3p Contributor: Amie Vaccaro
Recent Articles
S4 Breaks Trash Down to Component Atoms, Recombines Using Plasma
Since I’ve been covering Waste Management (WM) over the past few weeks, I couldn’t pass up this most recent news. Waste Management has created a joint venture with InEnTec (introduced previously on TriplePundit), called S4 Energy Solutions LLC, which will develop, market and operate plasma gasification facilities.
Last week they announced plans to develop a plasma gasification facility at Waste Management’s Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon. At first, this facility will process medical waste and other segregated waste streams. Prior to the joint venture, InEnTech’s technology has often been used to process chemical residuals. If it proves cost effective, the facility may also be used to process municipal solid waste (MSW). The result of the plasma gasification process is clean fuel and inert glass-like substance which can be used as a building material. The facility plans to be in operation by the end of the year, creating 28 jobs in the construction phase and 16 long term “green” jobs. Since S4 does not burn the trash, emissions “easily comply with all environmental regulations” including EPA standards according to InEnTec’s site.
How does it work?
Waste Management Leads with Green at Investor Meeting
WM Single Stream Recycling Facility
At today’s Waste Management Investor Summit, a 200 slide 4 hour presentation about all aspects of the business, I was in the minority. There were very few other women in the room, and I was the only representative of the media. Nearly every non-WM attendee was analyst or banker. And judging by their questions at the end of the report, none of them cared about green. So I was rare in that sense too. Given that setting, I was impressed by WM’s bold prioritization of sustainability. The tagline on every slide is “Think Green.” They are eagerly repositioning themselves as an environmental services provider rather than waste collector, and backing up that change with investments. Barry Caldwell, SVP of Public Affairs and Communications, candidly noted that WM used to make a wonderful profit hauling waste to the landfill and doing no more. And this shift to diversion is driven in large part by consumer demand for better solutions. And WM is still making money, so they must be doing something right. In addition to customers caring, WM is dedicated to green because they care (or at least a majority of the executive team must), and they see green as a growing trend which has already gained them trust and favor according to their brand research.
The Beauty of Planning Ahead: Waste Management at its Best
I’m here in Florida for Waste Management’s Industry Summit. The day kicked off with tours of Broward County Florida’s recycling facility (Reuters Recycling) and waste to energy facility (Wheelabrator South Broward). By no coincidence, this particular community has what is quite possibly the most advanced and integrated waste management system in the country. A resident of San Francisco, I was shocked to see that a county in Florida, of all places, might have a higher diversion rate. Turns out that in the mid-80s, Broward County noticed that landfills were scarce and filling fast and they would need an alternative plan. So they built two waste-to-energy facilities to avoid landfilling waste. Foresight. What a refreshing concept.
What’s in Store for Waste Management?
Ever since I was a small child I’ve wondered what happened to things when we threw them “away.” When I figured it out, I did all I could to prevent the tossing out of anything.
From the little experience I’ve had in the waste management industry in general, I’ve learned that landfill disposal can be very profitable, recycling can be profitable when played right but has tighter margins, and radical ideas like composting may not add to the bottom line at all, except to make your tree-hugging stakeholders happy. Knowing that, and knowing just how many of us there are producing tons of waste, I’ve always seen waste as a key problem area in need of attention and innovation.
It is for that reason that I have the good fortune of being able to attend Waste Management’s Industry Summit next week in Florida.
Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference
A feminist at heart (I ran women’s health workshops as an undergrad at Brown), I am looking forward to the Catalyst Conference held by Girls in Tech on Jan 26th at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. A recent Harvard Business Review article laments how only 1.5% of the world’s top 2000 performing companies are lead by female CEOs. Clearly some nurturing and leadership development is needed and that is exactly what I hope to find at the Catalyst Conference.
Review: 12 Tips for Ethical Marketing to the New Consumer
Chris Arnold’s new book Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer discusses how marketing must change to reach today’s consumers. If you are interested in any aspect of ethical marketing – Arnold covers product development and design, messaging, positioning and more – this is a recommended read.
Eco-ethical marketing requires creativity and an openness to experimentation and learning from failure. While Arnold admits, “This book is no rule book,” here are 12 key tips from the book:
- People beats planet. Between people and planet, consumers are more likely to pay more for perceived human benefits, such as Fair Trade or proceeds benefiting charity, than environmental benefits, such as organic or low carbon footprint. Community-based values are particularly compelling.
- Values are a must. “Consumers are looking for the ethos behind the brand…consumers want to know that a company isn’t just driven by money,” Arnold states. Gone are the days when profit as sole motivator could fly.
- Heartstrings win over logic. Consumers respond to emotional angles more than rational ones. Luckily, ethical and environmental aspects can be highly emotive, so make sure to position them that way.
- Honesty is king. Make an honest gesture about where you are – even if you’re still working to become green – people will appreciate your honesty. For God’s sake, don’t greenwash.
- Get creative with your packaging. Make your product’s packaging a selling point, or design a second life into the packaging so that consumers can continue to use the package for another purpose once they get it home. (While you’re at it, design a second life for your product.)
Live Near a Waterway? HydroVolts Can Power Your Home
Hydrovolts develops modular hydrikinetic turbines for use in canals & other waterways
At Tuesday’s Academy Awards of Cleantech (The Cleantech Open), attendees were all abuzz about Seattle-based HydroVolts, winner of the $20,000 Cleantech Open sustainability prize. HydroVolts has created a floating in-stream hydrokinetic turbine that generates distributed renewable energy anywhere around the world. Hydrovolts’ vision is to provide renewable energy to millions of people around the world who live near water. The turbines are designed to drop into moving water, such as irrigation canals, spillways, tidal currents, wastewater flows, streams, rivers and other waterways. Energy is collected from the force of moving water rather than pressure, operating like an underwater paddlewheel, so the turbine is safe for fish, unobtrusive, non-polluting and of course, renewable. Each turbine can power 1 to 10 homes along the waterway and is about the size and cost of a small car. The technology is modular, scalable and simple to deploy. Check out this video to learn more.
Join me at the Academy Awards of Cleantech
This year’s Cleantech Open Awards Gala (Tues Nov 17th in San Francisco) is not to be missed. Along with Bill Roth, I’ll be covering the event for TriplePundit. Last year’s event was phenomenal and this year promises to be bigger and better.
The Cleantech Open launched in 2006 and has grown tremendously since. The mission is to “find, fund and foster the big ideas” that address today’s toughest challenges and to date 125 cleantech start-ups have benefited from the organization’s funding and resources. A tribute to the the organization’s strength in finding and nurturing high potential companies, Cleantech Open startups have raised $130 million in private funding, and have created 500 jobs to date. Each year the quality of the applicants has grown as well — a good sign for a still quite nascent industry.
This year’s gala brings together finalists from three Cleantech Open regions – California, Pacific Northwest, and Rocky Mountain - to select a winner, who will receive $250,000 in cash and services. From the all-star line-up of contending start-ups I’m excited to learn more about:
- How Green Lite Motors commuter vehicle gets 100 miles per gallon
- How Micromidas converts raw sewage into biodegradable plastic
- How SunTrac Solar makes a solar hot water heater which captures 50 to 70% of solar energy
- How Alphabet Energy plans to convert waste energy into electricity at low cost
- How tru2earth’s Life Cycle Roof Tile made of recycled plastic bottles is as cheap as asphalt and captures rainwater
- Plus interact with 120 cleantech companies at the pre-gala expo. Register here.
Who are you rooting for?
Super Heroes of Green Building
With unprecedented legislation, forward-thinking design and standards, and many active supporters, one might say that California is a leader in the green building charge. Friday’s 3rd Annual Green Building Super Heroes Award Gala, hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council – Northern California Chapter (USGBC-NCC), honored the achievements of the green building community. Eight hundred people gathered for the event, including an illustrious cast of politicians including Nancy Pelosi, and green building all-stars like Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the USGBC.
This year’s awards gala was held in the LEED Platinum certified California Academy of Sciences (my most favoritest building ever, and a shining example of California leading the charge). The Academy is the world’s largest public Platinum-rated building, and also the world’s greenest museum. It boasts 1.7 million native plants planted on the 2.5 acre living roof. Not too shockingly, it took 10 years and $500 million to develop.
Let’s Talk About Failure: Lessons to Learn from FailCon
I find people most endearing when they speak with humility and honesty about things they’d rather not have you know. FailCon was an amazing day of just that – successful people describing how they failed, rather than how great they are. Here I’ll summarize my key learnings on running a successful start-up for all of you who weren’t able to attend. (Also check out #failcon on twitter for more).
- Don’t build your resume. You screwed your resume up when you became an entrepreneur, so you might as well just go for it. Who cares what the next person is going to think. ~Mark Pincus, Zynga (Love this one!)
- We are living in a time and place where there is a high reward for success and high social acceptance of failure. We call this Boom Town. Take advantage of it. ~ Thor Muller and Lane Becker, Get Satisfaction
- Don’t get funding too frequently, or too much. This made the team very lazy. The coolest things we’ve done have been when we’ve been close to running out of cash. There’s something about being in a tight spot that you have to innovate out of. ~Ali Moiz, Peanut Labs
- Get empathy into your business. Spend time with your target customers, learn about their behavior and motivations, connect these insights to your business objectives. ~Brandon Schauer, Adaptive Path
Five Start-up Mistakes Not to Make, Courtesy of Meebo
I’m writing from FailCon today which is shaping up to be an excellent use of a Tuesday. I have a lot of opinions about conferences and two of the things I look for in a conference are that speakers are forced to prepare relevant, thoughtful content beforehand. And the dress is casual. FailCon meets both of these needs. Kudos!
Seth Sternberg and Sandy Jan, co-founders of Meebo revealed five mistakes they made.
1) Don’t try to do it all on your own. You need co-founders.
2) Don’t team up only with people like you. People have a tendency to attract similar people with similar skill sets, which can greatly hurt a team. Find people whose skills complement yours.
A Conference on Failure: Tell Us Something You Don’t Want Us To Know
Silicon Valley is filled with swagger. It is also one of the best places on the planet to fail. Very few start-ups succeed and failing seems to be encouraged. Some investors will only invest in entrepreneurs who have failed at least twice. The more failures under your belt, the better your chance of success at the next one. But what can we learn from failures? Will a tale of failure prevent my start-up from sharing the same fate? I’ll find out.
Tomorrow I’ll be attending SNAP Summit’s FailCon, which is billed as the first conference to ask successful folks what went wrong and how they fixed it. The conference is produced by Cassie Phillips who said the idea was a joke at first in response to the way “speakers love to rattle on about big successes, and brush over their mistakes.” The conference features CEOs and other leaders from companies including Meebo, Evernote, Fast Company, Slide, Zynga, Aardvark and more.
Tips to Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners from BizTechDay
After two full days of panels, keynotes, and hallway conversations at BizTechDay, I collected the following tips and comments–mostly paraphrased–that I think will be most useful to entrepreneurs and small business owners. (See also my post on Tim Ferriss’ tweeting style and Mark O’Leary’s lessons to small businesses).
On marketing
- Claim your local business listing on Google for free at google.com/lbc. ~Ryan Hayward, Product Manager, Google Local Business Center
- Unlock your business’ Yelp page at www.yelp.com/business (only takes 5-10 minutes). And don’t abandon your social media. ~Michelle Broderick, Marketing Director, Yelp
- Try using Facebook instead of a newsletter so you can deliver nuggets of information to your fans and create conversations around your brand. Set up custom tabs on your page to speak to different audiences. More than anything, make your Facebook page fun. ~Hazel Grace, Founder, Socialbees
- Use a handful of social networking sites. Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg.com watches a number of early-adopters to see what tools they use and then makes bets about which will become big by getting involved
- Social media is here to stay. Be authentic and real. ~Porter Gale, VP Marketing at Virgin America
- A useful and attractive website is essential. Yola has a number of resources to help you get started by building a free website
How to Tweet Like Tim Ferriss
I’m a huge Tim Ferriss fan and I don’t think I’m alone. He spoke on two panels at BizTechDay. Working 4 hour weeks is pretty much anathema to starting a small business, and I get the sense that Ferriss himself works more than 4 hours per week. Ferriss, author of New York Times best-selling 4-Hour Workweek, angel investor and tech start-up advisor, introduced himself as “about 14 minutes into my 15 minutes of fame.” In any case, he imbued some priceless nuggets of wisdom I’ve compiled here. They may not be sustainability focused, but this applies just as well to someone getting out a green message as it does to someone selling widgets.
How to use Twitter
- Ferriss uses twitter for 3 things
- To communicate day to day bits of info that are not relevant for his blog
- As a microblogging tool to convey useful resources to his audience of 60,000+ followers
- For polling and getting feedback from the broader world (i.e. market research)
- Keep it fun. It should not feel like work. And if you’re tweeting and using other social media for business reasons, you better have a measurable output
- Don’t tweet when angry or drunk. Even if you delete a tweet, it doesn’t disappear
- Posting a pic or a video gets massive click through rates (if you’re Tim Ferriss)
- Ferriss uses direct message rather than @replies to respond
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