Archive for March, 2009
Free Resources for Green Businesses
March 26th, 2009 by Patrick Dominguez
So, I’ve compiled some great resources that I think that can help green businesses and entrepreneurs.
Take some time, grab a coffee and check out a few of the ones I’ve listed below. I think they you’ll find them really useful
Do you have any great resources that would benefit others? Tell us about them! I’d love to hear what free tools have been useful for you.
Please add them to the comments area below.
• No Country for Old Ideas - Five Essential Tips for Managing Sustainability at Your Organization
Do you manage sustainability projects? Justine Burt, Chief Green Officer for Greenwala.com, will share five essential things you need to know to implement projects swiftly at your organization. Join her for a FREE 30 minute webinar on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at noon Pacific Daylight Time. Here’s how to join this online meeting.
1. Go to
http://tinyurl.com/ceqgjn
2. Enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the meeting password: Burt109
4. Click “Join Now”.
• “The Way of the Radical Business” from Tad Hargrave
This free, 195-page ebook combines marketing concepts you should definitely be thinking about with more advanced concepts and outside-the-box ideas
To get this ebook resource, go to Tad Hargrave’s web site and sign up on the left hand side.
• The State of Green Business 2009
This free report from GreenBiz.com provides an excellent overview of the environmental impacts of the business sector as a whole.
Or read highlights from the review on our blog.
• Green Drinks
Too many entrepreneurs try to build their business in isolation.
Check out GreenDrinks.org to find green groups in your area, and join forces with like-minded businesses. There are groups meeting in dozens of countries.
• National Green Pages, from Green America
People frequently ask me, “how can I find other green businesses in my area?”
Check out the green business directory from Green America.
It’s an excellent source of information about green businesses across the US.
Announcing the Green Business Camp UnConference
March 23rd, 2009 by Patrick DominguezWe’re so excited to unveil Green Business Camp to you.
Like you, we’ve been to MANY diverse conferences, presentations and seminars focused on green business. And although many of them have been wonderful and very informative we frequently left thinking “did that help me make progress with my business”, or “well, now what? How do I apply this new learning to me and my business?” Plus, we always felt like we managed to meet many of the other attendees; who we’re certain had some great experience and knowledge that we could have learned from.
From BarCamp to Green Business Camp
With this in mind, we decided to create our own event based on the creative spirit of BarCamp (a pioneering “user-generated” event born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment). We’ve created a mashup of BarCamp, green business, added a few additional tweaks …. and Green Business Camp was born. We’ll bring you the same powerful environment of creative, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, where you’ll make new business contacts and friends.
Let us tell you a bit about what Green Business Camp is …
Green Business Camp is a participation-oriented, entrepreneur-driven, one day “unconference” in the San Francisco Bay Area dedicated to the growth of green business. It will be taking place at the Greenv Sustainable Center in South San Francisco on Thursday April 30, 2009 from 8 am -5 pm.
This event will give you the opportunity to network, collaborate, and share knowledge with 100 top green business owners and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ready to attend? Check out our registration page.
Never been to an Unconference?
Then you’re in for a lot of excitement!
Green Business Camp isn’t your typical conference filled with PowerPoint presentations. Instead, in our innovative event program the participants themselves will create and lead event sessions. This will bring out the best ideas of the group and allow everyone to share knowledge and resources with other green businesses.
This video gives you a taste of what an unconference is like. (One difference will be that their attendees are giving short pitches on their new startups, we’ll have breakout sessions for group discussion and brainstorming on topics selected by event participants.)
Have a topic you would like to lead a discussion on? Want help with a business challenge you are facing? Or, perhaps you want feedback on a new idea or venture? Submit a discussion topic and get your own brainstorming team to help you.
So what’s the agenda?
Most of the agenda will be created by participants during the first hour of the event. We’ll be pulling topics from the above document or you can bring business topics for discussions that you want to lead or participate in. All of these topics will be voted on and organized into a schedule and from there you will choose which you want to attend.
From there, the topics that were voted on will be discussed in a 45 minute breakout session of approximately 20 people.
By the end of the day you will have attended 5-6 of breakout sessions where you’ll have met a few dozen other interesting green businesspeople.
A good start and a good finish
The day will kick off with a special “Art of Networking” workshop to give you tools and techniques to more easily make new business contacts and future business partners during the event.
We’ll end the day with a nice and relaxing wine tasting reception.
OK, now join us!
In recognition of the current economic challenges, Green Business Camp has implemented a “pay what you can” pricing model. Secure your place at Green Business Camp for only $25. At the end of the event, you can pay what the event was worth to you and ONLY what you can afford to invest.
Want to hear the latest event news? Sign up for our newsletter and get on-going updates that will keep you informed.
See you at Green Business Camp.
State of Green Business 2009 Report - A Review
March 9th, 2009 by Bill BarenRecently Joel Makower, executive editor and chairman of GreenBiz.com, and his team of editors unveiled the second annual State of Green Business Report. The report looks at data behind 20 indicators to find out how companies are doing in creating changes in environmental issues. It’s an comprehensive report with invaluable information for all businesses. If you haven’t yet, be sure to get your copy of State of Green Business Report.
“This year’s update is a mixed bag of encouraging and discouraging news,” says Joel Makower, the report’s principal author. “But on balance, despite a growing chorus of corporate commitments and actions, we’re less optimistic that these activities, in aggregate, are addressing planetary problems at sufficient scale and speed.”
The report shows that despite the slumping economy, green businesses have continued to grow. On the flip side, environmental improvements being made are still low, which is cause for serious concern.
Some statistics/trends I found interesting:
- Our continued love affair with our cars. According to the report the number of solo commuters has inched down from 77.8% in 2003 to 76.1% in 2007
- Consumers’ distrust of companies offering sustainable alternatives despite their desire to lessen their carbon footprint
- Our inability to deal with our e-waste properly and in a sustainable way
- We have decreased our packaging use (as slight as it may be) using less aluminum, plastics, cardboard and other materials per dollar of GDP
- We have decreased our paper use by 27% less paper per dollar of GDP over the last decade and increased the amount of recycled paper - also by 27%
- We are steadily increasing our energy efficiency.
I know how much work goes into a report like this, so I sincerely appreciate the efforts of Joel Makower and his team at GreenBiz.com. I look forward to what we can do with the info in this report NOW - and how this effort will influence the 2010 report.