So what would YOU choose to go see at Sustainable Brands 08? The issues are broad and diverse: Sustainable design, the social footprint, retaining talent, green building, de-commoditizing, re-branding, sustainable packaging, green wine, greenwash… how to decide? What the heck, unlike most North American Governments, I’m willing to try democracy. ...
Trains, Planes & Automobiles: Booking the Sustainable Road Trip
I began my pre-trip journey on the Carbon Footprint calculator, adding up the emissions for my various travel options from Vancouver BC to Monterey CA. Distance: 2,810 km CO2 emissions if traveling by air: .67 tonnes CO2 emissions if traveling by car (@ 9L/100km): .586 tonnes CO2 emissions if traveling by rail: .169 tonnes (about the weight ...
The Sustainable Road Trip
“Join a staggering faculty of over 70 design, sustainability and brand leaders, along with peers from around the country, with the beautiful Northern California Coastline as a backdrop and explore how you can stay on the cutting edge of sustainable business and translate brand innovation into revenue growth and brand ...
EPIC discoveries, EPIC Marketing Challenges
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 ...
What’s behind a ‘green’ clothing label?
EPIC Sustainable Living Show 2008 Vancouver – What with energy-intensive cotton farming and sweat-shop labour, shopping for clothes with an eco-conscience can be a depressing experience. The Ecoapparel booth at EPIC offered a ray of sunshine in that world, with clean designs, tasty fabrics and an infectious enthusiasm for their ...
Toronto greener than Vancouver? Compostable plastic bag maker says “Yes.”
EPIC Sustainable Living Show, Vancouver 2008 – I first stopped by the Bag-To-Nature booth to inquire about how ‘compostable’ their plastics technology was. I soon learned that other municipalities in Canada have a whole different need for such bags. “We took it for granted that the curbside collection of organics ...
What would a green show be without granola?
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 ...
Recycling with a smile.
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 ...
Welcome to Dahlia Drive. Where clothing goes from Thrift Store to Art Gallery.
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 ...
Frame your issues in terms your target market understand.
The Green Party of Canada, and Deputy Leader Adriane Carr came to Unicycle Creative looking for help with handout materials for a by-election in Vancouver Quadra. They had a large amount of climate change data and a fresh platform document from Ottawa posted on the national Green Party web site. ...