Heart of Green

Love Wins Party

You are invited to the festive Love Wins gala with Van Jones, Julia Butterfly Hill and Seane Corn benefiting the Engage Network and featuring cocktail receptions, a delicious organic dinner, live music, dancing, performances by Michelle Shocked, interactive videos, cupcakes, sparkling wine, hula hoopers, an amazing silent auction including a trip to visit Luna with Julia, and other love-filled eco-friendly surprises.

LOVE WINS
An evening with Van Jones, Julia Butterfly Hill, Seane Corn
and benefit for the Engage Network

www.engagenet.org/lovewins

WHEN:
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
5:30 pm    VIP Reception with Honorary Hosts
6:00 pm    Pre-Event Reception
7:15 pm    Delicious Dinner, Program & Live Music

WHERE:
The Bently Reserve
301 Battery Street
San Francisco CA

HONORARY HOSTS:
Van Jones
Julia Butterfly Hill
Seane Corn

HOST COMMITTEE:
Katchie Ananda, Michael Anders, Josh Becker, Amber Marie & Christopher Bently, Andrew Blau, Lisa Conte, Tim Dale, Amy Darland, Ari Derfel, Oronto Douglas, Eric Fenster, Lindsay Firth, Alissa Hauser, Hala Hijazi, Marion Hunt, Jonna Hunter, Taj James, Dorka Keehn, Kerri Kelly, Danny Kennedy, Hala Khouri, Lauren Klein, Michael Klein, Roxanne Klein, Laura Loescher, Monica Maduro, Marianne Manilov, Anna Hawken McKay & Rob McKay, Ina Pockrass, Erin Potts, Rose Pritzker, Katie Redford, Paul Saccone, Suzanne Sterling, Joslin Van Arsdale, Elissa Van Deursen, Tom Van Dyck, Francesca Vietor, Nadine Weil

FEATURING:

• Honorary Hosts
• Cocktail Receptions with Organic Vintners Cava sparkling wine
• Organic Dinner by Back To Earth
• Videos
• Performances by singer Michelle Shocked
• Silent Auction including trip to visit Luna with Julia Butterfly Hill
• VIP Eco-Gifts
  
• Live Music & Dancing
• Entertainers, Hula Hoopers
• An Eco-Friendly Party

DRESS CODE:
Cocktail Attire or Luxury Eco

TICKETS:
All proceeds benefit the nonprofit Engage Network
Individual Tickets:
$250 Community
$250 2-for-1 Love Wins special for limited time
$500 VIP with special VIP reception, VIP Gifts

Tables:
$2,500 - 8 regular, 2 VIP, recognition
$5,000 - 10 seats, all VIP with premier seating, recognition
$10,000 - 10 seats, all VIP, most premier, recognition, seating with Van, Julia or Seane at your table

RSVP:
Reserve your spot online at www.engagenet.org/lovewins
or Call 510.610.0506

Special Thanks:
Frey Vineyards, Organic Vintners, Coracao Confections, Green Carpet Limo, EO, Peace Love & Cupcakes, To-Go Ware, Heart of Green, Forty Oaks Farm,
International Orange, New Leaf Paper, Reed's Ginger Brew, New Belgium Brewing Co,  GreenerPrinter

About Seane Corn:
Seane Corn is an internationally-celebrated yoga instructor known for her passionate, dynamic and inspirational style of teaching that incorporates both the physical and spiritual aspects of the yoga practice. Seane has been on the covers of Yoga Journal, Nike Goddess, Inner Vision and Healing, Retreat and Spa Magazine and has been featured in other magazines including Glamour, Fitness, Self and Allure.  Seane serves as the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS and is the resident yoga expert for Dr. Caroline Myss's web site.  www.seanecorn.com and www.offthematintotheworld.org

About Julia Butterfly Hill:
Julia Butterfly Hill brought international attention to the plight of the world’s last remaining ancient forests in 1997 when she climbed up 180 feet into a 1000-year-old redwood tree. Her historic 738-day crusade against environmental destruction caused by clear-cutting ancient redwoods culminated with a negotiated agreement that provided permanent protection for the tree – Luna - and a nearly 3-acre buffer-zone. She is author of the national best seller The Legacy of Luna and One Makes The Difference. For the past 7 years, Julia has toured the world giving presentations at universities, conferences, concerts and community events about each person’s power to change the world.  www.whatsyourtree.org

About Van Jones:
Van Jones is founding president of Green For All and a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress. He is the New York Times best selling author of The Green Collar Economy, which is endorsed by Nancy Pelosi, Tom Daschle and Al Gore. Green For All is an organization that promotes green-collar jobs and opportunities for the disadvantaged. Its mission is to build an inclusive, green economy that is strong enough to resolve the ecological crisis and lift millions of people out of poverty. A 1993 Yale Law graduate, Van is a husband and the father of two small boys. He is a tireless advocate, committed to creating "green pathways out of poverty” and expanding the coalition fighting global warming.  www.greenforall.org

About The Engage Network:
The nonprofit Engage Network is an innovation in social networking.  They help everyday people create social change by equipping them as leaders in their communities.  They develop curricula and trainings to build local leadership one person, one small group, and one community at a time.  In their first year, Engage trained more than 200 leaders and launched 35 social change circles in 7 regions.  To date, the Engage Network has partnered with three remarkable visionaries, Seane Corn, Julia Butterfly Hill, and Van Jones. Come hear about their innovative strategies for moving people from inspiration to long-term engagement and celebrate the power of bringing people together for positive change - and have a great time at the party doing it!  www.engagenet.org

Press from the Event:

San Francisco Chronicle

944 Magazine

Drew Altizer Photos

Green Retailing

I just returned from speaking on the Eco-Friendly Retail Panel at the San Francisco International Gift Fair with Betsy Rosenberg and Jared Blumenfeld, and the response from the audience was phenomenal. As we joked, if you like the person you are giving a gift to, then why not give a handsome healthy green gift - rather than a toxic one. Now if you don't like the person, that could be another story.

But in all seriousness, it was wonderful to see the Gift Fair's new category called Green By Design. Booths displaying this hopeful sign were showcasing eco-friendly products for consideration by retailers. Some of the exciting Green By Design products included the very attractive and functional Clean Conscience bags made in the USA from recycled PET fabric (look out for their organic cotton bags and PET aprons and table linens coming soon) and the Elisabethan eco-fashion line handmade in Colorado exclusively from reclaimed fabrics and appliques. As Elizabeth said, they will take the discarded shirts off your back (pretty please) and turn them into new fashion pieces, Cradle To Cradle style. I had the pleasure of meeting the president of the ReUse People plus the founder of the hip, edgy, artistic Political Gridlock t-shirts, which will be transitioning to organic cotton or bamboo fabric in the near future. How was attendance at the SF International Gift Fair?  Let's just say that there was a line to get in at 8:45 am. Now that is impressive in today's economy!

Green Retailing
How You Can Operate & Sell in a Green Way

What is green retailing?  It is both 1) what you sell and 2) how you sell it.

1) The What:  A green product is one that benefits both people and the planet and is ideally regenerative for life on Earth.

• Ingredients - beneficial, certified organic, biodynamic, sustainable, recycled, and/or non-toxic
• How - produced ethically, efficiently, and sustainably without depleting or polluting
• Where - made in the USA, locally, or fair trade (living wage)
• In What - sold in minimal or eco-friendly packaging
• For What -  will be actually used, not just landfilled
• Now What - durable and can ideally be recycled, upcycled or taken back and broken down into its biological and technical nutrients for reuse in new products

Standards that people can trust are becoming increasingly important for both retailers and consumers as claims of "green" proliferate. We cannot take green claims at face value. We have to ask questions and scrutinize ingredient lists. Great standards to look for are:

• USDA Organic Seal - contains 95%+ certified organic ingredients or Made With Organic Ingredients equates to 70%+
• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) wood produced in a sustainable way. Avoid the spurious SFI standard by the logging industry. Ask for FSC or reclaimed wood or bamboo (a rapidly-growing grass)
• Energy Star label for energy efficient appliances
• Green America Seal, which used to be called Co-op America
• TransfairUSA for fair trade
• Cradle To Cradle, an all-encompassing green certification from the Green Products Innovation Institute
• (Avoid nanoparticles and genetically-modified organisms or GMOs)

2) The How: You can operate and sell in a green way.

• Green Customer Touch Points including bags made from recycled content, a bag credit if consumers bring their own bag, eco-friendly packaging such as using biodegradable peanuts instead of Styrofoam ones, CFL or LED lights, natural cleaning products, business cards and marketing materials printed on recycled paper, filtered water in reusable glassware, and emailing receipts if desired. It is important that customer interfacing items be as sustainable as possible to convey a consistent message. One common problem is the petroleum paraffin candle with artificial fragrance burning into a store's air like a diesel engine. You can light a clean-burning beeswax or soy candle with botanicals instead, which also puts soothing ions into the air.
• Generate Energy & Water Cost Savings from both water conservation and energy efficiency measures including soft CFL light bulbs, putting appliances on power strips and switching to the off position at night, low flow or dual flush toilets, utility bill audits, and turning down the A/C or heater slightly. These savings will help provide extra funds for any transition costs incurred in going green.
• Design & Operate in a Green Way such as by using zero-VOC paints (no off-gassing from volatile organic compounds), reclaimed or sustainable FSC woods, non-toxic varnishes, recycled paper products, and hybrid delivery trucks. There are many beautiful eco-textiles available now including those from Mod Green Pod, Valley Forge, Q Collection, O Ecotextiles, and others. Run an air purifier in the store, and guests will come in just for the fresh air for starters! For furniture, consider antiques or sustainable pieces from EKLA Home, Environment Furniture, Cisco Home, and others. Display pretty organic hand soap in the washroom. Impress your patrons by offering recycling for bottles, paper and more. If building or remodeling a retail store, consider filing for an official green building certification like LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design from the U.S. Green Building Council. This will certainly set your store apart! 
• Explain The Positive Benefits of your eco-friendly products and design in an upbeat way without guilt or gloom and doom. Educate in a positive way. Provide affirming testimonials and press clippings. Show how green can benefit your health and the planet simultaneously. Create a hip eco-lifestyle vibe.
• Partner with Green Events and environmental nonprofits to get the word out such as Global Green USA, Healthy Child Healthy World, and ForestEthics. Provide samples and incentives to encourage newbies to try green products. They will convert!
• Provide a Solid Value Proposition. A green product must still have the winning combination of performance, style, and sustainability for its price. A retailer must still have a good location, enticing comprehensive product selection, and an inviting helpful staff if offline and an excellent web site that is search-engine-optimized if online.
• Tell Your Story. Why are you inspired to care about the environment. What moves you the most? Is it the national themes of energy independence and green American jobs?  Was it a film? Was it the birth of your child?  Your personal health?  A shift in consciousness?  Explain why you care and customers will empathize and share their story too.
• Toe in the Water. Don't be afraid to put your toe in the clean water and go green in a small way at first. Going green is a journey. Feel good and proud about the things you can do and are doing. Promote your wins and success stories to the public!
• Green Business Certification. If you are really motivated, consider registering to become an official green business such as the program in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For an abundance of independently-reviewed, hip, stylish eco products, please see www.ecofabulous.com, and the next time you have to give a gift, consider giving or creating a green one! 

Global Green Oscar Party

You are invited to the Global Green pre-Oscar Party in Hollywood with eco-conscious celebrities, a Prius limo line, organic cocktails, musical performances by Sheryl Crow and Gavin Rossdale, and more to raise awareness and funds for Global Green USA and their highly worthwhile Green Schools Initiative in California.

6th Annual Global Green Pre-Oscar Party

 

Thursday, February 19 2009
8:00 pm
Avalon, Hollywood
RSVP here at Global Green

See you there in Hollywood and don't forget to wear your best luxury eco duds on the green carpet.

Style, Naturally

Congratulations to my friend Summer Rayne Oakes on her new fabulous book entitled Style, Naturally.  Summer got her degree in environmental studies from Cornell and then transitioned to the perilous world of high fashion modeling. But she never forget the environment. In fact, showcasing green with style has been the hallmark of her career and her activism. Who else could look so glamorous while talking with such authentic passion about bugs and reforestation?  

Style, Naturallyis truly an original style guide filled with over 500 engaging color images plus personal vignettes, product reviews, girl-on-the-street style profiles, and tips of the trade. Her favorite clothes, shoes, beauty products, jewelry, handbags, travel spots, and green causes are all on display, and an online directory is coming soon. Now we can help to save the world through choices that make us eco-beautiful and eco-stylish. As Summer says, "This book is for women who love style, and it is also covertly about something much deeper:  solution-based approaches to chemicals in personal care products, organics, fair trade, and more," written in an upbeat and fun tone of course! 

And let's not forget, the book is printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based inks. Not many environmental books can say that!  This was very important to Summer, and she is also donating 1% for the Planet to Energy Action, which hosts the amazing youth-led Power Shift conference in DC to rally for climate change action.

I can't wait for my copy to arrive, since by looking at early photos, I can tell that this is the kind of book that will be tough to put down.  Style, Naturally