Incorporating Sustainability Into Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite celebrations. But how can we make it more sustainable? Here are a few suggestions:

• Parties - Decorate with LED lighting, don't use disposable plates, cups, and utensils, email your invitations, and support the farmer's market when purchasing pumpkins, apples, and food. Use your waste and recyclables (such as styrofoam, cardboard, tin cans, and other items) to create decorations.


• Pass out Fair Trade chocolate - Fair Trade chocolates come from organically grown cocoa in rainforests around the world. Through Fair Trade practices, these chocolates benefit cooperatives and small family farms, allowing for a commitment of social justice as you make a direct contribution to the livelihood of the farmers and workers.


• Skip the candy - pass out healthy food treats or non-food items, such as Halloween party favor bubbles, rings, erasers, temporary tattoos, etc.


• Homemade costumes - instead of buying more stuff you don't really need, why not create a unique one-of-a-kind costume from materials you already have at home? If you must buy items for your costume, visit the resale and thrift shops. And be sure to skip the makeup and face paint.


• Reverse trick-or-treat - as your children go door-to-door, they will pass out Fair Trade chocolate along with a card with information on problems faced by cocoa-growing communities, such as poverty, child labor and environmental degradation.


• Donate candy - do your children really need to eat all that candy they collected? Donate your extra candy to foodbanks, schools, churches, shelters/agencies that work with children, Ronald McDonald houses, pediatric hospitals, nursing or veterans' homes, or Meals on Wheels.


• Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF - as you go door-to-door, collect money for UNICEF that will be used to help children around the world.


• Walk or go to a one-stop trick-or-treating site - if walking, make sure you have your BoGo flashlight (which donates one flashlight to those in the developing world for each one you purchase). Or go to a one-stop trick-or-treating location rather than driving around.


• Green Halloween - organize, host, or attend a Green Halloween event in your community. "Think outside the candy box" and make Halloween something meaningful.


• SightNight - participate in SightNight for the Gift of Sight Foundation and Lions Club International by collecting used eyeware during trick-or-treat.


• Donate treats to the troops - donate your extra candy to one of the many organizations, dentists, or orthodontists that will send it to our troops.

baabaaZuZu - Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week

baabaaZuZu (Lake Leelanau MI) was started in 1994 by Sue and Kevin Burns. baabaaZuZu makes clothing from items that would otherwise be discarded. All clothing is made from 100% recycled materials, primarily wool and tweed. Most of the supply comes from second hand shops. Each product is unique but all have a common pocket and hand sewn blanket stitch. The product line consists of jackets, vests, hats, scarves, mittens, purses & bags, pins, and Christmas stockings.

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week: If they can do it, so can you!

White Bear Racquet & Swim - Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week

White Bear Racquet & Swim (White Bear Lake, MN) has fully embraced sustainability.

The sustainability section of their website outlines the many initiatives that they have undertaken in their quest for a more environmentally-friendly facility. Here is a sampling:

• They replaced incandescent lights and increased natural lighting, both of which resulted in decreased energy usage.


• Replaced chlorine with a salt water system.


• Replaced a five tennis court bubble with a permanent, super insulated tennis building featuring in court radiant heat, cooling and heating powered by ground source heat pumps, and a super efficient lighting system (courts 1-5 in the old bubble used $44,744 worth of natural gas to heat. During the same time, courts 6-10 in the new building used less than $300 to heat.)


• Installed water-saving showerheads.


• Made improvements outside, such as taking an acre of land they used to water, mow, and fertilize and restoring it to a short-grass praire.


• Reduced waste.


• Use local and organic foods.


• Switched from chemicals to natural green cleaning.


• Office furniture is made from renewable or recycled materials and can all be recycled.

White Bear Racquet & Swim was acquired in September 2007 by the "big box" of fitness centers, Life Time Fitness.

Why do we highlight sustainable and responsible businesses each week? To show the ways in which for-profit businesses are looking beyond profit and are seeking to address their environmental and social impact. Sustainability goes beyond the product sold or service offered and attempts to incorporate positive impacts through all aspects of the business. We hope to show the wide array of possibilities across various businesses and industries.

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week: If they can do it, so can you!

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week - Nau, Inc.

Another sustainable and responsible company that is a great model for others is Nau, Inc.

Nau, Inc. was founded by a team of executives, led by Chris Van Dyke, who defected from Patagonia, Adidas, Nike, and other leaders in the industry. “We have aspired to design the entire enterprise from the ground up with the idea and ideal of sustainability at the center of the venture.” Their strategy includes “integrating sustainability attributes into our materials, products, processes, and stores; developing labor and environmental standards for the factories that make our products; and tracking, reducing, and offsetting our greenhouse-gas emissions.”

http://www.nau.com/

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week - TOMS Shoes

MY FIRST BLOG POST!

Where do I begin?

I'll start by saying I'm a huge fan of sustainable and responsible businesses--those that are deeply committed to using their business as a source of positive change.

So today, I'll start by telling you about TOMS Shoes. TOMS Shoes was founded by Blake Mycoskie. At the core of TOMS’ business model is a strong value system devoted to giving away one pair of shoes to needy children for every pair of shoes that is purchased. Their strategy includes manufacturing their own low-cost shoes in Argentina and Asia (following fair trade and fair labor standards) and then selling the shoe at a retail price point that allows them to donate a second pair to a child in need in Argentina and other developing countries while still making a profit. How great is that?

http://www.tomsshoes.com/

9/6/07 update: TOMS and Blake Mycoskie are featured in an article in the Sept. 10, 2007 edition of People Magazine.