Over the course of its forty-year history, Starbucks has evolved into a company that aspires to be known as much for their commitment to social responsibility as they are for the quality of their coffee. This year marks the tenth year that Starbucks has publicly reported on the progress of their responsible business practices. What began with simple initiatives, like promoting the use of recyclable cups, now extends well beyond that.

So where is Starbucks today? The company has launched several sustainability-driven initiatives, which revolve around the following four areas:

1. Recycling and reusable cups
2. Community involvement
3. Coffee purchasing and farmer support
4. Energy and water conservation

Recycling and Reusable Cups

For many Starbucks customers, the white cup with green logo is an iconic part of the Starbucks experience - but is not seen as environmentally friendly. Through the use of in-store recycling, post consumer fiber (PCF) materials use in their packaging, and discounts for customers who use travel cups, Starbucks has worked to reduce the environmental impact of their disposable cups. They have also strongly advocated for improved recycling infrastructures internally- with a goal to develop comprehensive recycling solutions for paper and plastic cups by 2012 – and through industry trade group associations.

As part of their goal to make 100 percent of their packaging reusable or recyclable by 2015, Starbucks sponsored the Betacup Challenge in 2009 and again in 2010 – a design contest held to address the massive amount of coffee cup waste generated annually.

Community Involvement

Starbucks is successful for more than just its work in the disposable paper coffee cup arena. The firm also prioritizes its involvement in communities where its stores are located, where its employees live, and where it finds its coffee beans. Starbucks seeks to develop that same environmental and community awareness in its employees, (known within Starbucks as partners). Currently, Starbucks’ goal is to mobilize employees and customers to contribute one million hours of community service per year by 2015. The business is especially dedicated toward encouraging young people to drive positive change in their communities through Starbucks Youth Action Grants and The Starbucks Foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Coffee Purchasing and Farmer Support

Starbucks is committed to buying and serving coffee that is responsibly grown and ethically traded, and ensures it does by following a comprehensive set of social and environmental guidelines. These guidelines include supporting Fair Trade farmer cooperatives, promoting environmental stewardship and economic stability in the coffee industry, supporting conservation efforts with forest carbon programs, and assisting small farmers with loans.

Green Buildings and Energy and Water conservation

Starbucks opened its first LEED®-certified store in Hillsboro, Oregon, in 2005 and plans to have all new, company-owned stores built to achieve LEED® certification by 2011. Inside LEED® stores, customers will find reused and recycled elements, like cabinetry made from 90% post-industrial material and paints with lower amounts of volatile organic chemicals.

LEED®-certified stores also have features that conserve water and energy, including:

• Efficient LED lighting, rather than incandescent and halogen lighting
• Remote monitoring of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment to ensure efficient energy use
• High-blast nozzles to clean pitchers instead of running tap water continuously
• Low-flow valves throughout the store to conserve water

Starbucks as a Role Model for Other Businesses

In many ways, Starbucks has set a standard for sustainable business practices. The most daunting task in establishing a sustainable business is finding the right balance between cost and carbon footprint. Through their support of research and development, activism, and charitable contributions, Starbucks continues to drive positive changes that support environmental awareness and sustainability.  They have achieved true harmony by decreasing both operating costs and environmental impact. Their innovative efforts inspire and enable other businesses to have a positive impact on the communities in which they operate.

(The following is a guest post by Hunter Richards, an accounting market analyst at Software Advice, which reviews project-based accounting software and other systems. This is a coffee industry-focused adaption of a previous article on carbon accounting and greenwashing which you can read here.)

Greenwash (verb, \ˈgrēn-wȯsh\) - to market a product or service by promoting a deceptive or misleading perception of environmental responsibility.

To capitalize on consumer interest in sustainability, companies have been launching major ad campaigns to promote eco-friendly products - but these claims are often misleading. General Motors, , dabbled in greenwashing in 2007 to promote its Chevrolet Volt. One commercial showed the Volt in a natural scene surrounded by starry-eyed children who delighted in the claim that it was entirely electric. But this statement bent the truth. In actuality, a gasoline engine would turn on to power the electric motor when the Volt’s batteries ran low. GM claimed that the car could still be called electric because its gas engine only supplied power to the electric motor, and not the wheels. Bending the truth with a questionable technicality is classic greenwashing. Greenwashing threatens the credibility of environmental marketing and turns green consumers into skeptics. So how can we more clearly spot greenwashers and put an end to the telling of green half-truths? Transparency is the key, and carbon accounting makes it possible.

Accounting technology might not seem at first glance like it has anything to do with environmental sustainability. But a new type of accounting software for carbon emissions could provide the standards and clear measurement methodology needed to assign a quantifiable value to a company’s environmental impact. It’s often said that to manage something, you must be able to measure it first. Just like financial accounting, the development of sophisticated carbon accounting infrastructure could improve transparency and make it more feasible for businesses to manage (and hopefully reduce) their carbon footprints. It could enhance the abilities to meet regulations more efficiently, spot eco-friendly savings opportunities, and keep customers informed about emissions. Requiring the disclosure of this information would lift the veil on companies who might otherwise be able to conceal their environmental impact. Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software is becoming the foundation of the necessary infrastructure. ECA software enables companies to utilize technology to more easily track their carbon emissions, avoiding the problems faced in the past when using cumbersome spreadsheets. When the software reaches its full potential, greenwashers will soon run out of excuses for not releasing their emissions figures.

For natural resource intensive industries like the coffee industry, ECA software can be a useful tool. Coffee businesses can use such software to measure their carbon impact continuously – as opposed to corporate social responsibility reports which do so only annually. Such software will allow companies to catch growing problems while they’re still small, and capture opportunities before competitors can.

Coffee houses stand to increase customer loyalty through ECA reporting as well. Carbon measuring software can help keep customers informed of eco-efforts being made by a business. Perhaps most importantly, ECA software can be the final nail in the coffin concerning greenwashing accusations. A coffee company which measures its environmental impact will always be able to back up environmental messaging and marketing with solid facts. Besides, a business that tracks its carbon impact on a continuous basis is less likely to commit greenwashing by accident.

For ECA software and environmental accounting adoption to drive truly green business practices by big coffee companies like Starbucks, action is needed in five main categories:

• Clear government action on regulations, like increased coverage of the EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule which requires companies that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases annually to disclose emissions information to the EPA. Of course, even bold expansion of this regulation will be ineffective until adequate standards are agreed upon and enforced. GAAP and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are standards for financial reporting; we need similar principles for environmental accounting to reach its full potential. The current most widely used set of international carbon accounting standards, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, is still maturing. When a business is required to disclose its carbon footprint according to broadly accepted standards, loopholes will close and we’ll be able to see who’s truly green and who’s just greenwashing.
• Adoption of carbon accounting principles and stricter requirements for disclosure of standardized corporate emissions information would provide a far-reaching and objective method with which to examine a coffee company’s environmental record. At the current time, Starbucks only has an incentive to create an impression of sustainability - without necessarily being green overall. As a result, its lackluster recycling record matters less than it should because Starbucks can cite its other environmental efforts to distract the public, such as its goal to develop a recyclable cup by 2012. Is this goal sufficient? Is 2012 too late? Carbon accounting can answer questions like these by providing a measure of the goal’s benefit. With a holistic glimpse into the company’s carbon footprint, the priority of recycling depends directly on an objective measure of environmental damage which is easily comparable with other components of the business. If the emissions produced by disposal of these paper cups is significantly more damaging than other aspects of the company’s operations - which is highly likely - then it will show up in the numbers. Starbucks will feel more immediate pressure to address the most serious environmental concerns.
• Expansion of “Scope 3” emissions accounting in environmental reports would prevent under-reporting of emissions. Scope 3 emissions refer to indirect sources not owned or controlled by a company, but which are necessary to make and distribute its products. To incorporate Scope 3, businesses will need to ask their suppliers to account for their own emissions; this will spread adoption of carbon accounting throughout the supply chain, accelerating the expansion of general corporate emissions transparency. Starbucks has been able to make positive environmentalist claims in recent years; for example, the company claimed that it lessened electricity use at its owned stores by 1.7 percent in 2009, compared to the previous year. But claims like these do not tell the whole story. Starbucks should be held responsible for its less visible emissions sources. We know nothing about the overall carbon footprint of Starbucks when it neglects to mention its suppliers, who could have increased their electricity use by a larger amount to offset any other reductions. Requiring carbon disclosure with Scope 3 emissions would force Starbucks to take responsibility for every action associated with its products. If the Starbucks supply chain has destructive amounts of emissions that offset this energy reduction, then the company is guilty of greenwashing.
• Understanding of green business incentives through ECA software to identify eco-friendly savings opportunities can make it cheaper to truly go green, making it unnecessary for businesses to greenwash in the first place. One example is government-provided tax incentives for using efficient transportation with lower emissions. ECA software can develop to recognize these opportunities; this will more effectively encourage businesses to take advantage of direct opportunities to simultaneously trim emissions and lower costs. By placing green transparency and legitimate environmental initiative in the best economic interests of businesses, sophisticated carbon accounting technology and standards could make a lot of progress in rendering greenwashers obsolete.
• Informed consumers who demand hard numbers from standardized carbon accounting reports, while boycotting the liars, forces businesses with green marketing campaigns to prove their sincerity - after all, fully informed consumers make deception by greenwashing impossible. We should demand that Starbucks track its emissions - the company hasn’t done so for several years, and last time its emissions were not disclosed. Starbucks needs to begin tracking their emissions regularly and disclosing them. Without opening up its carbon footprint to the public, Starbucks has no incentive to sincerely and aggressively pursue a green strategy that addresses the real environmental impact of its products.

For the past three years, Sustainability Is Sexy has been wildly successful in it’s mission to promote eco-friendly coffee drinking.  I’m personally proud of many achievements that dot it’s history, yet none of them are brighter than an event that occurred a few weeks ago. This past May, I married my long time sweetheart and found true happiness. Winston Churchill once stated that “my most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me”; and today I share the same deference for my own future.

My brand new wife and I are honeymooning abroad until August. Until then, blog posts will continue — albeit with new flavor. We’re traveling through SE Asia, and this new environment has many lessons in sustainability. I’ll share what I see.

Lastly, Sustainability Is Sexy cups are currently out of stock, and won’t be available until sometime after I return state side.

Nicko |Sustainability Is Sexy

In 2009, a book titled “Strategy for Sustainability – A Business Manifesto” was published by Harvard Business Press. In it, author Adam Werbach spends pages defining sustainability. To Werbach, sustainability isn’t about just environmentalism or human rights or local economies; it’s about perpetually balancing all pressures equally (I think he’s right). To steal an example from the book, let’s talk carbon emissions:

A green strategy to reduce carbon emissions could be making gasoline very expensive, and thus limiting CO2 emissions from cars. If a fill up cost $10 a gallon, we’d likely see fewer drivers on the road. But this plan has negative consequences; millions of people couldn’t afford to go to work anymore, economies would struggle with added expenses, and it would disproportionately affect the poor. In the end, the strategy isn’t sustainable.

Contrast that idea with developing renewable energy which is cheaper than coal and gasoline. Doing so would also lower carbon emissions. The plan would also lower business costs, increase the quality of life for millions, and lay the ground work for future innovations. That’s sustainable.

Sustainability Is Sexy has taken this same way of thinking to the coffee cup world, and it’s worked. But could this same way of finding a solution work elsewhere?

A follower recently shared an article with me called “Please Kill the Paper Receipt”. The article outlines the waste and environmental impact of the habit we all have. Paper receipts consume a lot of natural resources like trees, require petroleum, and emit carbon. But is killing the receipt a sustainable solution? I don’t think so. Receipts are integrated into daily life. Businesses rely on them for transactions, like returned merchandise, and the IRS requires receipts for taxes. A lot of people still rely on receipts as a tangible form of economic protection against fraud (think of your Aunt with the stuffed filing cabinet and label maker). Even though paper receipts may have an environmental cost, they also have social, cultural, and economic benefits. None of these benefits are deal breakers when it comes to a solution for paper receipts, but they do need to be considered. Whatever solution replaces the paper receipt will have to take all those perspectives into account to be sustainable.

Participate in a quick poll and share your thoughts on paper receipts hosted over at Don Forne’s Retail Software Website. And for those passionate about morphing sustainability from a concept into action, do check out Strategy for Sustainability. It’s highly recommended from our corner.

Our compostable-reusable coffee cups have just landed in a new Seattle shop! Not A Number, located just east of the University District on 45th Street in Wallingford (the ‘hood that could), recently began stocking their shelves with our coffee cups. The store is an amalgamation of environmental goodies, political schwag, and gifts and toys that’ll blow your mind. Think a sliver of Spencer’s Gifts, a dash of Politics R Us, and 100% Seattle soul.

Not A Number is run by Jon and Kara; who I first met at the Seattle Green Festival in 2008. These two have been a support to the Seattle community since first opening their doors five years ago. The store has hosted veterans’ events, local candidate forums, and book readings by progressive authors. Countless local artists and small businesses (like us!) have found a home for their passion on the shelves of Not A Number.

Stop by Not A Number for one of our very green and very sexy coffee cups. If you want a cup but cannot trek to Wallingford for your 16 ounces of eco-friendliness, order one online! Our webstore hosts several different coffee cups, and a collection of T-shirts. Find it here at: www.SustainabilityIsSexy.com

Coffee Cup Snap Shot

Worry no more about the effects of petroleum and plastic coming from standard cups. This reusable-compostable cup is made using 100% US grown corn. The lid is a flexible rubber, certified safe by the FDA.

The Basics:

• 17 ounces
• Microwave safe
• Best if hand washed
• Available in Seattle and online

Environmental Considerations:

]]> http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=47 http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?p=46 http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?p=46#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:02:05 +0000 Nicko Fusso, Sustainability Is Sexy http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?p=46

College campuses and universities breed innovation. The Kent State shootings transformed the 1960s war protests into a cultural revolution. Blogging and social networking first burgeoned from a University of Washington dorm room. Today’s headline touting business ideas — from Facebook to Google– all have roots in one college environment or another. But what will tomorrow’s innovations look like?

In a word: sustainability. It’s an axiom that’s percolating on college campuses across the nation, and producing impressive results. Campus Ecology, a program run by the National Wildlife Federation, has published a collection of case studies which should provide a good answer. Titled “Generation E – Students Leading for a Sustainable, Clean Future” the periodical is an amalgamation of 35 innovative student projects working toward sustainability. This is no simple society of mutual admiration, and featured projects are much more robust than basic recycling programs.

From funding strategies to media tools, 15 eclectic areas are highlighted throughout the guide.  Each area is supported with several successful case studies. Sustainability Is Sexy’s goal to evolve coffee drinking habits was cited (page 16 in the guide) as a successful study in behavioral change. A Brown University group named Community Carbon Use Reduction at Brown (CCURB) developed a community action initiative to install programmable thermostats in low-income homes, resulting in financial and environmental savings. Tulane University showcased energy conservation through its “Energy Star Showcase Dorm Room” — the dormitory version of a model home. The dorm appliances and electronics used cut costs and CO2 output by 50%. The program engaged incoming students as well. The model dorm room is assigned to students evaluated through a highly competitive essay contest.

Generation E is a phenomenal grouping of battle-tested sustainability programs. Certainly, the publication can provide aspiring students a strong framework for capturing environmental benefits on their own campuses. University administrators can benefit too. Many of the sustainability programs in the guide can be adapted to suit the strengths and weaknesses of a formal department. (Sustainability Is Sexy campaigns have done this already. Our university programs have been aligned to better fit with administrative goals). A guide such as Generation E can be a powerful tool for students and campus administrators looking for opportunity.

Peter Pan in a Boardroom

Opportunity isn’t only knocking on academia’s door. Indeed, shrewd business leaders and potential investors may wish to read Generation E as a foretelling glimpse to tomorrow’s money makers. Today’s students are testing out programs which are efficient, sustainable, and groundbreaking. And this ingenuity and drive doesn’t die off after graduation. A colleague who works with this generation’s unique culture drafted a recent article noting this generational anomaly:

Through constant Internet access and enrichment opportunities, this generation is very well aware of world troubles from economic challenges to environment ones.  They passionately want to help.  They want to “do good” in addition to “doing well.”  A conversation with the head of an MBA program confirmed that in the past few years more of their program’s students wanted to work for not-for-profits than ever before.

This is a new culture, holding onto youthful idealism and willing to sacrifice lavish salaries in the name of “doing good”. Yet the technological innovations embedded in sustainability-driven projects mean they may not have to. Programs like those in Generation E are certainly benevolent from a cultural, social, and environmental perspective. But they’re also financially prudent. This combination of a combined technological and cultural revolution just may produce a passionate workforce and groundbreaking innovations. What more could we want?

Photo Credit:

Left: Photo by Derek Downey. Center: Photo by Janet Paladino. Right: Photo by Northland College.

All images originally appeared on the cover of NWF’s Generation E – Students Leading for a Sustainable Clean Energy Future. November 18, 2009.

Sunsets? Shag carpet?  Shameless Self Promotion?

A few weeks ago, Canada’s Evolution 107.9 radio station featured Sustainability Is Sexy on a short feature called Our Planet Earth.   The station let us run with the script – our conversation jumped from the environment, to coffee cups, to what makes sustainability so sublimely sexy.  It’s a great clip.

Besides being entertaining, this radio show was personally inspiring.  Interviews like this one help revive the roots of our group, and remind us why our campaigns are so effective.  It’s easy to run a program to promote reusable coffee cups, but it’s much more difficult to host one that’s successful and achieves a real impact.  Simply put, boring campaigns with underwhelming messages and banal tactics just don’t work. 

Earlier this week, I spent some time trading emails with a student group who was interested in promoting reusable coffee cups on their campus, and they landed on the same thoughts I was having throughout the radio show:

“We don’t just want to use posters or invite speakers - IT IS BORING.  We want people to join us and have fun, we’d like to talk to people and help them understand their impact on the environment and their responsibility.”

Now I think posters and speakers can be great – but it has to be the right posters and the right speakers.  After all, plenty of bands still use posters and speakers to fill concert venues.  Encouraging coffee drinkers to practice eco-friendly habits can only be done with engaging, exciting ideas that exhibit raw energy – just like a good rock and roll band would do.   

This March, Seattle Public Utilities quietly rolled out an updated city-wide recycling plan with the type of efficiency critics rarely expect from government.  Billed as “Better Recycling”, the changes appease the vocal crescendo of recycle-maniacs who have been pushing for broader recycling options for years - and the top dogs in city hall who have set ambitious recycling goals.

The “better recycling” moniker is ambiguous, but the city has covered its bases.  Everything from more pick-up days, to job security, to recycling accessibility is resulting from the program.  But perhaps most interesting for us coffee-lovers is this: paper coffee cups are now recyclable.  There are a few caveats; cups that are too dirty might still be sorted for the landfill, and foam covered cups don’t make the grade.  Nonetheless, this rocked our world at SIS.  New recycling options have the potential to alleviate tons of residential and commercial waste, and advocacy groups (us included) can heave a sigh of relief knowing the city can “walk the walk”.  So does this mean we can close the books on the coffee cup issue? Or would a celebratory Irish coffee be premature?

Blue Skies for Eco-Coffee Drinkers

Seattle’s recycling progress should put smiles on java drinkers throughout the world’s coffee capital.  The new coffee cup rule makes recycling more convenient and accessible.  Seattleites seem prone to recycle on instinct, so tossing a cup into the right bin shouldn’t be a hard habit to change.   And public recycling receptacles are already abundant throughout most of the metro area.  It’s too early to predict any impact in quantitative terms, but past successes in Seattle are promising.  In the first year of the big composting push, Seattleites remembered to toss 80,000 tons of food and yard waste into their compost bins.  The common paper cup could very well be the summer-blockbuster sequel.

Of course, municipal reinforcements are always welcomed by environmental non-profits and advocacy groups.  Recycling centers which can handle the complex materials of a disposable coffee cup come with a big price tag.  Amidst tight budgets and a shaky economy, it’s fortunate that the upgrade wasn’t axed.

The new rules could have a big impact on long-term plans for eco-regulations too.  It’s tough to enforce recycling when options are limited.  But now that the city has stepped up to the plate, it’ll be possible to coerce those who create excessive trash to change their habits  And if the city is to hit its goal of diverting 60% of its waste to recycling and composting, this may happen soon.

Prevalient Clouds Still Abound

Despite the many benefits, environmentalists should be cautious not to succumb to hubris.  As far as waste solutions go, broad recycling is a proven weapon.  But conservationists cringe when “recycling” becomes the default solution to municipal environmental issues.  Sure, disposable paper cups create landfill waste, and that’s not good.  But what about trees, water, energy, petroleum, and other scarce resources gobbled up by cup production?  Because of the extra resources consumed in the pick-up and recycling process, disposable coffee cups being recycled can claim even more energy than before!  Unless new recycling trucks and sorting centers run on alternative energy, ecoists miss a flawless victory.

This solution also neglects to conserve one important resource in particular – money.  Recycling, although eco-friendly and popular, does come with a cost.  The city has to pay for the state-of-the-art recycling center, businesses must pay for recycling services, and coffee houses still have to pay for their disposable cups.  A recent Wall Street Journal article cited a coffee shop owner in Pennsylvania who lost 40 cents per cup in costs. Comparably, promoting reusable coffee cups as a solution saves money for everyone.  When it comes to a solution that’s friendly to both the financial and environmental bottom lines, recycling may take second place.

Could Seattle’s programs and commitment to recycling serve as the paragon for other municipalities?  It would be an environmentalists dream to see every town and city embrace recycling like Seattle, but the reality is less rosy.  Retrofitting a typical recycling center to process disposable coffee cups is costly and out of reach for most cities.  And even though Seattle pushed these new recycling investments through the budget process, other municipalities may not be so lucky.  I recently visited Lawrence, Kansas to speak with a campus group advocating for glass recycling in bars.  The biggest obstacle they face is that glass recycling isn’t yet available.  Chances are, spending money to recycle coffee cups is low on their priority list.

Even within the coffee capital, the new recycling solution misses a few targets.  Broad recycling may be available, but there’s no guarantee that landlords will provide such amenities to commercial tenants.  As Jim Hanna, Environmental Director for Starbucks pointed out in an SIS interview last year:

“Here in Seattle, where commercial recycling is generally available, we [Starbucks] often lease our store spaces from landlords; which may or may not provide us with recycling options… it’s important to understand that setting up recycling is subject to a lot more variables than just putting some bins out front.”

It isn’t just the torpor landlords putting up obstacles.  Large Seattle institutions like the University of Washington find themselves left out of the celebratory recycling hubbub. An article titled “New City Recycling Program Not Instituted at UW” notes that contracts with disparate waste management companies are the root cause of UW evading the new rules.  This quirky irregularity takes a more serious tone when it’s realized the campus burns through 5000 disposable cups a day. 

So…what about that Irish coffee?

Bottom line, this is a major achievement for environmental movers, the city of Seattle, and coffee lovers.  New recycling rules will undoubtedly lessen the amount of garbage from disposable drink containers.  But only the most credulous of coffee drinkers should believe that the new regulations will close the case on paper cup’s environmental footprint.  Conservation takes a back seat when recycling is driving progress, which does no good in protecting our natural resources. 

Ultimately, it’s still the responsibility of coffee drinkers and the coffee business to actually do something about paper cups.  Whether that means putting in the elbow grease to institute recycling or promoting and using reusable coffee cups, the city government can only do so much.  

Poster used in Portland, Maine Reusable Cup Campaign.  April 2009.

Coast-to-coast distances be damned!  The Maine Potters Market, O’Naturals restaurant and Morning in Paris coffee shop, are partnering with Sustainability is Sexy to promote reusable coffee cups in Portland, Maine.  MaineToday.com has a great write up online of the ongoing campaign:

“Wednesday, April 22, 2009, is both Earth Day and Administrative Assistants Day. To honor these holidays, the Maine Potters Market will be promoting the use of ceramic, reusable cups by offering coupons for $5 off any mug in our store during the whole month of April.   Break the disposable cup habit and reward yourself with a free cup of coffee when you bring your own mug to Morning In Paris Coffee House, April 12-18, and O’Naturals Restaurant, April 19-25. Thanks to these local businesses you can do your part to celebrate Earth Day.  Go to www.SustainabilityIsSexy.com for more information on the environmental impact of using disposable cups.”

For Sustainability Is Sexy, this campaign first began back in March.  Susan of Ash Cove Pottery, (a participant in the Maine Potters Market Co-op), contacted us seeking thoughts on promoting reusable coffee cups.  As the project instigator, Susan already had some serious opinions regarding reusable cups.  “As a potter, it’s [reusable coffee cups are] a no-brainer.”

As a coffee lover, its a no brainer for us too. If you’re a coffee house, business, or community interested in promoting reusable coffee cups, then Sustainability Is Sexy can help.  Our all-encompassing campaigns are designed by young adults immersed in the coffee culture and well-research.  Smart and sexy - we’re the perfect storm when it comes to eco-campaigns. Track us down for more info at SustainabilityIsSexy.com

And for those enjoying the beautiful sights in Portland, Maine - don’t forget to stop and smell the coffee in Old Port.  Happy Earth Week!

]]> http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=42 http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?p=41 http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?p=41#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:30:19 +0000 Nicko Fusso, Sustainability Is Sexy http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?p=41 For close to two years, this group has been declaring that sustainability is sexy.  Unfortunately, our website was not.  With Earth Day is just around the corner, our team decided some serious house cleaning was in order.  The end result?   A 3 minute video titled “What’s So Great About Reusable Coffee Cups?“.

Besides the new powerpoint show, our online store has been updated as well.  We finally caught up to 1999 and added a shopping cart system, so cups can be ordered online.  FYI, all shipping fees, taxes, and other nickle ‘n dime charges are included in the listed price.  If you’re looking for an eco-friendly, well made, and sustainably sexy coffee cup - then we have it!

A Quick Note: Last week I was invited to be a guest speaker during an Earth Day event hosted by a group of students at the University of Kansas.  The group - Students for Bar Recycling - is making some amazing progress on instituting a serious recycling program in their city.  I’m still putting my notes and thoughts together, but a re-cap will be coming shortly.