Aaron and I were invited by our good friends at The Brick Companies to attend the sponsor’s dinner for the Akridge Save The Bay Classic to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It was an absolutely amazing event, held at the Phillip Merrill Environmental Center, which is the headquarters location for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It’s just an amazing building that has set the standard for sustainable workplaces with features like geothermal walls, natural ventilation, solar panels, insulated panels, rooftop barrels, composting toilets, a bioretention system, and even more. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

This is the inaugural Save The Bay Classic, but by the looks of the event last night you would never know. The presentation was amazing, and I really learned some great things about the efforts many organizations are making to do sustainable business. Among the speakers was Will Baker, the executive director of the CBF, Ed Allenby, the director of development of the CBF, an executive from Akridge, Ron Dodson, the founder of Audobon International and Lex Birney, the CEO of The Brick Companies.

Each of these folks had a lot of great things to say, both about the role the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is playing in saving the national treasure that is the Bay, as well as how important this golf tournament is in that effort–both in raising money, but as Will Baker said it also helps to spread the word of their cause out into the public. And it’s amazingly fitting that they chose Queenstown Harbor as a location for the tournament. That is, after all one of the most sustainable golf courses in this region. It has also recently been certified by Audobon International as a cooperative sanctuary.

Unfortunately Aaron and I couldn’t be there for the tournament today due to other commitments, but we’re definitely going to play next year. Actually, if all goes well, we could even be helping CBF with their tournament marketing materials and more next year! After all, they ARE one of our dream clients!

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

*Photo courtesy of the CBF Web site.

Hi all -

We’re all really excited because we just recently received a new shipment of disposable cutlery from Worldcentric. But this is no ordinary disposable cutlery. What we received are disposable utensils made from corn starch that biodegrades in 180 days or less when composted. Amazing. The utensils themselves are just like normal plastic utensils, except that they’re not super bright white and they have a ‘powdery’ texture. It’s hard to explain, but it’s more of a satin finish than normal cutlery. You might be interested in knowing that Andy Bonner did a little science experiment and submerged a spoon into a cup of hot water and left it there for several days. The spoon is still going strong with no visible signs of breaking down! I’m thinking normal everyday use will be just fine for the Worldcentric product…

Speaking of ‘every little bit counts,’ have you seen the new Wal Mart ads that talk about just that? Here’s one:

I like that these ads back up the company’s brand promise of saving people money (both in the store and at home, this time) as well as talk about how each person can have an impact. It’s a great marketing message and the design of the ads is clean and simple, just how they should be…

And for the second T-shirt-related post of the day….Thanks to our good friend Melissa Franko from The Brick Companies for passing along this story that I somehow missed. It’s an article from Brandweek that discusses a new product from Coke. They, like many of the companies in the drink category that bottle their beverages with plastic, have been getting beaten up by environmental groups for clogging the nation’s landfills.

Their solution to this problem is a new line of apparel that is made of recycled plastic bottles. While this doesn’t conjure up pictures of comfort, I imagine with technological refinements available they’ll end up being silky smooth. I hadn’t heard of this approach before, but it makes a lot of sense. The oddest material I had heard of for T-shirt production to this point was bamboo. Bamboo shirts, like from companies like http://www.bamboosa.com/, are apparently silky smooth in texture (who would have guessed) and since bamboo replenishes itself insanely fast, are also a sustainable choice.

Now, the question is, can we buy blank Coke bottle shirts in bulk and silkscreen our own designs on them? I’d be glad to co-brand the shirts Orange Element and Coke??

Recently, I was presented with the question: Do I think sustainable business practices are a trend?

Here’s what I think:

Trends in business are often cyclically driven by the momentum of the market(s), technological advancements and social/global issues of any given time period. At some point, a trend either dies (thus defining it as such) or it starts to become recognized as a period, possibly revolutionary, which will undoubtedly show aggressive new changes in the way our world conducts business. At some point, generally the moment where we question a trend, companies better be analyzing their ideologies and best practices so they are prepared for change.

Businesses around the world have been practicing sustainability for years-many simply driven by their own passionate employees wanting to do more than just recycle or conserve energy on a personal level. In fact, the article in which I was quoted speaks to one of our best environmental stewards, The Brick Companies, who has signed an environmental charter and has been practicing many sustainable initiatives for years. I use The Brick Companies, by example, as one company that has far surpassed the idea of sustainable practice as a trend. Environmental stewardship is part of their everyday business and culture.

Of course, there are also many businesses who are just starting to analyze their practices. I applaud these companies for starting to put a long term plan in place. There are also many businesses that could be considered as using “the trend” to market themselves and their growth. One might say they are jumping on the wagon. I applaud them, too. They will quickly realize, and like, how it improves their businesses-even if they jumped on with an initial haste.

The point I make is this: Sustainable business (on a global level) might be considered a trend, or at least it may have started as one. But it is quickly becoming a period that will be remembered much like the industrial or technological revolution. And it is quickly surpassing the definition of a trend. Many may argue that it never was a trend due to its globality, or that it has long surpassed said status (upon the release of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’).

For now, I’m still comfortable calling it a trend when asked as I believe our world has a lot of work to still do on this issue. I should add that many companies are moving quickly to better the earth and surpass this notion of trend. I’m pleased to say we’re beginning to make our own strides at Orange Element, too.

And, if it is a trend, I believe it is one that is here to stay. And one about which I am very excited.

Aaron Moore

www.orange-element.com

Have you guys seen this? What a great concept - small changes repeated over and over create one big change…

http://www.earthhour.org/

I’m going to write them now to see how hard it would be to organize one for Baltimore….

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Let me start this post by saying that I am 5′7.5″ and I haven’t measured, but I probably have about a 6″ vertical leap. I am no basketball star. In fact, in pickup leagues, I get picked last. Even still, I want these, just for the cool factor. Have you heard about Nike’s new basketball shoe worn recently by Steve Nash that is made entirely by recycling manufacturing waste? It’s the most environmentally conscious shoe Nike has ever made and it is dubbed the Nike Trash Talk.

You can read more about them HERE. I wonder how many of the street ball players in Baltimore already snatched these up?

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com