Billed as Vancouver’s largest green consumer show, the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo was a must-see from a green branding and marketing perspective. As I wandered the halls, (trying not to collect to much tradeshow trash in my Toyota-branded #5 reusable and recyclable shopping bag) I sought out companies that looked ready to break out with products or services that truly embody both the spirit and the substance of sustainable living.

Ecoapparel is an apparel design and manufacturing company located in Vancouver British Columbia. According to their web site, they are an “Audited Socially Compliant Company” and a “Fair Trade Manufacturer”.

So in the clothing business, with its culture of consumption and China-based manufacturing, what does that mean, exactly?

To find out, I went for a tour of their Vancouver operation with Communications Designer, Sales Support and General Enthusiast Jason Neve.

He explained that ECO Apparel focuses on recycled polyester and organically-grown natural fabrics, with the goal of offering at least 50% recycled or natural fabrics throughout their line. This is quite a challenge, when you consider they create technical performance fabrics, not hemp hoodies.

A good example is their EcoCarbon anti-microbial fabric, created from activated charcoal sourced from coconut shells. Not only does it help fabrics stay fresher without sprayed-on chemicals, it allows for less laundering, which reduces clothing carbon footprint at the user level.

To track their impact further, ECO Apparel works with Bluesign, a fabric certification organization that tracks fabrics through the entire textile production chain – from raw material and component suppliers who manufacture e.g. yarns, dyes and additives, to textile manufacturers, to retailer and brand companies, to consumers.

Their commitment to 1% For The Planet help bolster their claims. But what really sold me was their Eco-Blog. I especially like this excerpt:

“In terms of apparel, I consider “organic” to be a near impossibility; the fabric may be derived from cotton or another crop that is grown organically, but after the fiber has been milled, dyed, treated for shrinkage and color-fastness, the finished garment is not really “organic” any more, is it? (not to mention the eco footprint of shipping it around the globe) …We have to be very careful not to be greenwashed by the brands. Our philosophy is that if you are prepared to ask the tough questions, be prepared to hear the answer.”

I think they could give seminars to some larger brands on talking the walk.

What’s more, they maintain a complete production facility right here in Vancouver where they design, cut and finish garments as production samples and for corporate clients. This allows them to offer custom runs with minimums starting at under 100 pieces. It’s a far cry from the offshore mass-production mentality.

Are customers willing to pay a premium for this more sustainable process? Yes, says Neve. “Corporations are literally putting their name on these garments. So they appreciate that we do our homework.”

Consumers are a tougher sell. The company sells their line of garments at retail location RioRain in the Park Royal Shopping Centre, North Vancouver.

“We’re competing in the fashion business, with all the regular retailers.” Neve continues. “So our products need to be as good or better than regular fibers. Then our challenge is to educate people. Get them asking the right questions about the clothes they buy.”

The Green Marketing Brief
This company is doing it right. They have invested in some nice design and branding, they have a clear passion for their business and they are obviously working hard at being green in a competitive and complex industry. My only comment is that they have so much to say that I don’t get a strong singular sense of identity from the brand. I’d love to see a three-word tag line that speaks emotionally and makes their customer base into a more powerful group of advocates.

To find out more, or buy some nice gear, visit the Ecoapparel web site, call toll-free 1-800-654-4002 or stop by RioRain store at Park Royal, North Vancouver.

“We took it for granted that the curbside collection of organics is something everybody in Canada does on a weekly basis.” Says Richard Dance of Indaco Manufacturing (Bag-to-Nature’s parent co).

“80% of the people who visited our booth here in Vancouver first expressed surprise that there are widespread source-separated organic collection programs elsewhere in Canada, especially in evil Toronto. Then disappointment that there no large scale programs available here, and there may not be for years.”

Digging further, I discovered that the bag itself has an impact on the effectiveness and uptake of such regional programs.

“Say Chillawack wants to start a green bin program.” Continues Dance. “They would send out a tender, and one of the cheaper bag manufacturers offers their bags for free. The municipality encourages local retailers to carry these bags. Once the freebies run out, participation drops off dramatically due to people equating all compostable bags as a horrible experience, splitting and spilling stuff all over the floor. It is then very difficult to convince a retailer or resident that our bags are a better solution, not the same old crap.”

So what makes a better bag?

“We are a private Canadian company that blends and extrudes our own proprietary certified compostable plastic film. We do not rely on off shore raw material
which is how we have developed a very strong dependable bag and liner. Once people try Bag-To-Nature they realize how inferior the competition is.”

The Green Marketing Brief: As a marketer, I like the locally-produced angle, which appeals to a ‘shop Canadian’ sentiment while addressing the carbon-costs of shipping from offshore. As well, a You-Tube style video demonstrating their strength advantage in a captivating way could help differentiate their product, and a bit more depth and visual quality on their web site would put them above the perception of their cheaper competitors.

Hopefully, as curbside organics programs grow, the Bag-To-Nature brand will move to take its place atop the compost-heap of Canadian public awareness.

As usual, free food samples called to me, leading to the New World Natural Foods booth. Impressed with the flavour, I ended up purchasing a bag of Tropical Fruit Nut blend. Then I asked myself, why aren’t these local products more available?

Speaking with Rajinder Bagga, I learned that the company’s roots go much deeper than today’s current green products trend.

“Natural foods was a business that came naturally to us as it made it easy for us to

follow our family values that included vegetarianism, respect and kindness towards all

living beings.” Bagga says. “We pride ourselves with producing products that are truly natural, vegetarian, wholesome and delicious… products that are good for local economy and manufactured in a socially and environmentally responsible way.”

The company history backs him up. In the 1980’s, organic nut butter and granola were prepared in the back of Sweet Cherubim Natural Foods, one of Vancouver’s oldest health food stores, owned by the Bagga family. In 2006, a total revamp of New World products took place, new labels were designed, Organic Certification was received through Quality Assurance International and Kosher certification through BCK.

To date, successful marketing initiatives have included product demos, store ads and consumer shows. But in Rajinder Bagga’s words, “The majority of consumers shop in supermarkets and it is nearly impossible to break into them.”

The Green Marketing Brief: One opportunity that is immediately apparent is to build more of an on-line presence for local media, store representatives and loyal customers to interact with the New World brand. The current New World Foods web site is very sparse, and contains none of the rich history and inspiring philosophy of the Bagga family. The kind of foundations that most of today’s green start-up brands would love to brag about.

In the meantime, New World Natural Foods can be found at leading health food and independent stores such as: Capers, Wholefoods, Planet Organic, Stong’s, Donald’s Market, Sweet Cherubim, East West Market, Apple Farm Markets, and Super Valu.

One of the friendliest booths I came across at Vancouver’s recent EPIC sustainable living show was the unassuming home of Happy Stan’s Recycling.

The Happy One himself, Stan Kaminski, started his journey into the world of recycling by collecting newspapers to raise money for the Gibson’s boys club. Stan then turned his focus to the recycling needs of large industrial corporations such as Island Paper Mills and Sonoco. Happy Stan’s is now changing its focus from a materials oriented company to a service oriented company, providing information and recycling solutions to businesses and households across the lower mainland, increasing its material acceptance to include over 40 different commodities.

Their mission is to aid B.C. in its goal of zero waste. Through their network of fellow recyclers, they believe in disposing of material in the most environmentally friendly way possible and only deal with companies who do the same.

The list of things they will recycle is truly staggering. (http://www.happystan.com/what_we_recycle.html) Some surprises in the list for me: Plexiglas, water coolers, electrical wire, metal car parts, pots & pans, oscilloscopes… (if only I had known before I threw out all my old evil-scientist lab equipment last week)

Their location is 1603 Langan Avenue, in Port Coquitlam, BC. Phone 604-464-0242

If more people knew they could drop off their recyclables or call for a pickup, would we see less of a need for a new Lower Mainland landfill?

The Green Marketing Brief: What a marketing challenge! This could be approached in a number of ways. For general awareness, nothing beats TV. To do broadcast on a budget, Stan might want to consider some TV listings exposure, driving to their web site. A more guerilla marketing approach could be to organize a big recycling drop-off event at their location, with music, food and family fun. This could be an annual awareness-builder. More immediately, although their image is grass-roots and local, a new logo and brand image would help elevate their business above that of a ‘two guys and a truck’ perception. This excellent organization deserves a broader, greater appeal.

EPIC Sustainable Living Show, Vancouver 2008 – Ironic that the styrofoam box that protects your restaurant leftovers for two days will be in the landfill until the year 3000. So who’s responsibility is it to deal with? According to Green Century, business should be doing a lot more.

“We took it upon ourselves to educate Consumers and Businesses alike, as to the available solutions to develop a more “Eco-Compatible” Philosophy.” says Maggie Chen, a representative from Green Century with whom I exchanged e-mails after the conference. “By providing a Product that is Engineered to replace all applications where Styrofoam, Polystyrene, Plastic, and Paper are currently being used, we believe that Business can take the responsibility back from the Consumer, for the disposal of Ecologically dangerous materials.”

The packaging products on display at the Green Century booth were reminiscent of those comfy molded cardboard containers most eggs used to come in before they switched to that annoying squeaky Styrofoam. But with a cleaner finish. They had on display a variety of package shapes, and the representative I spoke with assured me that was just the tip of the iceberg. He explained that the material was easy mold into any shape, from a specialty food container to a custom-fit clamshell case for electronics.

So what is this miracle product made of?

“It is 100% organic” says a handout sheet available at EPIC. “Made from a completely renewable supply of Sugarcane Bagasse Pulp and Water, it will naturally biodegrade within three months after discard, and return to earth to feed and nurture the soil. There is absolutely no chemical residue left behind, or carbon discharge into the atmosphere.”

Sugarcane Bagasse Pulp is a by-product of the sugar-refining process. To date, most paper products made from it (up to 20% of paper production in South America and India) have used chlorine bleaching, although new enzyme-based processes have recently been developed. At press time I had not heard which processes are being used by Green Century.

But Green Century’s commitment to change is inspiring. Ms. Chen further describes their philosophy. “Our biggest challenge to date is educating Businesses and Consumers that there are alternatives to common problems that are creating immense negative Ecological impact. That we don’t have to reach a Crisis situation in Waste Management, like so many other countries around the World today are currently facing.”

The Green Marketing Brief: These products look like winners. But the Green Century brand may look too new to compete. From my point of view, the marketing messaging was heavy on references to packaging disposal and the toxic nature of current packaging, and light on case studies and ROI comparison that business could take to the executive suite. And for the eco-geeks, a reassurance on the bleaching issue could avoid trouble down the road. From a creative perspective, some communication to packaging designers selling them on the creative possibilities of the custom-molding process might land them some good case studies to leverage for more contracts.

This is a feel-good story and a good-feeling product just waiting to wrap up the packaging market. Let’s hope they make it big!

Rich colours, subtle organic textures overlaid with bold screenprints, intriguing yet subtle in their interpretation. If this sounds like an art review, it should. Artist Wendy Van Riesen of Dahlia Drive produces her one-of-a-kind pieces from discarded slips and shirts, in her words, ‘Resurrecting the fashion wasteland’, a term which applies not only to the recycling of garments, but to an anti-mass-production theory of design that makes each piece a unique statement.

“I think people like the idea of an item of clothing having a story behind it.” says Wendy. “Not only the story of where it originally came from (ie the thrift store in Salmon Arm) but the history in stains or tears left by the previous owner and then the story of my process, dyeing it and burying it in the garden to rust it, and then the images I choose. I love that the pieces are sculptural and are only fully realized on their new owner.”

Naturally, her product line’s greatest strength is also it’s marketing weakness.

“My biggest marketing challenge is how to sell one of kind garments within a consumer market that is structured around mass sales of identical products in different sizes. My sizes and styles are not regulated and neither are the designs so they need to be experienced first hand. I also want to keep my line from becoming couture or so expensive it is prohibitive to the average buyer.”

The Green Marketing Brief: Thinking as a pure eco-capitalist, I could envision that Wendy might one day apprentice more artists in her techniques, who, in an Andy Warhol-esque fashion, could create their own interpretations and produce art on a larger scale. Or perhaps even franchise smaller Dahlia Drive studios across North America, farming the fertile thrift stores of the Midwest and bringing art fashion to the Wal-Mart-crazed masses.

In any event, I will wear my shirt (western-style, rusted and dyed, with a graphic of nails), with sustainable pride.