Putting The ECO back in ECOnomy

HSBC North American headquarters in Mettawa, Illinois

What if folks worked more by being at work less? I'm sure everyone has thought about how much more productive they'd be with a 4 day week, but now HSBC is taking that fantasy and turning it into policy.

The British Bank HSBC has set up their North American headquarters in Mettawa, Illinois (population 500.) The new building has been under contruction for the last 5 years, cost about $100 million, and is going for Gold LEED certification complete with a green roof, energy efficiency, grey water management, etc.

But the real kicker showing HSBC's commitment to sustainability is their work week: HSBC employees are allowed to work as many as two days a week at home to enable them to save time and money on commuting. Nearly 20 percent of the workers sometimes work at home.

Now that's ECOnomic incentive.

3G iPhone: Greener Apple

Although they are the most bad Apple company around (hello product design, store layout, hotties staffing the Genius Bar), they aren't always the greenest Apple in the bunch.


But lo-and-behold it all, their new 3G iPhones come in biodegradable potato starch packaging. Solid, Steve Jobs!

PaperFoam even makes starch CD jewel cases

Dutch company PaperFoam has developed a technology to inject a mixture of starch and water into a mold, and create an affordable and perfectly comparable paper-like package. The process is not reliant upon oil, and so the prices do not depend on fluctuating oil prices. Now that's some novel s**t.

Nau is Back, Biotches!!

When sweet outdoor sustainable apparel company Nau shut it's doors 6 weeks ago, and folks were bummed. Why? Because Nau was a company with killer designers (plucked from powerhouses like Nike and Patagonia), an awesome mission (fashion forward clothes), and hella mindful manufacturing processes.

Well let's all believe in goodness of the universe folks, cause Nau is back! Horny Toad, another mainstay in outdoor apparel, has purchased Nau and will help them learn the ropes. Just like Gspotting sister Alice looked out for us as as freshmen at Asheville High (she was a cool senior!), Horny Toad will make sure Nau stays in with the right crowd.

18-24 Year Olds Demand Green Options

"We anticipate that as time goes on, more and more boomer shoppers will simply expect brands to be eco-friendly. Rather than this being a point of brand differentiation, it will be a price of entry."
Heather Stern, director of marketing. Focalyst

According to Burst Media, US Internet users ages 18 to 24 had a greater tendency to fully integrate green behavior into their daily lifestyles than did their older counterparts.

Looks like green is a go...

Eco Transportation: Amtrak Numbers Go Up And So Does Travel Fashion

NY Times article about the drastic increase in Amtrak ridership in May due to increased gas prices and subsequently higher plane tickets.

This clearly made us GSpotters begin musing about fabulous, green train riding attire. Because one cannot be riding in a regal train car in sweatpants, as is the norm for air travel these days. It's just so uncouth.

First we'd start with this top from Super Lucky Cat made from Vintage Scarves available at GreenWithGlamour.com. Then we'd pair it with organic cotton white trousers by Del Forte for sale online at ShopEnvi.com. The shoes would be cotton chambray Cri de Coeur slingbacks available at Endless.com. To bring it all together in a cohesive look fit for a rail rockstar, we'd add a Mad Imports renewable raffia clutch from BTCElements.com

New Eco-Fashion Label Alert: BODKIN from Brooklyn

3 Bodkin looks

Seems like Brooklyn produces hip hop legends (Biggie, Jay Z), revolutionary baseballers (Jackie Robinson), and Eco-Fashion. The latest green label out of Brooklyn (which is also the name of one of David Beckham's children) is Bodkin.

3 more Bodkin looks

Bodkin is created by designer Samantha Pleet and writer Eviana Hartman. The staple pieces include collar-waisted skirts, funnel-neck mini-dresses, and structured bustier and are made from organic and reclaimed materials.

Alicia Keys Shows Sustainable High Schools Love

Alicia Keys and students

Alicia Keys was in New Orleans yesterday, to honor students' environmental achievement at the Frederick A. Douglass High School.

Project Green House

When talking about sustainable urban renewal and New Orleans, I personally think of The Green Project. The Green Project operates a warehouse store that resells high-quality, salvaged building materials at low cost to the community. The store is dedicated to helping the environment by reducing the amount of usable materials placed in landfills or disposed of improperly.

Kudos to Alicia, the Green Project, and Zydeco music.

China Glaze (Hello Sweet Nail Polish) Has An ECOLLECTION!

One of our favorite nail polish companies, China Glaze, has just come up with a super stellar Ecollection. This is hella cool because they are a staple brand in the intricate and important mani/pedi world. So now, when even the biggest nail heads (Gspotter included) want a chemical free product packaged in 100% post-consumer fiber and soy ink, it will be there for us!

Also, peep the color names! Nail laquer shades include Shower Together, Unplugged, and Hybrid.

Green Your...Everything

greenyour.com

This website is pretty awesome. It's just like it says, you figure out what in your life you'd like to make greener (clothes, auto, school supplies, dog food, etc) fill in the blank provided, and they do the rest.

Give Me Two Pairs: So I Can Get To Stomping In My Eco Air Force Ones

Kanye West Graduation Air Force Ones

Air Force One Matrix

Freshy Fresh White Air Force Ones With Carolina Blue

Hopefully we all remember the delightfully stupid Nelly song from about 4 years ago, "Give me two pair (said perr), I need two pair; So I can get to stomping in my Air Force Ones" all about Nike Air Force Ones. Well now we all have a reason to cop one or two pairs!

Climate Counts is an organization that ranks companies on their level of commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The companies are scored based on 22 criteria regarding their transparency on climate policies, if they measure their carbon footprint, if they supported global warming legislation, and what efforts they've taken to reduce their climate impact.

Out of a score of 100, Nike got 82 points placing them at number 1 on the list. For all the companies and their rankings, check out the complete list.

Backlash to Earth Hour/Backlash to Sarah Marshall

A quick follow up on a story reported on yesterday at GSpot.

Check this pretty pessimistic Op Ed from The Digital Journal in response to the global initiative, Earth Hour, that occurred yesterday. The reader's comments following Digital Journal writer David Silverberg's opinion piece on the futility if not adverse effects of Earth Hour, are in strong agreement with the writer. From these comments, it seems as though people are sick of "awareness campaigns" like this one, Live Earth, Blackle.com (which functions like google.com but with a black screen.)

But here's the thing: from a GSpotting perspective, it's all good. Which is to say that debate and public discourse on the merit and actual impact of green awareness campaigns, eco- innovation, and environmental policy in both government and business, is all quite useful.


That an NGO like WWF could have Google participate, and that all the millions of Google users could not avoid reading about the world wide Earth Hour Campaign, this is all good stuff. It's almost like viral marketing.

In fact, it reminds me of a movie advertising campaign currently underway here in New York City, and possibly elsewhere, with disparaging comments about one Sarah Marshall. At bus stops, on taxis, and on buses, there are these signs saying, "I hate you Sarah Marshall," and "I'm so over Sarah Marshall," and "Those jeans DO make you look fat, Sarah Marshall," etc. Apparently, this is all for a movie to be released in June, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Unsure of what this movie is about or even if one will go see the flick, the more it is in our collective subconscious, the easier it is to even recall the name Sarah Marshall. Furthermore, it instigates heavy dialog among friends, strangers, and bloggers who even if they are calling it the most annoying ad campaign ever, are still talking about it.

Google Earth Hour

If anyone woke up this morning to frantically search March Madness results on Google, great work Davidson, they would have seen a completely black page. Apparently Google.com has "turned the lights out" on the homepage for the entire day as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is encouraging PC users to join the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Also today, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour - from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm in their local time zone.

Banana Republic's Green Fashion Collection

A little bird has informed us at G Spotting that Banana Republic will be launching a green collection starting April 8th to commemorate Earth Day, falling this year on April 22nd. Banana Republic, a favorite retailer of many a business woman and hip professional alike, including my friend Rachel, is known for their classic, sophisticated separates and overall smart aesthetic. BR operates more than 500 stores in the US and 26 in Canada and is owned by Gap Inc, who this past quarter had a total revenue of $4.68 billion. When a store of this fashion influence and magnitude starts preaching that good green word, you know something big is about to happen.

The collection will include over 50 sustainabley sourced mens and womens pieces and 1 percent of sales, or up to $100,000 from purchases made between April 22-27 will go to the . Trust for Public Land. This Earth Week initiative is the first step towards the brand's $1 million commitment to the Trust for Public Land.you can check out more info at www.BananaRepublic.com/Earthweek, which will go live April 7th.

Next week the G-Spotters are going to the view the collection, so more to come on this lede.

Purchasing Power: Greening from the Top Down

Today was the 25th annual National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) Conference held in New York City. As Chief Green Amiga of Ride Amigos, a car-share service, I quite luckily was able to attend the Purchasing Managers’ Throwdown. As one would expect of head buyers of pens, toilet paper, coffee, and 18-wheelers for major corporations like Colgate, Pzifer, Lehman Brothers, and Johnson &Johnson, these folks were quite the feisty bunch.

The day got really interesting though when James Martin, Senior Director of Global Sourcing for News Corporation, gave a presentation entitled “The Path To Becoming Carbon Neutral." News Corporation, owned by love him or hate him Rupert Murdoch, controls the biggest media companies on earth including, but not limited to, and naturally in order of importance to me personally; American Idol, MySpace, The National Geographic Channel, The Wall Street Journal, FOX, and the Simpsons. With a media portfolio as diverse as this, it only makes sense that their steps to becoming “Carbon Neutral” by 2010 are equally myriad and dynamic.

Some of their more understandable tactics (because I won't lie when I tell you they lost me with some of the jargon about hydroelectric power) included reducing energy use by retrofitting lighting, using Energy Star rated equipment, harnessing alternative fuels to power tv/moive sets ( 24 actually runs entirely on biodiesel), harnessing green power from geographically appropriate sources, and integrating hybrids vehicles into their global transportation fleet.

In the midst of touting the benefits of corporate ride-sharing through our RideAmigos software, Head Amigo Jeff and I approached Mr. Martin following his presentation to alert him that we represent a viable option currently available to aid News Corp in their bid to go carbon neutral. Clearly a bit unfamiliar with earnest 25 year olds attempting to revamp his multi-billion dollar transportation infrastructure, he tentatively agreed to take a look. A partnership between Ride Amigos and News Corp would demonstrate great leadership and vision on the part of this mega media giant, and would mean an equally significant new account for our small but mighty ride share squad.

All in all, this day was about innovation at all levels: top to bottom, and bottom to top.