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The day started too early, but cycling along the False Creek seawall at dawn gave Vancouver a quiet grace I have not seen for a long time. Bus through customs was uneventful, though an extra $10 to put a bike in the hold for a 3 hour trip seems a bit much. At the Amtrak [...]

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Reading through Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas  Friedman, I came across an interesting description of clean fuels vs. dirty fuels, by Rochelle Lefkowitz, from Pro-Media.  In a flash of brilliant simplicity she describes them as ‘Fuels from Heaven or Fuels from Hell.” The Fuels from Heaven include wind, tidal, biomass and solar power. These [...]

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Well, Sustainable Brands 08 is over, and it was a great conference, (Click here for a list of sessions covered by Green Briefs), but as I digested all of the learning, I noticed a green marketing communication tactic that may be a ticking bomb. I call it ‘The Congreentulatory Statistic’. It goes like this. In [...]

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On my return Amtrak trip from Sustainable Brands 08 in Monterey, I elected to sample life in the sleeper car, with my own little booth and bed: car 1432, room 11. This was a significant up-charge, ($257) although that price includes all meals (worth about $50) and if traveling with another person (or two…?!)  that [...]

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Walking through the idyllic seaside burg of Capitola, California, my green sensibilities were assaulted by the flashing colours, gleaming steel, and deafening V-8 roar of the Capitola Hot Rod Show. These were muscle cars in their element, under a California sun, each the offspring of countless hours of hard work, mechanical ingenuity and late-night garage-creativity. [...]

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In order to travel for a meeting in Capitola (near Santa Cruz) I was forced to rent a car. For the first hour and a half, I was ensnared in a ‘we’ll pick you up’ runaround fiasco (before you loose the legal pit-bulls, Enterprise Rent-A-car, let me sure you it worked out for the best) [...]

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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 [...]

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Mark Lee, CEO SustainAbility The theme of Sustainable Brands 08 was ‘Below the Surface’. Lee takes this to a whole new level, with a look at the macro picture of corporate action and potential in the sustainability journey. He begins by describing the green movement(s) as “Waves of pressure, of interest and regulatory activity.” Waves come [...]

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