The author at sustainerd brought up a topic that I’ve always felt was a big issue in terms of e-books and their claims to sustainability. I myself enjoy reading books rather than off a computer screen. In fact, I had rented e-textbooks for two courses at UBC to try and see if I could make this “sustainable” change and save some money. Three pages in I couldn’t stand it anymore — my eyes getting tired from looking at a screen for so long, the distractions of using a computer, the lack of that physical attributes a book actually brings that I never noticed before; so I went to return both e-books and rented out the hardcopy books instead. I think the idea of using e-readers is nice, but I doubt many people successfully make an easy switch in using digital readers. For those who can, and love using their kindles/iPads to read, I think shared ownership of e-readers sounds great and innovative, what a great way to save money! As for me, the most I can do in terms of reading these expensive university textbooks is to rent from the bookstore.
To read more about this author’s view on e-books and a sustainable literature future, check out: http://sustainanerd.wordpress.com/
Over at greenisthenew, the author mentioned the convenience and benefits of switching from regular KD to organic Annie’s Homegrown mac and cheese. Handy microwavable (processed) dinner that’s also made of organic pasta and cheese? I was so excited that I decided to learn more about it, and perhaps try it out myself. Annie’s website lists the price of a 6 oz organic shells & white cheddar pack for $2.39, which is a huge contrast to regular kraft dinner that costs about $1 (often less since there are promotions on KD all the time). Like we learned in class, sustainable products have higher prices which signal product costs, brand quality and much more. However, since the benefits of eating organic (albeit processed) food is intangible, and like my dad always says “why eat an organic apple when the entire rest of your meal is mostly genetically modified and processed?”, it’ll take much more convincing for me to switch to mac and cheese that costs 2x more than what I usually pay. Perhaps if their prices are even a bit more comparable to the unsustainable option, I would consider it.
Check out http://greenisthenew.wordpress.com/ to read more about annie’s homegrown and the author’s thoughts about that!
Having taken Comm 486F, I learned a lot more about a topic I was skeptical about. At first I always thought that companies who position themselves as green are catering a specific niche of “green” consumers, and I was convinced that I wouldn’t fall for the hype of these so called green products. After learning more about why we should care about sustainability — the economical, social and environmental effects each consumer or every product that is produced has, I feel a new-found need to try to reduce my consumption where ever I can. Although I now pay more attention to companies who use sustainability as a positioning strategy, I am now aware of greenwashing, and I often find myself looking more deeply into a company’s claims of sustainability. However, as a consumer, I find myself wanting to make more positive green changes in my life (independent of marketers) such as unplugging my electronic devices, taking public transit more and buying locally grown organic foods.
As I have learned from this course, materials will be depleted some day, especially the non-renewable resources that our generation has seemed to think we have infinite amounts of, and I cant even begin to imagine how our earth would look if we continue this consumption 100 years from now. Whether or not my actions make any huge impact, a tiny impact is better than none at all. I’m glad to see that many companies are engaging in CSR, and whether or not companies are greenwashing or truly acting more sustainably, they are trying their best, and are making the public more aware of environmental issues. I hope to see this continue and I hope governments will get more involved in this issue to protect future generations.
I remember a couple years ago I saw a commercial on TV that really caught my attention . The Hyundai Live Smart ad seems like any other ordinary car commercial, but ends off by showing that no carbon footprint was emitted from the making of the video. This is such a creative idea and it really adds to Hyundai’s image as a car company that can go green as well.
I found out more about the creation of this commercial:
“In developing the campaign, the Toronto office of Innocean Worldwide, which won Hyundai Canada’s business last February, recruited the sustainability consultant and former TV host (of HGTV’s Green Force) Lauren Gropper to ensure the four-day production was as environmentally friendly as could be.
She ensured that water bottles were banned from the set, the crew ate locally produced organic food with compostable plates, cups and cutlery, and everyone was required to separate their trash into recycling, organic waste and garbage. Paper consumption was cut sharply by using communal call sheets and scripts, requiring anyone who wanted to know what was going on to troop over to a shared bulletin board. The spots were shot digitally rather than using film. The crew even recycled the rainwater that soaked the set during ill-timed downpours, collecting it in buckets and then using it for rain effects in the commercials.” (taken from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/adhocracy/hyundai-canadas-green-shoots/article1748396/)
It’s not hard to tell that a lot of thought was put into making sure this ad was as environmentally friendly as possible — Recycling rainwater to use as fake rain water later on sounds very intense. With this ultra-green ad I decided to find out how green the hyundai sonata hybrid actually was.
The sonata hybrid can operate on an electric motor only, a gasoline internal combustion engine only, or a combination of the two depending on driving conditions and driver demands. When the car is stopped, the gas engine is immediately automatically shut off to save gas. Despite it being part-electric, the car still has a combined gas-electric output of 206 horsepower, which is higher than any other hybrid competitor in the market. With a redesigned sleek and chic interior and exterior, and significant savings while maintaining a price lower than the Camry and the Fusion, this car produces significant price savings for its user. (http://www.hybridcars.com/vehicle/hyundai-sonata-hybrid.html)
This car sounds appealing, and the use of a green ad to attract customers attention really adds another dimension to it. Hopefully other car companies will be inspired by Hyundai to produce their car commercials with less of a carbon-output. Regardless of whether the car they are marketing is actually sustainable, companies should try to reduce their carbon footprint where they can — i.e. in production of commercials.
When the author at sustainabilityxbusiness.wordpress.com brought up the eternal debate of whether using the plastic or the reusable bag is more sustainable, it really made me consider this issue more carefully. I myself have many reusable bags at home and in my car, but I do find it hard using them at the store. They are always left in my car in a hidden compartment somewhere and I often forget to bring it into the supermarket with me before I shop. I also agree that the supply these reusable bags completely surpasses the demand for them. I know that in Hong Kong, reusable bags would sometimes come with the Sunday issue of the paper, or as freebies that different companies give out to promote themselves. At almost all the clothing stores in Hong Kong, their shopping bags are recyclable bags, and my friends who live in that city find themselves swamped in these cloth-like bags and even end up throwing them out in the trash! Perhaps that situation only exists in Asia since I still see reusable bags being sold in stores. I feel like the idea of reusable bags is a great idea – but producers should stop making them! They’re called reusable for a reason, so there’s really no reason for one person to own more than three! I also know that only some grocery stores make us pay for their plastic bags. Big stores such as price mart and superstore requires us to pay $0.05 per bag while save-on-foods and some other smaller grocery stores like Kin’s Farm do not. Perhaps the government should enact laws that require all grocery stores to charge their customers for bags, or perhaps they should adopt the bag system in Hong Kong — encourage retailer stores to give out reusable bags instead. 
To learn more about the life cycle of the plastic and the reusable bag, and to see this author’s bag of choice, visit: http://sustainabilityxbusiness.wordpress.com/
Sorry for starting off with this image; but after seeing this image on pinterest, I knew I had to repin it, twitter it, post it on my facebook wall and reblog it! To be honest though, the reason I chose to share the image was not because I felt like I wanted to convince people to live more sustainably in terms of using their washing machines — there were better alternatives to do that. What this french-speaking company defipourlatere.org did was taking a drastic measure in terms of using fear/guilt based emotional appeals to capture its audience. After seeing this image, I felt disgusted, scared and a whole bunch of other negative emotions bundled up. This illustrates the point we learned in class about how companies like GreenPeace create such a high level of fear that all message-decoders feel are anxiety, but are left with no clear instructions as to actions to take to reduce these emotions.
I found this image on pinterest, and after visitng defipourlatere.org to find out more about this company, I realized that it’s all in French. I wasn’t able to get much out of it; but I just felt like this image is pretty thought-provoking, but perhaps not the right thoughts are provoked. I question the credibility of this fact the company is illustrating, and I wonder what this company’s objectives are.
I’m 100% on the bandwagon in the food cart craze in vancouver; it’s such a cool concept, decently priced, convenient depending on the food cart’s location that day and there’s no need to pay tips! I forgot to mention that the food usually tastes great too! My favorites in Vancouver are La Brasserie Street just outside the London Drugs on Granville, Re-up food cart (pulled pork burgers!), and JapaDog. I’ve never thought about the sustainability of these trucks though until I came across an article on Guactruck, which uses sustainability as one of its marketing points. Considering the refrigeration, disposable packaging containers that the food comes in, and the truck that drives around every single day to bring the truck to the right location — it’s hard to imagine how a food truck would be very sustainable.
This is what Guactruck claims as its sustainable initiatives:
“Truck
Guactruck is an intelligently designed mobile eatery upcycled from an old delivery van. The whole fabrication process was done in Manila and materials used are sourced locally, minimizing our total carbon footprint.
Energy
LEDs and energy efficient lighting are used to limit our total energy consumption.
Packaging
We encourage customers to return our packaging, which we send to a recycling center, to reduce waste going to landfills.
Cutlery
The cutlery we provide is made from cornstarch and biodegrades within 90 days, again, to minimize waste going to landfills.
Footprint
We utilize a small footprint by maximizing the available space within a 12 feet by 6.5 feet delivery truck.”
Their packaging comes in a cool, visible-pleasing little origami design that is made from 1 piece of biodegradable cardboard (no plastic / plastic was used in its creation!). Even cooler is its “loyalty system” where customers receive a stamp for every time they return the packaging to the foodtruck and they get a free meal when they reach 10 stamps. According to Guacatruck, they want to ensure that the used materials are sent to the proper channels for recycling, and who knows better than themselves? I love the whole concept of this sustainable food truck and props to Guactruck especially for taking so many steps towards sustainability.
Taken from http://www.guactruck.com/design.html
These mansions are beautiful, you dont have to be an architect to enjoy looking through these pictures to get inspired. These houses are scattered across the world from L.A. all the way to south africa and are voted as the most sustainable homes in 2010.
From the top 10 I picked the most intriguing ones that I wanted to share with you.
IKAROS house in Germany produces more energy than it consumes! Solar panels, vacuum insulation panels, efficient mechanical systems and natural ventilation are installed in the home. I think the cheese-grater like side walls on the side makes the house really stand out!
Cases No Gere was built in Portugal’s national park and all only uses eco-friendly materials and there were no trees cut down during its production! The owners must have spent a lot of money to be granted the privelage to live inside the national park, but I wonder how they fare in terms of safety (from home invasions, and wildlife of course)
all the photos were taken from http://freshome.com; check out the full list of the most sustainable homes in the world in 2010 at http://freshome.com/2011/01/17/think-green-10-best-sustainable-homes-of-2010/
I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
– The Lorax (Dr. Seuss)
This movie made $70 million this weekend, despite it not doing so well with RottenTomatoes critics (they rated it 57%, and yes! I do take rotten tomato ratings seriously!) A movie voiced by Danny DeVito, Betty White, Zac Efron and Taylor Swift just to name a few sounds like any other Hollywood 3-D animation movie right? After watching the trailer, you could tell immediately that this movie is not as shallow as it seems.
An adaptation of a classic Dr. Seuss tale, this movie sounds to me, like a lesson for kids to notice the deteriorating effects happening around them and dare I say it, promoting sustainability? Lorax was written in 1971, so I doubt Dr. Seuss had any hidden agenda in mind as he wrote about a world without trees; after all, he was the man responsible for something as senseless as green eggs and ham. Apparently conservatives have already been complaining and accusing Lorax, the movie,for trying to brainwash children into green living. Just by watching the trailer, I would assume that their accusations are correct — perhaps this movie is trying to motivate kids to appreciate their environment and preserve the world, but to be honest, I don’t see how this is bad thing. As time goes by, limited resources will only be used up more and quicker, and younger generations should learn this reality and learn that they have the ability to do something about it.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it seems very cute — a movie that young kids enjoy. After all, we all know the ending to this one; Zac Efron ends up saving the world and gets the girl! Has anyone seen it or heard reviews about it?
To be carbon neutral, one leaves no carbon footprint. The goal is to have your net carbon emissions to be zero, and can be accomplished by reducing your carbon output (ex. using renewable energy, recycling) AND purchasing carbon offsets (in essence, paying to have someone else “unpollute” the atmosphere through reforestation and clean energy projects). This sounds challenging and a full commitment — but I’m proud to say that one my favorite restaurants in the city of Vancouver, Chambar, has made and has been keeping with this promise since 2011.
(Now here comes the shameless gushing of this restaurant) Located next to the Stadium-Chinatown skytrain station, Chambar specializes in Belgian-French fusion food, and is the sister company to Cafe Medina (my favorite place for a weekend brunch) right next door. The food is spectacular, from its moules et frites to its vanilla pear cake for dessert … While I was browsing through its menu on its website (and drooling at every food item), I came across its page describing its carbon neutrality commitment and its sustainable initiatives. Some of their sustainable acts include:
- “All soaps and hand cleaning products are EcoLogo™, Green Seal™ certified, or meeting the criteria for LEED™ recognition
- All paper used at Chambar, including menus and stationery is 100% post consumer recycled, and all printing is done using soy based inks.
- Paper towel dispensers have been removed and replaced with energy efficient hand dryers which save more than 150,000 paper towels per year.
- All other paper products including cocktail napkins and toilet paper are 80% post consumer recycled.
- Food service packaging and consumables are biodegradable and compostable in accordance with ASTM standard D6400
- All used menu paper is made into server ordering pads
- Glass, cans, cardboard and plastics are recycled
- Chambar Ale bottles are all cleaned and reused.
- Food waste goes to community garden composting.
- Chambar purchased 80 tones of Gold Standard carbon offsets from Less Emissions. Less Emissions was ranked #1 by the David Suzuki Foundation and Pembina Institute in 2009.
- Chambar is a part of the Sri Balaji Renewable Power Plant. This project in India, uses agricultural plant waste from the surrounding area including rice and cotton husks, to generate electricity.”
- (taken from their website: http://www.chambar.com/)
Along with the delicious food, Chambar offers yet another reason as to why I love this place. Perhaps one of the main reasons why a company in the food industry is able to dedicate so much to sustainable efforts is its financial capital, so I would not expect such a big commitment from smaller restaurants any time soon, but surely this sets an example for other successful restaurants to devote some of their time and invest in carbon neutrality. I hope to see more companies making this commitment in the near future, but for now, indulge a little and check out Chambar when you have the chance.
