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Victory in the Arctic: Obama Cancels Lease Sales

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A few months ago, it seemed inevitable that this would be the year the world's most pristine oceans were damaged by drilling. Today, after a massive, months-long grassroots and social media mobilization, the Arctic will be preserved, from now to the foreseeable future.

That is right. President Barack Obama just canceled leases for Arctic drilling for the next two years, after Shell announced it would give up exploring for oil in its lease a few weeks ago.

“In light of Shell’s announcement, the amount of acreage already under lease and current market conditions, it does not make sense to prepare for lease sales in the Arctic in the next year and a half,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement Friday.

Arctic drilling is officially done. Environmental organizations hailed this as a major victory for the planet.

“The 'kayaktivists' and 'Shell no' movement showed that people-power can and will continue to overcome Big Oil. President Obama and Secretary Jewell’s decision should be lauded, as we continue to work towards protecting our wild places,” Sierra Club's executive director, Michael Brune, said in a statement.

This means the Arctic's fragile flora and fauna will not face the near-certainty of an oil spill, as the U.S. government's own projections forecast if drilling went ahead.

“Any spill in the Arctic would have devastating consequences for the region's fragile wildlife and ecosystems, and there is no technology in existence that could clean up a spill in the area's broken sea ice and frigid waters,” said Defenders of Wildlife executive vice president, Jamie Rappaport Clark.

This victory couldn't have happened without public support, and that is why Greenpeace – whose dramatic, rig-blocking kayak protest in Seattle and bridge-dangling in Portland helped raise awareness of Shell's intentions – pointed the cause at people-power.

“It's a huge victory for the millions of people who stood up against Shell and a disaster for other oil companies with interests in the region,” said Greenpeace International executive director, Kumi Naidoo, in a statement. “Shell has gambled big and lost big, both in terms of financial cost and its public reputation.”

Let us enjoy this, as this is good news for several reasons. Firstly, for global climate. Scientists say we need to keep at least 80 percent of all fossil fuels in the earth in order to avoid the worst of climate change. Not drilling in the Arctic will help us reach this figure – though now we need to keep the momentum up to ensure that more fossil fuels around the world are kept in the ground.

For the oil giant, this will end up being, as Naidoo noted, a massive, multibillion-dollar loss that will inhibit Shell's, and others, ability to explore for oil in the future. Other big oil companies should take note – it is no longer profitable to drill for oil. A global movement will oppose you at every turn and hold you accountable for your actions. And now, we know, no matter how many billions you throw at drilling and public relations, we can win.

The better business case? Clean energy. Clearer, and cleaner, than ever.

Image Source: Pixabay

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Climate Leadership Index Selects Best Performing Companies

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When you make a financial investment, you’re usually thinking about your own future, not the world’s. It’s a choice we’ve generally had to make in the name of looking after ourselves. That’s how it used to be, anyway. But, like many things, this too is changing.

Now you can look at companies through an objective lens that compares their climate impact relative to others in their same line of business. What you find are companies at the top of that list that are not only behaving responsibly, but are also consistently outperforming their peers when it comes to financial returns.

The lens is the recently launched the Etho Climate Leadership Index (video), developed by Etho Capital. We had the opportunity to speak with Etho founders Ian Monroe and Conor Platt on the day after the announcement. Platt explained how "the climate leadership process creates the underlying index."

“The index,” Monroe explained, “is a positive screen to select the best performing companies in all industries.”

This is based on data provided by Trucost, which is widely believed to be the most objective and reliable source of such data based on the Scope 1-3 emissions, as defined by the EPA. The metric used is actually the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions divided by their market capitalization, which is taken to represent the company’s climate efficiency. To meet this threshold, a company must have an emissions profile that is 50 percent better than the average in its industry.

All of those in the index are selected through this process. Using a data-driven sustainability process can cut through corporate greenwashing that other sustainability rating systems miss. In a passing comment, Monroe noted that Volkswagen was eliminated from the climate leadership index based on high company-level greenhouse gas emissions relative to other automakers. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index was giving Volkswagen an award for achievement at the same time that news was breaking about the company cheating on pollution tests.

Finally, certain companies are eliminated on an individual basis if they have been considered bad actors by those monitoring the industry in question. This includes certain companies in timber, mining, some consumer products and palm oil whose actions are judged to exclude them from being considered sustainability leaders.

The index was created looking back 10 years into the past. Based on market performance over that time period, the Climate Leadership Index outperforms the S&P 500, the most commonly known broad-market index, about 60 to 70 percent of the time. Etho Capital expects to launch some financial products, based on its index, in the form of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the very near future.

This timely development should be most welcome by anyone concerned about climate change and sustainability who is in a position to invest. Of course the concept of socially responsible investing is not new. This index is more specific though and, Monroe explained, it’s “the only index that combines quantitative climate-efficiency data with a fossil-free and socially responsible approach to investing.”

S&P Dow Jones recently announced two funds: the S&P Global 1200 Carbon Efficient Index and the S&P Global 1200 Fossil Fuel Free Index, but the criteria, claims Monroe, is less rigorous than Etho Capital’s.

In the first case, emissions data is only used to re-weight sectors, “so you're still investing 6.4 percent of your money in energy (aka coal, oil and gas). So, the index is not fossil free.” In the second case, companies are fossil fuel free, but there is no carbon efficiency data used, which has been shown to provide superior results. There is also not, in either case, additional screens provided for social responsibility.

"What S&P is doing is a nice start, but most sustainable investors will still be a bit disgusted when they dive deeper into what their indexes actually contain," Monroe said. "What Etho is providing is an index solution that a socially responsible investor can fully dissect, and feel good about what they find.”

Image credit: Pixabay

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Saving Basmati and Other Endangered Grains

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If you think you're buying basmati rice, think again. "Most of the rice sold as basmati in the United States is not the traditional variety," said Caryl Levine, co-owner of Lotus Foods, which recently announced a plan to import organic, heirloom basmati to promote rice biodiversity.

"Americans get hybrids, like U.S.-produced Texmati, which grow faster and can have higher yields. But hybrids don't have the traits rice connoisseurs look for,” Levine explained. Dehradun basmati is among a handful of varieties in India and Pakistan that are recognized as authentic basmati rice. “It has extra long grains that almost double in length when you cook them, and it is wonderfully aromatic," Levine said. The word "basmati" comes from the Sanskrit word for "fragrant."

Dehradun is the capital city of Uttarakhand, an Indian state in the foothills of the Himalayas. Rice cultivation there is centered in the Doon Valley, between the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, where the traditional variety is being edged out as fields become suburbs and farmers are encouraged to switch to hybrids. Lotus Foods is partnering with Nature BioFoods, an all-organic subsidiary of the multinational LT Foods, to bring organic, fair trade-certified Dehradun basmati to the U.S. market as a premium product, so that farmers will benefit from those premiums.

"Agribusiness only makes a few varieties of rice available, but much more is out there," said Lotus co-owner Ken Lee. "Our business is trying to share and protect the diversity of rice."

Dehradooni farmers are generating surpluses to sell because they are using System of Rice Intensification (SRI) practices, which involve simple methods and organic matter to conserve the use of water and seedlings. Farmers who switch from traditional methods to SRI usually reduce their labor and materials costs, while research shows that their yields can more than double.

Lotus is now introducing Dehradun basmati in bulk to the natural foods and foodservice trade. The product launch coincides with the company’s campaign, which has a lengthy name befitting its multiple goals: “Do the Rice Thing with More Crop Per Drop, a Water-Smart and Women-Strong Way to Grow Rice."

Lotus learned about SRI a decade ago from Olivia Vent at Cornell University's SRI Rice project, which offers technical assistance to farmers. Vent said that by demanding less labor, SRI improves the lives of women in South Asian villages. The women work extremely long hours, she explained, and tending rice paddies is just one of their jobs.

Levine and Lee visited SRI growers in Madagascar and Cambodia, "and those trips convinced us that this was the right thing to do," Lee recalled. "By creating market incentives, we can move the needle in a positive direction on multiple fronts -- using less water, helping farmers, helping women and giving consumers better choices."

The alliance between Lotus Foods and SRI Cornell "is turning out to be a great partnership," Lee said. Lotus now sells four varieties of SRI or More Crop Per Drop rice; Dehradun basmati will make five. "It's exciting," he said. "We meet store owners and tell them, they tell their staff, and the staff gets the customers on board. Everyone wants solutions, and this rice offers several of them."

Image credit: Flickr/Connie Ma

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Why Leaders Should Place Company Values on the Same Level as Profits

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By Luis Gallardo

Carrying the weight of your business, profits and employees’ well-being, not to mention your own conscience, can be back-breaking. To ease the burden, activities that aren’t directly tethered to the bottom line tend to fall by the wayside.

But there are subtle factors shaping your financial success beyond hard numbers. If you zero-in on end results alone, you’ll miss these quiet forces that play a major role in advancing or stalling your company’s progress.

The connection between profits, employee productivity and organizational values is undeniable. When your employees understand how every action ties back to a bigger purpose, they’ll take more pride in their everyday tasks, be more productive and exude an authentic outward appearance. Setting high standards for your organization — and living up to them — will encourage others to support your vision, too.

But writing out a few company creeds won’t get you on track to driving real profits. To incite real change — internally and externally — employees and consumers need to get behind your values.

Give your mission meaning


Consumers are increasingly concerned with what happens behind the scenes. According to a study by Cone Communications and Echo Research Group, 82 percent of U.S. consumers consider corporate social responsibility when deciding which products or services to buy and where to shop.

People want to know that their purchase decisions won’t produce negative externalities, so they’ll often investigate brands to make sure something like buying new shoes won’t inadvertently make life worse for someone across the world. They want to use their money ethically whenever possible, and that means supporting businesses that live up to certain moral standards.

Chipotle did a great job of sticking to its values despite the risk of losing business over a carnitas shortage in January. When the company discovered that a major pork supplier had violated its standards, Chipotle pulled carnitas from the menu until it found a solution. No company wants to disappoint customers on a large scale, but Chipotle used the problem as an opportunity to showcase its values, earning respect and loyalty in the long run.

Bring your values to life


Before your standards can resonate with the outside world, you have to promote them within your company. You can’t expect employees to contribute to overarching goals if they don’t fully understand them or know what the journey should look like. And when your team is united behind a common purpose, it gives them a sense of belonging and bolsters engagement.

In fact, one report found that employees who know their company values are more engaged than those who don’t. Engaged employees generally have better attitudes and are more productive, which directly affects a company’s bottom line.

Revenue and results are linked to employee performance, which ties back to pride and belonging. This ultimately starts with believing in an organization’s value system. To rally your organization around a set of shared beliefs, start with these four steps:


  1. Define your vision. Spend several months conversing with colleagues and employees and crafting stories that reflect what your organization stands for. Once you have a clear picture, you can start promoting your standards externally. Successful companies such as Lego and Whole Foods Market stand behind concrete organizational values. Every story they share and every action they take ties back to those, which creates an authentic brand experience.

  2. Lead by example. Actions speak louder than words, and the most powerful influencers on behavior tend to be real-life examples. When you lead by example, you set clear expectations for your organization. To take hold in your company, values should be reflected 80 percent through actions and 20 percent through storytelling.

  3. Bring in role models. Company leaders should be living examples of the values they preach. But you can also bring in external role models who reflect the values you want employees to demonstrate to further engrain these concepts.

  4. Recognize and reward desirable behavior. Ultimately, you want employees to model behavior that aligns with your organization’s values. To promote these actions, recognize and reward internal heroes who exemplify your core values at all levels of the organization. Values-based recognition programs provide a confidence boost and make workers considerably less frustrated with accomplishing tasks. People will work harder if they know you appreciate it.

When the market takes a dip or you’re tempted to compromise your core values for the sake of profits, remember to keep the bigger picture in mind. If employees feel you losing sight of the company’s guiding principles, their trust in you as a leader will weaken, and it will be much harder to reestablish your culture.

You may feel like the weight of the world is on your back, but when you have strong company values, they’ll help shoulder the burden and instill a renewed purpose in everything you do.

Image credit: Pixabay

Luis Gallardo is CEO of Thinking Heads Americas, a team specializing in developing and structuring the ideas, values, projects, and contents of the clients it represents. Luis is the former president of brand marketing at Burson-Marsteller for EMEA as well as director of global brand strategy at BAV Consulting. He’s an award-winning author and holds an MBA from IMD in Switzerland and a master’s degree in international relations from the Lancaster University in the U.K.

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Alleviating Food Recall Madness: Key Methods to Boost Food Safety Measures

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By Darryl Lewis

Every year, nearly 1 in 6 Americans suffer a food-borne illness of some kind. Of those afflicted with a food-borne illness, 128,000 will become hospitalized and 3,000 will die. To combat these numbers and make food safer for Americans, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was created by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in January 2011. The goal of the legislation was to create the framework for a preventative system rather than a reactionary system that tries to mitigate the problem as quickly and affordably as possible.

Under this legislation, the FDA has the power to force food companies to issue recalls for a variety of reasons, including known contamination with a pathogen like salmonella and E. coli. This is increasingly becoming important as many Americans report food allergies and sensitivities. It also reduces mislabeling of any kind and manufacturing errors. Past food recalls have cost companies an average of $10 million and are potentially devastating to the organization’s persona.

Another area that FSMA addresses that hasn’t previously been proposed in food safety legislation is the role of foreign suppliers in supply chains. Check your food labels the next time you go to the grocery store. You may be surprised to learn that 15 percent of all food in this country is imported. The food or ingredients produced in other countries may not have the same quality standards that are outlined in ours. Here are some actions that food companies should take to address this vital area, as well as other measures, to increase product safety for their consumers.

Adhere to the Foreign Supplier Verification Program


The FDA requires importers to perform risk-based foreign supplier verification activities, including request for certification, risk assessments, and audits to verify that food or food ingredients manufactured outside of the U.S. are as safe as food manufactured in the U.S.

This will help ensure compliance and transparency across the supply chain. Under this program, additional accountability is placed on the importer to make sure they have the necessary preventative controls in effect. If they are not in place, it is up to the importer to request and enforce compliance in order to avoid penalties and recalls. By following these steps, importers and their respective food companies will enhance product quality.

Collaborate with an international food-safety organization


It is the primary goal of many food safety organizations to protect the welfare of consumers. Therefore, it makes sense for food production companies to work closely with these organizations to create safer products. The Global Food Safety Initiative provides a platform for promoting safer supply chains for organizations and strengthening consumer trust.

Through a rigorous benchmarking process formed by food industry leaders, it establishes the best food safety schemes for companies to follow. These schemes are certified by a third party audit. Participating in this process is a pivotal step food companies looking to maximize their food safety policies.

Invest in a quality management system that ensures supplier quality evaluation


Food quality management software can help boost food safety measures by significantly reducing the risk of food recalls through automation. In addition to automating quality management processes, it increases the visibility of those processes across the supply chain. The software allows for real-time reporting of any adverse effects and has supplier quality features like supplier documents control, supplier risk assessments and audits, supplier onboarding, and supplier scorecards. These tools can help a company find the right supplier and keep everyone on the same page when and if a quality event occurs.

Ultimately, food companies must be able to deliver a safe product to their customers. This has become more complicated as food supply chains have grown. There is more room for error than ever before, which can be scary given the fact that people do die from foodborne illnesses each year.

Therefore, organizations must be able to ensure that all of their partners and suppliers are compliant with the FSMA and other regulations and standards that have been implemented to prevent adverse events from occurring. The aforementioned tips above can go a long way in helping food companies maintain the quality and safety of their products – wherever they come from.

Image credit: Pixabay/kpgolfpro 

Darryl Lewis is a digital marketing and a fine/performing arts enthusiast. His concern about social and environmental issues is unwavering, always seeking opportunities to create a positive impact on the people in his community and the world. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Marketing from Stockton University. Follow him on Twitter @dlew4life 

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5 Companies Engaging Their Employees Around Sustainability

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By Brigg Patten

Sustainability is no longer a buzzword that companies can simply talk about in order to improve their image. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are standard policies that every successful company must embrace to remain successful and profitable in the 21st century. Successful sustainability programs result in increased savings and profits through tax incentives and the inevitable consumer demand for greener products and services.

Sustainability helps to create a more positive brand and increases a company’s leadership role within the industry. These five companies are well-known for training their employees to care about sustainability -- turning this key engagement point into bottom-line results.

1. Nike

Nike has historically suffered PR problems from its poor production outsourcing decisions. However, Nike has revolutionized how its employees and the public access sustainability data.

The sportswear manufacturer created a unique app called Making that helps designers in any industry around the world make better decisions that result in more eco-friendly products. Making is a public sustainability e-learning solution that ranks a company’s product according to energy usage, waste generation and water and soil impact.

Nike is also training its employees to care about sustainability through transparency and global collaboration.

2. Walmart

Walmart is one of the world’s largest retailers. While the company has its own environmental sustainability program, it also trains and educates its supply-chain partners. One problem that Walmart has historically faced is its overseas factories and suppliers using unethical or eco-unfriendly practices. However, Walmart has a very organized supply-chain training program to help achieve sustainable improvements.

3. General Mills

General Mills is a multinational food manufacturer that has an excellent sustainability record. Its sustainability mission is focused on protecting both natural resources and local communities.

Every year, General Mills offers annual reports about its accomplishments with sustainability and global responsibility. The company's transparent sustainability report details its energy, fuel and water rates. In addition to this, the reports also provide data on General Mills' greenhouse emissions and solid waste generation rates. General Mills trains its employees that sustainability goals can truly only be reached through reducing environmental footprints with transparent metrics.

4. Starbucks

Starbucks has one of the most universally recognizable logos in the world. Since the global coffeehouse chain relies on agricultural products, it proudly states that the planet is its most important business partner.

Starbucks teaches its employees about its four main sustainable programs: climate change, recycling and waste reduction, water and energy conservation, and LEED certification for stores. Starbucks makes active efforts to train employees to promote recycling, reusable cups and waste reduction.

5. PepsiCo

PepsiCo may be second place to Coca-Cola in the beverage industry, but it's first place in the field of sustainability. Every year during the annual shareholder meeting, PepsiCo publicly reveals its updated sustainability strategy and goals for the following year.

According to PepsiCo, its primary business goals are not just financial performance, but also sustainable growth through discovering innovative ways to minimize the environmental impacts of its operations. The first step in training employees to care about sustainability is for executives and upper management to model ideal attitudes and behaviors.

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In the end, these five companies are making headlines by investing in employees and the environment. Understandably, employees may be naturally resistant to engaging in sustainable practices because they are busy or worn-out. However, companies can successfully encourage employees to engage in sustainability through offering flexible scheduling for training and the right resources.

Image credit: Pixabay

Brigg Patten writes in the business and tech spaces. He's a fan of podcasts, bokeh and smooth jazz. His time is mostly spent learning the piano and watching his Golden Retriever Julian chase a stick.
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Electric cars set to become new norm, research finds

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Electric vehicles will be the vehicle of choice for motorists by 2026, research among teenagers and learner drivers has revealed.

The findings revealed that that more than eight in 10 (81%) 14 year olds plan to make their first car purchase – in just over a decade from now – an electric one.

Based on the research by the joint industry and government-funded Go Ultra Low campaign, futurologist Dr Ian Pearson has also forecast that electric cars will become the ‘new normal’.  

Go Ultra Low quizzed 800 teenagers aged 14-17 and the demand for greener-fuelled cars grew greater the younger that the interviewees became.

The young people polled also revealed that their generation associates electric cars with fewer CO2 emissions (56%), cleaner air (48%), and ‘the types of cars that everyone will be driving one day’ (34%).

Dr Pearson commented: "Young people are very aware of environmental issues and it is great that they also notice that electric cars will be cheaper to run, so it is a clear win-win. Battery technology continues to improve, and the amount of resources needed to make an electric car will continue to fall.

"These technology developments will all add up, greatly reducing the environmental impact of cars while making them safer and cheaper. If current trends towards electric cars continue this means that, by 2026, demand for electric cars will almost certainly outweigh demand for 'traditionally fuelled' cars."

The collaborative campaign is the first of its kind, bringing together a consortium of leading car manufacturers: Audi, BMW, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, and Volkswagen, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the UK government.

 

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3 Things to Know for Fair Trade Month

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This is part of a series on "The Future of Fair Trade," written with the support of Fair Trade USA. A 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, Fair Trade USA is the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. To follow along with the rest of the series, click here.

 

By Jenna Larson

October is a month full of months … and days. There’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Non-GMO Month, with National Kale Day, World Food Day, the International Day of Rural Women and, of course, National Cat Day, sprinkled throughout. There are a lot of things to celebrate in October, and in a way, Fair Trade Month connects them all. October is a month that shows how much people care — about other people, about living beings, about our food and about the planet. This too is the heart of Fair Trade.

Fair Trade Month is a time to spread the word about who and where our products come from. This means putting the spotlight on challenges like child labor in cocoa and slavery in seafood, and also celebrating the farms, factories, brands and retailers that are doing things differently.

As we dive into the second half of October, there are three important things to know about Fair Trade Month:

1. Learning more about Fair Trade is easy


If you’re new to Fair Trade, you might be wondering what it is, how it works and why it matters. In a nutshell, Fair Trade is a certification of social, environmental and economic responsibility. The Fair Trade Certified label on a product means that it was grown (or manufactured) in accordance with strict standards, covering areas like safe working conditions, no child or forced labor, elimination of harmful chemicals, no GMOs and more.

But it’s not just about standards and audits. Fair Trade is a mechanism that allows farmers and workers to be active participants in bringing those standards to life, and in building strong, thriving businesses and communities. Fair Trade producers are democratically organized, and they vote together to determine how best to use their additional income (Fair Trade Premiums) to address their most pressing needs.

“Fair Trade has made a huge difference in my life,” says Ulysma Desiline, a Fair Trade mango grower in Haiti.  “Working with a Fair Trade cooperative allows me to support my family.”

There is a ton of information out there about Fair Trade, and BeFair.org is a good place to start. There you can learn more about how Fair Trade works, what products are certified, and how it benefits farmers, the earth and you.

2. Fair Trade products are more accessible than ever


Coffee was the very first Fair Trade Certified product to hit the market when Fair Trade USA opened its doors in 1998. At the time, coffee prices were at a historic low, and many roasters were turning to Fair Trade as a way to help producers earn a stable income in the face of intense market volatility. It was about building an equitable system of trade, and ensuring that farmers could stay in business to keep producing coffee for their international buyers.

Oddly enough, coffee farmers are still fighting that same battle today. The cost of production continues to rise (as do mounting challenges like climate change), but prices have stayed incredibly low. This is why Fair Trade coffee remains as important as ever.

While coffee is still the leader in Fair Trade (over 1 billion pounds certified since 1998), many (30+) new Fair Trade categories have emerged over the years. You can find Fair Trade in nearly every aisle of the supermarket, and can live a truly Fair Trade lifestyle with the introduction of new apparel and home goods products.

You can find Fair Trade fruit, vegetables, flowers, sugar, cocoa, tea, coffee, spices, grains, sports balls, apparel, home decor, coconut (and coconut water), seafood and many other products from over 1,000 different companies. Whole Foods Market remains the leading retailer in Fair Trade offerings, while well-loved brands like Patagonia, West Elm, Naked Juice, Kashi and others begin to embrace Fair Trade.

3. Fair Trade Month doesn’t end in October


Well, technically it does, but the great part about Fair Trade Month is that it gives you the tools needed to bring Fair Trade into your daily life beyond October.

Regardless of what month it is, Fair Trade invites us to ask questions about our products, and to think about where (and who) they came from. It encourages us to be more conscious about the votes we cast with our dollars, every time we shop. In many ways, Fair Trade helps us be a little more human, and a little more aware of the world we want to leave behind for the generations to follow.

Happy Fair Trade Month, and don’t forget to Be Fair.

Images courtesy of Fair Trade USA 

Jenna Larson is the Communications Manager at Fair Trade USA.

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How to Rock the Pants Off Social Media for Climate Change

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Editor’s Note: This post is part of TriplePundit’s ongoing coverage of SXSW Eco 2015. You can read all of our coverage here.

Sustainability has an image problem. It’s big, scary and boring. People feel powerless and disconnected. Most stories about the environment deal with facts, figures and scientific terminology. It all feels a little bit over people’s heads. They feel a little lost. Instead of dealing with numbers and science, we need to tell stories about people and values.

We talk about melting ice caps and drowning polar bears, but people are missing from the conversation. To add to the confusion, we don’t really know what we’re supposed to do about it. We’re told to recycle, use less electricity and carry our groceries in reusable bags. But taking these actions isn’t enough to counteract the large-scale environmental damage being done. Also, they’re boring. All of this makes the topic of sustainability uncomfortable, and we feel guilty about it so we avoid it.

What’s missing from the conversation is why sustainability is relevant to people and their values. We’re not doing a good job connecting them to the issues personally. It’s a hard job. Connecting with solar panels and wind turbines doesn’t come naturally.

When we don’t meet people on their terms and talk about what is important to them, we make it too easy for people to dismiss climate change. One survey showed that only a third of people remembered having a conversation about climate change. And more than 65 percent of people said they have only discussed the topic with close friends or family. What can we do to make this a more popular topic of conversation?

This was all part of a discussion at the SXSW Eco session on meme’ifying climate change. The talk was led by Sarah Stern and Iris Andrews from Here Now and Jessica Lauretti and Hannah Kreiswirth from Purpose. Here's what they said we can do to create rockin’ social media campaigns.

1. Better understand the steps that lead to people sharing


The content you want people to share must have high social currency. In other words, people share what makes them look good. Think about the ice bucket challenge. People tagged their friends, and you looked bad if you didn’t do it. If you did the challenge, you also aligned yourself with all the cool celebrities who were doing it. It made you look good. That’s high social media currency.

People also share content that impact them emotionally. If something makes you laugh really hard, shocks you or breaks your heart, you’re likely to share it. Life hacks and how to do stuff also make for popular content. We share content that we think might be useful to our friends.

Most of all, we share what is popular. If the people in our community do something, especially people we respect, we feel pressure to imitate them. Take the Celebrate Pride Facebook profile filter, for example.

2. Entertain people first to make a message memorable


This is true for all marketing. Put entertainment first, and watch your post grow wings and take off. For example, the metro in Australia wanted to inform people about rail safety and created a video about Dumb Ways to Die. It has over 113 million YouTube views and innumerable parodies have been made of it.

Solar FREAKIN’ Roadways found a hilarious way to market solar roads, a topic that could have been a bust if it had been framed as a geeky presentation with stats. Luckily for the company, its marketing team got their freak on and made a YouTube video that received over 20 million views, proving once again that people share eco-friendly content when they think it’s funny or awe inspiring. Making it funny is a good entry point for people who are drawn to the humor and not necessarily the social impact. Humor is also a great way to get people to remember your message.

3. Leverage unexpected, authentic messengers to depoliticize the message


Enough already with the old white men with lots of money telling people to care about the environment. The majority of people to whom this issue matters don’t look like this. So who should our messengers be? Try to get diverse influencers who already have a large following. Integrate yourself into every aspect of a person’s life. Look for different ways to connect with people with various levels of eco interest. And definitely partner with a community that already exists rather than start a new one; it’s much faster.

Enlist the YouTube famous Smosh Brothers. Or a popular dog. When Purpose and Here Now created a #ClimateChangeIsReal campaign, they partnered with Marnie, a Shih Tzu. The dog has 1.8 million followers on Instagram, 109,000 Twitter followers and almost 400,000 Facebook fans. When you look to messengers besides people like Al Gore, it helps depoliticize your message. It also helps people connect your message with people or communities they already care about. It makes your message relatable and memorable.

4. Respond to what’s current


Greenpeace played off the Lego video to create a campaign asking Lego to end its partnership with Shell. The organization's highly creative parody of Lego’s movie received almost 7.5 million views on YouTube alone. A link below the video prompted users to sign a petition. And it worked! Lego announced it would not renew its contract with Shell.

You can engage fan groups of "Game of Thrones" or "Harry Potter" or any pop culture icon, by adding those elements into your message. People who share those posts on social media might never put a save the world petition on their Facebook wall, but they will post a creative and intriguing video about Lego people drowning in oil. Using pop culture in your messaging is a entryway for people to care about the environment. Think of it as a potential gateway drug: When your message is playful and human, it opens people up to discuss the topic.

Once we nail down how we frame our messaging, social impact is going to seem fun, relevant and exciting. It will be popular and there will be serious social pressure to join the eco conscious lifestyle upgrade. People will want to help make the world a better place.

Image credits: Purpose and Here Now, used with permission

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New Unicef-Target-Disney Product to Catalyze Gen Z

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Unicef and Target, in collaboration with Disney, are launching a Fitbit-like wearable device for kids that has the potential to be this holiday season’s hottest gift.

If it does become the gift sales winner for 2015, it will not be because it promotes exercise. It will be a sales success because it is a cool wearable with Star Wars branding that enables Generation Z (those aged 10 to 16) to make a difference. This new wearable holds the potential to be yet another cool with a purpose marketing best-practice proven to win millennial generation, and now Generation Z, customers!

Unicef Kid Power

Unicef Kid Power is the name of the wearable device that is being marketed as the first “wearable for good.” The device looks like similar wrist-band digital devices that monitor body movement. It connects to an app that then provides data on how much a wearer is moving.

It is this device’s marketing that's the real power keg for igniting increased individual actions that can reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes among Generation Z. Children wearing the device will be engaged through games promoted by entertainment and sport stars like Pink and Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.

The device repositions exercise from a health-related task to being cool and winning recognition. It moves their engagement from a petition that exercise is good to the enabling of individual and collaborative fun. This is the marketing model for selling health and sustainability.

There is also a second tier of motivation designed into this device’s human engagement. This second motivational tier is tied to enabling Generation Z to make a difference. Making a difference is a huge theme among Gen Z. Research points to today’s kids seeking action paths for making a difference, with 26 percent already in volunteer roles and 76 percent concerned about humanity’s impact on the planet.

Children who play the games offered through the Unicef Kid Power device will earn points toward funding food packages for children facing hunger. This is a hugely powerful message for Generation Z. They have high affinity for their age group across racial or national divides. Helping one is seen as helping all in their generation.

Star Wars promotion


As if selling a cool-looking wearable device promoted by entertainment and sports stars is not engaging enough, the Disney Co. is promoting a Star Wars-themed wearable tied to its December movie, “The Force Awakens.” The wearable will be available for sale on Target.com in November and in stores by early 2016. The only real question is: How long before parents get to be cool enough to buy a matching wearable?

Marketing genius that sell sustainable and healthy solutions


Here is what we now understand about successfully marketing sustainable and healthier solutions:

  • You cannot educate people to change

  • You cannot trick or scare them to change

  • You have to “wake them up” with bold engagement, like making it fun.

Isn’t that the marketing genius of the Unicef Kid Power device? It is change made fun, engaging and cool. That is how to successfully sell today’s consumers on solutions that promote environmental and human health. That is how you turn a wearable promoting exercise into potentially this holiday season’s hottest gift for Generation Z!

Image credit: Target

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