Sustainability in Review

Guest blogger time! Sustainable Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 22:22:00 +0000

I am excited to welcome back Christian Smith as a guess blogger to Sustainability in Review about sustainable fashion.

Christian Smith works as a CSR Manager for a leading online UK retailer. His focus is on the environmental side of things, measuring out Greenhouse Gas emissions as well as finding ways to reduce our overall impact. Recently graduated from University College, London with an MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development.

Fashion and the environment

H&M do it, so do Nike, Patagonia are doing it well. All of a sudden lots of big (and small) fashion companies are talking about the environment and the people who work for them. Not just where they sell clothing but also where they make them. This series is going to focus on why that’s happened and what it means for the broader industry. We are going to take a look at fashion in relation to areas such as water, soil/agriculture, food production, health and oil. Fashion, believe it or not, is dependent on all of these things and the people who work in these areas.

Water

The impact of fashion on water is immense. From the growing process through production to the end user, water use has been essential to the fashion industry since the beginning. And that reliance is concerning. The demand for clothing is increasing, not just through keeping up with fashion but also the increasing global population.

A lot of clothing is made from cotton. And cotton is a very water intensive crop. An estimated 25million tonnes is produced annually. On an annual basis, approximately 70million tons of water is wasted. The cotton industry evaporates 210 billion cubic meters of water while at the same time polluting 50billion cubic litres.[1] 3.5% of global water usage is for cotton crop production.[2] 60kg of water is used to create a cotton t-shirt, from cultivation of cotton through to production. An additional 45kg is discharged as waste per kg of output. This figure, however, only includes the virtual or embedded water, and does not take into account the use of water once owned by the consumer.[3]

One of the most devastating effects of cotton production has been the shrinking of the Aral sea (pictured above) to just 15% of its original size. The loss of water affects not only the cotton and textiles industry, but the livelihoods of all those using the sea. For instance, the Aral Sea was once home to 24 native species of fish providing 40,000 tonnes of fish a year – a valuable source of income and nutrition. Beyond the direct effect on the sea, the surrounding biodiversity has also been severely damaged with only an estimated 15-20% of the Tugai Forests remain - in an area home to 29 native plant species.

This damage has opened the eyes of many to make a change. Many companies now understand the problems with water use and have started working on minimising their impacts in this area. Levis, for example, has developed technology to create its WaterLess denim range at the same time launching a save water campaign. Many companies now recommend washing clothes at 30 degrees or lower and sometimes even less frequently. Replay, the Italian brand, has developed a dying process that also uses technology that enabling the company to use less water to dye its denim.

In addition to the quantity of water used is the quality of water. Conventional cotton uses 25% of the world’s pesticides and impacts surrounding environments as they persist in the soil and water. A lot of work is being done to encourage farmers to use fewer pesticides. Organic cotton is the aim as that truly minimises water pollution, but other solutions are also available. Cotton Made in Africa/Better Cotton initiative are two programs which work alongside farmers, helping them to grow cotton more responsibly therefore reducing their overall impact on their water supply.

[1] Chapagain, A., Hoekstra, A., Savenije, H., & Gautam, R. (2006). The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries. Ecological Economics, 186-203.

[2] Fashion Futures 2025

[3] Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdomhttp://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article458101.ece

Sustainable Living TMI

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:42:00 +0000

Ok I am warning you right now - this is probably Too Much Information about me for some of you. But I wanted to talk about one of my bad behaviors that I finally found a sustainable solution to. Here it is... SHAVING!

I have been shaving my legs since I was in high school - that was a few years ago so the amount of disposable razors, their plastic composite and all the packaging has added up. At first I figured - well a razor isn't that big so the environmental impact must be small, right? But then over time I learned of this concept called embodied impact - which is the impact of everything it took to make that product and to dispose of it. Now that little razor compounded by 20 years of using and disposing was adding up.

It wasn't until I went to Palm Springs about a year ago with some friends and the gentleman of the group wanted to visit a shaving store. (? they have whole stores dedicated to shaving? well you always learn something new) There I saw a steel razor where you just switch out the blade when it is dull, limited waste and no packaging. The store staff answered by questions about - yes women can use these razors they aren't just for the guys and what to look for in a good razor.

Well as I have mentioned time and time again - change takes time and I finally bought my steel razor! I am so excited. I tried it out and it works amazingly. But in full transparency I did nick myself twice and it takes some getting used to. I am so happy to have nicely shaven legs and know that I didn't create a ton of packaging and plastic waste. (Plastic in our waste stream is pretty bad.)

And the nice bonus - it is a cheaper investment. For instance to replace the "head" of my old razor with new blades it cost me $13 for 4. I was also due to get a new handle since I the old one was getting pretty gross - that would have put me back another $20.
My new Merkur steel razor was $34 and a box of 10 blades is $7. Think a year from now - if I use 2 blades a month I will have saved. $27.60.

It is fun when sustainability efforts save you money! Happy Shaving all.

Voicing your values

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:41:00 +0000

I have spent the last 3 days, one more to go, in a room with 30 other sustainability professionals receiving a training on a new methodology for assessing factory working conditions. The training is essential as we all shift our thinking and approach from measuring "compliance" to a code of conduct in a factory to actually understanding what the management functions are in a factory and the reasons behind the success or unsuccessful implementation of good working conditions.

After today's training I decided to take the long way back to my hotel past the Washington Monument and take a look at the new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. Now I have a hard time with our society's obsession to create heros - my problem is that no person is an island - but is influenced by their background, those who came before them and the community they are a part of. So it was interesting for me to walk through his memorial with this bias and be humbled.

The memorial is beautiful and evokes a passion and a vision that this man had, the confidence to share his thoughts in a divided time. A excitement for a better world infused me as I reflected on my day and read his quotes and thought of the work that the people I was training with were trying to do.

How do we give those who are not heard voice? How do we protect human and labor rights in a climate where people should "just be happy to have a job?" The desire and intention to have a better world is a theme that so many people share and try to strive for every day. Adopting a philosophy of peace and vision that "we the people" have the ability to make decisions everyday to be heros make a difference and Martin Luther King Jr is an example of this.

I have heard that 2012 is a year of change - as cynical as I can be, if I look back on how far we have come in corporate social responsibility it is true. There is a strong desire to see the world be better and have the fortune to work with so many people who share this dream.

Holiday cheer

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:28:00 +0000

Now in full disclosure I do become a bit of a scrooge around this time of year. I can't handle the over consumption, but at the same time I want to give gifts to my friends and family. So I end up feeling stuck in the middle.
This is a hard year for many people who feel stuck in the middle. There is a very visible need to conserve money and resources since the unemployment rate remains quite high in the USA, however the only solution that gets thrown around is to consum more to get our economy going. You can see the problem here. There are a lot of smart people trying to figure this out and what healthy economy looks like.

I come back to the idea of values and investing your hard earned dollars into quality not quantity, less equals more and dealing with our drive to consume for the sake of consumption. This holiday, as with every holiday, we have an opportunity to do more with our money. And while it is hard to justify spending $80 instead of $60 for a sweater, realize that buying cheap has some pretty negative impacts. (Check out this article on how Walmart has destroyed the environment and our jobs)

There is an opportunity to do more that just tick off a name from your TO DO list.

Here are some things to keep in mind when you are shopping:

Does the company you are purchasing from have a strategy for its social and environmental impact?
Is this product Organic, Fair Trade, Local?
Is this cute for now, but will be first in line at the next garage sale?
Does this gift add value to this person's life for the better?

Enjoy the season and enjoy the opportunity to help shape the world to be a little better in 2012.

Sustainability around the world

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:18:00 +0000

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Hong Kong, China and India visiting apparel suppliers for prAna. This trip was different than ones I had done in the past. Usually I am visiting factories reviewing audits and focusing on problems that the factory may have meeting prAna's code of conduct. It has been adversarial and while informative, I always wondered how productive and how much change was really being made.

This trip I took a different approach - I met with suppliers to share the direction and vision of sustainability that prAna and other apparel companies are taking with the hopes to drive environmental and social benefits down the supply chain. I was able to share the desire for a clean environment and protection of workers rights. I am a realist and know that where we currently are globally is not sustainable, nor is it something that can easily be changed. So there is an openness to meet suppliers where they are at and still share what kind of future we all want to see.

What happened was a very different conversation than I have had in the past. There was a lot more honesty and transparency about what the "real" situation was on the ground regarding labor laws, industrial practices, environmental norms, government and brand involvement in bringing about change or lack there of. It wasn't easy to hear that solutions are going to be challenging to implement and perhaps not even in my lifetime. But there was a desire all around to see some kind of change.

I was also excited to hear all of the stories that suppliers were taking to improve social and environmental issues they were facing. The drivers for these changes were different from each factory and each country, but every bit helps. One factory realized that they couldn't improve social security benefits because workers did not see the value in also paying into the social security scheme, so the factory was focusing on training workers about the benefits to pension, unemployment insurance, and medical leave. Yes it means less money in the workers pockets, but it ensures their ability to be provided for. Another factory was facing huge increases to their energy costs so they did an energy audit and changed over all of their lighting to LED lights and are now saving 40% of their previous energy bill. Another factory recycled their fabric scraps to a company that makes rugs out of the fabric.

I was reaffirmed that there is a global desire to see the world be a better - amore healthy place for the environment and people. Solutions are not a western top down enforcement, but a globally shared initiative that all partners who we interact with can learn from each other.

While I saw more pollution and poverty than I ever do here in the USA I have a renewed sense of optimism that we all can be better and with more and more people doing there part - the change will come.

Occupying Sustainability

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:42:00 +0000

I love the Occupy movement that is going on right now. I am proud that people are actually expressing their discontent for the greed and the institutions in the USA and globally that feed into that greed. I didn't think Americans had it in them to rock the boat. I say this because in the USA we have so much in comparison to developing countries where poverty and the lack human rights are prevalent. So I figured we would never make too much noise for fear of losing what we do have. But what I see here in the USA are people who feel frustrated that all of our efforts cannot be boiled down to making profit for companies.

Watching the news and with what is going on with Occupy Wall Street and the additional Occupy movements made me think of the corporations that fit into this protesting. Specifically those companies where social and environmental responsibility are not a part of the company ethos, where truly they are focused on profit for profits sake.

Often when sustainability experts talk about the reasons why companies should invest in authentic sustainability behaviors and initiatives it is driven by a sense of risk if you don't. I see the Occupy movement as a risk. If you are a company that cannot show their commitment to sustainability then they are a target - as another institution that does not serve the people of the USA nor the planet.

Customers have choice now - if I want to buy a laundry detergent I can buy it from a company that invests not only in providing a clean non-toxic product, but one that has a robust benefits program for its employees and that invests back into its community. I don't have to buy it from a multi-national corporation that does not deliver on these issues.

Watching the campaign to move your money from your bank and putting it with a local credit union is propping up the notion that "we the people" have power and the ability to exercise that right through the purchases and investments we make.

There is an energy in the air that is new, that is dynamic and powerful. What will come out of this is anyone's guess, but if I were a company that did not have a commitment to its employees, customers, the environment and the global community I would be starting to think it might be time.

Your opportunity to protect Organic

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:18:00 +0000

When people ask me for one simple thing they can do to protect the environment. I tell them to buy organic when possible. This is one of the easier choices people can make for many reasons.
Organic has a certification system behind it, so when you go to the grocery store you can see that it is labeled organic and see which company certified it. So there is trust in that supply chain.

And why do we want to support an organic supply chain? Organic agriculture is done through not using synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. The environmental benefit comes from not creating these chemicals to begin with and the prevention of those chemicals in the soil and water of that land and surrounding area. These chemicals impact animals and plants who the chemicals were not intended to harm.
I also feel that organic is a human rights issue. By not choosing organic we are choosing to have farm workers be exposed to chemicals in their daily work. Why should we get to pay less for our food and put people's health at risk?

Organic needs help in the upcoming Farm bill. There is an opportunity to put more money towards organic and support the farmers and industry as a whole. The more we support better practices, the healthier our society can be. Also if organic grows, the cost difference between organic and conventional food will close.
Take some time today and support Organic in the upcoming farm bill
http://capwiz.com/ota/issues/alert/?alertid=55233501&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id]

It is Fair Trade Month

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Fair Trade month is about bringing awareness to the Fair Trade movement.
I recently wrote a blog post for Fair Trade USA about prAna's Fair Trade apparel program. check it out
http://fairtradeusa.org/get-involved/blog/wear-fair-carving-fair-trade-path-apparel

To the Clinton Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:52:00 +0000

I received an email from Chelsea Clinton today asking me to give feedback to her father's foundation - the Clinton Foundation.
Now I fully realize that I am one of a few million on this email, but I wanted to share my thoughts with you on what I responded.

"Firstly I want to thank the Clinton Foundation for all of the great work that you have done over the years. My suggestions come from a place of building on this work not from a place where what has been done is not sufficient.

I feel that inspiration has pulled people to act in a way that is outside of themselves. The stories of social and environmental change are those that remind me of the strength of the human soul - the globally shared human core that we all share - to be loved and to love others.

I am inspired by the work that gives people the opportunity to follow their own dreams and better their communities. So I would suggest continuing focusing on education, especially women and children to build better futures for themselves. This is not only about economics, but about survival skills for growing food, health, sanitation and strong self esteem.

The other movement that I see great strength in is the Fair Trade movement - this is not charity but a systems change. Where more money is spent to not only provide more money to the working poor but to provide skills around democratically elected committees giving workers a voice within their places of work and ultimately their communities. This is a great gift to any workers and while Fair Trade is focused in developing countries there is an opportunity for these same models to replicated in developed countries where the need for the voice of the poor and under privileged can be strengthened.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my voice.
Nicole"

Want to share your thoughts? Click here http://my.democrats.org/Clinton-Foundation

Connecting

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:16:00 +0000

Thursday and Friday of last week I had the opportunity to attend a great conference with my sustainability peers. The International Society of Sustainability Professionals hosted their first annual conference in Portland Oregon last week. I was inspired by the work that is occurring and felt supported and motivated to keep the work I am doing to continue strong.

I attended a few different lectures and workshops, but a couple of pieces stood out for me.

The first was - did you know the US Federal government is investing in sustainability, for instance renovating old energy inefficient buildings to be cleaner for employees to work in and to be more energy and water efficient. This helps reduce our costs of operating as a country as well as reduce our dependance on energy.

I was also inspired on how to tell the sustainability story in a way that captures people's attention and gets them to act. In his book "Don't be such a Scientist" Randy Olson talks about the need to arouse and fulfill in story telling, to tap into the emotional connection we have with each other to relay information. This definitely got me thinking on how to tell stories in the future.

I also got the chance to see one of my favorite speakers talk again. It was 7 years ago I heard Bob Willard speak in class while I was doing my master's of environmental studies. He focuses on the business case for sustainability. Over the years he has added to his tools for sustainability professionals help for organizational behavior change, because this is really what is at the core of sustainability. The way we have been operating has created certain negative affects and we want to start to change that around.

Overall I get reminded by how many people are working in different facets of our entire system, and globally and I get excited that change is happening - right now as I type, more and more people are looking at their businesses, schools, churches, governments and saying we can do this smarter, better and take care of our planet and the people in our communities.

Take it seriously, but not TOO seriously

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:22:00 +0000

I think sustainability work has made me a bit of a downer. Or maybe I am a bit of a downer and have been attracted to sustainability work. It makes sense, there are a lot of problems to be "fixed" when we look at the way we live and work and play when we think about global sustainability. And my personality gets caught up in it.
I have been told that I analyze things a lot. And interestingly enough I am learning this to be true. So for instance, I was trying to decide what to make for dinner last night and had all these great veggies from a friend's garden I debated over and over again what to make that required the least impact, meaning what could I do without having to go to the store and buy more food. And what would be the healthiest and what would be the easiest to cook so I didn't have to use a lot of water and fuel. Well in the end we ended up with leftovers and it worked, we used up food we already had and were fed.
There are a lot of pieces to the sustainability puzzle and our brains can get caught up in trying to balance it all. Sometimes this is helpful, but a lot of times I get to caught up in those details that I fail to see the big picture. To stop and see there is a simpler answer and to laugh a little and take myself a little less seriously. Making good decisions for sustainability isn't going to come easily unless we make the process of making those decisions fun and engaging. So adding lighten up to the solutions for sustainability.

What I am working on today

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:29:00 +0000

I have to admit I get tripped up when people ask, in your job what do you do all day? The field of sustainability is a strange one. I feel that everyone in their job, no matter the job can be thinking about, learning about and implementing sustainability. In fact as I read articles about new break throughs in sustainability it is starting to read like a engineering journal - with details in parts, operations, efficiencies, and all other types of improvements to how we operate.

So as a sustainability director what do I do? The easy answer is I am a project manager. I have to know enough about a lot of things, but more importantly I have to know where to find more information and experts. Then I pull pieces together and work with different teams within the organization to start implementing changes.
It differs all the time, so I thought I would let you in on what is on the dock for this week.

For prAna we are reviewing our sustainability strategy - every few years it is important to look at what strategy we set for ourselves, how we are doing and where we will go. I find this time so exciting and scary all at once. There is SO much opportunity out there, but also there are limited resources. My time being one of them, effective implementation, and of course bandwidth and money within the organization. Balancing all of these leads to developing the strategy and if we do it right, some major headway will occur in the next few years.

For the Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association (FTSLA) I am only one month and one week into my new role as the Director of Education and Communications. I am still learning the nuances of the organization, the language, the tone and the needs of our members. This week I will be focusing on understanding and strengthen our reporting and review process. Reporting is hard, starting with data collection, tracking, reporting and understanding the information for future goals. I am not strong in this area, so am enjoying the opportunity to learn more. And help our members make this process easier.

I think the biggest lesson I am learning in this field is that there is TOO much work to do in one lifetime and to learn to just do the best I can. Every day I hear of a new cause, problem or need that pulls me away from my day to day work and I have to evaluate if it is worth pursuing. Luckily there is a growing momentum for sustainability and so many more people are tackling the subject making solutions a lot more easy to find.

Can't Afford Sustainability?

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 01:08:00 +0000

I get this comment a lot -

"Well I wish I could afford to buy Organic, Fair Trade, sustainable, etc. but it is just too expensive".

I felt I had to address this. The reason why so many people look at the issue this way is that they are taking the old model of buying things and applying the surcharge for sustainability. For instance, yes if you were to go to the store and buy a box of pasta for 99 cents and the organic option was $1.59 and you applied this to all of your purchases - then yes it looks more expensive.

This is a great example of how we need to look at HOW we buy and how to make better decisions. For instance - how much do you buy and waste? We don't value things that are cheap - I make the whole box of pasta and then throw out half because I made too much and I forget that I don't like day old pasta. OR I make half the box of the organic, and the other half another day.
So with this example you can totally argue - well I could just be more resourceful and not buy organic and save money. This is true, but the point of this conversation is to figure out HOW to support your values with what you buy. So one approach is waste less of what you buy - use it up, be aware of how much you actually need before you go shopping and choose to buy products that are more sustainable when you do.

The other approach is to buy less - and spend your money in quality not quantity. Yes that means 3 pairs of pants a year instead of 5, but if you could buy organic or recycled fibers, the impact your are making is significant.

And also I tell people - focus on the big things - like big purchases. When you go to buy a Fridge or Washing Machine, if you get the energy efficient option you actually end up saving money in the long run with your energy bills being lower.

Think about the entire cost all the way through how you use the things you buy, what you might waste and do you really need as much?

Sustainable Now

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:55:00 +0000

A lot of the rhetoric about sustainability is about what we need to do to protect the future. While this is important it doesn't seem to be the "selling" point that is bringing in the masses to the sustainability party. In the practice of Buddhism the focus is on the moment now, not worrying about the past or the future. I wanted to explore what that might mean as an idea of looking at sustainability through the lens of the now rather than doing all this effort for the future.

To start, the future is not a sure thing. We don't know what it will look like and it is so difficult to predict. But what we do know is that our behaviors right now have affects that are immediate. When we look at our behaviors and how they might impact people and the planet right now, we have a reaction to that. For instance, when I buy something organic, it isn't only about the future of the planet it is about me choosing a product that was produced in a way where farmers were not exposed to chemicals, where water and soils were not polluted and where I will be healthier - all of this right now. Or if I choose not to drive my car, I am right now not polluting.

You could even look at this in a selfish way - who cares about the future... the more sustainable decisions you make right now are about living the best non-harmful life you can. Maybe this might resonate with people more. Making better decisions today, means you gets to see your results much sooner?

Welcome Back

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:03:00 +0000

OK I have been told over and over again the trick to a good blog is consistency – so I apologize for my tardiness. But I have a good excuse, I went on vacation. A well deserved and needed vacation. Sustainability is about balance right?

I went to Vietnam for 3 weeks with a dear friend of mine who I have known for almost 30 years.
I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world throughout my life. In my interest in sustainability – having this insight has proven to be a double edged sword. Fundamentally what ever people say people anywhere in the world are truly all alike. No matter where I have traveled, conversations flow the same, we talk of the weather, the changes in the world, our families, and how to say Hello and Thank you in each other’s languages. This gives me such great hope, an idea that we can truly conquer any problem that will face us as a human species. On the other hand I also see a world that is evolving in a way that just cannot be sustainable. So many people in this world live with so little, and as they have the right to lift themselves out of poverty, even just beyond poverty I wonder how we as a global society will do this?

To adequately house, heal, feed, provide clean water, sewage, and transportation for all of us cannot be done in the way we have started. I can say that by seeing it in action. I live in the state of California and I know first hand what it looks like when we try and get everyone in the state in a car… I have seen in many developing countries add the development of housing and I question how it can be done with the resources available?
I know the solution isn’t easy and it will come from a place of evolution and trial and error. I think the best we have to start is with ourselves and how we live and how if we know better we can make a difference, this buys us time. This gives others an opportunity time to make the changes that we need to.

So I come home from my trip with a sense of optimism for sustainability. There is a powerful undercurrent of our global connection and when we learn things, when we are inspired we are called to act and make a difference. Seeing how connected we all are makes me want to put more into actions and continue the path.

The things that make you happy

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:24:00 +0000

So Andy bought me the "Art of Happiness" by Dr. Howard Cutler and the Dalai Lama.
I guess I haven't been very happy lately...

I will admit, transitioning a career to one where you are captain of your own ship has been a difficult one for me. Surprisingly not difficult in the exterior sense. I have gotten some amazing work and opportunities to expand my learning. But difficult internally - I guess I didn't realize how attached I am to my ego around work, career, and professional value. And all this uneasiness has definitely caused some unhappiness. But I know better and I know that times like these are opportunities for finding things out about yourself so you can change and grow.

What I have learned so far:
- I am a very good crier
- I might need to let go of my ego a little
- friends and family are truly my savings grace
- an emergency hospital room will make you feel so very grateful
- a run or a yoga class will humble that silly ego

Finding happiness is a little like finding sustainability. Think about that from this list of the lessons from the Art of Happiness.

1. The purpose of life is happiness.
2. Happiness is determined more by the state of one’s mind than by one’s external conditions, circumstances, or events—at least once one’s basic survival needs are met.
3. Happiness can be achieved through the systematic training of our hearts and minds, through reshaping our attitudes and outlook.
4. The key to happiness is in our own hands.

I don't see my path to happiness is finding some specific vision of my career or acquiring all kinds of new clothes, or red velvet cake. Those things are good, but when I become too attached to them, its game over - the stress starts up, the craving, the opposite of happiness.
So it takes some work to find happiness - and it takes some work to find sustainability, but those are the journeys worth taking.

So off I go to keep reading - this is one lesson I would like to adopt sooner than later.

Social change is in the air

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Mon, 30 May 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Long story short - met some cool people. One of them has a social change endeavor and I wanted to share it with you.
Short story long - I went to school in northern British Columbia Canada, and still have the most amazing friends from elementary to Jr. High, to high school. And one of my friends was down in the San Diego area. He works for B-Lab - I talked about that organization in my blog post Share a little B Love.
While visiting, his girlfriend was down and we all met up for dinner along with friends of her's form when she lived in New York. There at dinner I got to meet Joe and Scott. Scott has a company and project called sheepless. He is a graphic designer and social change agent. I love initiatives like Scotts that asks the hard questions and aims to create a space where ideas can bloom.
You should check it out
www.sheepless.org

And check out Scott's video http://vimeo.com/24094235

Growth

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sat, 28 May 2011 14:20:00 +0000

I got to thinking about our strange relationship with growth. There are many times where growth is good and where it is bad. But what is strange is how the definition of growth is interpreted. I had a few thoughts.
I guess the simplistic way to look at it is that we want good things to grow and bad things to stop. So then it gets down to what you define as good and what you define as bad.

For instance - corporate growth? Is that good or bad? If the company is mindful of its impact on the environment and is responsible to its employees and the communities in which it operates, then more of that kind of business is a good thing.
If the company is just growing to earn more profits at the expense of environmental and human health - then maybe that growth isn't such a good idea.

One way that people in business look at growth is to grow market share. Simplistically this means that the pie of market is already at the size that it is going to be. Say 10 million people all buying the product for a dollar. So when a company grows they can either find more pie, which in this example is not an option, or they can take pie away from their competitors. To me this type of growth within the sustainability world makes the most sense. We already know we are in a finite world, so we can't really grow the pie anyway. So why not have the more socially and environmentally responsible companies take away market share from those who are not doing those things. This way there is growth, but there is growth towards a more sustainable model.

OK then one day all of the companies in the world, all of the products that get used are all sustainable - do we still have growth? Probably, but growth is not constant it goes up and down so there will be growth to come out of dips. But really I think WHAT is growing is going to change.

For instance - when we talk about personal growth, we aren't talking about things perse, we are talking about emotional experience, understanding and realizations. These aspects of personal growth are what make life easier to live, to understand and to appreciate. Really it is what makes people happier. And this circles back to growth of "things" is not making us happier. So how can we take that ideas of personal growth and incorporate them into business?
Maybe one day I will pay a company for the privilege of growing and sewing my own shirt. What I am purchasing is acquiring the personal growth of the experience to learn a new skill set. Buying experiences is one option. But one thing is the world doesn't have enough resources for it to remain the same as the growth in stuff we know today.

Guest blog - sustainability of fast fashion? part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Today's guest blog comes from Christian Smith. Christian is a master’s student at University College London, studying Environment and Sustainable Development. We connected because he also works in Fashion. To quote Christian "I love the way it feels to put on a well-fitting suit, the feel of a good quality sweater on the skin. But I also love people and the planet we live in. it’s the only one we have and we need to take better care of it. So I decided to write my dissertation on the intersection between fashion and sustainability – are they mutually exclusive or is there a way to combine the two successfully?"

Thoughts from Christian...

The main focus of this series of posts is to take a close look at various environmental issues surrounding fashion. The world is changing very quickly and resources that were abundant before are not anymore. There are 1.3 billion people in China, over 1 billion in India and nearly 300million in Brazil. If all those countries are to have the same standard of life as Europeans and Americans, we will need three planets just like earth to serve that need. We are getting to the point where “business as usual” right now means no business in the future.
A couple of interesting facts:
1. The global fashion and luxury sector was worth around $1.334.1 billion in 2008
2. The UK fashion industry was worth some £37billion to the UK economy in employing nearly a million.
3. Between 2002 and 2006, there was a 33% increase in the amount of clothing bought.
4. The average person goes through about 35kg of textiles a year, most of which is clothing and is thrown away within a year of purchase. In 2005 this resulted in 1.2 million tonnes of clothing going to landfill.

So what’s the problem? Well, clothing is getting cheaper, but climate change, water shortages and oil prices all point the other way. What is happening that makes clothing so cheap? Well, when value retailers sell their clothing cheaply they usually say it’s because of economies of scale; what they are less quick to say is that the fast fashion trend has also led to lower standards both in the quality of materials used and also in the quality of the finish.
Many have heard of the term Fast Fashion yet many may not fully understand what this means and the knock on effects this type of fashion has.
A report by the UK government states that “the culture of "fast fashion" encourages consumers to dispose of clothes which have only been worn a few times in favour of new, cheap garments which themselves will also go out of fashion and be discarded within a matter of months.” (Select Committee on Science and Technology, 2008)
Fast Fashion is a relatively recent development however, as environmental and ethical issues play more of a role in people’s decision making, this part of the fashion industry already finds itself at a crossroads not just because of its social and environmental impacts but also due to its link to a broken economic system which values short term profits over long term planning and does not accept responsibility for solving social and environmental problems it causes.

The fashion industry relies on many factors. Natural resources such as soil and water are just as important as the people who process materials and make the end products. Many items are today made from materials such as, polyester and nylon which are all oil based; as are women’s tights, zips, flip flops, fake fur and sneakers. Environmental conflicts in the fashion industry have always existed. Since the industrial revolution discharges/effluent from factories has flowed into rivers and lakes. At first this did not seem to matter as it was seen as the price to pay for progress. In more recent years the industry had managed to keep the realities of an extremely polluting industry hidden away from the public by relocating production to developing countries. In so doing, companies were able to outsource production and concentrate on the advertising and marketing of their products. Companies have been very reluctant to accept the role that they play in creating difficult working situations and environmental damage. The photo below shows the damage done through the irrigation of cotton.

This part of the industry works on volume – the more we buy, the more they produce the more profit companies. The only aim of is to squeeze margins. Yet with no monitoring and no real programs in place to collect waste, the majority of this clothing ends up in the trash only after a couple of wears. From a psychological point of view, if a t-shirt is only worth 2 pounds ($3.25 USD) – there is no incentive to keep that t-shirt as we tend to give more value to items that we consider expensive. But when you start to consider all the work that has been done to make these items, it just does not add up. For a cotton t-shirt, we need cotton transportation, processing, dyeing, marketing and advertising costs, paying staff at the point of sale as well as rent and utilities. All that from a 2 pound($3.25 USD) t-shirt? I think not. Something or someone is getting a very raw deal – namely the producers and the planet.

The more we make, the more we cause stress to the planet and the more pressure clothing companies put on their factories and therefore on the people who make clothing. The stories we hear about abuses in factories or children working in cotton fields are a direct consequence of our thirst for cheap fashionable clothing. Moving away from this way of business will allow us to recalibrate the way that business is done and encourage a new norm – one where people and planet are taken accounted for in the search of profit.
Firms are slowly coming to terms with factors that have begun to place limits on their growth. These are systemic issues which will the industry will have to contend and these tie in closely to the nature of the firm and its relationship with the ecosystem that supports it. The effect of globalisation when combined with modern technology is to effectively erase boarders. At the start of the outsourcing process, customers were uninterested in where goods came from. For them, the only thing that mattered was that items that they could not afford previously were now accessible. As environmental discourses started to emerge and the true impact of global industries started to come to light, stories of maltreatment and environmental degradation came to the surface and the supply chain factors are no longer a distant murmur.

The sustainability of time

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:21:00 +0000

I was warned of this - the consulting world is full of super busy times and dead times. I am so very grateful for being busy right now. I am very fortunate to have a few projects going on that are keeping me learning and gaining to skills.
One of my new skills is this thing called "time management". You see I have been a generally organized person, but for some reason these skills go on vacation when I have needed them.
For instance, the past few months of not being busy - wanting to be busy, I filled a lot fo my time with puttering. I was getting good as "making work", filling time with random things, so that I didn't have to be reminded that I needed to find more work. Could have used some time management here.

Currently I have a few contracts going on which means I am too busy and scared that I won't get everything done to the quality that I want to.
And I know that I will be not busy again in the future - such is the life of a consultant. So time management is essential again.

Thus my desire to find sustainability with time. What I have learned and been thankful for is that years ago I figured out what few things are the most important things that must always be in my life. It is because I know these things they are always factored into my schedule. They are - exercise, eating well, time with my boyfriend, time for my family and friends, and sleep. So in my newly acquired skill of mapping out my days I had to create a schedule for myself that included everything.
I don't get extra hours in the day, so somethings are shorter than if I had more time.
But I learned years ago when you don't require yourself to have the aspects of your life that give you balance then it all is not worth it. I can't do an amazing job on something related to work when I am tired or have not exercised or eaten poorly or connected with my love ones.
So I do have a little excel file right now for the next 6 weeks plotting out my work / life balance. But it is only 6 weeks of being ridged and hey as I have always been saying - sustainability takes some effort. But is worth it.

Sustainable food

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 08 May 2011 17:49:00 +0000

I am currently up in Hood River Oregon where the valley is just glorious in all of the blossoms. I am loving the conversations of all the fruit that is starting its growing process and keep asking when are these crops going to be ready to harvest? You might notice I can't wait.

There are so many aspects to sustainable food and for this post I wanted to think about how much I really need to stay alive, thus sustain my existence. And couple this will how much food I want to eat. I could eat and do eat a lot more than I need to stay alive.
The balance of calories is a micro example of a sustainable system.
First you have to determine how many calories you need. There are all kinds of website that can help determine this. It gets a bit complicated when you factor in your exercise and lifestyle. But the average person needs about 2000 calories a day. So if you break down your meals into 3 a day that is about 667 per meal. And some of us eat snacks, so move some calories over to snacks and take them away from meals.

Well we all can attest to not eating enough, or eating too much and finding that balance. Maybe you eat too many calories at one time because you know you are going to be with less at another time and you are planning. Also what happens when the calories we need are not available - pretend you can't just go to the grocery store and buy apples from around the world?

This has been a neat exercise for me, because it made me think how much I rely on connivence and what kind of changes I would have to make to plan out my food in take and caloric burning if food was limited. Ultimately this is the kind of level of detail we should know to truly incorporate sustainability into our daily living...

Metrics on less

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 01 May 2011 13:42:00 +0000

The world of sustainability is deeply rooted in metrics. There is the saying "you can't manage what you don't measure". And the big push is what you are doing less of. Because less means you are more efficient, you save more, you use less stuff or consumption of goods. And all of this is about sustainability because we need to live with less in the future with a growing constraint on resources. But that's not a bad thing - people do well with less. Because less means - less things to stress about, less stuff to trip over and clean and put away, less means more time for the things you love.

When you have a baseline of one behavior it is relatively straight forward to show how you measure less of something. For instance, your home uses 10 mega watts of energy a year. You change some behavior, change out some light bulbs, unplug electronics and soon you are using less energy. You can measure this and track it. This is the core of so many sustainability programs across the world. To take their existing business and keep producing, but with less. And it is not just energy, but water, materials, chemicals, maybe even people.

What will be interesting for companies of the future is to show their commitment to sustainability, but are already starting out with less. For instance, a new company builds their building with the latest in design and technology such that it doesn't use any energy off the grid - this company starts with less. Maybe another company doesn't use any packaging for their products - they don't have less of anything because they started out smart and didn't need to reduce.

Your current business now, and especially new businesses can really set themselves up for a bumpy future if they are relying on less to still offer their products and services. The idea here is to offer more if the things that have a positive impact, like trust, authenticity, care, and respect - this makes the customer happier. And actions like these create a connection and build a story stronger than more stuff.

Shop like you give a damm

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:25:00 +0000

I am teaching at the Art Institute in San Diego. It is the first course on sustainability and fashion for the school and it has been an amazing experience so far. Firstly I am shocked how much work it is to teach. (So props to all you teachers out there!) Secondly it is so inspiring to watch my students start grasping at how they can make a difference as the next generation of fashion designers.

This last week the course was about the impact of design. We talked about how much control a designer has to incorporate sustainability into the products that they make. We looked at a lot of new ideas around sustainability and how they are being implemented in the market today.

To get a sense of what is going on we surveyed a bunch of really cool companies that are making significant shifts in the way they think and design products. SO those of you who are at a loss for who is a good company to shop your values with - check out some of these companies.

The ones you probably know already

Patagonia - (Outdoor clothing) offers only organic cotton for its cotton products, includes many recycled content products and has a take back program to recycle or upcycle old products.

NAU - (Urban and Outdoor Lifestyle clothing) offers recycled and organic materials.

prAna - (Lifestyle and Outdoor Clothing) offers some recycled and organic products, pioneer in Fair Trade Certified - one T currently.

Levi's - (Lifestyle and Denim clothing) offers a water less denim jean that reduces water use in the manufacturing process.

Stuart & Brown - (Lifestyle clothing) offers organic and other responsible materials.

Loomstate - (Lifestyle and Denim clothing) offer organic cotton for all of their products.

Some other companies that are doing some cool things

Edun - (Fashion Clothing) offers products with the intent to increase capacity and trade with Africa.

Linda Loudermilk - (Fashion clothing) offers products with sustainable materials and political messaging involving the wearer to connect to a cause.

The Arbor Collective - (Surf/Skate clothing) In an industry that has not integrated sustainability well - the arbor collective includes organic and recycled materials in its product line.

Alabama Chanin - (One of a kind fashion clothing) offers reused, organic or recycled materials in a wide range of products, all garments are manufactured by artisans in Florence, Alabama. Company also has DIY clothing options.

Looptworks - (Casual clothing) offers clothing upcycled from excess fabric and trims. Unique because no new material is required for the manufacturing of these garments.

These are just a few of some of the companies out there who are pushing for new ideas around materials and design. Our relationship with our clothes and how we connect to the designer or the company is important because we as consumers are a part of the cycle and it means something to buy clothes from companies who are trying to reduce their impact on the planet and/or improve worker's lives.

Fear of the Positive

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:54:00 +0000

Last night I was reading about human behaviors and this article mentioned that we tend to default to the negative. This made me reflect on what kind of person I was both personally and professionally. Usually I am a pretty positive person. BUT - often I do default to the negative. Personally I often have self doubt or fear that has me being negative. Professionally I find myself looking at all that is wrong in the world and how we need to fix it quick.

The negative can be a motivator, but is it as strong as the positive? There are two sides to every coin, so I thought about how to approach some of my sustainability work with a positive perspective instead. (Note, this was not as simple as one would think.)
In trying to "sell" sustainability to companies and clients I rely on some pretty negative tactics - things like risk, fear, government regulations, losing consumer trust, or inefficiencies. I get some takers, but it has been limited. So I started working on the positive sides to the work that I do. It felt strange, kinda fluffy in language - but strangely it hit a cord within me that said "this feels better".

So for instance - we were struggling at one company I work with to come up with something for Earthday which is this Friday. We ended up doing a celebration of everything we already do, using the stories from all of the employees to inspire each other.
Another project for another organization has been focusing on all the positive impacts of the work that they do, again to inspire engagement and involvement.

The positive taps into a part of us that makes our work meaningful, that makes us feel significant. I need to remember this more, personally and professionally being more positive is just another way of approaching a challenge or subject, but a lot more fun.

Poisoning the pond

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Bassett) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:08:00 +0000

I FINALLY finished writing my white paper (which will be available on my website soon). In the paper I took my thoughts and experiences doing social and environmental responsibility and distilled them down into some talking points that will hopefully help people and companies see sustainability in a different way. The reality is we have the ability and the resources to make a difference, but the way current business is structured we get stuck.

So what is up with the title of this blog post?

One of my main concerns that I address in my white paper is the backwards way many companies approach sustainability and that is to cause harm and then invest in cleaning it up after the fact. Companies poison the pond and then fund clean ups of that pond thus looking like heroes.

Annie Leonard alludes to the same idea in her video The Story of Stuff - when you look at all the energy, water, toxins, and waste created in the production process, let alone the product in the end, you have to ask yourself how can this system sustain itself.

I began to notice the dichotomies with various companies who would donate vast amounts of money, employee time and resources to save the world for after-the-fact problems rather than invest in not causing the problem in the first place.

Some examples for you to think about:
The company Dawn who manufactures petroleum based soaps and has a philanthropy campaign "How Dawn Save Wildlife" donating Dawn soap to remove oil from birds and animals from oil spills. (Maybe they should stop relying on oil to make their product in the first place?)

Or Tide, whoʼs parent company P&G donates to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the product contains chemicals like Ethyl Alcohol which is suspected of causing cancer. (Maybe P&G should invest in preventing carcinogens from getting into daily use?)

There are so many examples of business practices that just don't make sense when you look a layer deeper. But it is SO much easier to write a check, than to change your business operations. Fortunately I am seeing a new generation of businesses coming into the market using their opportunity to start from a place of authenticity. The cost and effort to change the poor business practices of many companies today will put these companies not willing to look under the rug of their operations at a disadvantage.