sustainability

Do you remember your first live music concert?

This was the topic of conversation in our office this morning – nostalgia inspired by the new video Reverb posted on their story board at Changents.com.

The answers to the question ranged from Dire Straits (1979, Providence, RI) to the Charlie Daniels Band (1982, Oxford, Ohio) to Boyz II Men (1994, Philadelphia). Regardless of the band, the venue or the date, our team of concert-goers agreed that their first concert was a rite of passage into the wonderful world of live music. And that on one hand, the experience of going to a concert hasn’t changed much over the years; on the other hand, it can be and often is a much more enriching experience that transcends the music.

Reverb is one of the driving forces behind the trend to educate and engage both the musicians and their fans to promote environmental sustainability. This summer, at concerts featuring John Mayer, Jack Johnson and the Dave Matthews Band, the bands are using bio-diesel to fuel their buses and generators. The on-site caterers are using biodegradable products and among many other things, there’s a commitment to both waste reduction and recycling.

As for the fans, if they carpool to a DMB or John Mayer concert this summer they could win DMB and John Mayer prizes. Through a partnership with PickupPal, Reverb supports this program in a fierce acknowledgement of the fact that 80% of the carbon footprint of a concert is from fans driving to and from the show. Once they arrive at the show, fans are greeted with a festival-like atmosphere in the Reverb Eco-Village where they can learn about green technologies, local and national non-profit groups dedicated to environmental sustainability, and carbon offset programs. Fans can also register to vote, participate in Eco-Trivia contests and sample eco-friendly consumer goods.

Whether you cut your concert-going teeth on hard rock, a little bit of country or something in between, there’s something uniquely powerful about a live music concert. Hats off to Reverb for realizing the opportunity to add environmental sustainability to the playlist — yet another wonderful addition to the 21st century music experience.

A Nutritional Label—for Shoes

More and more, today’s consumers want to know what kind of environmental footprint is being left by the products they buy. In 2006, Timberland began putting that information on 30 million footwear boxes: by placing a “nutritional label” on every box to educate consumers about the product. Where it was manufactured. How it was produced. And its effect on the environment. To create the label, three critical areas are highlighted. Information about the manufacturing plant. The impact of manufacturing on the climate. And the impact on the community, including such factors as the number of hours of volunteer service performed by Timberland employees to “Make it better” in the community. We’re also putting a message inside the box asking consumers to consider what kind of footprint they themselves are leaving and encouraging them to become proactive in the effort to protect our planet. Under this initiative, footwear boxes are also crafted from 100% post-consumer recycled waste fiber, using no chemical glues. Only soy-based inks are used to print the labels, which are the first of their kind in the industry.

The First Step

So far, public reaction has been positive. But, as the Chinese proverb states, Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, I attended the Ceres conference in Boston, Massachusetts (”The annual Ceres conference is a unique gathering of corporate, environmental, investor, governance, and labor leaders who share a collective vision of sustainability and capital markets functioning side by side”). I have a very high bar for the conferences I attend, and this makes the top three. The networking is genuine and I always learn more than I bargained for.

Some highlights:

A panel with current and former executive leadership of BP and Shell agreeing that climate change is an issue that needs to be dealt with, only differing on how they were going to do it. They both say that company profits fund alternative energy research, so I look forward to hearing about the developments of those investments at subsequent conferences — and ideally sooner.

A closing panel on the economic impact of climate change that included Van Jones, the Founder and President of Green for All a non-profit dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Van was so charismatic, poised and on-point that he elicited applause after almost everyone of his comments. He was so good, in fact, that I didn’t even feel compelled to tell you that Theodore Roosevelt IV and Chip Giller of Grist were also on the panel. And they too were excellent.

What felt different about this conference was that there seems to be a palpable shift to issue identification and value creation. There was less finger-pointing and more collaboration and discussion of important issues with the intention of real results. It’s a good sign and I, for one, look forward to it.

Alex Hausman
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Timberland Company