Globe 2010 foresees the future of a low carbon economy

Jen — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:52:59 +0000

by Bob Pennington

Vancouver Convention Center

Every two years in Vancouver, B.C. a collection of delegates, speakers, innovators and mediators assemble to map the future of business and sustainability in a green world. The list of speakers ranges from academia, to corporate officers, government officials to researchers. This year’s theme is “Building a Global Low Carbon Economy.”

Globe is organized into a series of seminars consisting of a panel of experts that take turns talking about their roles and expertise in sustainability. Delegates attending the seminars are from over 84 countries and bring their own individual diversity to the seminars. After the presentations an open mike is offered to the delegates for questions and discussion. The speakers are from three diverse disciplines to promote the widest views in the seminars; academia, government and corporate. There are large multinational corporations represented by CEOs along with innovators just starting to bring products to market. From the academic world are professors and researchers from a global selection of universities, colleges and research facilities. Government Delegations of Ministers, commissioners and officials are from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This uniquely diverse collection from around the world ensures insightful, provocative, and inspirational series of discussions.

Globe 2010: Tradeshow floor

Globe also has a Trade Fair that features over 400 exhibits from some of the most innovative, leading edge, sustainable, products and services from around the world. The products can be prototypes to full production contributing to a cleaner future.

This all takes place over a very full three days in one of the gem cities of the Pacific Rim, Vancouver, B.C., recent host of the 2010 Olympic Games. Vancouver’s Convention Center is literally on the water. The structure has an innovative stretched fabric roof and the newest building features the largest green roof in North America at six acres.

Over the next couple of days, Ecozome hopes to bring you a glimpse into some of the unique products and presentations from the conference. We also hope to get on the largest green roof in North America!

Transforming the Global Footprint of American Business

Jen — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:05:30 +0000

by Jen Pennington and Mary Rose

Last Thursday, January 21st, a panel of business leaders spoke at Antioch University to a full room of entrepreneurs, students, faculty and members of the business community. Each gave a great presentation on how their company is working to create social and environmental benefits through innovative practices.

NBIS presented the program as part of Antioch University’s Center for Creative Change series on Global Issues and Perspectives. Karl Ostrom, Co-director of the Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability (NBIS) moderated the discussion with Seattle-based executives from a variety of businesses with global footprints.

David Basson, CEO of Greensource Organic Clothing

First up to speak was David Basson, the CEO from Greensource Organic Clothing Company. His is an eco-friendly company, mitigating the negative environmental impacts of the apparel industry, particularly the toxins used in the growth and processing of cotton. He spoke eloquently about how their brand is not just the products they sell, but more how they do business in the world marketplace. One of the highlights showed how their traceability tracking system gives their customers the benefit of being able to trace their garments from field to final production. He also spoke about giving back to the communities where the organic cotton is grown. They have built three schools to provide access to education for the children in these rural communities. The also have medical clinics on site in several locations. Organic cotton is still only about 3% of the world’s cotton supply, yet conventional cotton is the most pesticide-dependent crop in the world. For every Cotton T-Shirt made with conventionally grown cotton, six ounces of toxic chemicals containing pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and defoliants are used and these find their way into the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat.

Valerie Bone, Director of Quality/Corporate Social Responsibility, PMI

Next up was Valerie Bone, Director of Quality/Corporate Social Responsibility from Pacific Market International. PMI is best known for their Aladdin and Stanley Thermos brands. Her presentation covered the strategic approach the company took in becoming more sustainably aware. Building on the company’s strong foundation in codes of conduct and quality, she spoke about PMI’s Corporate Social Responsibility charter that embeds sustainability in the core mission and vision of the company. PMI has been conducting extensive R&D to develop BPA-free alternatives to polycarbonate material. One result of these efforts was the co-development of eCycle, a food grade quality plastic that is made from 100 percent recycled materials with a 25 percent post consumer content. It’s also recyclable where [5] plastic is collected. In 2008, PMI used more than 1 million pounds of recycled plastics in its products. As a result of these product innovations, PMI has strengthened its relationships with customers like Starbucks and Nike that have aggressive sustainability goals for products and vendors.

David Okrent, Brand Director for Environment for Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Speaking from the Aerospace industry was David Okrent, Brand Director for Environment for Boeing Commercial Airplanes with additional duties as the coordinator for the European section of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group and as the project manager for the Boeing Sustainable Biofuels Steering Team. It was obvious that Mr. Okrent certainly has his work cut out for him. For Boeing it is more a question of trying to reduce their environmental footprint. When you look at how large a company Boeing is, it becomes very interesting to see how this aerospace giant is seeking to talk about sustainability. Boeing’s work in pioneering new technologies and materials to reduce fuel consumption, striving to find better fuel solutions and even looking at air traffic efficiencies to reduce fuel usage made for an eye-opening presentation. If you are interested in learning more about their progress, read the company’s Environment report.

Dennis Gawlik, Faculty Member at Bainbridge Graduate Institute and Director of Purchasing Services for the University of Washington

Last up was Dennis Gawlik, a Faculty member at Bainbridge Graduate Institute and the Director of Purchasing Services for the University of Washington. Mr. Gawlik raised the bar on sustainability imperatives noting that while many companies are striving to achieve better sustainability performance, most, in his view, are not currently going far enough. He engaged the audience in a whiteboard session challenging those in the room to come up with the top ten issues identified in a survey of purchasing agents in the U.S. as their biggest sustainability concerns. At the top of the list were Biodiversity and Water. It was a great way to bring the presentations to a close and get the audience to think in terms of the global economics and impacts of American businesses.

After the presentations the panel joined in a discussion on what sustainability means to each of them. Questions were taken from an enthusiastic audience, and Antioch was pleased to see so many people stick around afterwards to converse with the speakers. It just makes you realize it’s how we harness people energy that will make the business world a better place.

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Globe 2010 foresees the future of a low carbon economy

Transforming the Global Footprint of American Business