Social Enterprise, Social Entrepreneurship

We introduced you to RecycleBank back in February, but there’s new coverage in a recent Forbes article that’s worth checking out. To sum up – RecycleBank is sheer genius in terms of capturing the idea of the win-win-win situation. People get paid to recycle and are given rewards, not in cash, but it gift cards [...]

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Getting endorsements by major companies is not as easy as one might think (though considerable easier thatn winning the Tour de France). What’s harder is managing ones relationships with these companies while managing to take an effective stance on corporate social responsibility. Lance Armstrong appears to be doing both. Forbes has the details on how [...]

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Here’s a sweet article from the FT to get your Monday rolling (link here). The gist is this – addressing global warming and the host of other environmental problems we face represents, quite possibly, the biggest business opportunity in history. Consider the rate at which green technology and other ecological solutions are being adressed in [...]

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As reported on Worldchanging, San Francisco’s New Resources Bank opened up yesterday with a wide variety of financial offerings focused primarily toward individuals and enterprises with a green or social mission in their business operations. Joel Makower reports that this is a logical step for banks, traditionally the most conservative of financial institutions, to finally [...]

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Despite government incentives and a known payback period, many companies still find the startup costs associated with going solar to be prohibitive. A group called “Developing Energy Efficient Roof Systems” has emerged to challenge that concept. Starting with a major General Motors facility in southern California, they have assumed all the financing, risks, and installation [...]

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Fair trade coffee is now a household word, but why not fair trade soccer balls? Although sports gear manufacturing may not impact as many people as the coffee industry, it’s a highly visible part of culture the world over with kids of all economic backgrounds involved in sports in one way or another. Making a [...]

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For me, some of the most interesting marketing news this year has been the declaration of war between the big retailers for the organic food market, both in the States and the U.K. AdAge kicked off the campaign in mid July with an article about Wal Mart’s multimillion-dollar campaign “focused on its new organic food [...]

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According to an article in Seed Magazine, indoor urban aquaculture in the middle of New York City could be as productive as current fish-farming techniques with better health results for both people and the environment. A test system in Brooklyn is farming thousands of Tilapia succesfully while using a bacteriological system to handle the fishes’ [...]

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Before I started writing about sustainability, I used to take on freelance work as a language, public relations and corporate communications coach for Spanish executives in a wide range of sectors, from tourism to manufacturing. I helped them negotiate contracts with foreign partners, compete for high-level positions in multinational corporations and survive foreign takeovers of [...]

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In a remarkable bid to preserve what’s left of Chinese forests, the government has begun raising the price of chopsticks. It started with a 5% tax locally, and evidentally has resulted in 30% higher prices for disposable chopsticks in Japan. Though such abrupt changes may cause momentary disruption, Japan, who import almost 100% of their [...]

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Without getting into the tragedy that toothpaste will no longer be allowed in carry on luggage on airplanes, I’ve just been sent a press release from Eco-Dent who proclaim that their Toothpowder product is, in fact, legal in hand luggage. Iv’e used their product before, and it’s actually pretty neat. Still, I’m not 100% sure [...]

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Worldchanging points to a great article outlining the massive demand for solar water heaters in China. It’s a perfect example of the entrepreneurial opportuities that await in China – a country growing so rapidly it’s blinding, but were environmental consiousness is finally starting to sink in at a level where leapfrog technology, like solar heaters, [...]

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Paul Sheldon of Presidio sent in this photo of his Bio-Beetle rental in Los Angeles last weekend. Paul reports that the ride was smooth and came complete with pamphlets to hand out to other drivers (does this remind you of a certain South Park episode?). At any rate, Bio-Beetle looks like a business off to [...]

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When I was at Ecosa, one of the coolest projects we did was a redesign of ink cartridge packaging, which is absurdly wasteful. In many cases it took up more plastic than the cartridge itself. We learned that this was a theft-prevention measure as, amazingly, they were the number one theft item at the Staples [...]

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Entreplist points us to an interesting challenge called the BiD Challenge 2006. The €150,000 start-up-money prize will be awarded to whoever best develops a plan that reduces poverty while creating an income positive business. THe BiD have a deadline of March 20th, but only require a 3-page plan. More on the site.

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Ethanol may not be the perfect solution to our environmental and oil-based woes, but it’s probably better than what we’ve got now. Either way, Ethanol is taking off, and people are eager to cash in on this new cash crop. In South Africa a firm called Ethanol Africa is investing a whopping $1 Billion on [...]

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Looking for some Entrepreneurial Inspiration? EcoHome Improvement, the first store of its kind in the East Bay (Oakland & Berkeley, CA), will offer ecological and healthy home paints, flooring and kitchen remodeling materials. The store is being launched by recent Presidio grad Taja di Leonardi. “The store is already receiving a significant amount of calls [...]

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Skye Creative’s Shea Gunther has just launched a pretty nifty new blog with a focus on entrepreneurship in an ecoconsious manner. The content is great, and his recent “blog-a-thon” is worth checking out as well.

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Looking for something fun to do this summer? Why not go on a bike tour in Oregon? Why not make it more than a bike tour and visit permacultural farms, check out local economic programs, and meet a whole bunch of interesting folks along the way? Sustainable Energy in Motion offers one to two week [...]

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Fair Trade First is another great company idea. (website here). Most people are familiar with the idea of “Fair Trade Coffee” wherin coffee buyers are ensured that their cofee was grown in a sustainable manner and that decent wages were paid to the workers. Well, there’s a lot more than coffee out there, and this [...]

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Global Trends Blog PSFK has an offer to help 25 entreprenures gain access to a “speed-investing” session in the next few weeks in New York. The idea is that you submit a proposal in 300 words or less about what you would do with a potential investment. If selected as an applicant, you get 5 [...]

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Here’s a nice little piece of entrepreneurship: Capitalize on people’s desire to be proud of the investment they’ve made in a fuel-efficient vehicle. MPGStick sells little stickers (recycled?) that you can apply to your vehicle boasting of 30+, 40+, or 60+ miles-per-gallon efficiency. Pointless vanity? In the sense that it might instill envy in others, [...]

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Most saavy internet users with a knack for sustainability are familiar with the blog treehugger.com. That popularity is testament to a very good, very well excecuted idea: to push sustainability mainstream via an entertaining and thought provoking piece of media – and in the process, build a successful small business. How’s Graham do it? The [...]

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I got a press release from a UK retailer called “By Nature” the other day. Like Vivavi, By Nature seeks to satisfy the desire for quality, fashionable goods while maintaining high ecological and ethical standards. Their use of organic cotton, in particular, underscores a proactive stance to make a difference in the market – as [...]

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The Ergosphere is a great blog I discovered recently with some rock solid thinking about the petroleum economy. Recently, a post on continued high gas prices got my attention (post here). If indeed Americans have their heads so far in the sand that they won’t do a thing to change their behavior until economic disaster [...]

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Elizabeth U reports on some great developments in Oregon – Burgerville is a fast food chain in Southern WA and Northern OR that sources all ingredients locally and in season (fish & chips only when Halibut is in season, berry milkshakes when the berries are in season, etc) and now they’ve committed to 100% wind [...]

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In a shining example that going green can also mean going with the best of design, Chris Parlette’s fabulous Berkeley bungalow expresses the best of both sentiments. Bamboo flooring, recycled lumber, solar power partly paid for by state incentives… all wrapped up in a super hip home that, frankly, I wish I had! To me, [...]

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Recycle for US is a new, industry funded group that will pay cash for old cell phones. Phones that are still usable are sold to organizations and secondary markets (much in the spirit of Retro Box) and those that cannot be reused are recycled. Consumers ditch an amazing 10 million phones per year representing an [...]

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Is it possible to maximize profits and find deep spiritual meaning in our work at the same time? A new book written by Peter and Monika Mitchell Ressler, a husband and wife from New York called Spiritual Capitalism: What the FDNY Taught Wall Street About Money, offers answers to that question with bold new voices [...]

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An excellent new online news resource for non profit directors and social entrepreneurs – the Social Enterprise Reporter – recently launched. If you’re interested in that area, you can subscribe to their newsletter or get more on their website. Either way, the site offers some great original articles.

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