Two posts in one week on Green Mountain Coffee! That’s an LTT first, but this is an initiative that’s worth highlighting. GMC is making four separate grants, each for $200,000, payable over 5 years, to support work on reducing climate change. There will be one grant in each of four focus areas:

- Threats to Coffee-Growing Communities
- Transportation-Related Emissions
- Building Political Will
- Empowering Individual Action

The “Changing Climate Change” competition is a hefty investment for a company of any size- turns out GMC is killin’ it!- and it’s a meaningful commitment that goes beyond eco-branding. Check out JustMeans.com for more info about submissions.

Here’s the actual ad: Clean Coal Clean more…

The Vans Vault has been active, and this Spring, drops the Eco Pack. Featuring the Era (pictured) and Sk8-Hi, they collaborated with Maharam, using their Messenger fabric - a material made form 78 percent post-industrial recycled polyester, 15 percent polyester and 7 percent nylon.

Via Hypebeast, Complex

Maybe you’ve read his book, Buyology: Truth And Lies About Why We Buy, an examination of the influences (many of them subconscious) that motivate us as consumers. Martin Lindstrom is a leading marketing guru, advising execs from some of the world’s biggest brands. We like this guy. Especially now that we’ve heard his accent. Here’s one of his videos from Ad Age that we found particularly interesting.

In the video, Lindstrom tackles the idea that eco-marketing through a recession might be on the decline. He points to the fact that there were no overt eco-messaging during the Super Bowl, the highest profile ad day of the year [I think the GE spot with the Tin Man had a clear environmental message] as proof that brands might be feeling now is not the time to be investing in and highlighting green initiatives. To that, he effectively says, ‘bad idea jeans!’

Eco-marketing- and, though we’re not sure he necessarily means this, we take that to mean putting forth a genuine message of sustainability- is key for three reasons. I’m paraphrasing here, so watch the video:  1) very few have the balls to do it right now, so make yours the lone voice. Your brand will stand out on the strength of that. 2) aligning yourself with an eco-message won’t hurt your brand, and if you can provoke a conversation you’ll gain positive recognition and 3) it’s the right thing to do, so you’ll establish your brand as an advocate of the earth, on the right side of history.

With nearly 600 panels, the roof of Green Mountain Coffee’s distribution facility in Waterbury will become Vermont’s biggest solar array by summer 09. The all-VT deal was struck between GMC, the State, Green Mountain Power, and groSolar. The yield? About 1% of the company’s overall power usage, but a small step in the right direction. We look forward to getting up on the roof this summer to check it out.

Green Mountain Coffee Cafe: Going Solar…

One of the keys to success for Vancouver, in bringing the Winter Olympics back to Canada in 2010, was its promise of accountability. According to the Globe Foundation, a Canadian not-for-profit established in Vancouver to promote sustainable development, the 2010 Games will be the first sustainable Olympic Games. Based on the winning bid commitments, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) set out six sustainability performance objectives, including accountability, environmental stewardship and impact reduction, social inclusion and responsibility, aboriginal participation and collaboration, economic benefits and, finally, sport for sustainable living. As impressive as the goals are, some of Canada’s best-known athletes are asking the VANOC to go even further with its goals.

The concept of ‘accountability’ is something we’ve been considering a lot lately. It’s a buzz word, like ’sustainability,’ that, for a confluence of reasons, is resonating these days. Those two words aren’t synonyms, but it’s hard to separate them. In an era of the 24-hr news cycle, blog-hounds ready to sniff out green-wash malarkey and an increasingly sophisticated consumer that is fed up, for example, with rewarding CEOs for a failure to predict future problems, Vancouver is in a  position to make history (by looking forward) if it can pull off the world’s first ‘green Olympics.’

Between now and then, we’ll be following these developments with interest.

“The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and our universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.”

“Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 percent of these jobs will be in the private sector, jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges, constructing wind turbines and solar panels, laying broadband and expanding mass transit.”

“We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea.”

“Well, I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders, and I know you don’t, either. It is time for America to lead again.”

“But to truly transform our economy, to protect our security and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy.”

“So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. That’s what we need.”

This was supposed to be another step towards a new era of NASA missions, turning the focus from the cosmos and back towards our own planet. The exciting new NASA satellite designed to track carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere failed to reach orbit on its launch yesterday morning. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (pictured above in an artist rendering) never separated from the Taurus XL rocket and took a quick (and unexpected) dip in the Pacific Ocean near Antarctica. A $278 million goof.

As Kenneth Chang explains in his NY Times piece, “scientists had hoped the new data, covering the entire planet, would help them improve climate models and better understand the ‘carbon sinks’ like oceans and forests and that absorb much of the carbon dioxide.” Annual variations in levels have confounded experts, and understanding these ‘carbon sinks’ is seen as a key in explaining why “in some years, all of the excess carbon dioxide disappears; in some years, all of it stays in the air.”

For anyone who sees the abstract value of an agency like NASA, it’s hard not to be disappointed. You can hear the doubters gaining steam: What was the point of going to moon? What’s the  real value in aiming for Mars? These aren’t unreasonable questions, especially when our economy is pulling a Titanic (minus the Leo-Kate love story and the gagillion $ box office). C’mon, NASA, no more $278 million “my bads,” please!

We’ve done a few posts on the impressive ‘green features’ for the newest of Apple’s laptops. This ad is popping everywhere, and, despite the fact that Justin Long and John Hodgman don’t make an appearance in this ad campaign, we’re still thinking it’s good to be a Mac.

Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the good times roll, dig into that King Cake and party like it’s Fat Tuesday. It’s Mardi Gras time again, and this year the blogosphere is abuzz about ways to combine bead-tossin’ good times with bead-recyclin’ responsibility. Some of the posts include Green Daily’s piece about parade trucks and floats powered by biodiesel, Ideal Bite’s post about having your own (eco-friendly) Mardi Gras ‘bons temps’ without flying to ‘Nawlins,’ and articles about what to do with all those beads you ‘earned’ on Fat Tuesday, once Ash Wednesday rolls around.

We’re just curious. I think it was 2007 when DiCaprio and Gore proclaimed that the Oscars had “officially gone green.” In 2009, Hugh Jackman made it known the musical is back, so… I guess ‘green’ is very 2007. Anyway, the most wholly sustainable thing they could do is make the telecast an hour shorter.

If you need some eco-flavored Hollywood news, check out the entertaining Ecorazzi.

We’ve done a number of posts on Better Place, the CA-based tech that is partnering with national and state governments to help create an infrastructure that can support widespread use of electric vehicles. Here’s an interview with Better Place Australia CEO, Evan Thornley, originally posted on CNET Australia, about the challenges they face and why Better Place chose Australia as one of its key testing grounds.

more…

Yesterday, we checked out the sprawling port at Long Beach, one of the busiest (and greenest) seaports in the world. As the main U.S. port of entry for Asian goods, it’s hard not to think about China and about how trends over there will trickle through this country one cargo container at a time. Interesting timing, then, to read Frederik Balfour’s piece for Business Week about how the rebounding market for recycled and re-purposed scrap materials in China could presage improvements in China’s broader economy later in the year, in particular its exports.

A drastic drop in global commodity prices had sent the recycling industry reeling, with scrap materials piling up at collection and processing facilities. With the demand in China rising, things could be looking up. Recycling of materials being a leading indicator for the ups and downs of the world economy? Who woulda thunk it?!

It’s difficult to single out one company in CA as having made the largest waves in the past decade, but, then again, it’s hard to imagine one that’s had more of an impact than Google. The  Mountain View, CA-based search giant is taking inspiration from Lord Kelvin’s quote (”If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it”) and jumped into the ‘home improvement’ biz. Google recently previewed a ‘Smart Meter‘ web application that allows users to track home energy consumption, broken down by appliance. Google PowerMeter will give consumers a more detailed understanding of energy use and habits, and- as studies seem to support- that knowledge leads to lower usage. Google suggests regularly viewing energy use will encourage consumers to use 5-15% less energy in their homes.

Last week, we profiled Microsoft’s Environmental Sustainability Dashboard, so with Google and Microsoft both seeing a future in the ’smart meter’ space, I’d say it’s time has come.

Business Week gives a great overview of the electric car battery landscape - the players, the hurdles, the implications. Can the U.S. step up and try to own a piece of this market, or will we get left behind?

Business Week: The Electric Car Battery War

Thanks to the Daily Show- a phrase I find myself saying a lot- I have a good book to read on my travels through California this week. Daniel Sperling, a Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciene and Policy at University of California, Davis and Director of the university’s Institute of Transportation Studies, joined Jon Stewart last week to discuss his new book, Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability. As the above video shows, Sperling spent a few good-natured moments trying to provide some serious answers to some typically irreverent questions. In the book, authors Sperling and Deborah Gordon describe a future, 15 years from now, when the world will have close to 2 billion cars. Given that greenhouse gases are already creating havoc with our climate with an estimated 1 billion cars, the set up for very troubling consequences is obvious.

Sperling and Gordon describe the challenges that we (as a country, the leading emissions culprit, and as a planet) face and the solutions that are most likely to work. The authors reveal our greatest obstacles- “the resistant auto-industry, dysfunctional oil markets, short-sighted government policies, and unmotivated consumers.” The authors look at solutions (mix of advanced bio-fuels, electric vehicles, fuel-cell hybrids), expose some fool’s gold (corn-based ethanol), and point to the role of government as a necessary component- they single out California’s leadership in promoting aggressive emissions standards.

This week, we’re traveling through the Golden State. California has long been a major center (the center) of innovation, from the cultural power of Hollywood’s influence to the technological wellspring of Silicon Valley. It’s a state as geographically diverse as any in the union, with dense urban areas, like the mind-numbing sprawl of Los Angeles, vast tracks of wilderness, like Yosemite, desert and coastline, lush agricultural areas and the peaks of the Sierras. Ok, this native Californian is starting to sound like the Governator in a tourism ad, but the point is it’s also a really interesting testing ground for a wide array of ideas in sustainability.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising to see San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom add to that list of ideas with the announcement of the nation’s first Green Rental Car program. Customers renting hybrid cars at San Francisco International Airport (SFO)- cars that achieve an EPA rating of 18 or higher- will receive a $15 discount at the counter. Similarly, airport rental car companies will qualify for a 20% reduction of their airport rent fees if they achieve a goal of seeing hybrids account for 15% of overall rental transactions.

“The Green Rental Car program is the first of several green initiatives the airport is rolling out in 2009,” said John L. Martin, Director of San Francisco International Airport. “We’re committed to making SFO the sustainable airport of choice for California travelers.” Local businesses are supporting the program, including Gap Inc.

Too bad I flew in Oakland on this trip! C’mon JetBlue!

GreenBiz pointed us towards the California Green Innovation Index, created by Next10, an independent organization focused on innovations and empowering Californians to improve the state’s future. While most of us know that Cali leads on many renewable and sustainable fronts, the report has a lot of interesting bites:

One area that the state leads in is registration of alternative fuel vehicles. From 2006-2007 the registration of new and used alternative fuel vehicles jumped 36 percent, topping 100,000 for the first time ever in a year.

Rich will be “on tour” in CA this week, so stay tuned for some info on local difference makers.

Green Biz: California’s Green Innovations: Steady Momentum, Plenty Work to Do

A great article in the New York Times’ about Shai Agassi and his company Better Place, who are trying to build a charging infrastructure for electric cars to succeed. While he is catching on in Denmark, Japan, and his home country of Israel, the US will prove to be a tougher sell, even with many electric cars in the pipeline.

The New York Times: Mapping a Global Plan for Car Charging Stations

Better Place

Microsoft is getting into the game, by introducing software that will allow companies to track their energy usage and translate that into the associated environmental impact. The Environmental Sustainability Dashboard, an add-on to its Dynamics AX business applications, will generate data on usage patterns and a calculation of the emissions produced. Microsoft’s chief environmental strategist, Robert Bernard, points to the growing understanding- on the part of Microsoft and businesses in general- of the “intersection between energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. We’re creating software tools and services that help customers save resources- energy, money- and to reduce their greenhouse gases.”

Microsoft hasn’t always been viewed as a sustainability innovator, but, given the company’s broad reach, this could change that.

The Shepard Fairey invasion continues. The WWF’s Earth Hour is mobilizing to get everyone to flick off the lights for an hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., local time “to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate their commitment to finding solutions.” Where this poster is available, though, remains to be seen.

Via High Snobiety, GOOD

Newton Running Shoes is finding that, on the road to greener products, you’re bound to walk down a few dead-ends. After developing an innovative egg carton-like, molded shoe box, made from 100% recycled paper pulp, the Boulder, CO-based company realized their design wasn’t as green as they had imagined. Widely praised for ‘reinventing the shoe box,’ Newton had to acknowledge some major drawbacks to their new, innovative design; the box (above, left) was too expensive, produced thousands of miles from company headquarters, and, due to its unusual shape, didn’t stack particularly well in storage or shipping containers. The carton-like material was more vulnerable the elements, more likely to be damaged and warp, labels didn’t stick well to the surface and, perhaps as important, were difficult to break down and recycle.

The company’s latest design returns to the traditional rectangular shoebox (above, right), but the result is a product that is actually more sustainable and cost-effective. Produced much closer to Newton factory, the box is made of 100% post consumer waste, soy-based ink and water-based coating and is assembled more quickly and efficiently. With stops and starts, Newton is keeping the ‘science of motion‘ moving forward.

Launched as part of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Subcommittee on Green Jobs will be chaired by Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders:

“We’re going to use this subcommittee to do everything we can to create millions of good-paying jobs in the United States as we move forward to a new energy system based on efficiency and sustainable energy,” Sanders said Tuesday. “The potential for job growth in this area is bigger than almost anything else I can think of.”

An ambition realized? One of the biggest “wait and see” moments of my generation…

Burlington Free Press - Sanders to be ‘green jobs’ chairman

Made from recycled Patagonia wetsuits by Colorado’s Ecologic Designs for surfboard maker Fletcher Chouinard Designs (Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s son) you can get yours here.