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But even with all the hype, there are a number of challenges and obstacles brands face when trying to

sell purpose or social responsibility to a mainstream

consumer. And in order for positive social change to

occur on a massive scale, corporations, entrepreneurs,

and marketers alike will need to become better

educated and more aware of why these current and

prospective conscience consumers choose, buy, use,

and even dispose of purposeful products.

You see, before we can build companies, brands, and

products that inspire a better tomorrow, we must firsttake a closer look at what has and hasnt worked up

to now.

Get ready people, its now hip (again) to care. What took so long right ? Thanks to more concerned

consumers, a dash of post-Katrina pondering, rising

prices at the pump, dependence on coal and foreign

oil, Al Gore and the environment playing a leading

role at the Academy Awards, and an onslaught of

new product offerings; purpose-related products

and services have quickly beamed their way up on

the consumers radar.

Mainstreaming Green:9 Rules For Popularizing Purpose With Today's Consumer.

9 Rules For Popularizing PurposeMainstreaming Green:

With Today's Consumer. With Today's Consumer.

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Fringe Freak To Eco Chic

Hurdles To Mass Adoption

You may have seen the term LOHAS float across your desk in recent years (it stands for Lifestyles of Healthand Sustainability). LOHAS consumers are those whoare passionate about the environment, sustainability,social issues, and health, and they typically makeconscious purchasing decisions based on their socialand cultural values. Or as David Brotherton, a Seattleconsultant in corporate responsibility describes, Thepeople who used to drive the VW bus to the co-opare now driving the Volvo to Whole Foods.

Over the years, weve given all kinds of names (somemore flattering than others) to the more purpose-drivenconsumer: tree huggers, hippies, bohemians, culturalcreatives, latte activists, conscience consumers,crunchies, deep greens, cause consumers, eco-warriors,environmentalists, new progressives, and now Lohasians.

Whatever the clever name or acronym du jour maybe, businesses large and small are now paying closer to attention to this rapidly growing market, as thispassionate and influential audience now makes up a$228.9 billion U.S. marketplace for goods and services,that include, but are not limited to:

Renewable and Alternative Energies Natural and Organic Products and Services

Health and Wellness Eco-Tourism and Alternative Transportation

Green and Sustainable Building Clean Technologies Organic and Recyclable Fashion Socially-Responsible Goods & Services

And while $228.9 billion dollars seems remarkable andis proof that this consumer psychographic has movedaway from their fringe status of the past, theres still alot of work left to be done if the end goal is healthysocial growth, not just bottom line income. Having the

Wal-Marts of the world pushing organic is a great stepforward, but in order for large-scale change to happen,socially-constructive companies must refine the way weapproach ALL consumers when selling purpose. You see,were not just talking to those affluent, European sportwagon consumers at the upscale mall, but were nowalso chatting directly with those consumers filling uptheir mini-vans at the local Costco.

So nows the time for the difference-makingentrepreneurs and brands of tomorrow to begininnovating and dialing in their brand voice. Theymust stop trying to only create for and sell to a marketthat mirrors themselves, as now a larger makeup of consumers are also thirsty for change. However, beforewe can inspire them to make purposeful buyingdecisions, we must first employ the same core marketingfundamentals that the great lifestyle brands of todayhave used when motivating large audiences. Youknow, create that aspirational magnet and leave thatmirror behind.

E For Effort, N For No ThanksBusinesses have been actively participating in thepurposeful (or green) space for years. While there havebeen many products with great intentions and even the

occasional breakthrough success, there have also been astring of bombs that have ultimately fueled widespreadconsumer reluctance to give new, more purposefulproducts a spin. Or in some cases, an unwillingness toeven let them improve over time.

Who could forget all of those recycled paper productsbefore Seventh Generation hit their stride ? Lets seeCharmin or sandpaper ? Umm. How about those clunkyfluorescent bulbs that flickered and flickered until they

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eventually put out the same level of brightness as a nightlight (Fortunately, things have vastly improved here. If

you havent already, switch over to the ice-cream-swirlCFLs, theyre the real deal.) . Or did you or any of your friends try out some of those unflattering organic fashionwearables circa 1992 ? Not exactly runway ready.

Okay, we could go on and on here, but the point is,the product examples above unfortunately stunted theconsumers desire to go sustainable. They left a bad tastein the shoppers mouth, and as you know, once you getfood poisoning, it makes it awfully hard to try that samedish again. But things have turned the corner in recent

years, as the products have dramatically improved infunctionality, quality, and style. And now that we havesome inventory with mainstream appeal, how do wemake the consumer feel firsthand the eco-benefit the

product provides ?

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Feel No Evil?One of the key drivers of changing consumer behavior has always been making the product or service connecton an emotional level. Make it personal. Make itrelatable. You know, talk with your consumer, notat them. A giant obstacle purposeful brands need toovercome is their inability to connect with a mainstreamaudience that simply cannot see, feel, or even imaginethe benefits that sustainable products deliver.

Theres no denying issues such as Global Warmingare complex and often difficult for most consumers tograsp. Because the majority of them cant see or feel theimmediate good their purchases are delivering (i.e. likereducing greenhouse gas emissions), its hard to get themto switch from their favorite products to a sustainablealternative (and we havent even mentioned price,quality, and availability).

So while the sustainability issues we face on thisplanet are extremely pressing, they still remain incrediblyfuturistic to the mainstream consumer. Largely in partbecause of the, if its so important, why havent Inoticed anything yet attitude. It probably comes as littlesurprise that the products that have made the biggeststrides thus far are those in which consumers can reap animmediate benefit; whether thats better gas mileage witha hybrid vehicle or a reduced electric bill because of making the switch to energy-efficient light bulbs.However, there are thousands of other remarkable,eco-friendly product offerings on the shelf, its just thattheir effects cannot be felt or noticed so instantaneously.

So how do we sell futuristic benefits ? Perhaps we shouldtake a look outside of category for inspiration on howto effectively communicate to the masses. Take the diet

industry for example. Do you think if we spent 1/10thof the time we spend marketing diets and nutritionalsupplements aimed at reducing our consumption of fattyfoods as we did with reducing the consumption of our precious resources (oil, coal, water), could we make moremeaningful progress ? Or will it take even higher gasolineprices, more rising temperatures, more droughts, andmore frequent black outs before the green categorybecomes more personal and more relatable ?

Remember the heart smart icon that slowly found

its way onto every chain restaurant menu ? You knowthe one, order this dish and it will reduce your risk atgetting heart disease. Are we heading towards a futurewhere we will strategically place earth icons next tothe most eco-friendly options on every menu and pricelist across every industry ? Perhaps we can elicit our desired behavioral change by dumbing it down for theeveryday consumer ? You know, use those marketingtactics that have successfully driven awareness for

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other causes. How about an earth icon shampoo, cut,and style at the salon. Anyone ?

Hopefully in the not-so-distant future, all products will just be inherently sustainable so consumers wont haveto wrestle with or think about how and what theyrepurchasing. But for now unfortunately, it is what it is.So as we look to build sustainable new businesses, wenot only need to create and inspire evangelists for whatever sustainable products were selling, but wealso need to become brand evangelists for the bigger icon - - the earth itself.

Greenwashing: The Dirty Deceiving Little Secret With all the recent buzz surrounding the state of our environment, and corporations wearing the bulls eyefor criticism, the more we hear the term greenwashingbeing thrown around. Greenwashing is a portmanteauof the words green and whitewashing. Environmentalistsuse it to describe the act of giving a positive publicimage (a thin coat of green paint) to environmentallyunsound practices. Corporations of course claim they arepromoting sustainable development and communicatingthat they have become greener and more environmentallyresponsible. Hey, if companies can sell more widgets bypainting them green, then were going to see more greenwidgets in the market.

The question is; Does green marketing contribute tothe greening of consumer consciousness, or does itencourage corporate greenwashing ? Well, probably alittle of both. Examples of greenwashing can rangefrom a supermarket giving you the option of paper or plastic to a big oil company funding studies to muddythe link between greenhouse gas emissions and globalclimate change.

One greenwashing controversy in particular has recentlysurfaced its way on to countless environmental messageboards on the Web. The instigator was an article earlier this year by The Economist titled, Diesels Are The Smart Green Choice. The words that ignited the firestorm of differing opinions:

The dirty little secret about hybrids is that their batteriesand extensive use of aluminum parts make them costly tobuild in energy terms as well as financial terms. Onelife-cycle assessment claims that, from factory floor toscrap heap, a Prius consumes more energy even thana Hummer H3.

As you can imagine, the article generated spiritedblogger responses from both sides of the issue andsurfaced a number of studies comparing the lifetimecosts related to total energy consumption of hybrid vs.non-hybrid vehicles. To no surprise, most of the studieshad an agenda associated with them. The authors werefree to manipulate the statistics in their favor and onlyreveal the answers that their side wants to see. Shocking

Unfortunately, all of this greenwashing leads to massskepticism with consumers. They dont know what or who to believe anymore. Are these new products likeHybrids really difference making and better for theenvironment than a diesel vehicle ? Or are these car

manufacturers just taking advantage of a white hotpolitical or social opportunity to sell more cars ?

Lets not forget that consumers have smart ad radar and a very low tolerance for bullshit. Google has quicklyturned all of us into private investigators. The Internethas transformed us all into unregulated citizen

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journalists. The successful companies of tomorrowmust become more transparent with their customer baseby talking openly and honestly about their practices.The ones that do this best will win and the ones thatcontinue to hide behind their giant logos and avoid thehard questions will be exposed and ultimately rejected.

Perfect Doesnt Make PracticeMake no mistake, the entire future of the sustainabilitymovement depends on consumer behaviors beingmodified. Sure, corporations will hopefully continueto invest huge dollars into making their productsmore sustainable, but since consumer demand drivescorporations, the future of our planet rests heavily onthe shoulders of Joe consumer. Yet even with numerousburning issues facing our environment, only a smallportion of Joes are willing to change their consumptionpatterns and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.

One of the reasons may be in how weve talked aboutsocial responsibility in the past. The term responsiblehas a weird rub to it. If youre positioning your brandas responsible does it also open it up to potential scrutinyabout other aspects of your business ? In addition, bytelling a consumer that theyll be practicing socialresponsibility by consuming your product, youre alsoin effect wagging your finger at them and telling thatperson theyre irresponsible when they dont.

Heres a thought. How about using the termsocially-constructive in lieu of socially-responsible ? For starters, its more accessible and doesnt conjureup thoughts of irresponsibility and negativity that aredetrimental to the larger movement. The truth is, wesometimes just have to recognize when someone istrying to do some good and they will hopefully striveto get better each and every day. But please, lets not

stunt momentum and chastise someone for trying to besocially-constructive. Every little bit helps.

The fact is we are indeed living in a greenvenient society,where the majority of people will only do the goodthing if its made extra convenient for them. We needto recognize that a delicate balance exists between what is good for the environment and what is good for me .For example, if you were to take your wifes Prius tothe spray wash and wanted to empty the trash fromthe inside of the car (which includes some empty plasticwater bottles), most of us would toss them in the trashcan three feet from the car instead of taking them hometo our recycling bin. Why ? Because its simply moreconvenient that way.

Now this is where it gets interesting, because anenvironmentalist that lives by an eco-idealist codewould probably point out flaw after flaw in this example,from: 1) why are you going to a spray wash that wastesridiculous amounts of water in the first place ? ; to 2)why is your wife consuming bottled water instead of putting filtered water into a re-useable container ? ; to 3)well give you points for driving a Prius, but were goingto take away double points for your family also owninga gas-guzzling 94 Chevy Suburban.

When it comes down to it, the majority of us can easily

be out gooded by a full-time do gooder, but whatbenefit comes from making people feel guilty about theway they live ? In the long run it only hurts the cause.It seems that no one is safe from criticism in thiscomplex web of purpose (just ask Al Gore who in lightof everything hes done to stimulate environmentalawareness was recently attacked for his hefty homeelectric bill in Tennessee). If the end goal is to makesustainable living something consumers will aspire

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to and engage in on regular basis, we must stoppreaching full-time perfection and begin applaudingpart-time cooperation.

Following Can Lead To Forgetting While the growing and greening marketplace hasattracted throngs of new, passionate consumers, it hasalso motivated a different kind of following copycatand unimaginative brand marketers. Before businessescan expect consumers to reach into their wallets and signup for the next it product, they must first breakthroughthe unbelievable green noise and visual clutter thatexists in the space.

It doesnt matter if youre trying to market a sportsdrink or a sports bra, all brands will have to bring somemuch-needed innovation to the table when establishingthe look, tone, and feel for their products. Hint: theshelves at the store dont need any more eco-friendly brands using an expected leaf icon, an unmemorabletagline, and an earth-toned color palette. Your productmay be remarkable on the inside, but if you dont havewhat it takes to excite and motivate consumers on theoutside, your brand may soon be paving its own pathto extinction.

Just as it is with other industries, the brands that createa unique visual brand identity and voice wind up

generating the most buzz, capture the most eyeballs,and generate the most cash register rings. With more andmore eco-friendly products entering the mix, consumersare quickly becoming immune from all of the me too,environmentally-responsible messaging. Theyve alsobecome aware of this new type of eco-poser brand thatslyly tries to masquerade for something they are not purposeful (remember greenwashing ? ). While its criticalto make your consumer aware of your sustainable

benefits, it doesnt necessarily need to be your leadcommunication strategy.

To no surprise, one brand often cited for mainstreamconsumer crossover success, is biodegradable cleaningbrand Method. Ranking No. 7 on Inc. Magazines 2006list of the fastest-growing privately-held companies inthe country, Method boasts an astounding three-year growth rate of 3,390.5%. Their talented team took acommodity household cleaner and built a unifying brandidea that extends through their products, their packagingdesign, their promotional materials, their corporate

values, all the way down to their brilliant tagline,People Against Dirty . And theyve done all of thiswhile remaining very price competitive with the other leading household brands.

What Method did was smart. Instead of focusingsolely on the rational benefit of being environmentallyresponsible (eco-brand quicksand), they used sharpbranding and marketing fundamentals to stir up theemotions of the mainstream consumer (btw: one of their founders was an ex ad agency guy). If you pick upa bottle of their all-purpose cleaner, the only purposefulcall-out on the label is the word biodegradable in 8 pointtype. Sure, there are a lot of prominent brands in thisspace that have gotten it. Whole Foods, The Body Shop,and Patagonia come to mind. But who will develop the

winning companies of tomorrows more purposefulmarketplace ?

Lets see, will it be those green-only lifestyle zealotsor those sharp minds that have played in the dirt onthe other side of the fence and successfully built andlaunched high-profile lifestyle brands in other industries ? The choice is simple really. If our world is to ever makesignificant progress with the adoption of new,

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7

NORTH Mindmeld

Keys To Making The Perfect Play

How

remarkable eco-friendly products and services, weneed to take a page from the Methods of the world.In order for new sustainable companies to succeed wemust creatively sell environmental benefits by callingon those that have already memorized the playbook for tapping into consumer emotion and inspiring widespreadadoption; whether thats been for a cleaning product,a designer sneaker company, an imported beer, or afour-wheel drive vehicle.

Using Fame To Change The GameThese days, whether youre scanning the rows of magazine covers at the grocery checkout or channelsurfing on the tube, its pretty hard to avoid imagery of

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt holding one of their adoptedchildren. When Newsweek recently asked Angelina abouther not-so-low-profile humanitarian aid efforts andcountless visits to refugee camps, she responded, If Ican draw you in a little because I'm familiar, then that'sgreat. Because I know that at the end you're not lookingat me, you're looking at them."

Funny, but she sounds remarkably similar to PaulNewman, one of Hollywoods first conscience celebritiesand one of the more famous social entrepreneurs on theplanet. When Newman was asked to describe what he

was doing with his line of Newmans Own products,shameless exploitation in pursuit of the commongood, he replied. Newman was definitely ahead of histime and remains an inspiration and role-model today.Over the last 23 years, the pioneering Newman hasdonated over $150 million in profits for educationaland charitable purposes.

At North, weve been eavesdropping on the purposesfulconsumer and bigger sustainable business movement for years.

While its taken a while for these new ideas to penetrate themainstream mindset, the non-listeners from the past arenow at least open-minded to hearing about the future.

In this section, we highlight a few emerging companies andinspirational entrepreneurs that are bringing much-neededinnovation to the market. What we like about some of thefollowing ideas is that they show us just how wide-open thepossibilities are in the purposesful space. Instead of followingthe map of those that came before them, these brands insteadhave set out to sail in uncharted waters.

Heres a thought, would people pay more attention to thatall-too-familiar piece of POS hanging in their hotel bathroom if we gave them a decent discount on their over-priced 4-star roomfor saving both the hotel and the earths expensive resources?

You know the message: We are doing our part to preserve theenvironment and invite you to help us conserve water by using

your towels more than once. Doing so will also reduce theamount of detergent waste that is recycled in our community.Please hang your towels up if you wish to participate in thiswater conservation program... if you choose not to participate,simply leave your towels on the floor.

Dont you wish we lived in a proactive society, where consumersdidnt need incentive beyond because its the right thing to doin order to choose one thing over another ? Well, we can all keepdreaming for that day to magically appear, or we can set out todo what some new, purposeful start ups are doing and offeringup some nice value-adds in order to stimulate change andconnect with more of a mainstream consumer.

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Contd Using Fame To Change The Game ContdReward Them And They May Respond

8 How

Celebrities and entertainers have always been closelytied with various causes; whether theyre strummingguitars for world hunger or telling jokes to raise moneyfor Katrina victims (more on using entertainment toenlighten later) . These days it seems more and morecelebrities are becoming more known for for whattheyre passionate about and less known for whotheyre dating.

Take this years Academy Awards. Even when the usualsuspects used their airtime to push environmentalawareness (Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney,Melissa Etheridge), it actually didnt come off as makinga forced statement (like a Susan Sarandon moment did).It seems the passionate pleas from this years Oscars weredelivered in a much more approachable manner and thatalways makes it easier to digest. Also, the show wentgreen behind the scenes; they used recycled paper, didan energy audit for the Kodak Theater, and even servedorganic food at the Governors Ball.

Hey, whether its Scarlett Johansson filling up her Priushatchback with organic food and beauty products,Maggie Gyllenhaal announcing shes using organiccloth diapers on her new baby girl, Oprah touting thebenefits of energy saving light bulbs on her show, or Entourage star Adrian Grenier badging the fact thathes using recycled denim to insulate the walls of his

Brooklyn home; theres no denying the power andinfluence celebrities wield in generating and spreadingpurposeful change.

Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame and his company Weapons of Mass Entertainment has just teamed upwith Greenpeace on an initiative which is focused ondreaming up new ways to mix media, art and celebritywith social activism. "If you can imagine Andy Warhol'sFactory with Greenpeace in it and me in it," Stewart told

As much as the word recycling surrounds us in our everydaylives, the participation rates remain relatively modest (in the30-33% range nationwide). So the question remains, why dontmore people recycle ? RecycleBank, which just launched inPhiladelphia, may be on to something - actually rewardingpeople for throwing waste in the right receptacle. The more your household recycles, the more it earns (up to $35 RecycleBankDollars a month). All RecycleBank dollars can be redeemed atone of 100 national and local participating retailers (the likes of

Starbucks, Petco, and WholeFoods have already jumpedaboard). So far so good, asrecycling rates in one Phillyneighborhood have alreadyjumped from 30% to 90%.(recyclebank.com)

How about paying $20 for a magazine subscription and in turnhaving that same twenty bucks then go to the charity of your choice? Thats precisely the offer behind Good Magazine , oneof the latest page flippers aiming to champion change. Good,which gives you the choice of selecting between 12 differentcauses (from Millennium Promise to Creative Commons to World

Wildlife Fund) is the brainchild of its Founder Ben Goldhirsh.Not sure if giving away 100% of your profits is a sustainable

revenue model for a mediacompany (which also includes

a film division called ReasonPictures), but its certainly atransformative idea. Whenasked whom his magazine isfor, the ambitious Goldhirshresponds, Were selling this topeople who we think give adamn. (goodmagazine.com)



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9 How

Reuters . It is a hot house, a think tank." Sounds lofty,not sure if it will be produce any number one hits, butlets give it a chance to lift off before we pop its balloon.For even more dish on how celebrities are using their fame to change the game, check out the eco-celebritygossip blog ecorazzi.com .

With all of the celebrities jumping into the game, willthere be some less-than-genuine cause opportunists outthere ? Of course there are, but Ed Begley Jr., one of thefounding fathers of green in Tinseltown, sums it up bestwhen half-joking about Hollywoods involvement in themovement towards a sustainable future, "there are someinsincere people in this community who may havelatched onto the environment because Africa was alreadytaken, but, he says, even if you're only into this causefor a week, at least you're doing something positive for that week."

The truth is things need to change and if the folksliving under the Hollywood sign want to use their

visibility and money to create a more sustainable future,lets applaud them. And maybe just maybe, theyll stopbacking purposeless ventures or theme restaurants likethe Fashion Caf and Planet Hollywood. PlanetHollywood wasnt a bad thought, it was just that theconcept had the wrong intentions. Why not really makeit about the planet, Hollywood ? Just imagine a

state-of-the-art restaurant that was 100% sustainable,that served organic, locally-grown food, donated 100%of their profits to renewable energy research, and insteadof decorating the menus and walls with movie postersand props, instead used that real estate to educateconsumers on the state of our planet and encouragedthem to give a damn. Now thats a concept worthbacking Arnie!

ContdReward Them And They May Respond

It would sure seem like a tall order to play in the samepurposesful sandbox as upscale, active wear brand Patagonia(Pata-gucci for those of you in-the-know), but dont tell that toPortland-based, active wear newbie Nau. Like the walk and talkPatagonia and its inspirational CEO Yvon Chouinard have beendelivering for years, Nau is also blending beauty, performance,and sustainability into all of its products (all are made of recycledmaterial and recyclable themselves). In hopes of luring moreconsumers into its new retail home, Nau will offer up 10%discount to those customers that place their orders from in-storekiosks. The in-store Web kiosks are meant to reduce each storesecological footprint, operating costs, and energy consumption.(nau.com)

While issues surrounding the planet and those in need are

sometimes tough to make accessible at the retail level, a30-year-old entrepreneur by the name of Blake Mycoskie figuredit out by keeping it simple. If you buy a pair of his Toms Shoes ataround $40/pair, Toms will also gift a pair to a deserving

youngster in an impoverished country. Mycoskie, who got theidea for Toms (which btw stands for Shoes for Tomorrow), whiletraveling in Argentina, always thought hed spend the first half of his life making money and the second half of his life giving itaway. With Toms hes exceeded his expectations, as he stumbledupon an idea that is as equally purposesful as it is profitable.



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Old Dogs Trying New Tricks

10 How

One way in which many established brands have beendipping their feet in to the new purposeful pond, is bymaking modifications to their existing products. Insteadof completely re-structuring or re-positioning their entirecompany as sustainable overnight (next to impossible),many well-known heavy hitters have recently madesome big strides when it comes to speaking to the morepurposeful consumer.

Timberland, which has routinely been ahead of their competition in practicing corporate responsibility, justupdated the labeling on its footwear boxes to trumpettheir environmental responsibility in a fresh, engagingmanner. Packaging, which is often an overlookedcommunication vehicle, can open up a number of excellent branding opportunities. By taking the leadfrom the CPG industry, they transformed the traditionalnutritional label into a communication that givesconsumers information about the shoes they arepurchasing; from where it was manufactured, to how itwas produced, to its overall impact on the environment,which includes the amount of energy they used fromrenewable resources.

From the inside out, our new packaging tells the storyof who we are as a brand and conveys our commitmentto make it better, explained Tracy Stokes, TimberlandsSenior Director of Global Brand Management. The goal

is to reduce Timberland's environmental impact whileproviding consumers with new information to helpguide them in the purchase process, while at the sametime, inspiring them to make their own positive impact,"she added.

Another noteworthy example of a big brand weavingresponsibility into their product offering is giant UKretailer Marks & Spencer (M & S). Customers want good

value, but they care more than ever how food and

ContdReward Them And They May Respond

And the message of the brand seems to be working, Mycoskie has just bagged distribution deals at Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, andBloomingdales, and plans to begin selling in Australia, Japan,and Western Europe this summer. (tomsshoes.com)

These brands are at least trying to break through by taking adifferent approach, but are we really on the cusp of trading outour mileage cards for carrying around purposesful shoppingcards ? (interraproject.org) Who knows, but if some of these incentive efforts are able to speak more effectively to themainstream, the reward loyalty idea of those cards cant befar behind. Oh, and one last thought. Before you hospitalitymarketers out there go running with the idea mentioned at thetop of this section, you may want to spend some additional

hours educating your

housekeeping staff on your towel program. Because itseems every time you try todo the right thing by notthrowing your towel on thefloor, they replace your used,hung up towel with a freshone anyway.



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Contd Old Dogs Trying New Tricks

11 How

clothing products are made, says M & S Chief Exec StuartRose. Well, by simply listening to their customer, M & Shas achieved some good. They recently launched their Look Behind The Label program, which does a nice jobof educating shoppers about its Fairtrade food andclothing products.

Whether its Nike creating less waste and using lessenergy to manufacture their Considered line of shoesor Levis selling an eco line of jeans using 100% organiccotton (they also include recycled buttons, rivets andzippers), we need to encourage these efforts of bringingresponsibility to retail. Brands like Timberland, M & S,Nike, and Levis have huge followings and other brands(big and small) should follow their leads. However, thepassionate must remain patient. We cant make all or nothing demands on these large companies. We must

hail these transparent efforts and recognize their importance in inspiring consumers, other brands, andentrepreneurs to shift their current thought processes.

Championing Change From WithinIt used to be that brands would promote socially-constructive or environmentally-friendly efforts withintheir human resources department with the sole purposeof making an impression on current or prospectiveemployees. However, now those efforts are more andmore frequently aimed at gaining the support of

environmentalist groups and for rubbing off ontheir discriminating customers. Several big corporations and their highly visible leadersafter being pushed towards more sustainable practices by

various activists for years, are now becoming role modelsfor change. One would never think of mentioning

Wal-Mart in the same breath with the Whole Foods of the world, but to their credit the Bentonville behemothhas made significant steps to evangelize purpose from

Sure the food, beverage, personal care, and clothing markets havemade some of the biggest splashes (organic, nontoxic, free-range,fairtrade, etc.) in the sustainable product space, but there havealso been some game-changing entrepreneurial efforts using newangles that have been popping up more frequently.

Okay, so youre flying into LA for a three-day weekend and needto line up a rent-a-car. Who do you call ? Hertz? Budget ? Avis ?

Why not try EV Rentals, the first U.S. rental car company whoseentire fleet consists of hybrids. Rentals run from $39/day to$215/week. If youre not sold, what if we told you that hybrid

vehicles qualify for the carpool lane on those crowded Californiafreeways, even when youre the only one in the car. Airportlocations include; LAX, Orange County, San Diego, SanFrancisco, Oakland, San Jose, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

EV Rental's mission is to provide the most technologicallyadvanced environmental vehicles to the general public as soon asthey are available, to educate the public and raise the awarenessof the benefits of driving clean-fuel cars, and create a market for

clean car technology". The company claims to have preventedmore than 100 tons of air pollution and to have passed on morethan one million dollars in fuel cost savings to its customers.Now why hasnt this gone worldwide yet ? We think its only amatter of time. (evrentals.com)

Anyone that leads with a headline that reads, Changing The World One Story At A Time, must be prepared to back it up.Participant Productions Founder Jeff Skoll (former presidentand employee #1 at online powerhouse eBay) has backed up


Change Agents Of Tomorrow


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Contd Championing Change From Within

12 How

within. Theyve been working with ConservationInternational to help shape ambitious goals for slicingand dicing their total energy consumption. Wal-Mart,which is the largest private purchaser of electricity inthe U.S., has put forth an aggressive plan to reduceenergy demands in all of its facilities by 30% in thenext ten years.

Speaking of Whole Foods, theyve just become thebiggest corporate user of wind power in the country.They inked a two-year contract with Renewable ChoiceEnergy to purchase 458,000 megawatt-hours of windenergy credits. Thats enough to cover energy use for all of its stores, bakeries, distribution centers, regionaloffices, and corporate headquarters in Austin. This efforthas also led to a consumer-facing promotional partnership,where customers can purchase $15 wind power cards(basically renewable energy credits) right along with their

yoga mag and Burts Bees lip balm at check out.

Right now, the main benefit is public relations," said Andrew Aulisi, Senior Associate at the nonprofit WorldResources Institute. For a company like Whole Foods,which has a particular kind of clientele, I can imaginethis is an important way they relate to their customers."

On the technology front, both Nokia and Dell are leadingthe way for doing away with toxic chemicals and have

set measures for eliminating polyvinyl chloride (PVC)and other harmful substances from their current andfuture product lines. And companies like Clif Bar andGoogle are offering their employees $5,000 towards thepurchase of a hybrid. Clif Bar is even offering $2,500toward the lease of a vehicle that obtains a partial zeroemissions vehicle emissions rating of at least 45 mpg.

You can read about more future-looking companiesparticipation in these types of vehicle programs athybridcenter.org.

that statement and then some since assembling an all-star teamof entertainment executives back in 2004. Together his team has

built an environment to foster storytelling that engages theaudience, generates awarenessof topical and interesting issuesand inspires individuals totake action.

Even if youre not familiar with Participant as a brand name, youve surely heard of some of the titles coming out of their offices in the last three years: Fast Food Nation, Murderball,Syriana, And Good Night, And Good Luck, as well as last yearsglobal warming eye-opener, An Inconvenient Truth. As we know,films have the power to move and amass quite a following. Withthat big of an audience in tow, we look forward to Participantlaunching even more brand initiatives aimed around inspiringconsumer action. (participantproductions.com)

Lastly, we have to mention this category-shifting, entrepreneurialidea coming out of the Netherlands. Enviu, an international non-profit organization for young entrepreneurs, is working together with an architectural firm to create a truly Sustainable DanceClub. At the core of the idea is an energy-generating dance floor that will offset the clubs energy consumption. In addition, thetoilets will flush with rainwater, the walls will change color asreaction to temperature changes, and theyll have a rooftop garden.

If you were having trouble thinking outside the expected box andmaking sustainability attractive and cost-effective, you may justwant to order a glass of what theyre drinking over inRotterdam. This is cool. (sustainabledanceclub.com)


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Want to talk about other organizations with loyalfollowings, even religious groups have joined theecological movement. The national organizationCoalition on the Environment and Jewish Life is nowsponsoring a drive to install efficient compact-florescentlight bulbs. No Joke here, their pitch: How Many JewsDoes It Take to Change a Light Bulb ? Mazal Tov!

In addition, we would be doing this section a disserviceif we didnt mention the likes of Buffet, Gates, Branson,Case, and Doerr when talking about charismatic leaderschampioning change by donning the hat of a CauseCapitalist. While all these men are well-known andrespected for devoting a large chunk of their time andmoney to philanthropic causes, theyve recently steppedup their efforts to bring an even greater sense of urgencyto the purposeful movement. Branson, who also heads up Virgin Unite (virginunite.com) ,

Virgin's independent charitable arm designed to driveentrepreneurial approaches to social and environmentalissues, says that hell contribute an estimated $3 billion inpersonal profits over the next 10 years to develop energysources that do not contribute to global warming.Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautifulworld from our parents and they from their parents,said the maverick entrepreneur. It is in our handswhether our children and their children inherit the same

world. We must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment. In addition, Branson announced earlier in the year thathes offering a $25 million prize for scientists who finda way to help save the planet from the effects of climatechange by removing at least a billion tons of carbondioxide a year from the Earth's atmosphere.

Case, on the other hand is looking to revolutionize thehealth and wellness industry by trading out his familiar youve got mail days for the more empowering yourein control rallying cry. RevolutionHealth.com , using thecollective social wisdom of its users, offers more than125 free tools and online services that help people livehealthier from losing weight to determining what anailment might be to tracking ones overall healthprogress. RevolutionHealth.com is not just another health site we are working to build the online destination where

you can take action to improve your health or your familys health. Its time to use the power of the Internetto reform health care with a people-powered approachto health - giving parents, patients, and caregivers allthe tools they need to manage their health care needsand live healthier lives, said Case. The encouraging signs coming out of all of this,it seems as if the corporate world, entrepreneurs,and environmentalists are now teaming up to workconstructively together. Everyones coming aroundto the idea that business has the innovation chopsand entrepreneurial flair to solve problems in waysthat government regulation will never match. The morethese companies, investors, and business leaders tackleissues like sustainability and health care, the more

benefit they will ultimately see from a customer relations perspective, from profit potential, andfrom moving that purposeful needle.

However, we must be realistic. These issues are notgoing to be solved, cured, or reversed by a handful of thoughtful billionaires. Its going to take our collectivethinking and effort to right this (mother) ship.

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Lets see, first there was Live Aid in 1985, whichopened the worlds eyes to the famine issues in Africa,then Willie Nelson and John Cougar Mellencamporganized Farm Aid to raise awareness and money for family farmers. Comic Relief, A Tribute To Heroes benefitafter the attacks on 9/11, the benefit for HurricaneKatrina victims, Live 8, the list goes on and on.

Whatever the issue, artists and entertainers have along history of putting on benefit concerts or charitableevents for causes that matter to them. By joining forceswith other like-minded entertainers, these events havealways been a powerful tool for drawing attention to animmediate humanitarian crisis and generating massiveawareness for a specific cause.

While many of these efforts seem to garner a lot of

media hype, attract A-list talents, and raise significantfunds, are they mere causal marketing one-offs thatconsumers buy, listen, and discard or are they powerful

vehicles for establishing a commitment to long-termchange ? Theres no question that entertainers andmusicians have passionate and loyal followings and canattract huge crowds, but it seems that in order to inspiremassive change, it will clearly take bringing moreinnovation and new thinking to the plug and playconcert for a cause formula.

In recent years, there have been a few new spins onthe old concept. Boost Mobile RockCorps is conceptthat makes the consumer do their part before the actualconcert. In order to get a ticket to the show, you mustfirst put in at least four hours of volunteering in your community. This is a great way to generate awarenessand ignite consumer involvement prior to the mainevent, rather than just handing the concert goer someeducational literature once theyre in the gate (by that

time theyre only focused on the entertainment right message, wrong time).

Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson has inspired a slew of artists from the Dixie Chicks to Pearl Jam to Cold Playas well as music festivals like Bonnaroo to begin puttingon more eco-friendly shows. Johnson who put on oneof the first carbon-neutral tours, teamed up with other businesses to donate a portion of his tour sales toenvironmental causes, as he teamed up with theorganization 1% For The Planet. The tour also ran allof their buses and trucks on bio-diesel fuel. Now moreand more artists seem to be joining the movement toreduce their carbon footprint and bring attention tothe bigger issue of climate change.

This summer, all eyes (and ears) will be on Live Earth

The Concerts For A Climate In Crisis. This revolutionaryeffort hopes to inspire two billion sets of eyeballs with itsmotivating message. Live Earth, which takes center stageon 7/7/07, will feature seven separate concerts on allseven continents (not sure whos getting the Antarcticagig) and is being spearheaded by The Alliance For Climate Protection and you guessed it, its chair andformer veep, Al Gore.

"We have to get the message of urgency and hope out,"Gore expressed. "In order to solve the climate crisis, we

have to reach billions of people. The climate crisis willonly be stopped by an unprecedented and sustainedglobal movement."

The artists themselves (over 100 committed at the time of this writing), are also psyched up for the worldwide eventbeing produced by Control Room (same crew responsiblefor bringing the world Live 8 on AOL). Tom Chaplin, leadsinger of the band Keane was the first to sign up to

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mainstreaming the green agenda

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