As my sustainable road trip continues, I find myself with a day to ride around Monterey. This town has some visible signs of sustainability, with low-mow lawns and a bike trail that runs along the coast. This contrasts the 4-lane feeder highways that cris-cross through town cruelly undermining the Cannery Row atmeosphere. My rented bike, [...]

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The Sustainable Brands 2008 show was, like the industry it represents, sometimes a contradiction. Here, in no particular order, are my Top-10 observations on both ends of the green scale:

1. Coffee with all the right adjectives. It was nice to see a departure from the ubiquitous generic hotel swill. This selection by Thanksgiving Coffee had [...]

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John Shegerian, Co-founder, Chairman & CEO, Electronic Recyclers International
Tatyana Kjellberg, Manager of Strategic Programs, Product Take-back, Hewlett-Packard
Brenda Mathison, Director of Environmental Affairs, Best Buy 
This presentation took place against the backdrop of a June 2, 2008 press release from Best Buy, announcing an electronics take-back test program being launched in 117 stores.
The session was well-attended, and [...]

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Paul Polak, Founder, D-REV
In 2005, The luxury goods market was worth $455 billion.
$7 billion was spent on haircare products alone.
Corporations spent $140 Billion on advertising in the US alone.
Yet, median household net worth rose only 2% in 2 years. Ours is the very pinnacle of expenditure and wealth, yet this is a saturated and mature [...]

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Janet Eden-Harris, Averil Doering, Umbria
 The irony of blogging from a blogosphere session was too much for me to resist, but this actually ended up being one of the most relevant presentations I encountered. Janet Eden Harris opened with an introduction to the scope of the blogosphere as Umbria defines it, which goes beyond wordpress-style blogs [...]

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Erin Carlson – Director, Yahoo! For Good, Yahoo! Inc
This presentation, for me, was a great example of how a mainstream property can make sustainability work. Yahoo! Green is the most trafficked green website on the planet, billing themselves as the one stop shop for the Conscious Consumer. At a more visionary level, their goal is [...]

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Steve Pinetti, SVP Sales and Marketing, Kimpton (Earth Care) Hotels
Jeff Slye, CEO, BEC & Strategic Advisor, Business Evolution Consulting
Kimpton has long focused on quality of service and creating a guest experience, helping guests maintain their lifestyle while on the road. But since 2005 they have gone even further with their EarthCare program.
Founded by Bill Kimpton [...]

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Eric Ryan – Method
This presenter reminded me of the dot-com junior CEO’s of the 90’s. Young, hip, dressed down with hair to match. And a company success story that makes one jealous. A lot. Method started with 2 guys in a flat somewhere around 2001. (Young eco-entrepreneurs take note: Their first meeting with Target [...]

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Andrew Winston, Author
The author of this iconic green tome is very personable, in that salt-and-pepper-haired-smooth-presenter kind of way. His presentation was top-line (buy the book) but he did update on some new trends that have emerged in the last 8-9 months.
One is that Discovery Network announced it is changing to 100% green coverage, with the [...]

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New Belgium Brewery
Greg Owsley, Chief Branding Officer.
On my first night in Monterey, I stopped by a local liquor deli to stock my mini fridge. Not seeing anything ‘natural’, or ‘organic’, I settled on Fat Tire Ale, a character beer I had tried and liked once in Colorado. Little did I know I had chosen a [...]

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