Holiday cheer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.