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Travel junkies (including yours truly) all know there is nothing quite like the rush of adrenaline that jump-starts the heart when you first step foot in a foreign land. New sights, sounds and smells flood the senses. Elation, apprehension and, more often than not, exasperation make up the emotional soup of the day.

At 9 percent of global GDP, the tourism industry is one of the largest in the world, contributing $6.6 trillion to the world economy and generating more than 260 million jobs. Despite continuing economic challenges, international tourist arrivals grew by 5 percent in 2013, and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts a 4 to 4.5 percent growth in 2014.

As rewarding as traveling may be for the traveler, this is not always the case for the communities where the traveler treads. There is a common misconception that simply spending money in a country benefits local communities -- but there indeed are profound, adverse social and environmental consequences.

With continuing growth in travel, there is increasing recognition among both travel professionals and consumers of the importance of responsible travel – travel that minimizes negative impacts, brings economic benefits to host communities, and preserves the cultural and natural resources of the destinations. Responsible travel also can be good for the bottom line.

According to the World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) 2012 Tourism in the Green Economy Report, tourist choices are increasingly influenced by sustainability considerations. Eco-tourism, nature, heritage, cultural and “soft adventure” tourism are predicted to grow rapidly over the next two decades, and global spending on ecotourism is expected to increase at a higher rate than the tourism industry as a whole.

So, what are the primary problems associated with travel? What are some solutions?

The problem: Adverse effects on local cultures

Interest in unique cultures often leads to communities being overrun by large numbers of visitors, commercialization of traditions and threats to cultural survival. Tourism destinations sometimes are constructed by outsiders in areas that indigenous communities consider to be theirs, and where the “development” was unwanted or not validated. The animosities this creates in the local community make it almost impossible to achieve cooperation and mutual benefits.

The solution: Authenticity

This is a tricky one. Similar to the observer effect in science (which refers to changes that the act of observation will make on a phenomenon being observed), the mere act of visiting an indigenous community is almost always going to have some kind of effect on it -- but these effects don’t always need to be negative. All-inclusive resorts typically strive to transform local environments to conform to tourists' comforts and tastes. What is the point of traveling to another country only to live like you would at home? Rather than buy into this traditional tourist paradigm, it’s better to strive for the most authentic travel experience. Embrace local culture, food and locally-run accommodations. A great place to start is to look into sustainable tourism agencies such as G Adventures.

The problem: Overwhelming waste and water systems, diminishing biodiversity

Tourists also put strains on local infrastructure and utilities, creating waste management and water consumption problems. In some locales, tourism puts pressure on already-diminished water resources and competes with other sectors, as well as subsistence needs of local populations. The discharge of untreated sewage or freshwater abstraction can harm water quality. Tourism also threatens biodiversity in many regions. Coral reefs, rainforests, coastal wetlands and mountain areas can all be harmed by large-scale tourism.

The solution: Sustainable development

Tourism companies and resorts should invest in the local communities in which they operate, working to improve local infrastructure and utilities. In doing this, they not only will improve quality of life for locals, but also protect their chief tourism draw: the environment. If the tourism industry allows pristine waters and lush forests to disappear, so will their customers.

The problem: Exacerbating climate change

The tourism industry’s reliance on fossil fuels has grave implications for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change, especially as energy consumption grows in transport and accommodation. In tropical or arid regions, tourist accommodations suck up disproportionate quantities of energy for heating or cooling, lighting, cleaning, cooking and more; this simply is not sustainable.

The solution: Renewable energy, innovation

Travelers have a tendency to consume more energy per capita than an average person. International travel typically means jumping on a jet plane, which are some of the biggest GHG offenders. Hopefully, this will change as airlines look into alternative forms of jet fuel. Solar, wind and other forms of alternative energy, when combined with breakthroughs in energy efficiency, can also help reduce travelers’ carbon footprints.

An emerging form of travel called “experiential” tourism holds promise for solving many of the above ills. This type of travel encompasses eco-tourism, nature, heritage, cultural, soft adventure tourism, rural and community tourism. It also is one of the areas in the tourism sector expected to grow the most in the coming years, according to UNWTO.

Experiential tourism involves active participation by travelers in the experience and promotes activities that draw people outdoors, and into cultures and communities. It is personal and individual; experiential tourists seek memorable experiences above all else.

After all, isn’t that what travel is all about?

Photo Credit: Flickr Cuba Gallery

Based in San Francisco, Mike Hower is a writer, thinker and strategic communicator that revels in driving the conversation at the intersection of sustainability, social entrepreneurship, tech, politics and law. He has cultivated diverse experience working for the United States Congress in Washington, D.C., helping Silicon Valley startups with strategic communications and teaching in South America. Connect with him on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter (@mikehower)

By Alexandra Stark

Forest Heroes, a group campaigning to prevent deforestation around the world, has urged Dunkin’ Donuts to adopt a responsible palm oil policy. Palm oil is primarily grown in Indonesia and Malaysia on land that has been deforested of ecologically rich rainforests – and it’s one of the primary ingredients in Dunkin’s doughnuts.

Because of deforestation for what the campaign calls “irresponsible palm oil,” there are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the world. That is why Forest Heroes organizers and volunteers gathered outside of Dunkin’ Donuts’ shareholder meeting a week ago, dressed in tiger ears and tails. They called on the company to commit to only using responsibly sourced palm oil.

Dunkin’ Donuts is currently working to develop just such a policy. At the shareholder meeting, company leaders assured the Forest Heroes advocates that they are working with the World Wildlife Fund to ensure that the new policy is strong, and noted that consumer interest in responsible palm oil sourcing is playing an important role in driving the company’s actions.

That’s good news for rainforests, but the details are important. Last year, Dunkin’ committed to only buying palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by 2020.

“This commitment is too little, too late,” said Forest Heroes Campaign Director Deborah Lapidus. “Who knows if there will be any Sumatran tigers left by 2020 when it kicks in?  And even then, the RSPO sets a notoriously weak standard, with major loopholes that still allow for deforestation and draining of carbon-rich peatlands, and has insufficient mechanisms for enforcement.”

In a report released last year called Certifying Destruction, Greenpeace stated that: “RSPO certification is not protecting international household brands from the risk that the palm oil they use is tainted with deforestation. RSPO standards are not prohibiting deforestation and peatland destruction.”

World Wildlife Fund, a co-founder of RSPO, issued a formal letter in April 2013 stating that “because the review failed to accept strong, tough and clear performance standards … it is, unfortunately, no longer possible for producers or users of palm oil to ensure that they are acting responsibly simply by using Certified Sustainable Palm Oil.”

Forest Heroes also says that the timeline is important and is calling on Dunkin’ to require suppliers to sell only deforestation-free and exploitation-free palm oil by the end of 2015. More than 9.7 million hectares of rainforest have already been licensed for palm production in Malaysia, and the Indonesian government has announced plans to convert about 18 million more hectares of rainforest into palm plantations by 2020 to meet rapidly increasing global demand for the product. In a recent Nature study, researchers at Stanford and Yale found that emissions just from expansion of Indonesia’s palm oil industry in Borneo could top 558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2020 – more than all of Canada’s fossil fuel emissions. In addition to the Sumatran tigers, such deforestation would threaten endangered orangutans, which are only found in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Aside from environmental concerns, the palm industry has also been associated with abusive labor practices. Some actors in the palm oil industry have been singled out for being “rife with human rights abuses.” According to an investigative report by Bloomberg Businessweek, there are thousands of child laborers and “workers who face dangerous and abusive conditions,” including bonded labor and human trafficking, currently working on palm oil plantations.

Forest Heroes has worked with other major companies to go deforestation- and exploitation-free. In December 2013 Wilmar, one of the world’s largest palm oil traders, announced that it would no longer source palm oil and other commodities from companies engaged in deforestation or human rights abuse, and this February Kellogg’s agreed to only source palm oil from companies that meet similar “No Deforestation, No Exploitation” criteria by the end of 2015.

Forest Heroes hopes that Dunkin’ will go beyond the weak standards of the RSPO and be the next major company to commit to truly responsible palm oil. “'America runs on Dunkin' – which means it’s that much more important for Dunkin’ to become a forest hero,” Lapidus said.

Image credit: Forest Heroes

 Alexandra Stark is a PhD student in Washington, DC. She is also a consultant for Catapult.

The old adage is true that everything is bigger in Texas. And now, so is tire recycling. Genan, the world’s leading tire recycling company, recently unveiled its $140 million state-of-the-art plant in northeast Houston earlier this month with plans to recycle 10 million tires each year. The 40-acre plant, the largest of its kind in the world, will employ 60 workers and divert nearly one-third of all used tires in Texas from landfills.

Genan currently operates four plants throughout Europe that recycle about 7 million tires each year. The company extracts and produces rubber granulate, rubber powder and steel from scrap tires for re-sale as synthetic turf installations, playgrounds and recreational facilities, sports tracks and grounds, asphalt roads, building products, flooring, injection molded products, industrial applications, noise insulation, and many other purposes and applications.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. generates about 290 million scrap tires each year. Roughly 45 percent are used as fuel, 20 percent are used in civil engineering projects, and 30 percent are converted into ground rubber and recycled into products. Genan’s Houston facility will serve as the company’s U.S. headquarters as the company seeks to expand its operations to include four sales and distribution plants across the U.S. in the future to capture 10 percent of the American recycled tire market.

Lars Raahauge, Genan's Director of Business Development, said:

"We are currently performing due diligence on a number of states across the country. Exact locations will depend on the long-term reliability of available tire supplies as well as a business setting, community support, and a legislative and regulatory approach that is compatible with Genan's environmentally and climate friendly tire recycling concept."

Construction on the Genan Houston building kicked off two years ago with the decision to place the factory in Houston due to the positive business climate, proximity and access to the second largest business port in the U.S., and the 39 percent energy reduction costs compared to its Denmark facilities.

The plant currently processes tires by removing the rubber, steel and textile materials that comprise the tire. The steel is sold to scrap companies, and the “near-virgin” rubber is used in asphalt products. Textile materials are burned and converted into energy. Genan's products have been utilized at the last two NFL Super Bowls and are currently in use across the country at a number of professional and college football facilities including the University of Texas at Austin and the New Orleans Saints turfs.

Within 24 months, the plant will be expanded to produce a line of very fine cryogenic rubber powder and a technologically unique devulcanization line for the production of rubber, which will be able to substitute virgin rubber compounds.

Image credit: GST HBK, via Wikimedia Commons

By Lewis Robinson

There is so much available on the Internet today to help small businesses and nonprofit organizations become successful. And in today’s society it’s almost necessary for a thriving organization to adopt existing technology. However, among these tools are a few that really stand out. Here are three viable options for any nonprofit.

1. Cinchcast

Cinchcast makes it much easier and more efficient to conduct conference calls on a large or small scale. Cinchcast consolidates webinars, conference calls and webcasts using a cloud-based system that cuts back drastically on associated costs. It's the way the different tools needed to conduct a live audio recording event are integrated into one user interface that makes this such a valuable, multifaceted tool for nonprofits.

• Conference call participants can ask and receive quick answers to questions that are all visible to the facilitator of the call on the Q&A Management Console.


• Most companies use a separate service provider to keep track of phone number and pin codes associated with a conference call. This is all available in plain sight on the conference bridge that the facilitator has direct access to at the click of a button.


• Audio clips are easily saved and organized for immediate access and easy referencing so there is no confusion about what has been discussed.


• Slide presentations that help the facilitator stay organized and keep track of the direction of the discussion can quickly be made, organized and customized to suit individual needs.


• Registration form customization, event scheduling and content publishing using a computer, iPhone app or phone are all made easy.

2. Salesforce

No matter the type of organization, it’s important to manage sales leads you generate through social media, inbound marketing, etc. Salesforce is a Customer Relations Management (CRM) application used by many businesses. Like many applications of this type, it makes use of what is called cloud computing. The term 'cloud' is basically a metaphor for the Internet. It describes computing that involves a large number of computers in use and the ability to run an application or program on every one of them at the same time.

Cloud computing security quality is oftentimes equal to or better than traditional computing security. This is due mainly to the ease of use of cloud based applications that give the user the time and revenue to focus on security issues. However, security issues can become more complicated when large amounts of information are transmitted over a wide area among large numbers of computers.

Salesforce gives an employer the ability to get more productivity from his or her staff without having to add new procedures. It provides social platforms for employees and marketers to stay in touch no matter where they might individually be at the time. Employers can monitor each employee's email conversation directly from their inbox to make sure these communications produce tangible results. The App Exchange on the Salesforce1 platform contains thousands of apps from independent software developers and marketers designed for productivity purposes, and the competitive pricing will allow nonprofit organizations to get the assistance they need without having to break the bank.

3. Ustream

Ustream is designed for producing what are called Web-Based Internet TV Stations. It's used by professionals of many types and financial backgrounds to broadcast their ideas in real time to a large or small audience.

• Ustream makes it easy to broadcast using a webcam and an Internet connection using the Ustream Web Broadcaster. Users can interact in real-time on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Broadcasts can also be saved and played again later for large or small audiences.


• A laptop or desktop with an Internet connection can be used for professional level live-streaming of presentations when using Ustream Video Producer. Multiple cameras can be used to capture the attention of the target audience using different camera angles and viewpoints. High-definition broadcasting is fully supported along with most of the necessary hardware and video playback options.


• Plenty of apps available for mobile phone allow users to broadcast from anywhere. Mobile broadcasting is supported for 3G, 4GLTE and WiFi smartphone systems.

About the author: Lewis Robinson is a freelance business consultant specializing in CRM and sales. He’s begun multiple corporations dealing with marketing and market research, and over the past 27 years has been recognized for his entrepreneurial advice and business insights.

Employee engagement in CSR activities can demonstrably improve job performance, new research from ESMT European School of Management and Technology maintains.

The study, published in the May 2014 issue of the American Marketing Association’s Journal of Marketing, finds that employees feel more connected with companies and customers when they engage in corporate social responsibility activities.
Environmental initiatives, charitable giving, and ethical business practices can all help employees by highlighting common values with both customers and the company, researchers found.

Citing programmes at companies such as CISCO, Starbucks and SAP, the authors recommend that managers encourage employees to talk about and develop shared experiences with customers around the company’s CSR activities as well as ensuring that company leaders take a visible role in enacting CSR.

CB Bhattacharya, Dean of International Relations at ESMT European School of Management and Technology, and E.ON Chair in Corporate Responsibility commented: “Companies rely on frontline employees − salespeople, customer service representatives, wait staff, account managers, and the like − to serve customers profitably. Yet, these employees often feel disconnected from both the company they work for and the customers they are expected to serve.

“The result of this study is yet more evidence that companies can generate substantial return on their CSR investment if they manage it wisely.”

More than 200 employees at a Global 500 financial services company took part in the study authored by CB Bhattacharya of ESMT European School of Management and Technology; Daniel Korschun of Drexel University; and Scott D. Swain of Clemson University.

Picture credit: © Svetlana Gucalo | Dreamstime.com
 

The secrecy surrounding thousands of subsidiaries created in tax havens by leading UK companies has created a black hole at the heart of the FTSE100, a new Christian Aid report has warned.

FTSEcrecy reveals an information void which, says the charity, threatens investors, customers and government regulators, because it leaves them without the facts they need to make good decisions about FTSE100 companies.

Christian Aid’s research found that FTSE100 companies have created 29,891 subsidiaries. But details of the subsidiaries’ turnover, assets, shareholder funds and number of employees are freely available in relation to only one-quarter (26 per cent) of them.

Such information is impossible to obtain, even for payment, in relation to a further 21 per cent of the subsidiaries (6,396 companies).

Data on the remaining 53 per cent of FTSE100 companies’ subsidiaries (more than 15,000) is available - but only on payment of a fee. These vary from the £1 that UK Companies House charges for annual reports and annual returns to more than US$10 per document permitted in some other jurisdictions.

Where information was not available from public authorities, Christian Aid found that it was sometimes available from fee-charging private databases of company information.

“We were shocked by how little information is freely available about most companies’ subsidiaries,” said Katharine Teague, co-author of the report, which reveals previously unpublished data about FTSE100 companies.

“What our findings show is that secrecy is not the exception but the norm, even among the largest 100 companies whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange.

“These are household-name firms in which millions of people invest, through their pension funds and savings. But the secrecy is so deep and widespread that it is like a blindfold on everyone who has financial dealings with these companies.”

The new research also highlights FTSE100 companies’ heavy use of tax havens. More than 90 per cent of their subsidiaries are based in places defined as ‘secrecy jurisdictions’ by the Financial Secrecy Index.

Almost half of those subsidiaries are in the UK (which is itself defined as ‘moderately secretive’). Of the remainder, 14 per cent are in ‘highly secretive’ tax havens such as Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Picture credit: © Roman Sakhno | Dreamstime.com
 

Submitted by Social Venture Network

Ethical fashion brand Sseko Designs is a “not-just-for profit” company that provides entrepreneurial training, employment and scholarships to women in East Africa. The company hires young women transitioning between high school and university in Uganda, pays them a fair income so they can afford to pay for their university tuition and then provides scholarships that match the women’s savings.

Founder Liz Forkin-Bohannon started the brand from one sandal – designed while she was still in college. Today she splits her time between Uganda and Portland, Oregon, where she and her husband Ben run Sseko Designs. As of 2014, Sseko sells sandals, handbags and scarves. Fergal Byrne catches up with the entrepreneur for Talkback.

Where did the idea for Sseko Designs come from?

When I was first in Uganda, I wanted to start a chicken farm –it was not a very well thought out idea. But I knew I really wanted to do something in Uganda and a friend suggested the idea of making sandals—I had designed some strappy, funky sandals while in college that everyone seemed to like. This was something I was familiar with, and could be sold to women in America. When we looked at the idea more closely, in terms of the raw materials needed, the skills required, we worked out that it would be a viable, if challenging, proposition.

You call Sseko Designs a “not just for profit” company. What does that mean?

We feel very committed to being a for-profit because we really believe that business can be one of the most powerful forces for positive change. Too often “not for profit” or “for-profit” end up being shorthand for organizations that either do good or don’t care. “Not just for profit” seems like a good way to describe an organization that cares about something big and is doing something good while making a profit to sustain its operations.

We often say: “no margin, no mission.”

If we are not selling products, not making money, we have no social mission: we can’t employ women, we certainly can’t give them scholarships to go to college and we don’t have a platform to talk about the issues we care about. For us making money and having a successful, healthy and thriving business is not counter to or competing with our mission but very much a part of it. Profit for us is about achieving something bigger than purely just making money for people at the top.

You focus on employing young women before they go to college, which means they can only work with you for a year or so…how does that work?

Yes, that’s right. That’s something we have learned to adapt to. We employ 19- and 20-year old women who have never had a real job before and have certainly never done anything in the production industry before. These are women that come and work for our company for nine months during their gap year, earn money and then go on to university. In the early years, we had a 100 percent employee turnover built into our business model, which caused a lot of problems.

In fact, they’re actually productive for maybe six months when you take into account the training and on-boarding and then, toward the end, they inevitably start to become much more focused on getting ready and preparing for going to school and the next season of their life, which is great. Now we have built a model that allows us to have a trained team of women who are full time workers that can invest in the younger women and can really provide that production and quality consistency. Building up our Ugandan staff management has been a huge challenge and also a big success over the last couple of the years.

What was it like to get a business off the ground with no business or fashion experience?

When I look back at my 22-year-old self, I just feel really tired. Of course, I was young and so unbelievably and incredibly idealistic about the world and about what we can do. My attitude at the time, which I still have to some degree, is that failure is not an option. I was just so committed to these young women; these relationships and this idea and seeing it come to fruition.

It was pretty challenging at the beginning. We were in a community that didn’t have an artisan trade and tradition of design. There was just no existing framework or understanding of this kind of work. The tools that we were using, the materials we were using, the end goal that we are trying to achieve were all new – and the women we were building our company on were temporary employees for all intents and purposes.

So in the first couple of years, a lot of challenges just came down to quality issues—in our production and with the raw materials that we were using. We were so small we didn’t really have a lot of say or sway with our raw materials providers so when quality issues came out, we had very little leverage. It’s hard to make really high quality products when we don’t have high quality ingredients.

How have the challenges changed as you have grown?

As our business grows and we focus on large-scale distribution and sales, retail and growing our e-commerce, our challenges have changed too. These growth challenges are definitely very different than the challenges of creation, which was more defined the first couple of years.

When you make mistakes in the beginning, no one knows who you are. There are no expectations when you’re a little start-up. The mistakes are also a lot less painful because you can just move on. Whereas now, with distribution all over the U.S., Australia, South Korea and so on, when something goes wrong or we have an issue with our production or delay, the implications are a lot bigger.

It’s critical to build a team as you grow.

You need to be clear about what you are good at and find people who are awesome to do the rest and let them run with it. I don’t want to be the bottleneck that keeps our company from growing and flourishing. So I have really focused on sharing decision-making and building a team that will take ownership and challenge me. While I have a pretty specific vision for the way I want things to go, it’s crucial to create a culture where questions can be asked­—the really hard questions—that might push and change and kind of mold your vision.

What is your vision for Sseko Designs?

My ultimate vision is for Sseko Designs to be completely run and operated by a Ugandan team – and that we would buy finished products from an awesome production company based in Uganda. And I have to say we’re pretty close to that.

We still have two American staff members, one that does design and one that does social impact programs development, but everything else from HR to procurement and our actual production management is managed by Ugandan staff which we’re just super proud of. They are awesome and they’re doing a great job of building this company and taking ownership in its success.

Related:

• The Resilient Social Entrepreneur: An Interview with a Chief Instigating Officer
• Reinventing Community Development with a Ball: An Interview with One World Futbol Cofounders Tim Jahnigen & Lisa Tarver

About the Author:

Fergal Byrne is a seasoned freelance journalist who has written for many years for The Financial Times and The Economist Intelligence Unit. You can hear Fergal’s interviews with inspiring social entrepreneurs and changemakers at www.inspiringsocialentrepreneurs.com.

About Social Venture Network:

Since 1987, Social Venture Network (SVN, www.svn.org) has been the leading network of entrepreneurs who are transforming the way the world does business. SVN connects the leaders of socially responsible enterprises to share wisdom and resources, form strategic alliances and explore new solutions that build a more just and sustainable economy.

By Maya Spaull, Fair Trade USA

Transforming the apparel industry is within our reach. By engaging in responsible sourcing practices that protect people and planet, a brand can communicate their values. This is an evolving conversation, accompanied by increasingly conscious consumers that are demanding to know how their clothing, footwear and accessories are produced.

So how does Fair Trade fit into the sustainable apparel dialogue, and what distinguishes it?

Perhaps best known for certification in coffee, Fair Trade is a market-based approach to improving the lives of farmers and workers, protecting the environment, and delivering quality and safety. At its core, Fair Trade puts people at the center of sustainability.

Whether on a farm or in a factory, participants must adhere to rigorous standards, covering areas such as safe working conditions, grievance procedures, freedom from harassment, regulated work hours, absence of child labor, freedom of association, and environmental best practices.

As Fair Trade USA and our partners collaborate to apply this model to global apparel, footwear and accessories production, here are five unique attributes to consider:

1. Fair Trade delivers more money to the people who produce your clothing

The apparel industry has a long and infamous history of labor abuse and often fatal tragedies, particularly in factory settings. One of these abuses is abysmally low pay, resulting in a situation where workers and cotton farmers receive only a tiny fraction of the final cost of a garment, further exacerbating conditions of extreme poverty.

Fair Trade aims to help individuals, specifically at the most labor intensive points in the supply chain, retain more value and improve their lives. In addition to regional wage and price requirements, as covered in the Fair Trade standards, farmers and workers earn an additional Fair Trade financial premium to invest in their communities. This is typically around 5 percent of the manufactured price of a garment.

Distribution of the Fair Trade premium results in tangible change in the local community, including building schools, improved access to healthcare and distributing cash bonuses for household expenses.

2. Empowerment and equal rights are at the heart of Fair Trade, with an emphasis on supporting women

Another aim of Fair Trade is to put farmers and workers in the driver's seat, and help them achieve a voice and position of power in the workplace. One way this happens is through the formation of a Fair Trade committee, which is democratically elected and is responsible for the management of the Fair Trade premium. Individuals also receive a series of trainings, are informed about grievance procedures and about their right to organize.

Protecting and creating new opportunities for women is also critical. With equal pay and equal rights at the forefront, Fair Trade mandates specific standards covering maternity leave, healthcare and freedom from harassment (sexual and otherwise). We’ve also seen women use additional premiums to invest in new business opportunities, like starting a small store, to further support their families.

3. You’re not just improving lives, you’re protecting the environment

At a farm level, Fair Trade environmental standards address things like proper waste disposal, water runoff, chemical use and GMOs. Similarly, to earn Fair Trade certification, a factory must develop a robust environmental management plan. This specifically means they must set targets and track progress in reducing water, waste and energy usage.

4. In Fair Trade certified factories, worker satisfaction is high and turnover is low

Everyone wants to feel supported, empowered and be fairly compensated in the workplace. In Fair Trade factories across the globe, retention rates are higher than average. During the manufacturing process when employees proudly affix the Fair Trade label to each product, they know which brands are committed to Fair Trade and to delivering direct financial benefits to their families via Fair Trade premiums.

5. You can find Fair Trade certified clothing, footwear and accessories NOW!

Just a few years ago, the idea of a Fair Trade wardrobe was a distant dream. However, the option to choose clothes that are stylish, well made AND align with your values is growing. Check out these amazing brands that are working hard to redefine what it means to do “good business.” In 2014, you’ll see:

• PrAna: A pioneering Fair Trade USA brand partner that continues to introduce new styles such as the Ellie Top and Dahlia Skirt


• Oliberté: Men’s and women’s shoes made in the world’s first Fair Trade Certified footwear factory in Ethiopia


• Patagonia: Launching 10 Fair Trade Certified styles in Fall 2014


• PACT: Launching women’s and men’s apparel and the first Fair Trade USA certified baby gear


• Mountain Equipment Co-op: Launching their first Fair Trade Certified line of T-shirts in 2014


• Hae Now: Offering Fair Trade T-shirts


• Indigenous Designs: Labeling and promoting the Fair Trade Certified Aerial Poncho


• Under the Canopy: Launched the world’s first Fair Trade Certified robe, now available at Bed, Bath & Beyond

Please join us in supporting these brands, and applaud them for their commitment to social and environmental sustainability. It’s also time to inspire and enroll the companies who have yet to take a significant step forward in creating more transparent, ethical supply chains. If we want to eliminate tragedies like the Rana Plaza factory collapse, we must commit to purchasing products that ensure farmers and workers are seen as living participants instead of nameless, faceless, replaceable masses. Now is the time for investing in a new future for sustainable apparel.

Image credit: Fair Trade USA

Maya Spaull is Director of New Category Innovation for Fair Trade USA.

One of the toughest challenges presented by the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been understanding its message in relation to everyday events. For many of us, change in climate conditions is normal. That period of drier-than-usual winter days that encourages us to play hooky from work or school, or that seemingly unending string of scorching summer weather can, to some degree, be paired with experiences of the past. Most of us can remember experiencing extraordinarily strange weather anomalies when we were kids that would suggest that climate change and global warming assertions are, well, just a lot of hot air.

Combine this conundrum with the fact that the IPCC report is anything but reader-friendly and easy to process, and it’s understandable why 23 percent of the U.S. population doesn’t believe climate change is a real issue, and 64 percent of Americans say they don’t believe it will be a real threat in their lifetime.

It’s no surprise then, that Stanford University, which maintains a sizable investment in climate change research, has developed a tidy little website for debunking intellectual challenges  just like these. The Stanford Alumni website equips the reader with a regular post of quick, fail-safe answers that will pass any after-class cocktail hour quiz. It may not convince everyone that climate change is a real threat, but it proves that heady topics like this one have little hope of being understood without a good stiff cocktail to go along with it.

But for the rest of us, who don’t have time to mull answers over evening schmoozes, what hope is there to really comprehend, on a personal, real-life level what the IPCC has handed us?

So call this our debunking tool: a handy, although somewhat unsettling list of some of the more awe-inspiring phenomena that have begun to occur of late.

The mystery of the rising methane

Methane emissions are up these days. After a brief lull in rising levels of atmospheric methane (1999 to 2006), levels increased sharply in 2007. Scientists have never had a solid understanding of what drives these emissions, but a recent study by a Guelph University researcher and team suggests that the answer lies not in the tropics as previously believed, or in the dietary habits of bovines, but in the loss of the Arctic’s precious permafrost – which is melting at an alarming rate.

“Methane makes methane, that’s what we’re seeing. You have a feedback loop where methane heats things up and then we get more wetland emissions.” - Prof. Euan Nisbet, University of London.

Prof. Merritt Turetsky and his 19 co-authors took 20,000 measurements across the Arctic, tropics and more temperate areas and discovered that the melting is contributing to greenhouse gas concentrations at a faster rate than anywhere else on the planet.

Not only does the permafrost contain twice as much carbon (CO2) than the atmosphere, but according to the Environmental Protection Agency, methane is much more efficient in trapping radiation than CO2. According to the IPCC report, over a 20-year period, methane will have 86 times the global warming potential of CO2 .

But that’s not to say that the fault of global warming can be foisted on Canada. Measurements taken by air over the Uinta Basin in Utah, home to America's largest concentration of natural gas sites, showed a leakage rate of 6 to 12 percent of the methane that was produced each year.

And while there is the belief that more efficient technology can curb natural gas leaks and even make cows less flatulent, a melting permafrost is exceedingly harder to control without curbing the actual source: a warming planet.

As University of London and author Prof. Euan Nisbet succinctly put it: “Methane makes methane, that’s what we’re seeing. You have a feedback loop where methane heats things up and then we get more wetland emissions.”

El Nino’s gift to India: Monsoon  droughts

Here in North America, particularly on the West Coast, we often associate El Niño with balmy, blustery winters and more rain. But in India, where monsoons can be both a blessing and a torrential force, the weather phenomenon is often the opposite -- and can spell disaster for farmers that rely on the rain to irrigate their crops.

As we reported in March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gave a “soft” prediction that El Niño would make an appearance this year. And according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, El Niño is on its way.

If there’s one bright spot in the forecast, it is that scientists are getting closer to understanding the relationship between the climate phenomenon and the monsoon season. Still, with 14 percent of its economy based on agriculture, the forecast of yet another drought (the fourth for India since 2002), is likely to have an impact on the country’s population of  1.3 billion.

IPCC report: Worsening weather anomalies

While scientists are still debating whether this spring’s string of fatal tornadoes can be attributed to warmer temperatures, many scientists do believe that the escalation in catastrophic storms is related to climate change.

According to a report released this week by the Obama administration, the Northeast U.S. has seen a 71 percent increase in precipitation since 1958.

Other discoveries:

• The length and intensity of heat waves in the U.S. have tripled since 2011. The “prolonged (multi-month) extreme heat has been unprecedented ...” (GlobalChange.gov*)

• But freak episodes of heat waves were building even before 2011. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7,233 deaths occurred from extreme heat between 1999 and 2009, including 514 mortalities in during a 10-day heat wave in Chicago in 2005.

• America is losing its coastlines. An average of 8 inches over the past century doesn’t account for the much higher losses around New Orleans and the Northeastern Seaboard*.

• Heavy downpours have increased since 1991, with episodes averaging about 30 percent higher than prior to 1960*.

• Alaska has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the country*. Our story of the eroding coastline of Kivalina  is perhaps the best example of Alaska’s disappearing way of life.

Come to think about it, maybe that drink is in order …

Image of flood following storm in Midwest, 2008: Don Becker

Permafrost, Devon Is. Canada: Anthonares

Extreme heat occurrences: GlobalChange.gov

Over the last several months we have been tracking the progress of Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) efforts to manage its supply chain in a more responsible way. Following longstanding campaigns against the company and its customers, in February 2013, APP announced a comprehensive Forest Conservation Policy (FCP), in which the company committed to zero deforestation commensurate with its forest clearing moratorium. Later, the company went further still with a commitment to stop processing natural forest fiber in its pulp and paper mills from any pulpwood supplier.

Now, APP has gone a step further still with its announcement on April 28 that in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, APP will conserve and restore 1 million hectares of forest across vital landscapes in Indonesia.

This is a significant development, because while Greenpeace already ceased its campaign against APP last year with the announcement of the FCP, other groups, World Wildlife Fund notable among them, withheld their full support because APP's conservation policy did not address the company's legacy of forest destruction.

The latest announcement goes some way towards getting WWF on their side. Indeed, APP's new commitment has nudged WWF to acknowledge that it represents progress, posting on April 28 that, "WWF cautiously welcomes the restoration and conservation initiative announced.." adding, "By declaring its intention to restore and support conservation of one million hectares of natural forest and other ecosystems in Sumatra and Kalimantan, APP has substantially strengthened the Forest Conservation Policy it announced in February 2013."

WWF also indicated that it will take a more collaborative role, saying it will continue discussions with APP and other stakeholders, "to offer input on potential implementation approaches, priorities and development of a time-bound action plan for achieving real conservation impacts."

Of course, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. In its response to the news, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) both welcomed the initiative and at the same time led with the statement that the new commitment, "requires further specifics and is fraught with challenges."

Lafcadio Cortesi of RAN said, "The promise is fraught with uncertainties about what will count towards the target, what approaches will be used and how the progress on the commitment will be implemented and measured, but these are welcome challenges." Fraught though it may be, RAN applauded the intention and went as far as saying APP can be proud of the commitment, and that the company is going beyond what any of its peers have done in Indonesia and perhaps internationally.

Rhett Butler, writing in Mongabay.com, details that APP's restoration commitments target nine "landscapes" across Sumatra and Kalimantan and that the company's initial focus will be on Bukit Tigapulah or "30 Hills" -- an area of forest that provides critical habitat for endangered tigers, elephants and orangutans. To facilitate the efforts, APP will provide seed funding for "an independently administered" trust fund. APP's press release says that the company will, "work with an NGO coalition to preserve the natural forest in the 30 Hills landscape."

The 1 million hectares slated for restoration across the nine landscapes is equivalent to the total plantation area from which the company sourced pulp in 2013, according to Mongabay. APP and its supplier concession holders manage a total area of 2.6 million hectares of Indonesian forest land.

The restoration commitment comes ahead of the publication of key results from work undertaken as a result of the Forest Conservation Policy launched last year. Since APP's announcement of FCP, much of the work since undertaken has been in the areas of both "High Conservation Value -- HCV" and "High Carbon Stock -- HCS" assessments on supplier concession lands. As of January this year, APP also secured the help of peatland management experts to address concerns voiced by environmental groups over how these landscapes will be managed.

The results of these assessments are not yet in; HCS and HCV are due by the end of June, but APP has already committed that the recommendations following these will be incorporated into the company's Integrated Sustainable Forest Management Plans (ISFMPs). Consequently, adopting these recommendations and implementing ISFMP is a key milestone that has yet to be reached. But APP says in its press release that the new restoration plans, "will be developed into a more detail time-bound plan that will form part of the company's ISFMP." So, perhaps this displays an air of optimism that things are well on track and that the new plans for restoration will be able to mesh smoothly with prior commitments made under the FCP.

Other recent developments lend credibility to APP's progress, too. In January, the Rainforest Alliance agreed to conduct an audit of the company's zero deforestation policy; their agreement to do so was predicated in part by APP's association with respected organizations such as Greenpeace and The Forest Trust (TFT).

Then on April 15, The Forest Stewardship Council agreed to continue talks with APP about the potential for a re-association of APP with FSC. In the press release, FSC stated that the organization, "appreciates the recent steps taken by APP to become a more responsible company in the field of plantation management and forest conservation following its 2013 Forest Conservation Policy."

For APP's part, they continue to push ahead and want to put distance between the present and past criticisms. Mongabay.com's piece reports Aida Greenbury, APP's managing director of sustainability and stakeholder engagement, as saying: "Past relationships with any of our critics are exactly that - past relationships. History," adding, "Our focus has been simply to keep going with the business of building trust, transparency and delivering commitments. And I think we are succeeding."

Photo by author

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