A new greener economy will be shaped by both large and small businesses. Our StartUp category, usually published on Friday as part of the Startup Friday theme features new companies, small entrepreneurs, and sometimes just hair brained business ideas all of which are aimed at solving some kind of environmental of social problem – through business. Enjoy.
Posted by Paul S March 5th, 2010 
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For most people without a washer and dryer, there are three choices: carry your dirty stuff to the local laundromat, drive if it’s too much to carry, or pay someone to pickup and deliver it. For all of these, there are both a business and an environmental opportunity: Bikes.
Yes, as mentioned recently in Springwise, Argentina based Laundry Company has taken advantage of the increasing ability of bikes to carry larger loads, and is now offering a service that picks your laundry up and drops it off, all via a 3 wheel cargo bike (or old fashioned foot power) at no extra charge.
It’s not just a gimmick. Laundry Company provides a reusable fabric based laundry bag and its machines and detergent are designed to be lower impact, an energy savings of 40 percent. The company also neutralizes it carbon footprint via tree planting.
Posted by Jace Shoemaker-Galloway March 5th, 2010 View Comments
Let’s face it. Chances are pretty good you have an old t-shirt in your dresser that has seen better days, but for whatever reason, you just can’t seem to let it go. Whether it has sentimental value or is a one-of-a-kind vintage tee, if you can’t part with that shirt, a new company, that is combining recycling with a mission, can put it to use.
While staring at a pile of old t-shirts in her Manhattan apartment and with no room to spare, Jess Lin wanted to make “something usable” out of all those shirts. After developing a concept, Lin founded the Hello Rewind Project. Hello Rewind upcycles old t-shirts into a one-of-a-kind usable product while providing help and assistance to sex trafficking survivors in New York City.
Many people may be surprised to learn that sex trafficking occurs in the United States. In fact, this form of modern-day slavery has been reported in all 50 states. In 2004, the United States Department of Justice estimated that up to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States annually. While most of the victims are women, men and children are also victims.
Posted by Daniel Winokur March 5th, 2010 View Comments
Like LL Bean? Everyone knows how great its clothes are. Sure, they’re not known for being terribly stylish — but there’s something comforting about that Northeastern, down-homey functionality and durability. Just the right thing for a weekend working on the farm, taking a hike, or clearing brush.
Or what about PACT? Recently profiled by MC O’Connor in another Startup Friday post, PACT’s gained many fans with its offbeat, half sexy, half cheeky approach to sustainably sourced underwear. It’s the kind of thing for sustainability geeks to wear when trying to be cool and sustainable at the same time.
But PACT doesn’t exactly communicate burly robustness, and you’ll be hard pressed to find many sustainable items at the LL Bean online store. Enter Ramblers Way Farm, a new apparel venture from the founders of Tom’s of Maine, Tom and Kate Chappell. Specializing in all types of base-layer clothing, Ramblers makes their products out of sustainably-produced wool, which is farmed and processed domestically, rather than relying on overseas facilities.
Posted by Paul S February 26th, 2010 View Comments
Microfinance, something now fairly common and even mainstream in 2010, was a novel concept when we first wrote about Kiva in 2005. At that time, you could only lend to people in Uganda. Now you can lend to people around the world, and in a clear sign microfinance has moved beyond being only about helping those in developing countries, it now includes North America.
Entrepreneurs needing funding is a universal thing, it seems.
The model has shifted since then, in useful ways:
Posted by 3p Guest Author February 26th, 2010 View Comments
Ed Note: This is the second in a handful of guest posts we felt worth publishing on behalf of Chevron. Although we have mixed feelings about many aspects of the oil industry, Chevron’s sponsorship of today’s cleantech open speaks to their willingness to enter into a productive dialog with entrepreneurs building a new energy economy.
By Jim Davis, President, Chevron Energy Solution
The “Valley of Death” is a well known concept in the business startup and technology community. It’s the place where good ideas go to die. If small businesses are the lifeblood of economic growth and job creation, entrepreneurs and startup companies are the marrow. While the entrepreneurial path has never been easy, it has become even tougher in today’s economic climate.
Let me give you an example of the challenges for clean technology entrepreneurs that I see every day. In a business such as ours, which is “technology agnostic” in the sense that we aren’t tied to any one manufacturer or product, innovation and access to new technology are critical success factors.
Posted by Paul S February 19th, 2010 View Comments
In our increasingly crowded world, there are many schools of thought as to how and where to fit all those people. Where do they live? Where is their food grown? And particularly vexing, where do they work? Smart urban design is fast becoming a must, around the world.
You could just keep building upward, sprawling outward, or even building underground, but what about on the water?
Posted by Bill DiBenedetto February 19th, 2010 View Comments
A small San Francisco startup, Wind+Wing Technologies, wants to take us back to the future with its concept for ferries equipped with carbon composite wings as sails, an idea that is also taking hold in a different form for ocean cargo vessels. Posted by Paul S February 12th, 2010 View Comments
The subject of where our energy, food, and fuel comes from is frequently contentious.
With just about all the options, there’s a down side: environmental effects, lack of infrastructure, cost as compared to current cheap options, the need to transport long distances, shifted energy burden location from vehicles to power plants or inability to scale. Each camp claims it has the solution, and much posturing happens by politicians of all persuasions, frequently for little more than pleasing their base.
But there’s a company I came across recently, San Juan Bioenergy, that deftly sidesteps all these issues, and is already proving its sustainable business model. It’s doing so by being many things in one place: A food, fuel, heat, and energy producer. And it produces these products for local consumption.
How?
Posted by RP Siegel February 12th, 2010 View Comments
The Hitachi Foundation recently announced that it is accepting applications for the Yoshiyama Award, which seeks young entrepreneurs, between the ages of 18 and 29 that are “focusing on for-profit businesses that are intentional about making a difference in American society in addressing poverty.”
Applicants must be “operating viable businesses that create jobs, supply goods or services, or use internal management practices that offer low-wealth individuals in America a leg up.”
“We are a foundation focused on America,” says Foundation CEO Barbara Dyer. “While there are critical challenges around the globe, we have our share right in our own back yard. The fast-growing field of social entrepreneurship has shown us the power of innovation in addressing global poverty and environmental degradation. We believe that there are compelling problems here and hope to shine a spotlight on the young entrepreneurs that are combining social innovation and sound business practices to address them.”
Posted by Bill Roth February 10th, 2010 View Comments
I have fallen in love, again! Yesterday I wrote about Amanda West, an entrepreneur that has created the first healthy fast food restaurant. My heart belongs to the entrepreneurs and businesses across America figuring out how to grow revenues by selling products that are good for our people and our planet. My newest love interest is a company called INDIGOGreen created by Liberty Phoenix Lord and Mike Amish. It’s a hardware store. In practice, it is an educational/engagement center helping the people of Gainesville, Florida, figure out how to live a healthier life.
As a business person let me cut to the numbers: “INDIGOGreen has been extremely well received by our community. Our revenues have doubled even in this depressed economy,” Liberty proudly notes.
The company’s business success is representative of two best practices I call “Know it, Embrace it” and “Prove it, Conclusively” identified in my book, The Secret Green Sauce that profiles companies like INDIGOGreen that are growing green revenues. Here’s what their website says to its customers about figuring out what to buy: “Green is very difficult to define.” That very honest admission is supported by the market research I’ve seen documenting:
Posted by Sarah Lozanova February 9th, 2010 View Comments
I attended the State of Green Business Forum today in Chicago, hosted by the Greener World Media. It was an opportunity for industry experts and leaders to share insights and observations on this dynamic topic. Here are some of the ideas and themes that were raised at this event, although it is certainly not an exhaustive list:
Resources are numerous, but difficult to access
Between local, state, and federal programs, there are numerous grants, low interest loans, job training programs, and tax credits available both in Chicago and nationally. It can, however, be difficult to identify the resources and know how to utilize programs. Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Environment said today, “The resources are there. We just haven’t aligned them for when a business comes to town.” She would like the city to be able to say, “We are open for businesses and here are the resources we have…”
Posted by Nick Aster February 5th, 2010 View Comments
With Asian Carp knocking on the door and following decades of ecosystemic collapse, the Great Lakes’ once thriving fishery business is a shadow of its former glory. The Friday Night Fish Fry, a Wisconsin tradition, is now more often imported cod rather than the lake perch or other local varieties that made it famous.
Though it may take a hundred years before some kind of stability returns to the lakes (who knows, maybe the carp will become a new local delicacy), local entrepreneurs can still see an opportunity to satisfy demand and tradition while practicing restorative techniques on both economy and ecology. Sweet Water Organics operates out of a massive dis-used industrial facility on the south side of Milwaukee and produces both fish and vegetables in a “three-tiered, aquaponic, bio-intensive fish-vegetable garden.” The company is the first commercial extension of Growing Power founder Will Allen’s urban farming concepts.
Here’s a quick video that will tell you more than I can write….
Posted by Paul S February 5th, 2010 View Comments
Opening a restaurant is a dicey proposition. Even more so in this shaky economy. You have to be part masochist, part trend rider/creator. A keen intuition for what’s missing in the market, and how to serve it well, at a price people are willing to pay, repeatedly, is a must.
Various models have been tried over the years, including pay what you will and even turning the tables, so to speak, choosing who gets the privilege of eating at the restaurant.
Mission Street Food has taken another route, arguably a smarter one for these times: They borrow another restaurant’s space two nights a week, feature guest chefs and donate the profits to charitable organizations. This minimizes overhead while giving patrons an incentive to eat out that is more than just for their own pleasure, further justifying them spending their money there.
But it’s Mission Street Food’s recent announcement of seeking to create a co-op style full time restaurant that highlights a key advantage to the model:
Posted by Smith School of Business February 5th, 2010 View Comments
By John Comberiate
Sustainability, green technology and community impact are all hot right now. It’s easy to promote these ideas in business and agree that they’re important. What’s not easy is actually implementing new business plans devoted to them. Taking it a step further, it’s even harder to train the next generation of entrepreneurs so that they have the knowledge, skills and direction to make it happen. At last week’s StartUp Scramble D.C. University Challenge, a frantic three day event for young entrepreneurs, this important need was successfully met.
Scramble!
The idea of the Scramble was to take a coalition of young business enthusiasts from DC area universities (American, Catholic, George Mason, Georgetown, Howard, George Washington and the University of Maryland), lock them in a building with consultants and advisers and churn out detailed plans for sustainable startups. The goal was to start with dreams and forge them through the difficult process of refining and retooling until a clear, elaborate and concise plan of action was produced.
Austin: Mar. 12-16
South By Southwest - Join us at the biggest interactive media conference of the year. 3p will be involved in several events during the conference, please follow us on twitter to find out more.
NY: Mar. 15-16
Corporate Citizenship 2010 - Join The Economist in addressing the role and responsibility of business in relation to major international issues.
NY: Mar. 24
FT Investing in a Sustainable Future - Learn how investors are using new techniques to generate returns on responsible investments and hear about the latest trends in CSR activities.
SF: Apr. 14-16
Navigating the American Carbon World - Looking at the status of climate policy in 2010 and how climate initiatives will move forward with or without new policy.
Chicago Apr. 28-29
LCA Sustainable Supply Chain USA How To Measure, Prioritize And Reduce Social And Environmental Impacts In The Most Effective Manner
April 28-30
SF: Social Enterprise Summit/World Forum
SF: May 20-21
Microfinance USA 2010 - The place where microfinance practitioners, investors, and enthusiasts meet.
July 29-30
GRI Certified Sustainability Reporting Course - Get the tools needed to fully assess the sustainability of business activities and to reduce the negative impacts of day-to-day operations.
LA: Sept. 1-2
Women in Green Forum - Recognizing the achievements of women across the vast range of environmental industry sectors.
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