friends and meet new ones. We start the evening with a speaker from one of the many areas of sustainability, who will share news, tips, and information about their area of expertise. The topic is different each month. After the speaker is complete, participants have the opportunity to ask questions to gain more information. After that, everyone in the room gets into a circle and shares their name, their affiliation, and one thing they're passionate about regarding sustainability. It's is a great way for you to learn about everyone in the room, and for everyone in the room to learn about you!
After that, we have time to meet all of the people we learned about in the introduction circle.
The L.A. speaker for this first event is John McPherson, director of Green Depot, a non-profit based in Santa Monica promoting the use of sustainable energy.
Interested? RSVP here. The event's open to all, although the emphasis on how the event's "for sustainable business leaders to network, collaborate, and engage with other sustainable business leaders" might sound a little scary to would-be entrepreneurs who don't yet consider themselves to be business leaders.
For a more chilled out, less business-y green social event, try Green Drinks. The next one happens on Thursday, March 20, 7 pm - 10 pm, on the east side at All Shades of Green, 3038 Rowena Ave., Los Angeles.
Earlier: Green business social scene
The City of Los Angeles has pledged to make a complete switch to 100% post-consumer recycled copy paper! Nine other big California cities and counties have pledged the same: Berkeley, Pasadena, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, and the County of Marin.
This switch to paper from paper was announced yesterday by Green Cities California, a coalition of sustainable cities that brings together environmental executives of these jurisdictions to cooperatively and collectively undertake enviro-friendly initiatives. Each Green California Cities member is committed to the "Green Cities California Sustainability Resolution," which encourages cooperative sustainable action.
In addition to switching paper, Green Cities California members will also work on paper conservation efforts, electronic document storage to double-sided copying. Some of Green Cities California members, such as Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, have already been using only 100% post-consumer paper. Santa Monica, for example, switched from 50% to 100% post-consumer copy paper in 2004, according to Craig Perkins, director of Santa Monica's Environmental & Public Works Management Department.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, uses only some 100% post-consumer paper at the moment. Why? The city actually hasn't been able to find a paper supplier that can meet L.A.'s big green paper needs, according to Shannon Parry, an environment analyst for Santa Monica's Environmental Programs Division who's been working with Green Cities California. In fact, what Green Cities California is trying to do is drive the green market to make sustainable options more readily available while creating green Californian jobs.
"Right now, it's sort of a chicken and an egg situation with paper," Parry said. "What has been said to us [by the paper companies] is there is not enough of a market for this paper." Now, cities are proving companies wrong by committing to buying this eco-friendly paper the day it's available -- in large quantities. After all, Green Cities California members annually purchase half a billion sheets of office paper, at a cost exceeding $5 million. The commitment to buying eco-paper shows paper companies that what's holding back the green movement "is not desire, it's not cost -- it's availability," Parry said.
While switching to eco-paper will in itself bring environmental benefits, Parry said Green Cities California's long-term goal is to bring about big changes in the California economy and job market. At the moment, the paper used in Santa Monica goes to China for recycling because California no longer has any paper recycling plants. If we created a bigger market for recycled paper products in California, we could foster the creation of our own paper recycling plants -- lowering our carbon footprint while providing green jobs for Californians. "It's not longer the jobs OR the economy dialogue," Parry emphasized. "It's about jobs AND the economy."
Each quarter, Green Cities California will announce a new eco-initiative, like eliminating bottled water, promoting manufacturer responsibility for solid and toxic waste, and purchasing local foods. Imagine what would happen to California agriculture if all municipal governments in California started demanding local and sustainably-produced foods from its food suppliers!
In the meantime: Are you a paper supplier with lots of 100% post-consumer recycled paper to sell? The City of L.A.'s ready to buy your products.
Image courtesy of Fuji Xerox
We had greening tips for the workplace all week -- and now I've put them all in a handy roundup so you can start implementing them come Monday!
 >> Green the commute! Simple way of greening your worklife: Get out of the car and bike, walk, or take public transportation instead. Everyone's doing it!
>> Eco-friendly business cards. Looking for business cards printed with soy ink on 100% post consumer waste recycled paper whitened with non-chlorine bleach? This post lists your best options.
>> Office Depot's green catalog. If Office Depot's your workplace's vendor, getting your office to go greener may be as simple as getting your office manager to take a look at the catalog before simply hitting the usual reorder button.
 >> Simple paper-saving tips. Oscar Madrigal of New Economics for Women has had some great successes reducing paper consumption office-wide -- and encourages you to try these methods too.
>> De-bottling the workplace. Here are all the why and hows for ditching the bottled water habit in the workplace.
>> Office eco-audits and certifications. Find out how you can figure out your business' carbon footprint, get help reducing it, and get recognition for those greening efforts.
>> Green consultants and guides. Need help greening the office? Find out about the green consultants who can come in and help -- or guides that help you help yourself.
>> 'Greening Your Office': Pocket guide for an eco-workplace. A new pocket-sized, 96-page booklet came out just last month, with advice to help make your workplace an eco-friendly one.
 >> Getting a green team together. Ellen Kasemeier-Herbert of Jupiter Images in South Pasadena shares her tips on creating a successful green office team. It wasn't hard at all, Ellen says -- All it took was a few emails and some water cooler chatter about green issues.
And some good green news:
>> City of L.A. to buy green. On Tuesday, the L.A. City Council approved an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing statement and program, committing the city to opting for eco-friendly products whenever possible.
Previous weekly green topics: de-car-ing, energy, bring your own, recycle, green clean
Top photo by brianhendrix, bottom photo by Eszter Hargittai, both via Flickr
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
 Your eco-questions answered:
Question: I am trying to do a few things around the office to make it "greener." My office is in Riverside, CA; my boss is not concerned at all about being green. But -- I order all supplies, and stock everything so I have a small chance to make a difference.
We go through a large amount of water bottles a day. I started to recycle, but because she will not pay for a recycle bin (if you know how to get a free one in Riverside county please point me in the proper direction) I have to store and take them myself off the clock. I have considered glass cups and a filtered water pitcher instead -- I am concerned the waste from buying a water pitcher and filters is much too -- any ideas on what to offer?
I have already switched to mugs for the coffee, and we use Panache coffee made by the coffee bean international, I remember reading somewhere that they are not fair trade certified, but pay fair trade -- is that correct? Any office ideas would be helpful. -- Melissa
Answer: Kudos to you for going so far as to institute a personal bottle recycling program! To save the planet as well as your time and energy, definitely ditch the water bottles and switch to a filter system -- especially since your office is already set up with coffee mugs, which will work just as well for filtered tap water.
Responsible Purchasing Network's guide to water bottles (PDF) outlines the main financial, environmental, health, and political reasons to take back the tap -- and also gives you some examples of cities that have banned bottled water purchases for its employees. Guess what -- L.A.'s one of those cities, thanks to a 2005 executive order from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after the media reported that the city had spent nearly $90,000 on the plasticky stuff.
If you're concerned about the plastic waste from those replaceable Brita filters (though these are still a big enviro-step up from bottled water), consider the ceramic filter, which requires less maintenance, generally holds more water, and is popular with environmentalists.
As for your Pachama coffee: The website's under construction, but Pachama belongs to Coffee Bean International, which does offer some fair trade and organic certified coffees. Look for the fair trade and organic logos on your coffee packages to make sure you're getting the good stuff.
Photo by Joe Philipson via Flickr
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
Greening the office can seem daunting when you feel like you're the only person who cares. But Ellen Kasemeier-Herbert, who works at a stock photo agency called Jupiter Images in South Pasadena, says getting a "Green Committee" together in her office wasn't hard at all. All it took was a few emails and some water cooler chatter about green issues.
"If one person's interested in an office, other people are interested," Ellen says. In fact, it seems eco-conscious people were brought together by their individual eco-related pet peeves! Ellen's own was the unnecessary plastic trash liners in paper recycling bins. Another person was peeved by all the junk mail that came in the office -- most of it addressed to people who didn't even work there anymore. Another person was bugged by styrofoam cups, another by the paper towels.
So the group got talking, and started talking to the operations manager, who got permission from the headquarters to create a Green Committee. An email went around asking for a representative from each department -- and people joined in. Now the team boasts about 15 members (out of 70 or so employees), its own logo, and a mission statement:
We are committed to a sustainable future and to improving the social, economic and environmental well being of the community. Through our actions, we hope to inspire others to adopt practices that reduce energy usage and waste in order to create a cleaner, safer place to live and work.
Many of the committee's actions are those any company could easily replicate: replace disposable cups with reusable ones, reduce junk mail, save energy by turning off computers and lights when not needed, switch to green products (energy-efficient bulbs, rechargeable batteries, eco-friendly bathroom supplies), and put that now-ubiquitous eco-signature -- "Please consider the environment before printing this email" -- at the bottom of company emails.
A more unique idea is the "red bin" policy that effectively resolved Ellen's trash liner pet peeve. Now, a few red bins with liners are placed around the office for non-paper trash; all other trash bins are used just for paper -- and no longer have trash liners.
Jupiter Images is, however, pursuing some green ideas that may be rather difficult -- and perhaps less necessary -- to implement at other workplaces. For example, the Green Committee plans to start a composting system because the office has a little yard-garden attached to it. Most workplaces don't have this luxury. Jupiter Images' office also has a washer and dryer -- making it easier to switch to reusable kitchen towels since they can easily be laundered.
Other greening projects -- like a recycling program for CDs -- may not be as important for workplaces that don't go through a lot of CDs. And some Green Committee projects -- like having people bring in wine corks to send in for recycling -- are not work related at all.
Still, most of these ideas can be adapted to any workplace. "We haven't done anything super special," Ellen says, emphasizing that the greening was a team effort, not just her own. "Just get people to be aware -- That's all we've done. It's easy to change a light bulb. And once you start thinking, it doesn't stop."
How can workplaces make green teams a success? Anything that saves the company money's an easy sell, Ellen says. Of course, changes will require adjustments. People were initially upset when the disposable cups disappeared, Ellen says. "But then people got used to it."
Most importantly, remain flexible and remember not to get too militant about the green mission. "You've got to be enthusiastic, but you've got to be respectful of people, and you've got to get buy-in from everybody," Ellen advises. "We don't want to make work for anyone, and we don't want to make anyone do our jobs."
Got a green team at your workplace? Share your group's tips in the comments.
Top photo by Eszter Hargittai via Flickr
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
Stuffing one-side used paper into the manual feed tray worked for reducing my own paper use in the office, but what about convincing others to reduce and reuse too? Oscar Madrigal, who works at New Economics for Women, has had some great successes reducing paper consumption office-wide. Here, he shares his best paper-saving tips:
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Put Xs on one side of used paper and pile the sheets into a noticeable stack to let people know they can be reused for office memos and meeting agendas.
Opt -- and encourage others to opt for -- double sided copies. I've been to workshops and conferences with environmental organizations that don't double side copies of things. Don't get called out -- Hit the double sided option on the copy machine.
Turn old letterhead into scratch pads. Minute Print, the company that printed our stationary, would take our old letterhead and make scratch pads of out of them for us to use around the office for notes.
Donate annual old annual reports and brochures to local arts organizations, or to a school teacher. For many companies and nonprofits, annual reports have great pictures of people. Kids can use them to make a collage; it's a great way to recycle."
Convince people to bring their own cups/mugs/bottles for water/coffee/tea. This helped to reduce the consumption of paper cups we use.
Other fun green workplace tips:
BYO flatware. I bring my own utensils to work for lunch time, so as to limit the amount of plastic forks and knives I use. A couple people caught on with this. A friend of mine was able to convince an employer to just buy a couple of sets of metal utensils for the lunch room.
Take public transit to happy hour and fun activities. At my old job, we took a trip to Pershing Square to go ice skating as an office activity after work one year. I and some other co-workers convinced everyone to take public transit to Pershing Square. For many, it was their first trip on the Red Line.
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Got your own easy-to-implement green tips for the workplace? Share them in the comments.
Photo by Cathy Ma via Flickr
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
Your eco-questions answered:
Question: My work is working (no so hard) on trying to "green" the office. I am wondering if there are any consultants who will come in and assist with greening an office building, and/or guides which you might recommend.
Especially helpful are guides which stress the money-saving options, and how to best take advantage of those. If it doesn't save money, it probably won't fly. -- Cassandra
 Answer: If your office is in Santa Monica, the simple solution's to take advantage of Sustainable Works Business Greening Program, FREE to Santa Monica businesses. This city-funded program will send a green expert to do an on-site assessment, give targeted recommendations, then work with businesses to prioritize and implement the recommendations they choose. Afterwards, the now-green business can apply for Santa Monica Green Business Certification to proudly tout its enviro-consciousness.
Not in Santa Monica? Then contact your city council member to ask that your city fund this Business Greening Program. Basically, any L.A.-area city can get Sustainable Works' services -- but the city needs to first pay up.
Outside city-funded programs, finding a greening consultant is almost too easy these days. Why? Anyone can call themselves a greening consultant. After all, there's no national greening consultant test or qualification system. The trick now is identifying the reputable green consultants and organizations are out there to get the good eco-advice you're looking for.
A good place to start might be with an eco-audit of your workplace from a trusted organization. As I've talked about before, eco-auditors can analyze which aspects of the business have the biggest footprint, as well as what eco-initiatives to undertake to get the most footprint-shrinkage per dollar.
You might also consider a responsible purchasing consultant to help your business spend its money wisely. Responsible Purchasing Network, a project of New American Dream, offers consulting services and has worked with many businesses and government offices to help them green their workplace. In fact, if you work for the state or local government, you can apply to get pro bono assistance from RPN! Get your proposals in by March 10.
As for greening guides: RPN also provides FREE online guides to help green your office purchases. In addition, there's the "Greening the Office" booklet I recently reviewed. Despite some of its shortcomings, this pocket guide will get you started on making your workplace eco-friendly.
Top photo by brianhendrix
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace 
Simple way of greening your worklife: Get out of the car and bike, walk, or take public transportation instead. Everyone's doing it! And bicycling newbies can find all the simple details about commuting by bike in "Biking to Work," another new pocket-sized, short booklet from Chelsea Green Publishing.
These quick 96 pages cover the whats, whys and hows: Why you should bike (stay in shape, live longer, save money), what type of bike to buy and where to get one that fits your budget, what gear to invest in, and how to pick a bike route. The guide even gives some basic bike maintenance tips!
 Though I've had my bike for a while, reading "Biking to Work made me think maybe I should invest in some new gear -- namely gloves to keep my hands from freezing and to protect them if I fall. Right now, I'm listening to the rain and wind outside and wondering why I haven't gotten them already! The booklet also suggests getting a reflective vest, though I'm not quite convinced by the author's argument that these super-bright vests are considered a "fashion accessory" now. I think I'm just sticking to good bike lights.
Getting a bike could save you more than just gas money; your work might pay you for de-car-ing! If your If your workplace has 50+ employees AND subsidizes leased parking said employees, then you're entitled to a cash allowance in lieu of a parking space, thanks to California Health and Safety Code Sections 43845.
So get a bike and get used to riding it before the next Bike to Work Week; the next one should be coming up around May. Already have a bike? Then get involved in bike advocacy. Attend the L.A. Bicycle Master Plan meetings that are happening now, or the Santa Monica Transportation workshop on March 1.
With cyclists speaking out, fun stuff could happen. As Robert Gottlieb recounts in the SF Chronicle, bikers even got the city to close off the Pasadena freeway to cars for a few hours in 2003. Cyclists rode freely down the 8.5-mile stretch of the freeway corridor, going faster than usual rush hour commute speed. (h/t Larry).
Earlier: De-car-ing week: Bike me!
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
The City of L.A.'s offices will be getting greener! On Tuesday, the L.A. City Council approved an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing statement and program, committing the city to opting for eco-friendly products whenever possible. The city council also voted to request that the Boards of the Harbor, Water and Power, and Airport Commissioners adopt similar green purchasing program policies.
L.A.'s already been slowly greening its purchases, according to Jane Paul, a researcher and consultant with the enviro-coalition Green L.A., which has worked with the city to move this policy forward. In fact, L.A. even approved funding for this green purchasing effort last year; some of that money went to hiring two people in the General Services Department to help carry out this policy.
Now, the green purchasing policy's official. Says Jane: "That means that the city's many millions of purchasing dollars will begin to go to the right places: products that are recycled, recyclable, have reuse in their life cycle, minimal packaging, eliminate uncertified hardwoods, reduced energy /water consumption, heavy metal free, are biodegradable, reduced greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing, made from renewables, low toxicity, etc., etc."
Of course, product cost and quality issues will remain key. The policy calls for "purchasing and using recycled and other environmentally preferable products whenever possible, while recognizing that their principal requirements are product performance and fiscal responsibility." You can read more details of this policy in the Tuesday's City Council Agenda (PDF).
Other California cities that have developed similar environmentally preferable purchasing programs include Santa Monica and San Francisco. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more details on Environmentally Preferable Purchasing policies around the country.
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
 Prefer books to blog posts? A new pocket-sized, 96-page booklet -- "Greening Your Office -- From Cupboard to Corporation: An A-Z Guide" -- came out just last month, with advice to help make your workplace an eco-friendly one.
"Greening the Office" is organized as a glossary beginning with Adhesives and ending with Yellow Pages -- making it, more accurately, an A-Y guide. But while the booklet's a useful resource, it's not a step-by-step greening guide as I'd initially hoped for, since the eco-information is simply organized alphabetically. I would have preferred a guide that presented the info in a way that made it easier for companies to take green action -- perhaps starting with the easy to implement, low hanging fruit first (i.e. changing light bulbs to CFLs) to later move on to bigger, more difficult changes (eco-renovating a building).
More importantly, some of the information is actually out of date -- although perhaps our economy's changing at an extremely rapid rate. A pullout quote in the booklet claims "Our consumption of paper in the United States continues to rise by about 20% each year" -- but the NY Times reported earlier this month that worldwide paper consumption has plateaued -- and is actually decreasing in the richest countries, including the U.S.
Still, most of the advice in the booklet is sound, with greening suggestions for everything from carpools to postage meters. The booklet is most relevant for the employer or decision-maker, as much of the advice centers around either directly instituting major changes or motivating employees to do so. Maybe you'll want to get it for your boss; it'll only put you back $7.95.
Your eco-questions answered:
Question: I've been thinking about how to go about ways to make the workplace a more environmentally friendly place. It seems like one would be a lot more successful in convincing others to join in if you could give some facts and measurements. GreenOffice.com, for instance, has an office footprint calculator. Is there a green office certification agency? Thanks, Maraya
Answer: Your green question has two parts: 1) How to measure an office's carbon footprint, and 2) How to get certified as an eco-friendly office. The two seem to naturally lead from one another -- but actually often end up being very different goals. Let me explain --
First, let's start with measuring a business' carbon footprint. An accurate eco-audit will usually cost the business some money -- so unless you're a bigger business, you might be better off self-calculating some basic figures for individual eco-initiatives (i.e. figuring out how many trees you'll save by switching to recycled paper) instead of going for an all-out footprint measurement. Or, you could use basic, though not as specific or accurate, office footprint calculation tools, such as the FREE Office Footprint Calculator offered by The Green Office, a carbon offset company.
Still, many businesses can benefit from professional eco-audits, which analyze which aspects of the business have the biggest footprint, as well as what eco-initiatives to undertake to get the most footprint-shrinkage per dollar. In the long run, businesses could recoup the money spent on the audit in energy, water, and other resource savings.
 Assuming you've got buy-in to proceed with an audit: A good organization to help you get started is Global Footprint Network, a nonprofit based in Oakland, Calif., that has worked to develop uniform and accurate standards for measuring a business' -- or even a country's -- ecological footprint. GFN and many of its participating partners offer footprint analysis services to businesses for a fee. To find one near you, scan the list of participating partners on the GFN website.
 If you'd rather not work with an organization directly, but want similar calculations, you can buy the Footprint Scanner software, available for $395 from Sustainability Planning Partners, one of GFN's partners. For more information about this software, read TriplePundit's overview.
For more detailed information on green auditing, including examples and additional resources, read GreenBiz's more in-depth article.
As for green certification: Usually, companies that want certification seek it for marketing reasons. A green grocer, for example, might want to announce to its customers that it is a green business. And because so many businesses are trying to ride the green wave right now, all sorts of odd certification schemes have sprung up. There's even an office supply store giving out "green office certifications" to businesses that their business deems green. Unsurprisingly, more green consumers are getting critical and skeptical of these various less-than-reliable schemes, as they can have widely varying standards.
So -- if you're going to go to the trouble of getting certified, you want that certification to be trustworthy and recognizable for consumers. To that end, city certification efforts are perhaps the best way to go. The City of Santa Monica, for example, has a Green Business Certification program that recognizes green businesses; qualifying businesses get a leafy decal announcing their greenness.
Unfortunately, the City of L.A. doesn't, as of yet, have a similar program -- though the enviro-coalition Green L.A. is working with the city to create one. While we wait for that to happen, one eco-decal green businesses can pursue is local eco-directory Greenopia's "Four-Leaf Award," awarded to very green businesses. This award isn't a certification, and isn't quite as satisfactory as having a city-level program with more solid, publicly-available green guidelines -- but more local people are starting to recognize the Greenopia stickers.
Top photo by brianhendrix
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
Printing business cards is cheap these days -- sometimes even free. But what about eco-friendly cards? The kind I want didn't seem too complex: Just 500 cards on recycled paper made from 100% post-consumer waste (PCW), printed with veggie-based inks, at a not-outrageous price. Ideally, I also wanted a local company to print them up for me.
So like all good procrastinators, I did some research. What I found: 100% PCW paper for business cards are still rather tough to find -- and expensive!
And in fact, the eco-ness of paper isn't as simple as looking for high PCW content. One also has to consider the environmental implications of the manufacture of the paper: How it was processed (chlorine's a no-no), how many times it was processed, where and how the raw materials were procured, how eco the processing plant is (does it run on solar power or buy carbon offsets?), etc. Due to these extraneous factors, some paper people will argue that certain FSC-certified paper with a lower PCW content can be better for the environment than some 100% PCW paper.
 But a lifecycle analysis for every type of paper that could be used for business cards is impractical. I think the 100% PCW, soy-ink options are a good place to start -- especially as many green businesses specifically seek those options out because they like to have those little eco-labels on the backs of their business cards.
Thus: The 100% PCR soy-ink options I found are below -- followed by perhaps less eco but much less expensive options for the green but less wealthy people.
Greg Barber Company in New Jersey. This company provides a lot of information to enviro-educate the consumer and offers paper that's FSC-certified AND 100% post-consumer recycled. However, the site's rather badly organized, and the web order form's not very user-friendly, if thorough.
The bottom line: $195 for 500 cards, printed 4-color with soy-based inks on one side, 100% PCW paper. ($225 for 4-color both sides)
Dolphin Blue in Dallas. This company boasts an impressive list of eco-clients from the magazine Plenty to the stationery company Twisted Limb. Like Greg Barber, Dolphin Blue offers FSC-certified 100% PCW, FSC-certified paper that's processed chlorine-free.
The bottom line: $231.94 for 500 cards, printed 3-color with soy-based inks on one side, 100% post consumer recycled paper.
Plan It Green Printing in L.A. This small company in Eagle Rock's not a printer itself, but works with a few local printers to get your job done. Rob of Plan It Green made my friend Summer's cards, and she says she was happy with both the service and the product.
The bottom line: $425 for 500 cards (for just $25 more, you can get 1000 cards), printed 2-color on one side, 1-color on the back side with soy-based inks, 100% PCW paper.
Fugu Fugu Press in Pasadena. The big bonus with this company is that its a small, local letterpress shop. Their stuff is gorgeous -- I wrote about their recycled cards here -- and you can pick from 100% PCW to cotton paper. This eco-prettiness doesn't come cheap, however. Print jobs at this eco-boutique's best suited for designer-types who need one-of-a-kind, eye-catching, unique print jobs.
The bottom line: $450 for 500 cards, printed 2-color with soy-based inks on one side, PLUS $50 for the plates AND $10 per every 100 cards for the eco-paper of your choice.
And now for the less expensive options (I'm guessing many of you just skimmed the ones above after seeing the prices):
- $39 for 500 cards, printed 4-color on one side, 1-color on back with veggie-based inks on 50% recycled, 25% PCW, FSC-certified paper. Get it at Wizard Graphics. I requested sample cards; WG does clean and pretty work.
- $59 for 500 cards, printed full color on one side with soy-based inks on 100% recycled, 50% PCW paper. Get it at GreenerPrinter, recommended to me by Jason Sperling of Prairie Tree Project, whose cards turned out pretty. GreenerPrinter also makes web ordering a breeze.
- Update: $125 for 500 cards, printed full color, both sides with soy-based inks on 30% recycled paper ($175 for 1000 cards). Get it from
Green Square Graphics in the valley.
- $150 for 500 cards (for just $25 more, you can get 1000 cards), printed 4-color on both sides with soy-based inks on FSC-certified paper with no recycled content. Get it at Plan It Green Printing.
- $175 for 500 cards ($210 for 1000 cards), printed 4-color both sides with zero VOC ink (NOT soy-based) on 100% PCW paper. Get it at Plan It Green Printing.
- $285 for 500 cards, printed 3 color on one side with soy-based inks on 80% PCW, FSC-certified paper. Get it at Pinball Publishing. This printer made Stumptown Coffee's
business cards signage, which look fantastic.
All these companies have a strong green mission. I did find some not-particularly-green companies that did offer some recycled paper options, but because their prices weren't any better than the more eco-committed Wizard Graphics.
If you've got extra money to spend, look into business cards that'll grow alfalfa or sprout other plants.
Now I just need to work out a budget to see how much I can afford to spend on printing up my cards. Then, of course, I need to get the business cards designed....
Top image courtesy of Wizard Graphics
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
 If your workplace has an account with Office Depot, going green's gotten easier. As part of its environmental initiatives, the office supplies company revamped its business catalog (the Nov. 07-Aug. 08 edition) to make it "The Green Book."
When I first saw Office Depot's his new catalog -- printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with chlorine-free processing -- I was rather skeptical. After all, I'd made fun of them before for their barely-green efforts.
And in fact, this catalog does have some issues that make me raise an eyebrow. For example, some products are labeled green simply for not being totally toxic. Then again, many office supplies are still unabashedly toxic, so perhaps highlighting those that aren't is still a step in the right direction.
Overall, I was very impressed with Office Depot's efforts both to highlight green products AND to educate the consumer -- or in this case, whoever orders the office supplies at work. Office Depot doesn't just slap a green label on anything with a could-be-construed-as-eco component, as Home Depot tends to do. Instead, Office Depot uses dark green and light green labels to help distinguish between products, pointing consumers towards the greenest choice. Copy paper with higher post-consumer recycled content gets a dark green label, while the paper with just a teensy bit of recycled content gets a light green label, for example.
In fact, it looks like Office Depot's really expanded its eco-product line, offering everything from the Zebra Jimnie Clip Retractable Ballpoint Pens (made of recycled headlights with a minimum of 75% post-consumer content!) to Voltaic solar-charging bags (made with recycled PET from soda bottles).
So -- for those of you who wish your office would stop using paper made from clear-cut forests: Ask your office manager if Office Depot's your workplace's vendor. If so, getting your office to go greener may be as simple as getting your office manager to take a look at the catalog before simply hitting the usual reorder button.
Photos by Siel
Back when I worked a nine-to-fiver, I liked to rescue used paper with a clean side for reuse. At first, I just loaded the one-side-used paper into the regular paper trays -- which a lone woman, among the many I shared the printer with, didn't like. So then I put the pre-loved paper into the manual load tray. Everyone else's print jobs defaulted to the regular tray, while mine defaulted to the manual. Voila -- Everyone happy, including some trees.
Small individual efforts aside, greening the workplace is tough because you often have to get "buy in" from people who might not care about the environment. In fact, many workplaces seem reluctant to go eco even if it'll save them money, simply because instituting change usually takes some initial time, and sometimes, up-front expense.
 This week, I'm going to highlight some ways to green the workplace -- but I'm looking for your suggestions too. Had some success pushing your workplace in an eco-direction? Share your story in the comments, or email them to me: greenlagirl@gmail.com. I'm mainly interested in hearing about employee-initiated changes vs. changes instituted by employers -- simply because most of us fall into the employee category.
Some earlier tips to get you started on greening your workplace:
>> Tips on saving energy from Energy week will work for the workplace too. Green your computer use, unplug your gadgets, and of course, opt for CFL bulbs.
>> Start a recycling program at your workplace. Here's some more targeted information about recycling newspaper downtown.
>> Grow your green business by getting to eco-networking events.
>> Not happy with your un-green job? Find an eco job.
Update: Here's the roundup of posts from Green Workplace week.
Photos by brianhendrix and Adam Piontek via Flickr
Your eco-questions answered:
Question: What is the best place to start looking for enviro-related jobs (here in LA, or elsewhere)? Is there a "green" monster.com? Cassandra
Answer: Actually, Monster.com does indeed have a green section dubbed greencareers, targeted towards college students and recent graduates. Most of the jobs are entry-level type stuff, but it may be a good place to begin researching green companies (or companies going greener, however seriously or unseriously).
A few green-specific job sites have popped up, though none are very robust as of yet, and none have very good search functions. Still, maybe one of these listings will be what you're looking for. Here are three to check out:
At this point in time, you might actually have better luck with the more general nonprofit job sites, which often list many enviro-related jobs. Both Idealist and Opportunity Knocks are fairly well established and have lots of great listings as well as great search functions. Changefan.com is newer and less functional, but may still be worth a look.
I’d also suggest contact | |
Last minute eco-Mother's Day gifts:
