Features of the House

Although I could write a 1000 word essay of why I love this house, I want you to watch the interview as Klebert explains not only the green design features but the practical energy efficiency of the home.  However, to wet your appetite, I will throw you some scraps of lumber:

• The house merges indoor and outdoor spaces seamlessly through the use of a glazed wall of sliding glass doors similar to NanaWalls.  According to Klebert, no energy efficiency issues were noted even though windows are known for notorious heat loss.  Learn why.
• The teflon curtain surrounding the house offers shade wrapped in a pleasing aesthetic design to give interest to the house structure.
• The house did not contain solar hot water panels, which seems to be the standard among solar decathlon houses in the past.  Learn why.  {Yes, this was shocking to me.}
• Some old technologies resurfaced in this house such as passive house construction, heat pumps, Gravity-Film Heat Exchanger, and good ventilation system which made this house so efficient.
• Great green design was used especially in the case of the recycled material to make the chairs and wall covering.  {Not telling.  You have to watch the interview.}

Like I said above, I could muse about this house for days but I don’t want to spoil the story.

Thoughts About the Solar Decathlon

I just want to leave you with one thought.  This house is very practical and many of the thought processes to create this house were old school.  There is no reason why we can’t take what we learn from the college teams at the Solar Decathlon to build better, healthier houses.

Join the Conversation

What innovative design feature did you like about the house?

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• Solar Decathlon 2011. Everything Green Under the Sun
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• Solar Decathlon’s Team BeauSoleil Home Marries Culture with the Environment
• Needle Point Homes Reveals Essential Ideas to Build Energy Efficient
• Solar Windows by Pythagoras Solar Seek to Achieve Net Zero Buildings

The post Green Design + Efficiency Married in Solar Decathlon Austria Home appeared first on Green Talk Podcast.

What is the marketing twist?

During my video interview with Brian Keane, CEO of SmartPower, he explained the Company’s successful marketing strategy, the solarize model.    Their model is similar to One Block Off the Grid’s model.   So, honestly, I didn’t really see how the solarize model was any different than One Block’s.

Keane beg to differ, and I was all “skeptical” ears.

People buy, according to Keane, if they want or need a product.   In the case of solar, Keane explained, in order to increase solar buy-in to drive the price down, a solar marketer must establish an added value proposition to prospective buyers.

Naturally, I thought the value proposition is  either energy savings or environmental responsibility.    My assumption was dead wrong.

Picture a perplexed look on my face.

In a nutshell, Keane uses a hybrid of  “keeping-up-with-the-Jones” and the “iPhone-gotta-have it” marketing methodology.   People buy since it is cool to have solar and because  their neighbor has it.  So, how does Keane get the “neighbor” to buy?  His company enlists community volunteers to encourage others to install solar.

Much to my surprise, it works.  Read on why.

The Proof is in the Pudding

In Spring 2012, the Company teamed up with Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) and  launched Solarize Connecticut, a four town solar campaign.   During the 20 week campaign the number of solar installations in every community nearly doubled compared to the previous 7 years.  Read Let’s Solarize  Solarize Connecticut, Phase 1 Report for more information.

Astonishingly “[a]bout 20% of those choosing solar under this model had never thought about acquiring solar power before,” according to SmartPower.

So, does Keane have the secret sauce? Watch the video or listen to the podcast above as Keane explains his marketing strategy and why people in the past haven’t purchased solar.  You won’t be disappointed.

 What About Me?

Check the website to find out if  a SmartPower’s program is in your area.  In the event the Company doesn’t have a current project in your area, contact the company to show your interest.

Join the Conversation:

•  Did you participate in the Connecticut program and if so, why did you ultimately purchase solar?
• Do you think the value proposition of solar  is being cool or simply an enlightened awareness of how to reduce energy consumption?

Pictures from SmartPower.

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• How To Choose a Solar Installer
• Coda: the Affordable Electric Car with a 125 mile Range

The post Affordable Residential Solar, the SmartPower Way. appeared first on Green Talk Podcast.

I was nervous prior to interviewing Jackson. However, after  I overheard her remark to a Chinese reporter about how much she liked her shoes and  then my brief introduction as a fellow  New Jerseyan, my nervousness melted away.  (And yes, we exchanged the “which exit” New Jersey joke.)  Jackson, despite her amazing career is humble, passionate, and simply a mom worried about her children.

Listen to the podcast interview below or the read the transcript. We were lucky to have her as our ” top environmental cop on the beat.”

Interview

Note, the interview had been edited to make it more readable.

Anna Hackman: Hi, this is Anna Hackman Green Talk and Green Sisterhood.   I’m here with Lisa Jackson, the former Head of the EPA. We’re at the US China Green Forum. What kind of outcome would you like to see from this forum?

Lisa Jackson: Well, it was so wonderful to meet all the folks here, because they’re interested in understanding how two consumer powerhouses: production on the China side, with a growing consumer group there… then, the consumerism that it makes our country great in many ways… can be used to influence a better outcome from the standpoint of the environment.

I encouraged a couple of things. First, don’t think only of the environment.   Think of sustainability principles in general because it’s broader than just air pollution or water pollution.  It’s also climate change.  It could also be making sure that labor issues or other issues of social justice are addressed, …and so, I’d like that discussion.

I think there was widespread agreement, that it’s access to information that makes a consumer powerful because once the consumer has that information, you can indeed move markets.  I think that that’s what I’d like to see.

Major Learning Experience as the Head of the EPA?

AH: Having dealt with the DEP in New Jersey, was that a major learning experience for you to go on to be the Head of the EPA?

LJ: Well remember, I worked at the EPA for almost 15 years and I started as a staff level scientist. So, I think there was an adjustment, but maybe not as much as someone who had never been around the federal environmental regime.

It was a huge honor and privilege to lead that agency, but Washington is different. Sadly in the last few years, politics has really become an issue when it comes to protecting the environment.   I think that’s sad because traditionally, it’s been very bi-partisan issue to recognize that you need an environmental cop on the beat and that you need to make sure that industry is policed, and that you have to set standards, but also enforce them.

Her Proudest Enacted Legislation?

AH: So, when you look back at your career and you could pinpoint just one legislation that you had enacted.   One that’s your favorite and the one most proud of, which one would that be?

LJ: Oh, one is hard. I have two kids.  I can never jut pick one, but I’ll try.

AH: Or two.

LJ: Alright. I’ll do two since you gave me permission. So, first we made the scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. That was the basis. It was a scientific finding based on research done by a myriad scientists across the United States and internationally…but it provides the basis for things like the President’s Clean Car rule that cuts pollution, billions of pounds of pollution that won’t enter the air and saves American consumers trillions of dollars.

My absolute favorite though, is probably the work on environmental justice and expanding the conversation on the environment. We tried to make it clear that the environment wasn’t just something for people who loved to camp or hike or fish or hunt, but it also included people in the inner cities.

It also included international communities that were working on clean energy and climate. It also includes communities of low income who often times are the ones who have the incinerator or the power plant or the landfill in their neighborhood.  Giving voice to those groups just as the groups here are doing on the issue of green consumerism, is really where the power and where the forward movement comes from.

AH: And what have you learn from those groups?

LJ:   Well, you learn to listen, and you learn to recognize two things. First, that all environmentalism begins locally somehow. People don’t… Most people don’t wake up in the morning and go, “You know what?  I think, I really want to fight for clean air today.”

They do it because they’ve seen the impact of dirty air or they’ve seen a favored fishing hole or favored place that they love to go become foul by pollution….and so, you have to respect that and recognize that. Environmental issues may have a common nexus, but they can be very, very localized.

The other was to recognize that often times and too often, communities are asked to choose between jobs and prosperity, and a healthy and clean environment. It never failed that when you met with communities, they would say that they wanted both.

Of course, they want jobs. Of course, they want new factories or new industry or new opportunity, they just don’t believe that in the year 2013, you have to choose to have pollution in order to have the jobs….and you don’t.

How Has Her Environmental Thinking Changed Over the Years?

AH: But you’ve had such a varied career.  When I saw in New Jersey that you worked on superfunds [sites.]  And you’ve done so many different things, how have you grown as an environmentalist since all the way back from when you started out at the EPA?  Where do you think you’ve really changed?

LJ: Oh, you see… I’ve broadened, and probably in more ways than one. My waist line as well, but… Sadly, but…

AH: Haven’t we all.

[chuckle]

LJ: At this age, you learn to recognize that many of the issues are interrelated. So, the superfund program is a great example. This is toxic waste sites, clean ups … a big issue in New Jersey as you know…a big issue in many communities around our country, but the issues are so much broader than that. There are issues now of energy, and how we generate energy, how we make sure we don’t waste energy because we have young people fighting for access to energy for us. How do we become energy secure?

Or you learn that, you might take care of a pollution problem in the air, but you want to make sure you’re not transferring that pollution to water.

I think a lot of about toxic chemicals, because in all this time, with all this progress we’ve made on air pollution, with the progress we’ve made on water pollution, we see continually that toxic materials in our products are still growing.

That there are some many things in our world that we don’t have the science yet to even know how it might be affecting our bodies.  Another thing that changed is I became a wife and a mother.   Those two things… mostly the motherhood, really changes a woman’s perspective because it suddenly becomes everything is about making sure that that child’s going to be as healthy and happy as possible.  The toxic chemicals that are in our bodies become theirs…and so, I think that also was a huge moment for me.

Lynn Miller,  Karen Lee, Diane McEachern, Lisa Jackson, and Anna Hackman

The Legislation She Wished Congress Had Passed:

AH: And when you look back, was there any law that you wished that… like the boyfriend that got away that you had wished that you pushed and pushed and pushed and wished that it got enacted, but it just didn’t?

LJ: Well, a couple of things. The President made such a push early on that we needed to make cleaner, greener energy the more profitable form of energy, and that was the clean energy legislation. It was trying to somehow put a price on climate change pollution, and right now, there is no price for it. You can emit as much as you want and that’s not a good thing.  Right?

We try to deal with plants before they’re built, but there are a lot of plants out there that are continuing to harm our climate in our atmosphere.

The second thing is toxins.  The President also supported our push for a new law in toxic chemicals and Senator Frank Lautenberg and others really worked hard on that.  I’m hopeful that we haven’t seen the end of that issue.   In some ways, other parts of the world are moving ahead of us and that would be a real shame.   As the consumer world that we are, we should be leading and making sure that the products we buy and use are safe.

Why the Resignation?

AH: Why the resignation? What happened?

LJ: It was time. Four years was and is an incredible honor. I went there at a time when the EPA was really pretty demoralized.  Scientists at the agency had been muzzled. There had been work on climate change and the dangers of climate change that had been stifled and not allowed to come out. People were really feeling pretty down.

So, my goal in going there was to right the ship, to put EPA back and work for the American people. Certainly there were times when I thought there was a lot of demagoguery around EPA’s role, but it felt like we moved forward on a range of issues from climate change to environmental justice, to eliminating issues of toxins.  Having done that, I feel like it’s time to move on.

Future Plans?

AH: So where is to move on? Are you coming back to New Jersey?

LJ: I have no announcements yet. Stay tuned. I’m still actually doing what I call a little bit of DC detoxing. I’m just withdrawing a little, focusing on the family, and that’s been a real blessing, but some time soon I’ll make some decisions.

AH: And sometimes things happen in mysterious ways.

LJ: They do. But, you know what? I can tell you. There’s not been a day that I don’t reflect on what a privilege it was to be the top environmental cop on the beat for the American people.

How to Increase the Number of Graduating Women Engineers?

AH: Now, this is my last question. It’s for all the ladies out there. I have a son who’s an engineer and he always complains that there’s very few engineers in the school that are women and you are. You went back and you got your masters. You have your undergrad in chemical engineering. What advice do you have for young girls to go into these fields?  You are such a role model.

LJ: Now you know, we see young women entering stem fields and especially engineering at a pretty good clip. We don’t see them graduating all the time.

So, the first is to support each other, and  to recognize you can feel a bit isolated.  Even if you have the numbers to continue to support each other because you might be in the majority in your freshman year,  by sophomore or junior you’ll find that you’re not anymore.

The second might sound contradictory but that’s to make the same kind of connections with your male classmates because the thing engineering teaches you, which is why I love it is as a degree, is that problems can be solved and they’re best solved by diverse teams of people.  So, you’re going to need to have those other perspectives and those other strengths in your team in order to be successful. If you do that you’ll have two big strong support systems to get you through.

AH: Thank you so much.

LJ: It’s been my pleasure.  Thank you.

Join the Conversation:

What thoughts do you have about her role as the EPA Administrator?

Special thanks to Diane of Big Green Purse for securing this interview for me.

Photos by Karen Lee of  ecokaren (My partner in crime at Green Sisterhood.)

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The post Lisa Jackson, Former EPA Admin Interview, Reflects on Her Role appeared first on Green Talk Podcast.

She is passionate about her mission but at the same time provides a behind the scenes look of  running a green company. There is no sugar coated drinks being offered in this interview.  Evanow served it  up straight.  Vodka style.

Key Takeaways.

Allison Evanow, CEO of Square One

Listed below are some key takeaways:

• Quality of the product is paramount. Square One products are made from organic rye and are fermented rather than distilled numerous times.  As Evanow explains, this method insures quality of the product at the beginning rather than distilling numerous times to improve taste.   Due to how the vodka is processes, she believes her product is unique in taste and provides the “wow” factor  to make a better cocktail.
• Don’t compromise.  When building her business, she wasn’t willing to compromise on her environmental ethics or the integrity of the product. (For the laundry list of sustainable achievements, read here.)
• Figure out your initial target market.  The Company’s strategy was to bring the culinary kitchen to the bar.  There was a small base of bartenders that embraced this type of culinary approach to cocktails.  The Company initially focused on selling to these bartenders, which helped to increase brand awareness of the product with the public.
• Think of how your customers can increase their enjoyment of your product.  To increase customer appreciation and enjoyment, the Company provides culinary recipes on their website from Evanow and a professional mixologist.
• Timing is everything. She launched the product just at the right time when the concept of green started to take off.
• Stay competitive.  They were first to market with all of their products.  She advises  be truly innovative, be ahead of the curve and be true to your business model.
• Find the silver lining in your business during the recession.   Due to the economy she was able to secure a lower packaging cost option.

In addition to the key points above, you will learn the lessons she learned while building the Company, how she balances being a mother, wife and business owner, and how she is dealt with the struggles of distribution.

After listening to the interview before publishing the video,  I realize how grateful I am  to green CEOs like Evanow who refuse to compromise their standards and still made their business work.  Because of them, the world is a much better place.

Join the Conversation:

• What takeaway did you learned from Evanow’s interview?
• Do you have any further questions for Evanow?
• Do you run a green business and if so, what challenges do you face?

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• Floral Biz, Organic Bouquet, Flourishes under Sustainable Biz Model
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The post Organic Vodka, Square One’s CEO Interview: Authenticity Creates Profits appeared first on Green Talk Podcast.

While I was conference at Ford Motor Company during the North American International Auto Show, Andrew Winston, a noted green business expert, presented a compelling Climate Change lecture.  As I sat there, I wondered  how can this urgency to reduce our carbon footprint be translated to create action in small and medium size businesses.

As a sustainability consultant, these are the same companies that I try to convince every day to change their lighting and heating units.  However, the answers are always the same.  No money in the budget.  The problem is the upfront costs associated with the upgrades despite the forecast of a reasonably quick return of the outlay.

In my frustration, I reached out to Winston after the conference and asked his advice during the interview.  He worked  in corporate strategy while at the Boston Consulting Group,  held management positions in strategy and marketing at Time Warner and MTV, and assisted various companies with their environmental strategy.  In addition, he is the author of “Green Recovery:  Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge From the Downturn On Top“ and co-authored “Green to Gold.”

Given his diverse background, I knew he could shed some light on how  medium and small businesses could embrace going green.

Small and Medium Size Businesses Must Do Their Part to Reduce Climate Change ==>Click to Tweet

Listen to his podcast interview below as he provides sound advice for all companies:

During the interview, Winston made the following key points:

• Some large companies used to think sustainability was expensive or  was corporate philanthropy.   It took decades for this corporate mindset to change.
• As for small businesses, Winston thinks they are more nimble and can innovate quicker than the Fortune 500 companies.
• Sustainability is not valued in the financial markets.  However, some private equity firms, such as KKR,  which buy 100 million dollar companies look at their environmental practices, innovations, and risks in determining their financial value.  So, the argument for sustainability in medium size companies would be seen as an enhancement.

The Bottom line- if there is a will, there is a way.  Simple steps that cost little or no money being the initial investment.

Join the Conversation:

• Are you an environmental champion at your business?  If so, how have you helped to spur innovation and environmental change at your business?
• If you are a consultant, how have you been able to convince upper management that being environmentally savvy will be profitable to the business?

Disclaimer:  Affiliate links for Winston’s two books.  

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The post Green Biz Expert Winston Advises How Biz Can Overcome Green Hurdles appeared first on Green Talk Podcast.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, not everything is so rosy Earth wise in the flower industry. Quite the contrary. Those unblemished roses come with a price of increased pesticide use, workers illnesses, low wages, and land infertility.  During GT’s interview with online retailer Organic Bouquet CEO Robert McLaughlin explains how his company’s sustainable practices has changed the flower industry for both the environment and workers.

Listen to the audio podcast or watch the video below.

The Current Flower Industry

The $40 billion flower industry is supported  by women.  (74% women, 26% men.)  They mostly buy flowers and plants for gifts.

During the interview, McLaughlin spoke about how poorly the workers are treated in the industry using an example of how some workers were charged  80% interest rate loans.   Sadly, he stated that due to pesticide use miscarriage has increased among the workers.

To make matter worse, in 2007, the Associated Press reported researchers’ findings of development delays among workers’ children.

“But researchers have found some disturbing data: The Harvard School of Public Health examined 72 children ages 7-8 in a flower-growing region of Ecuador whose mothers were exposed to pesticides during pregnancy and found they had developmental delays of up to four years on aptitude tests.”

In Columbia, one of the largest cut flower growing country, 65% of the workers are females.

The environment also suffers from the current flower industry.  The large influx of  pesticides, fungicides, and fumigants used to create perfect blooms can polluted water sources and neighboring lands.

So, it begs the question.  Should we continue to support an industry with such environmental and social issues?

The Flower Industry must put the workers & Planet 1st.<– Click to Tweet

Organic Bouquet Offers a New Flower Biz Model

The Company’s products are third party certified to insure environmental and social responsibility.  In fact,  sustainability standards are employed throughout the Company’s product line and company practices.   Even the packaging is sustainable.  However, not all the flowers are grown organically;  McLaughlin notes currently there aren’t enough flower farms in order for his Company to sell organic flowers exclusively. Given McLaughlin’s determination and passionate, an all organic products company will some day become a reality.

What you will learn in the video interview:

McLaughlin’s interview is compelling of how the current flower industry is no longer sustainable.  Listen to him explain the following:

• The damage the current flower industry is causing to the Earth
• The social and economic issues surrounding the industry especially the workers.
• How the Company products remain competitive with their competitors.
• Customer loyalty retention through their monthly deals and the Company’s Ecopoints.
• More about the sustainable standards employed for their packaging, products, carbon offsetting, and company practices.

How Organic Bouquet is Making the Green By  Being Green

In Part II of the video, McLaughlin will explain how his company has survived for over a decade with keeping to its sustainability principles.

Join the Conversation:

• Where you aware of the issues in the current flower industry?
• If so, how have your changed your buying behavior about flowers and plants?

Picture courtesy of Organic Bouquet.

Disclaimer:  I became an affiliate of Organic Bouquet since I believe in their mission.  GT receives a small portion of money from product sales.

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The post Sustainability in the Flower Industry Blooms Through Organic Bouquet appeared first on Green Talk Podcast.

As a recap, the first panel dealt with how to increase conservation education in the classroom through technology and outside learning experiences. The second panel kept with the same themes with a more in-depth discussion about how businesses can help support conservation education.  Be sure to watch the below video or listen to the podcast.

The panelists were:  Dr. Brian Davis, Vice President of Education and Training  of the Georgia Aquarium;  Daniel Strauss, Nature Conservancy LEAF program; Colleen Ryan, Keystone Center Participant and 8^th grade math teacher; Vicki Davis, technology teacher for grades 8-12 , editor of Cool Cat Teacher Blog, and co-founder of the Flat Classroom Project;  and Teresa Walsh , Public Affairs Manager for Georgia-Pacific’s Crossett, Arkansas, facility.

The panel discussion was an hour and chock full of insightful information.   I urge you to listen to the audio podcast.  The programs and business involvement discussion was outstanding.  For brevity, I will focus on the main points of each panelist.

Daniel Strauss, LEAF Program, Nature Conservancy:

Daniel Strauss, Nature Conservancy LEAF Program

The Nature Conservancy Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future (LEAF) works with environmentally themed urban high schools.  Strauss explained urban areas have typically been under-represented in environmental education.

As part of their program, the organization offers limited paid summer internships to juniors.  The internship exposes them to conservation work experience, life skills, and a first taste of a job.  Currently LEAF has twenty-two partner schools across the United States.  In addition, they have established a Facebook group educator network, professional development webinars and an annual retreat to increase collaboration and support for the teachers at partner schools.  One of the program’s long-term goals is to encourage the interning juniors to seek an environmental science career.

Vicki Davis, Technology educator

Vicki Davis

Davis is a proponent of teachers customizing the classroom especially through hands-on experiences.  In that vein, she started the Flint River Project, where her school’s high school students documented the river.  Some of the themes explored are river quality and studying invertebrates.  The project changes the students’ views of the area.

In addition, she allows her students to use 20% of their classroom time on personal interest projects. Such projects have included an animated recycling video, conservation of wildlife, and GPS project.

One of her main teaching tenets is for students to establish a “networking quotient” to find, mobilize and be part of the network that influences how people think.   Global learning through networking is the backbone of her teaching. Business involvement in the classroom through either virtual volunteering using technology or actual participation can help connect the students with the outside world.

Davis also advocates citizen science, which can be incorporated into all areas of a student curriculum such as language arts, math, or science.  Examples of citizen science projects include Frog Watch USA and the Shout Learning Project where the students gather data.

Colleen Ryan, 8^th Grade NY Math Teacher:

Colleen Ryan

Ryan was a participant at a Keystone workshop, which helps teachers to identify environmental issues as well as teach those issues in different content areas.  Over the past two years, Ryan’s mission has been to find ways to incorporate environmental issues into the mathematics classroom.  Ryan’s biggest challenge is to identify data and find ways to meet the rigors of the Common Core learning standards for 8^th grade mathematics.

She will be incorporating environmental issues when she teachers the unit on statistics and linear functions as well as a culminating project after the State exam.  Her hope is to teach her students how to make decisions based on data, interpret that data, and become critical thinkers.

Teresa Walsh, Georgia-Pacific Public Affairs Manager

The GP Crossett, Arkansas, facility offers the Water Ways Festival to area 4^th grade students.   The program focuses on water and teaches the children about conservation and stewardship of the environment.  They spend the day learning about water conservation and are divided into 12-14 student groups which rotate through various fun hands-on stations throughout the day.   A dozen other expert organizations participate in this program.

Teresa Walsh

In addition, the Crossett facility has an ongoing partnership with area schools. One of their programs, Girls Engaged in Engineering, was created by GP after schools expressed a need to encourage young girls to be interested in science and math.  The program is a monthly, voluntary weekend program open to girls in grades three through twelve where they participate in fun projects with volunteer GP engineers to expose them to the engineering field.

In addition, GP funds other school programs as well as providing time and leadership in the classroom, helping with various programs such as a drug awareness program or robotics class.

Her wish list of GP’s further involvement in the schools includes:  expanding successful Crossett programs outside the area, providing papermaking educational kits to the schools, building an outdoor classroom, and expanding her mill management leadership in the school to include an entrepreneurial program.

Dr.  Brian Davis, Vice President of Education and Training at Georgia Aquarium:

Georgia Aquarium educates students of all age levels from pre-K to college.  In addition, the Aquarium offers professional development for teachers.

The Aquarium’s educational advisory committee is a stellar example of utilizing the business and outside community to increase the viability of its education programs to the community.  It is comprised of outside educators, administrators, universities, and corporate representatives.  The group helps to vet out different programs and to connect the Aquarium with other entities or corporations that can enhance the programs.

Dr. Brian Davis

One of the programs the Aquarium is most proud of is its five-day teacher immersion program called Rivers to Reefs in which teachers learn about such topics as water quality and aquatic issues.

In summation, all the panelists stressed the need for a community based partnership among teachers, not- for- profits and businesses to teach our children about conservation and sustainability.  It truly takes a village.

Join in the Conversation:

• What successful outside community school sustainability and conservation involvement have you seen?
• How do you feel businesses can help to increase conservation and sustainability awareness?
• Do you feel schools are incorporating enough conservation and sustainability programs?

Disclosure: I was compensated by Georgia-Pacific for my time to moderate the panel, create the audio podcast, video, and write the recap of the panel discussion/  All opinions reflected in this post are my own.Similar Posts:

• Enhancing Classroom Sustainability. A Goal Set by Georgia-Pacific
• Why Great Teachers Quit. Farber Advises How to Stop the Exodus
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The post Conservation in Education. GP Hosted Panel Discusses How Biz Help appeared first on Green Talk Podcast.

Looptworks Upcycled Skirt. Pin Me!

Who says environmental clothing isn’t affordable and adorable? Obviously, you haven’t been to Looptworks website.  They takes excess materials left over in clothing manufacturing production and up-cycle them into funky designs. Did I mention price conscious as well?   What I love about Looptworks is they design their products around the remnants received not the other way around.  Waste reduction at its best.

Instead of boring you with my gushing and true admiration of the Company’s vision, I urge you to listen to co-founder, Scott Hamlin’s interview via video and podcast. (Spoiler alert:  Hamlin’s upcycle company is genius –Saving the Planet through design.)

Environmental Silver Lining

The NY Times reported in 2010 that 15 to 20% of the fabric used to produce clothing end up in landfills since it is cheaper to toss then recycle. From an environmental perspective, that’s a ton of waste bound to overcrowded landfills.   Upcycling clothing has such a smaller carbon and chemical footprint .  No growing, harvest, pesticides, transporting,  water consumption, manufacturing or dying.  Just pure cuteness.

Even despite the environmental aspect of throwing away the fabric,  Scott Hamlin, co-founder of the Company, explains in his video interview that the cost to dispose of the fabric is costly.   He personally knows.  At his prior company, he signed the checks for the fabric disposal.

Environmental Clothing with Pizzazz

Hamlin and partner in fabric rescue, Gary Peck, whip up amazing clothing and accessories from the upcycled material.  And we aren’t talking about boring, just stitch together yesterday type of look. The trim and details of a piece are born from what the Company receives.

Looptworks Martajam Skirt

Take a look at the Martajam Skirt pictured above (which I heart).  I love the zipper and insert of contrasting material.   Given the small amount of remnants received by the Company,   consumers often buy a “limited” edition of a product rather than the same old, same old everyone else is wearing.  Scott explains that many of the clothing are “numbered” editions.  Yep.  You can have a one of a kind limited edition skirt or top that your friends can die of green envy.

Looptworks’ Hoptu Laptop sleeve

The Company also makes upcycled gear from leftover neoprene or leather.   I wouldn’t be surprised if other companies get wind of Looptworks’ upcycle mode and leave care packages on their doorstep.

Looptworks Disruptive Business Model

I adore their “disruptive” business model as Hamlin describes the business.  Be sure to Listen to Part Two as Hamlin provide insights about how their business began, lessons learned and other insights into the Company’s business model.

Join the Conversation:

• Which one is your favorite item on Looptworks?
• Do you find the clothing stylish and would have no idea they were upcycled?
• Did you realize the amount of excess fabric going to landfills?
• Are you an upcycler yourself? Let us know what you upcycle.

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