As NWF celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, its focus remains intact as “America’s conservation organization.” Naturally, as the world has evolved, the NWF has grown and centered on climate change, protecting wildlife and its habitats and connecting people with nature. That last point is especially near and dear to Mizejewski.

“A naturalist is somebody that knows a lot about nature,” Mizejewski explains. “My job is to go on TV, go on radio, blog, write books, write for magazines — if there is a media outlet, I try and target it to get in there with our messages about our programs and initiatives, but also about the beauty and wonder of nature.”

Listen to David Mizejewski’s segment here.

The Friends of Ballona Wetlands started as a grassroots concept in a living room and has blossomed into a 33-year-old nonprofit still fighting for wetland health and preservation in Playa del Ray, CA. Lisa Fimiani got her start at the organization 25 years ago as a volunteer, and now acts as the nonprofit’s Executive Director.

The area of coastal greater Los Angeles has been at risk for decades now, fueled by 20th century commercial and residential growth. Though developments such as Palisades del Ray and Marina del Ray threatened to ruin these very fragile wetlands, the 70,000-plus volunteers over the years have ensured that they survive and thrive. To date, more than 600 acres are protected with new tidegates to prevent flooding and improve water flow.

“You don’t preserve wildlife and habitat by standing on the fringe and constantly complaining,” Fimiani says. “We will always do what is best for the wetlands.”

Listen to Lisa Fimiani’s segment here.

Verizon Wireless’ Vice President of Sales, Mike Brander, and Consert’s CEO and President, Jack Roberts, speak on this strategic pairing. For Verizon Wireless, launching its 4G LTE wireless system is transforming the company into the next generation of technological greatness, at a cost of $6 billion per year. Consert joins Verizon Wireless to make going green a bit easier and more cost effective.

“The problem with the electric utility is that it is the only utility that has to function without storage,” Roberts says. “There is no mass storage of electricity. [Consert offers] the ability to give energy conservation many of the attributes of generation.”

“[Verizon Wireless and Consert together] are able to offer a solution to the utility sector as well as consumers that can help manage their energy usage and provide demand response,” Brander explains. In short: by using less energy, Verizon Wireless customers will end up saving money.

Listen to Mike Brander and Jack Roberts’ segment here.

Paige Pederson manages the identity theft educational programs at Tempe, AZ-based LifeLock. Pederson joined the company back when it was a start-up in 2006, and it has since blossomed into one of the biggest identity theft protection companies in the U.S. That is significant, since identity theft is the fastest rising crime in America.

The average identity theft victim spends approximately 30 hours tending to their case. LifeLock’s protection helps to minimize your risk level, and proactively resolves any issues that do occur.

“There are many points of contact throughout the day, the month and the year that you give your personal information into the hands of a potential bad guy,” Pederson says. “We’re trying to put safeguards in place to help you not be a victim in the first place.”

Listen to Paige Pederson’s segment here.

There is a certain degree of push and pull, of course. Manufacturers are weary of giving away their recipes for their products, while consumers, particularly those with young children, fear that their household products are chock full of toxins. As a result, some brands have chosen to release “eco-friendly” formulas while continuing to produce their namesake product.

“Consumer awareness has been growing over the past several years when it comes to chemicals, not only in the environment, but also when it comes to the things we eat and drink and put on our bodies,” Wright-Treadway explains. “At the same time, we’re tuned into the fact that other countries are significantly ahead of us when it comes to keeping these things out of our bodies.”

Ohio Mattress Recovery and Recycling founder Chuck Brickman never dreamt he would end up in the mattress recycling business, but a television program on landfill waste took him by such surprise that he felt compelled to make a difference.

OMRR was founded in 2007 as the only mattress recycler in the U.S. offering pick-up service. In 2010, the company recycled 1.5 million pounds of mattresses, and that number only figures to steadily rise. At the same time, the mattress industry has little to no regulation as far as recycling is concerned, so Brickman spends much time trying to educate consumers and companies.

“A great majority of the population is sleeping on mattresses that, considering the contents, are probably 80% recyclable,” Brickman explains. “We’re now able to recycle approximately 95% of the materials [in mattresses we receive].”

The list of Carli’s clients is large — Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, Adobe and so many more. The overarching goal: how to make the products we use every day more efficient and effective. The Institute for Sustainable Communications’ mission ties directly in: to raise awareness and build capacity for the sustainable use of print and digital media.

“For the majority of people, ‘green’ is just not a motivating factor,” Carli admits. “People first and foremost focus on primary benefits — utility, convenience, effectiveness. If it also happens to be green, that may be the tiebreaker in the decision.”

Neg Norton’s entire career has been based in the local search arena — transitioning from Yellow Pages and local marketing to digital local search with Local Search Association.

Norton mentions yellowpagesoptout.com, a handy online tool that helps save valuable materials and energy by allowing users to opt-out of phone book delivery at their home or business. By supporting both digital and print location services, Local Search provides options for each segment of its user base. Despite what one may think, the print Yellow Pages is still referenced every day — nearly 11 billion times a year.

“Delivering phone books to people that don’t want them is an irritant to the consumer,” Norton says. “It’s expensive and it doesn’t create any value for our advertisers. It’s just the right thing to do.”

Honest Tea has grown by leaps and bounds in its 13 years, yes, but its original commitments as a company remain very much in place: working to make healthy, environmentally friendly drinks that skip the sugar and focus on all-natural ingredients. Still, even with its growth, Honest Tea’s focus remains to “tread as lightly on the earth as it can.”

“We have the potential, over time, to be wherever Coca-Cola products are sold,” Goldman explains. “That’s an opportunity to take our mission to a much deeper level.”

A decades-long journey through the restaurant industry, from washing dishes in Southern California, to stints at TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut and Baja Fresh, brought Greg Dollarhyde to Los Angeles-based Veggie Grill. The fast-casual restaurants feature indulgent 100% plant-based fare.

The Veggie Grill’s claim to fame is its healthy slant — no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils and few sugars — that doesn’t skimp on quality or taste.

“The myth we’re trying to overcome is bland, mushy sautéed vegetables, salads and bowls,” Dollarhyde says. “[At The Veggie Grill ] you get the combination of delicious food, fair price, a great crowd of people and a menu that really works.”

Today, Leitman is a prolific green author and editor of several books, including Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle and Build Your Own Electric Vehicle, among others. He also blogs, creates green-themed videos and even hosts the “Green Living Guy Show” radio program. He does it all to answer green questions that “people are afraid to ask.”

“I want everybody to be green gurus,” Leitman says, referencing his series of books published by McGraw-Hill. “It’s not just about me; I’m just one guy.”

Listen to Seth Leitman’s segment here.

Joshua Greene is the head of energy and natural resources at Patton Boggs, an international law firm specializing in global business and trade for nearly 50 years. Since joining the firm in 2002, Greene has worked on the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, cementing his reputation as a green energy advocate and policymaker.

Greene, who works in Washington, D.C., says our nation is at an energy crossroads at this time. Despite strong bipartisan campaigning advocating green energy advancements in the last presidential election, our nation has had to cut back funding on many of these necessary programs. Yet many businesses continue to see the value in transitioning to a cleaner-energy economy with sustainable policies.

“Not only do federal agencies have to become cleaner and greener,” Greene explains, “but [they] also have to become more sustainable in their entire value chain.”

Listen to Joshua Greene’s segment here.

Practice Greenhealth is a nonprofit member organization that works to find environmental solutions for the healthcare sector, creating greener, safer workplaces along the way. The nonprofit deals with everything from green-building solutions and sustainable business practices, to responsible end-of-life policies for medical supplies and products. The group currently has approximately 1,100 hospital members.

“Not only do we as healthcare providers need to heal our individual patients, but also the environment and the communities that we are serving,” Gilmore Hall says. “We also know that the healthcare sector is facing a rising disease burden. Over the last 15 years, science is implicating environmental threats to health as becoming impossible to ignore.”

Listen to Anna Gilmore Hall’s segment here.

Los Angeles-based Deborah Kattler Kupetz worked in clothing manufacturing for a decade-plus before heading back to school to earn double master’s in social work and gerontology. Now, her focus has shifted to greening the event-planning business, a gap she felt needed to be filled in the Southern California area.

Five years in, Kattler Kupetz is consistently relied upon to plan and execute green-focused events — everything from professional functions to birthdays and bar and bat mitzvahs — in the LA area and beyond. Kattler Kupetz’s “Second Day Events” concept, in particular, is of green interest: using the materials from one event to power a separate event on a later date.

“The green space is not necessarily a profit-driven opportunity,” Kattler Kupetz admits. “The nature of my business is to reduce, reuse and recycle. There are so many ways I can make an event a little easier on the earth. There are all kinds of things we can do, and people appreciate it, because it feels different.”

Listen to Deborah Kattler Kupetz’s segment here.

Simply put, the gallery’s mission is, “supporting art and the environment.” Following each exhibition, the gallery donates all proceeds to environmental charities and causes, including California-based Heal the Bay, the Ballona Wetlands and Audubon California. Beyond the art’s environmental focus, the gallery itself tries to conserve whenever possible, including installing bamboo flooring and using no-VOC paint each time the walls are redone for a show.

“It’s been an evolution process at the gallery,” Hanson says. “We look at environmental issues or concepts that we want to address, we look at our organizations that we’re working with and we try to match things up. Once that perfect fit happens, it really works.”

P.J. Simmons has dedicated his career to enlightening others with environmental issues — taking them out of the “green box,” as he puts it, and into the mainstream. He has taken to co-founding the Corporate Eco Forum, a way for business leaders to collectively share their best green practices in a no-pressure environment. Collectively, the 80-some member businesses have a combined value of $3 trillion.

Simmons recently published The Green to Gold Business Playbook with co-author Dan Esty, a follow-up to the original Green to Gold book by Esty and Andrew Winston. The book makes a compelling case as to why companies should consider the environment at the forefront of their business strategies.

“Going green is not really a business panacea,” Simmons says. “It requires the same kind of strategic business approach that you would take with any kind of business decision.”

Applicants for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge must demonstrate a compelling argument that the problem they are addressing is a major leverage point in our global systems. Issues span the gamut of social and environmental change, from restoring the world’s soils and investing in women’s income, to designing new urban transportation systems and more.

“In other words,” Thompson explains, “if this particular problem is solved in a comprehensive way, it will have the effect of solving many other symptomatic issues at the same time. It’s a comprehensive approach — solving multiple problems simultaneously — that we’re really championing. We’re not interested in solving the symptoms, we’re interested in solving the root causes.”

George Black is the Executive Editor of the NRDC’s OnEarth magazine, a quarterly publication that examines critical environmental issues worldwide. Paramount in the magazine’s focus is climate change and its globe-spanning implications.

Black claims that climate change perceptions are different throughout the world, with some countries — including the U.S. — still burdened with climate deniers, while other, advanced countries are far along in employing renewable technologies.

“We’re at an interesting moment right now where we’ve done a great deal to convey the severity of the human drama of how people are impacted [by climate change],” Black says. “I think we’re now necessarily moving toward the [next] stage, which is to take the best initiatives that are underway, and say, ‘How can you bring them up to scale?’ In other words, how can you harvest the best ideas and bring them to a mass market?”

Chisholm says that some 50 million people claim birdwatching as a hobby — from simple backyard feeders, to enthusiasts like Chisholm who book trips around prime birdwatching spots and seasons. With some 10,000 species on earth, there are neverending opportunities to see something new and exciting, and the Audubon Society is in place to help maintain these species’ natural habitats.

“We can understand a lot about our natural world just by understanding how birds use it,” Chisholm says. “Birds provide one of the best windows into understanding our world and getting people excited about it.”

Evan Marks is the founder of The Ecology Center, an eco-educational nonprofit based in San Juan Capistrano, CA, that debuted in 2009. As a young man, Marks learned that humans have a major negative environmental impact, especially due to our agricultural processes. From there, Marks decided to study agriculture and worked on farms around the world.

The Ecology Center focuses on connecting food systems, water systems and waste management systems in a sustainable and healthy way. Among other initiatives, the Ecology Center offers garden design, baking, beer-making and other open workshops for Orange County residents to attend.

“We’re passionate about living in a healthy place with healthy people and we’re passionate about perpetuating that for future generations,” Marks explains. “To inspire that within an individual is contagious.”

Welch geared the book toward people from all walks of life — social, economic and otherwise — with simple ideas of how we must unite to create the kind of earth that future generations can be proud of. As Welch asks, “That’s something we all have in common. Who disagrees about this?”

“The book is an effort to engage people in the discussion, and in the process, the visualization,” he explains. “The only way it happens is through a process of billions of human imaginations.”

The Huffington Post named Michel Nischan a “gamechanger,” and it’s easy to see why: The green eating aficionado is a co-founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave and a storied restaurateur and chef with a long history of farm-to-table sourcing. But it wasn’t until his son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes that his motivation really took form.

Nischan mentions that underserved communities, both urban and rural, don’t have access to sustainable, fresh, healthy food sources, and some do not even realize that they’re missing out. Yet Nischan found that many people would want to eat better and more sustainably if they had affordable means to do so. He co-founded Wholesome Wave in 2007 to serve that very purpose.

“There are federal benefits that exist that are so thinly spread that there is not enough for folks to feed their families well,” Nischan says. “We go into communities and provide an incentive. If these folks come to a farmer’s market or a farm stand or a CSA and spend their money on locally grown fruits and vegetables, we double their money.”

Oyekan stresses that the EWJ readership is not simply electronics manufactures, but also e-waste recyclers, electronics resellers, policymakers and informed consumers.

“There are always new developments [in the e-waste industry], so content has not been a problem,” Oyekan says of the EWJ. “We really want to be a collaborative voice and effort of the industry, so we’re asking people who have a perspective, an idea or a product that they want to showcase to utilize the journal as a platform.”

Eduardo Sciammarella is a social entrepreneur and co-founder of GatherGreen.com. With a background in design and consumer electronics, Sciammarella took to a startup incubation program last year and found a void: daily deals for the greenspace.

Simply put, GatherGreen.com is the Groupon for greenies. Sign up, and a daily email offering green-related deals and discounts will drop in your inbox. Though based solely in Los Angeles for now, many of the deals are for online merchants, so Sciammarella encourages listeners to sign up. Expansion into other markets is currently being mapped out.

“It’s easy to start a daily deal site and get it going,” Sciammarella admits. “But behind the scenes, there are a lot of operations that need to go smoothly. We’ve been looking at this space for a long time. We believe we have the formula down, and that’s how we can expand into other areas.”

Okabashi shoes are made of 100% recycled Microplast, a carefully selected mixture of waste materials, in a closed-loop system, and the company encourages users to return old pairs to recycle once more into new products. The brand’s carbon footprint is constantly being reduced as well: A typical pair of Okabashi shoes travels about 700 miles, compared to the 11,000 miles that imported shoes travel.

“Sustainability is a very big part of Okabashi, but you can get stagnant just being sustainable,” LaPorte admits. “Moving to the next level, we’re developing Microplast 2, which is lighter and stronger and uses less fossil fuels to make the product.”

Spencer Brown is the founder and Chief Treehugger in Charge at Rent a Green Box. After a moving experience left him at a loss at what to do with his leftover cardboard boxes, he resolved to “make a better box” using plastics typically destined for landfills, and zero-waste moving was born. Rent a Green Box’s proprietary boxes last 400 uses and are delivered and picked up using the company’s biofueled fleet.

The user experience is simple: Rent the reusable boxes and Rent a Green Box delivers them to you. Use them for a move and then Rent a Green Box picks them up, sanitizes them and makes them available for rental again. It’s genius green business — saving trees, shunning landfills and creating green jobs.

“We’re experts at making it cheaper, faster and easier for America to pack and move their stuff,” Brown says. “What’s amazing is that America has accepted our offer, because it is cheaper, it is more convenient and it’s also good for the environment.”

The NRDC examined urban transportation in a new Smarter Cities study that identifies the 15 small, medium and large cities that are making eco-minded (and wallet-friendly) decisions to move their citizens around effectively. Beyond efficient city transportation infrastructure, Gordon provides a number of personal transportation tips that can make a major environmental difference.

“The smartest thing you can do is minimize your driving and bundle your trips,” Gordon explains. “Plan your trips so you only make right turns — right on red saves gas!”

Jim Motavalli, an eco-author and green transportation expert, states that we are headed for “peak oil” — when oil demand soars above oil supply. His book, High Voltage, released in 2011, examines electric vehicles and how they will change our oil dependency.

Motavalli cites the expanding lineup of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars as a major accomplishment in green engineering. He also lists the hydrogen fuel cell car, expected to be on the market in 2015, as a paramount in eco-technology.

“It may take 30 years for the internal-combustion engine to disappear from the road,” Motavalli says. “It’s not going to be overnight that we transition, plus [the electric engine is] very much in its infancy right now. I think we’ll see a lot of improvement in the gas car, say as far as 80 miles a gallon, so that will remain a competitive technology.”

Today, the company displaces nearly 50% of the oil used in its boiler with a “bio-gas” byproduct from its wastewater. Sourcing local power is a big plus for the brand, but the reduced dependence on foreign oil — including the production and transportation — is a major eco-boon.

“This is the ultimate in local production,” Dr. Serrallés says. “At the end of the day, we do this anaerobic process, reducing about 70% of the organic material. That wasn’t enough — we had to make this water irrigation-grade water. We end up with a 99% reduction in organic material.”

Rodrigo Veloso founded Los Angeles-based O.N.E. Drinks, the maker of O.N.E. Coconut Water, as a means of spreading his love for the health-conscious beverage. Coconut water, the juice from young green coconuts, was once considered a waste product, but in recent years, its all-natural health benefits have been promoted, so much so that coconut water is now the fastest-growing nonalcoholic beverage in the U.S.

Veloso, who was raised on a coffee farm in Brazil, was always fascinated that the coffee fruit — also rich in health benefits — is completely discarded in favor of the coffee bean. It was this fascination with food and agricultural waste that fueled his passion for coconut water.

“We harvest the coconut at a point where every part is utilized,” Veloso explains. [O.N.E. Coconut Water] is minimally processed, and packaged in one of the most sustainable beverage containers in the world.”

“Not only will our products be of the highest quality, but every one of our new Ford products will be best in class for fuel efficiency,” Gioia proudly states. “Fuel efficiency is going to be a reason to buy a Ford, not to avoid a Ford.”

In the second half of the show, Seth Goldman, founder of Honest Tea, discusses how his eco-friendly and healthy brew started with a passion to quench thirst. Honest Tea has always focused on all-organic, completely natural teas that skip the sugary stuff for pure taste. What started with five teas in 1998 has blossomed into well over 30 different brands, and the brand is experiencing unprecedented growth — currently at nearly 400%.

“We call it Honest Tea because it’s made with real tea leaves,” Goldman reveals. “With real tea leaves, you get the real antioxidants and the real taste, too. Most of the other bottled tea brands don’t use real tea.”

Goldman notes that Honest Tea’s organic approach is important, because tea leaves are the only agricultural product that does not get rinsed until consumption. Pure, unaltered tea leaves go into every beverage, ensuring an all-natural drinking experience.

“Cycling is a simple solution already sitting in people’s garages,” Bjorling says. “Lobby and ask for bicycle programs. Bicycle programs get swept under the rug because no one asks for them. [Trek has] gotten a ton of attention just by standing up and saying, ‘Remember bicyclists.’”

Trek’s Eco design, a line of green-minded bikes, explores the whole life cycle of the bike — manufacturing, years of riding and eventual end of life. The bikes are made primarily of recycled (and recyclable) steel, as well as other various recycled materials. The company’s DreamBikes bike donation program is a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club that is helping reuse bikes and teach youngsters good eco practices.

Later in the show, Gregory Wittbecker, Director of Primary Aluminum Analysis and Recycling at Alcoa, describes the benefits of recycling metals.

“In the U.S. right now, we’re recycling about 54% of all the cans that are consumed,” Wittbecker reveals. This number is comparable to most Western European companies, but so much more can be done.

Aluminum, which takes a significant amount of energy to create, is dependent upon recycling to reduce energy output. Wittbecker claims a 95% savings in energy when recycling, not to mention the savings in landfill space.

In 2002, following a trip to China, BAN produced the filmExporting Harm, depicting exported toxic waste from the U.S. landing in China, where the most egregious forms of dumping are still taking place to this day.

“Nowadays, more and more things that we take for granted are electronic,” Puckett explains. “It wouldn’t be such a horrible problem were it not for the fact that it’s toxic waste. We have to be very careful how we deal with it.”

David Tusa is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Sharps Compliance, Inc., a company that prevents the improper disposal of medical waste and unused medications. Surprisingly, outside of the hospital and healthcare setting, there is little legislation in place to regulate disposal methods of these materials.

Yet Sharps has honed in on this sector on its own, keeping an astounding 600 million syringes out of the waste stream over the past 15 years. Still, Tusa believes Sharps is less than 5% penetrated in this vast market.

“Medical waste can create quite the hazard,” Tusa reveals. “You can contract a disease — you see stories about it every day. It’s a major issue in this country.”

Though Hollender says that consumers, in particular, are doing their due diligence while shopping, he cites a number of resources, such as Good Guide, as tools that can help consumers make informed green purchases.

“One of the reasons I wrote Planet Home was that too many people are confused about what really makes a difference, where to get started [and] what decisions are the most critical to make as a consumer,” Hollender explains. “We need to think about how we change the rules of the game so that everyone is incentivized to do the right thing.”

David Levine, co-founder and Executive Director of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), was a visionary from the council’s conceptualization in 2009 as a voice for earth-friendly businesses in the realms of public policy and media.

The council started with six member organizations, and in less than two years has ballooned to 28 organizations representing 75,000 U.S. businesses. Levine credits this growth to the increased understanding of strategies to rebuild the economy using sustainable means.

“It’s really time to break down the traditional barriers that we’ve had,” Levine says. “The voice that we bring is a business case for why we believe that a sustainable economy is a direction to move toward.”

“I take care of my body first and foremost,” Kordich explains. “I’m not a genius. I started reading, and I was only on natural juices from natural plants — where life comes from.”

Now known as “The Father of Juicing,” Kordich has created a juice empire — from juicers, to juicing literature — and its benefits are obvious. Just look at Kordich: at nearly 89, he is as vibrant as he was in his college days.

Armen Orujyan, Ph.D., runs Athgo International, a nonprofit that engages young entrepreneurs in a sustainable, eco-friendly manner.

Dr. Orujyan cites his family’s move to the United States in the late ’80s as an eye-opening moment. He didn’t have anything handed to him growing up, and being immersed in a culture full of freedoms, he felt compelled to give back. He feels today’s entrepreneurs are critical to tomorrow’s successes.

“Athgo came into existence to give opportunities to people like myself,” Dr. Orujyan says. “I needed a support group to help me expand my knowledge and my know-how.”

Of course, Hershkowitz sees an opportunity here: Using sports’ visibility to educate fans on issues such as energy usage, water usage and waste patterns. The attention to sports in the U.S. is staggering, and there is potential to send a truly green message. Conservation spreads the gamut in sports: Some major-league venues have installed solar panels, but an eco-friendly move can be as simple as switching team laundry detergents. Hershkowitz feels this message can trickle down to high schools, Little League baseball and beyond.

“Recently, NRDC caused the formation of the Green Sports Alliance, a consortium of representatives from every league,” Hershkowitz explains. “This is the first time that an intra-league consortium has been formed to advance information about environmental better practices.”

Matt Delnick is the CEO of Greenstar Recycling, a pure recycling company — no landfills, no mills and no haulers — that debuted in North America in 2007 after getting its start in the U.K. and Ireland. Greenstar’s footprint across North America is a large one, with both single-stream and dual-stream facilities across the U.S.

When comparing the American recycling practices with European examples, Delnick feels that a very strong educational component is missing. While the U.S. struggles to recycle just one-third of its waste, Delnick says the number should be much closer to 85%.

“We believe that from a sustainability standpoint, recycling should be at the core of the efforts,” Delnick says. “[Recycling] is often left out in conversations in North America, but it has an immediate impact on the environment that most people don’t understand.”

]]> http://greenisgood.fm/2011/12/natural-resources-defense-council-allen-hershkowitz-greenstar-recycling-matt-delnick/feed/ 0 Allen Hershkowitz, a longtime green revolution thought leader with the NRDC and sustainability writer, is now examining how to green sports in America. Hershkowitz lays down an alarming stat right out of the gate: 56% of Americans say they pay attentio... Allen Hershkowitz, a longtime green revolution thought leader with the NRDC and sustainability writer, is now examining how to green sports in America. Hershkowitz lays down an alarming stat right out of the gate: 56% of Americans say they pay attention to sports, while only 18% pay attention to science. Of course, Hershkowitz sees an opportunity here: Using sports’ visibility to educate fans on issues such as energy usage, water usage and waste patterns. The attention to sports in the U.S. is staggering, and there is potential to send a truly green message. Conservation spreads the gamut in sports: Some major-league venues have installed solar panels, but an eco-friendly move can be as simple as switching team laundry detergents. Hershkowitz feels this message can trickle down to high schools, Little League baseball and beyond. “Recently, NRDC caused the formation of the Green Sports Alliance, a consortium of representatives from every league,” Hershkowitz explains. “This is the first time that an intra-league consortium has been formed to advance information about environmental better practices.” Matt Delnick is the CEO of Greenstar Recycling, a pure recycling company — no landfills, no mills and no haulers — that debuted in North America in 2007 after getting its start in the U.K. and Ireland. Greenstar’s footprint across North America is a large one, with both single-stream and dual-stream facilities across the U.S. When comparing the American recycling practices with European examples, Delnick feels that a very strong educational component is missing. While the U.S. struggles to recycle just one-third of its waste, Delnick says the number should be much closer to 85%. “We believe that from a sustainability standpoint, recycling should be at the core of the efforts,” Delnick says. “[Recycling] is often left out in conversations in North America, but it has an immediate impact on the environment that most people don’t understand.” John Shegerian clean http://greenisgood.fm/2011/12/epa-robert-kavlock-att-john-schulz/ http://greenisgood.fm/2011/12/epa-robert-kavlock-att-john-schulz/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:29:17 +0000 admin http://greenisgood.fm/?p=3828 Dr. Robert Kavlock has played an integral role in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s computational toxicology program, highlighting new innovations in and creating a better understanding of molecular biology and computer science. Today, Dr. Kavlock sits as the Head of the National Center for Toxicology, which was established in 2005.

Dr. Kavlock works on a program called ToxCast, which aims to forecast toxicity of some 9,900 chemicals we use all around the world on a daily basis. The harsh reality: So much is still unknown about how chemicals interact with our environment and personal well being.

“There is a huge information gap in terms of what would we like to know about chemicals versus what we do know about chemicals,” Dr. Kavlock says. “When we started ToxCast we had basically a blank wall and said, ‘What can we do to start to change that situation?’”

Listen to Dr. Robert Kavlock’s segment here.

Sustainability and AT&T go hand in hand, thanks to the company’s Director of External Affairs, John Schulz. Schulz says it all starts at the community level, where AT&T takes a hands-on role in various social and environmental affairs.

AT&T’s energy conservation efforts are large-scale measures. Schulz, like several thousand of his fellow employees, telecommutes regularly, saving the company bundles of energy, space and money. As well, much of AT&T’s information is being transferred to “the cloud,” greatly reducing once-necessary electrical loads. Even more impressive: AT&T is investing $565 million over 10 years in its alternative-fuel vehicle fleet.

“We’re big into energy,” Schulz says of AT&T. “The technical stuff is not rocket science. What really makes a difference with energy is visibility [and] accountability. We’ve got a lot going in solar and wind right now. And water is critical — you cannot live without it. We recognize that that resource is under strain. [AT&T is honing] in on opportunities to be as efficient as possible.”

Listen to John Schulz’s segment here.

Broughton truly believes that for the rental car brand to be successful in its second 55-year stint as a company, conservation and eco-thinking is key. Just one example: A 2007 pledge to work with the Arbor Day Foundation and U.S. Forestry Service to plant 50 million trees in national parks over a 50-year span.

“A huge piece of what we’re doing to drive the future is investing alternative technology to ensure that we’re a significant piece in the value chain of bringing electric vehicles to market,” Broughton explains. “Everyone is more cognizant and conscious of the environmental impact.”

Listen to Lee Broughton’s segment here.

Richard Eidlin’s background in renewable energy fueled his passion for discovering how businesses can create a more sustainable economy. Through years of working in sustainable industries, Eidlin developed the Progress Group, a Denver-based consultancy that helps low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs develop triple-bottom-line businesses.

Eidlin is also the Director of Campaigns and Business Management at the American Sustainable Business Council, an organization of businesses and business leaders that aims to adopt a sustainable economy through public policy.

“While I’m a great fan of voluntary sustainability initiatives that companies adopt, I also know that we need to change the rules and the laws in order to encourage businesses to do the right thing,” Eidlin says. “[We need to] really provide the incentive for companies to make the changes necessary. We also need to address the externalities that riddle the economy.”

Listen to Richard Eidlin’s segment here.

One of GM’s main eco-focuses over the past several years: making half (or more) of its 150 worldwide plants landfill-free. As of 2010, the company met and drastically exceeded its goal, allowing it to aim higher down the line. Of those 75-plus facilities, none are transferring any waste to landfills.

“[GM uses] more renewables than virtually anybody in manufacturing right now,” Robinson says. “We use more landfill gas than anybody else we know of; we use wind; we use solar; we use hyrdo. It’s a relentless pursuit.”

Pitney Bowes’ Director of Business Development Green Products, Adam Lewenberg, and Director of Environmental Affairs, Ellen Huang, share the software and hardware manufacturer’s secrets to recycling prowess. The company utilizes much of the equipment customers drop off to its recycling program to create newer, better products.

Factory-certified refurbishing and rebuilding helps Pitney Bowes save resources, and in turn, their customers save money on new, dependable units. The company designs all of its products with recyclability and end-of-life solutions in mind.

“Over 95% [of the machines Pitney Bowes produce] is recyclable in terms of commodity materials when it does finally reach its end of life,” Huang explains. “We scrap and recycle the equipment, and those parts can be broken down into commodity materials easily.”

“The first reason we wrote the book was we wanted to record the first 40 years of the modern environmental movement,” John says. “This marks [NRDC's] first 40 years, and the first environmental laws written in 1970.”

Patricia reminisces about the couple’s beginnings in New York in 1970 and how they felt they were living in a time of change — they knew even back then that there were serious issues affecting the health of our environment, and knew the things they loved were being destroyed. The NRDC was created on January 2, 1970, and they’ve never looked back since.

Dave Stangis, Vice President of CSR and Sustainability at Campbell Soup Company, has long had success with corporate sustainability initiatives at a number of well-known companies. Now he is trying to reduce Campbell’s impact without sacrificing its scope.

“It’s always been my premise to build CSR and sustainability strategies that really work for the employees, really work for the executives and are translatable to the external world — that makes the company better,” Stangis reveals.

Now Stangis has built a CSR program that amplifies Campbell’s standing in the community and marketplace. Beyond simply nourishing customers, every Campbell’s employee has a role in implementing these conservation strategies as a part of their performance objectives.

As You Sow represents corporate investors while helping them reduce both social and environmental risk. These programs are long-term approaches to help investors better understand what they can do to reduce their environmental footprint while helping to improve their brand image. It’s a win-win for companies and consumers.

“A lot of the waste is at a community level in the United States,” MacKerron says. “If you can help energize waste collection at the local level, that helps wake up policymakers at the regional and federal levels, and really helps companies realize that consumers care about this.”

Listen to Conrad MacKerron’s segment here.

Glad’s Marketing Manager Cheryl Hagedorn, who holds a 10-year history with parent company Clorox, is excited to announce her newest focus, Glad Green, and its very important mission: setting a vision and strategy for greening the trash business. Glad’s newest campaign, “Glad to Waste Less,” helps to teach consumers how easily small changes can really add up. It all begins with resource management.

Typically, consumers equate a trash bag’s strength with its thickness. The thicker the bag, the more resources are needed to produce it. Yet, Glad has just introduced its newest bag, which is stronger and made with less plastic than ever before. In total, Glad expects to save 6.5 million pounds of plastics per year — the equivalent of 140 million trash bags.

“At Glad, we’ve always been really focused on working hard against waste with strong, reliable trash bags,” Hagedorn says. “We’re really starting to challenge the old paradigm and say, ‘There’s a smarter way of doing this.’”

 Listen to Cheryl Hagedorn’s segment here.

The 30-year-old company is one of the largest nonprofit recyclers in the U.S., and is aiming to make Boulder the model zero-waste city for the world. Matsch, whose recycling career stretches back to the ’80s, also spent time as an organic farmer for 14 years in Boulder. His keen understanding of composting procedures means big resource savings for the city, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions as well.

“The beautiful thing about zero waste is it’s not looking only at what happens when we’re discarding stuff and what can we recycle and compost,” Matsch explains. “It’s also looking at what we call the ‘midstream longevity’ of a product’s use and maximizing that product’s longevity through reuse, repair and working with industries to make their designs more durable.”

Listen to Dan Matsch’s segment here.

The Bulk is Green Council’s mission is to educate consumers about the environmental benefits of buying foods in bulk. Clint Landis, of Frontier Natural Products Co-Op in Norway, IA, is a co-founder and sits on the council board, and shares his passions of environmentalism and living well.

The savings from buying in bulk are major — around 30% to 60% for the consumer. And that’s just the beginning. Bulk goods require less transportation, reduce food waste and lessen manufacturing demand. All of this adds up to major CO₂ reductions across the board — a big savings for Mother Nature!

“Bulk foods, in this day and age, are more relevant than they ever have been,” Landis reveals. “There are a number of things people don’t understand about buying in bulk, and it’s because they haven’t done it yet. Everything from saving packaging to saving money — with the economy the way it is, who doesn’t need to save money? Bulk is a phenomenal way to save.”

Listen to Clint Landis’ segment here.

Jeffery points to the company’s initial brand acquisition, Poland Spring, as the moment when he knew sustainability would be integral in the company’s lasting profitability: “From the very first day, the future success of that business is totally dependent on managing the resource [Poland Springs' watershed] for quality and sustainability,” he recalls. “We became environmental stewards the day we bought that business. It’s really in our DNA to think from an environmental standpoint first.”

Today, Nestlé Waters has blossomed into a mutibrand company with 10 LEED-certified facilities — nine either Silver or Gold certified. Perhaps more importantly, over the past six years, Nestlé Waters has reduced its packaging by more than 40% — approximately a 20% reduction in the company’s overall carbon footprint.

Listen to Kim Jeffery’s segment here.

“Cradle to cradle,” a products design movement that began in the early 1990s, aims to end consumers’ dependence on landfilling products at the end of their life cycles. The goal, simply, is to design and manufacture products that are made from infinitely useful materials that are able to be recycled again and again. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, started in 2010, acts as a certification system for these products.

The institute gives manufacturers the opportunity to study the entire environmental impact of their products, from creation, to production, useful life and obsolescence. Bridgett Luther, President of the institute, brings a career’s worth of environmental protection and conservation expertise to the institute.

“The cradle to cradle certification process is a journey,” Luther explains. “As you go with your company through this process, you actually start to change the way you look at your product design. As companies go through this process, they will see that a lot of what they are making isn’t that safe or healthy.”

Listen to Bridgett Luther’s segment here.

The objective of Updater.com is to consolidate what fills up mailboxes across the U.S.: Skip the junk mail all together, and receive only desired and necessary mail. Consumers should be able to decide which pieces of mail they choose to receive, which will significantly cut back on wasted paper.

“The environmental hazards are really serious, with respect to junk mail,” Greenberg says. “The statistics are shocking: About 100 billion pieces of junk mail are delivered each year. That’s about 800 pieces per household.”

Listen to David Greenberg’s segment here.

The devastation from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 inspired Global Green USA President and CEO Matt Petersen to take any action he could to assist those that lost everything. Since then, his organization has helped rebuild countless homes, green New Orleans schools and “adopt a neighborhood” while creating incredibly energy-efficient low-income housing.

But Global Green USA’s efforts aren’t just in New Orleans, as the organization’s name suggests. Petersen says his mission is to help people in need while helping the environment. Currently, Global Green USA is in the process of selecting the winner of its “green school makeover” competition. The selected school will win more than $100,000 to help improve energy efficiency and lessen its footprint.

“[The winner] will become a model of how we retrofit our schools,” Petersen says. “We need to see this happen across this country. Every school can be better for the environment.”

Listen to Matt Petersen’s segment here.

Dr. Kavlock works on a program called ToxCast, which aims to forecast toxicity of some 9,900 chemicals we use all around the world on a daily basis. The harsh reality: So much is still unknown about how chemicals interact with our environment and personal well being.

“There is a huge information gap in terms of what would we like to know about chemicals versus what we do know about chemicals,” Dr. Kavlock says. “When we started ToxCast we had basically a blank wall and said, ‘What can we do to start to change that situation?’”

Listen to Dr. Robert Kavlock’s segment here.

Sustainability and AT&T go hand in hand, thanks to the company’s Director of External Affairs, John Schulz. Schulz says it all starts at the community level, where AT&T takes a hands-on role in various social and environmental affairs.

AT&T’s energy conservation efforts are large-scale measures. Schulz, like several thousand of his fellow employees, telecommutes regularly, saving the company bundles of energy, space and money. As well, much of AT&T’s information is being transferred to “the cloud,” greatly reducing once-necessary electrical loads. Even more impressive: AT&T is investing $565 million over 10 years in its alternative-fuel vehicle fleet.

“We’re big into energy,” Schulz says of AT&T. “The technical stuff is not rocket science. What really makes a difference with energy is visibility [and] accountability. We’ve got a lot going in solar and wind right now. And water is critical — you cannot live without it. We recognize that that resource is under strain. [AT&T is honing] in on opportunities to be as efficient as possible.”

Listen to John Schulz’s segment here.

Better World Books aims to keep books useful by repurposing them however possible, including recycling them if necessary. By using forgotten books as a means to promote literacy around the world, Better World Books has spared global landfills of unnecessary book clutter and helped many discover the importance of reading. In fact, Better World Books donates a book to someone in need for every book sold, and raises a portion of every sale for literacy programs all over the world.

“Our founding fathers founded the business with this vision that said, ‘A college textbook gets passed from generation to generation,’” Perlmutter says of the company’s humble beginnings at the University of Notre Dame. “Now, we’ve taken it so much further than that.”

Listen to Andy Perlmutter’s segment here.

Sundari Kraft grew up in a normal suburban Denver household, but somewhere along the way she became interested in harvesting her own food and personal products in the city environment that she is used to. Kraft’s immersion into urban homesteading began by simply growing food and raising livestock, and expanded from there. Today, her lifestyle is a pillar of efficiency — she recycles bathwater, uses her goats’ milk as a base for soaps and grows most of her own food.

Kraft defines “urban homesteading”: “It’s a collection of practices that has to do with living more sustainably and self-sufficiently, wherever you happen to be.” She stresses that anyone can practice certain ideals and concepts of urban homesteading in an urban setting, and can pick and choose what works best given the situation and location.

Just a few of Kraft’s helpful ideas to make the most of the space around you: Grow herbs on your windowsill, sprout mushrooms under your bed or utilize land-share agreements on under-utilized or neglected land. These and many more topics are discussed in Kraft’s book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading.

Listen to Sundari Kraft’s segment here.

Today, the Ultimate Green Store is one of the leading green retailers online. And it’s easy to see why — the selection alone is truly astonishing, with products ranging from organic clothing for adults and babies, to office supplies and pet accessories and everything in between. Even green cleaning and dry cleaning products are available in the store — items that Meyer is extra passionate about championing.

“‘Clean and green’ is a huge step in having a healthy home,” Meyer says. “It all boils down to the chemicals that we bring into our homes.”

Listen to Laura Meyer’s segment here.

A career spanning 20 years at FedEx has only strengthened Mitch Jackson’s resolve to improve the company’s environmental standards wherever possible. As Vice President of Environmental Affairs & Sustainability, Jackson helps to preach sustainability-related transparency companywide.

It’s no secret that FedEx’s footprint is wide: Serving more than 220 countries and territories, the shipping giant must continue to develop eco-friendly innovations as it grows. Moving more than 8 million parcels per day, mostly via aircraft and vehicles, can certainly take an environmental toll, but FedEx is committed to reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency, something Jackson says is only the responsible thing to do.

“We move the goods for our customers, but in essence what we’re doing is helping to connect the world,” Jackson explains. “Not only does that have an environmental impact that we have to address, but it also has a social good that it provides.”

Listen to Mitch Jackson’s segment here.

National Public Lands Day, the largest single-day volunteer event for public lands in the U.S., began in 1994 and is held on the last September of each year (this year’s event falls on September 24). Approximately 180,000 volunteers are expected to participate at more than 2,000 public land locations around the nation. Events range from small-scale community meet-ups with 10 or so participants to massive clean-ups involving thousands of volunteers.

“There are a lot of unique projects that, at the end of the day, we’re really trying to bring the community into their local public lands to learn why what they’re doing is important,” Hampton says.

Listen to Robb Hampton’s segment here.

Kevin Kramer joined Alcoa seven years ago after a 21-year run at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He came on as President of the Wheel and Structure Division before becoming President of Growth Initiatives in 2009.

Kramer’s duties are many, with an overarching goal to “develop the language of growth [for Alcoa], but just as importantly, work with the business units and make sure we’re driving organic growth and tying together the great story of sustainability,” he says. “What we’re really trying to do is find great, innovative ways to drive sustainable growth for Alcoa globally.”

Kramer has examined aluminum’s application on commercial properties and how Alcoa can continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — studies have shown that aluminum-intensive building can reduce those emissions by more than 20%. He also cites driving cradle-to-cradle methodology to aluminum application, noting that aluminum is infinitely recyclable without losing luster or strength.

Alcoa’s sustainable growth lends itself to continued green innovation. Kramer proudly mentions EcoClean, Alcoa’s coil-coated aluminum architectural panel that remarkably cleans itself and the air around it. Additionally, Alcoa is working with automotive companies all around the world to develop lightweight aluminum vehicle frames using less resources, while also pairing up with Airbus to develop aluminum technologies that will save valuable fuel for airlines.

Listen to Kevin Kramer’s segment here.

The Environmental Defense Fund “takes on the most urgent environmental threats to the climate, oceans, ecosystems and people’s health” using science, economics and law to back up its reasoning, achieving four-plus decades of results.

“[The EDF's] role is expanding beyond the Fortune 500 and getting to what we like to call the ‘Next 5,000,’” Trask says of EDF’s mission to help small businesses grow sustainably. “It’s really about transforming businesses.”

Listen to Beth Trask’s segment here.

Allan Oliver acts as CEO for the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce (NMGCC), an organization that helps the state’s small businesses in the areas of renewable energy, strengthening local economies and seizing the green business advantage. The chamber’s goal is to create sustainable jobs throughout New Mexico’s diverse communities.

With more than 1,200 member organizations and counting, NMGCC helps to strengthen green business practices within the state while also educating consumers about green local businesses that they can support.

“The green sector of the economy has the most movement right now,” Oliver says. “I encourage anybody out there who’s got an idea and wants to chase it, go chase it.”

Listen to Allan Oliver’s segment here.

NISWMD is a multi-county entity charged by the state to reduce the solid waste stream in the area by enacting waste-reduction strategies such as recycling and composting. As Christman points out, solid waste production has a direct correlation with the health of the economy, so the last few years have shown a dramatic drop-off in volume.

“Municipal solid waste management is not a garbage problem,” Christman says. “Solid waste management is a materials-handling problem. It’s a matter of being able to pick material up and put it down, and do something with it in between — as efficient as possible with the least amount of cost.”

Listen to Steve Christman’s segment here.

John Ypma’s long history in the food business — including a stint working with Gerber — led him to creating a line of organic baby food at Initiative Foods. Ten years in, the Fresno, CA-based brand has continued to grow and expand its line. The key to the tasty selections is simple, really: a blending of the finest fruits and vegetables into flavorful finished products.

Ypma says that Initiative’s success is all about the produce the company sources. He strategically started the business in Fresno to take advantage of the wonderful San Joaquin Valley produce. That’s all that ends up in the jars and bottles — no added sugars or salt, no GMOs and no pesticides.

“We start from fresh fruits and vegetables,” Ypma explains. “We only cook them once; there are very few things that taste good cooked twice, and a lot of baby food is cooked twice. The way that we pasteurize leads to a lot less heat in the product, so we’re not overcooking the product. We like to keep it as natural as we can keep it.”

Listen to John Ypma’s segment here.

As NWF celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, its focus remains intact as “America’s conservation organization.” Naturally, as the world has evolved, the NWF has grown and centered on climate change, protecting wildlife and its habitats and connecting people with nature. That last point is especially near and dear to Mizejewski.

“A naturalist is somebody that knows a lot about nature,” Mizejewski explains. “My job is to go on TV, go on radio, blog, write books, write for magazines — if there is a media outlet, I try and target it to get in there with our messages about our programs and initiatives, but also about the beauty and wonder of nature.”

Listen to David Mizejewski’s segment here.

The Friends of Ballona Wetlands started as a grassroots concept in a living room and has blossomed into a 33-year-old nonprofit still fighting for wetland health and preservation in Playa del Ray, CA. Lisa Fimiani got her start at the organization 25 years ago as a volunteer, and now acts as the nonprofit’s Executive Director.

The area of coastal greater Los Angeles has been at risk for decades now, fueled by 20th century commercial and residential growth. Though developments such as Palisades del Ray and Marina del Ray threatened to ruin these very fragile wetlands, the 70,000-plus volunteers over the years have ensured that they survive and thrive. To date, more than 600 acres are protected with new tidegates to prevent flooding and improve water flow.

“You don’t preserve wildlife and habitat by standing on the fringe and constantly complaining,” Fimiani says. “We will always do what is best for the wetlands.”

Listen to Lisa Fimiani’s segment here.

Today, Leitman is a prolific green author and editor of several books, including Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle and Build Your Own Electric Vehicle, among others. He also blogs, creates green-themed videos and even hosts the “Green Living Guy Show” radio program. He does it all to answer green questions that “people are afraid to ask.”

“I want everybody to be green gurus,” Leitman says, referencing his series of books published by McGraw-Hill. “It’s not just about me; I’m just one guy.”

Listen to Seth Leitman’s segment here.

Joshua Greene is the head of energy and natural resources at Patton Boggs, an international law firm specializing in global business and trade for nearly 50 years. Since joining the firm in 2002, Greene has worked on the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, cementing his reputation as a green energy advocate and policymaker.

Greene, who works in Washington, D.C., says our nation is at an energy crossroads at this time. Despite strong bipartisan campaigning advocating green energy advancements in the last presidential election, our nation has had to cut back funding on many of these necessary programs. Yet many businesses continue to see the value in transitioning to a cleaner-energy economy with sustainable policies.

“Not only do federal agencies have to become cleaner and greener,” Greene explains, “but [they] also have to become more sustainable in their entire value chain.”

Listen to Joshua Greene’s segment here.

Verizon Wireless’ Vice President of Sales, Mike Brander, and Consert’s CEO and President, Jack Roberts, speak on this strategic pairing. For Verizon Wireless, launching its 4G LTE wireless system is transforming the company into the next generation of technological greatness, at a cost of $6 billion per year. Consert joins Verizon Wireless to make going green a bit easier and more cost effective.

“The problem with the electric utility is that it is the only utility that has to function without storage,” Roberts says. “There is no mass storage of electricity. [Consert offers] the ability to give energy conservation many of the attributes of generation.”

“[Verizon Wireless and Consert together] are able to offer a solution to the utility sector as well as consumers that can help manage their energy usage and provide demand response,” Brander explains. In short: by using less energy, Verizon Wireless customers will end up saving money.

Listen to Mike Brander and Jack Roberts’ segment here.

Paige Pederson manages the identity theft educational programs at Tempe, AZ-based LifeLock. Pederson joined the company back when it was a start-up in 2006, and it has since blossomed into one of the biggest identity theft protection companies in the U.S. That is significant, since identity theft is the fastest rising crime in America.

The average identity theft victim spends approximately 30 hours tending to their case. LifeLock’s protection helps to minimize your risk level, and proactively resolves any issues that do occur.

“There are many points of contact throughout the day, the month and the year that you give your personal information into the hands of a potential bad guy,” Pederson says. “We’re trying to put safeguards in place to help you not be a victim in the first place.”

Listen to Paige Pederson’s segment here.

Anton spent three-plus decades in finance in the metals and mining industry, but it wasn’t until the recent financial crisis that he really started to think about his legacy. Instead of leaving his perch at Alcoa to try a new venture, the CSO position was created specifically for him. It allowed Anton just the kind of positive legacy he was looking to create.

Anton stresses that sustainability is not a new trend at Alcoa, but he recognizes that the company only recently linked “the green agenda of sustainability to the green agenda of business.” More than a year after taking the CSO position, Anton has moved the company down a greener path.

It all starts with our daily needs for aluminum products. Soda cans are only the tip of the iceberg. Aluminum, also known as the “wonder metal,” is used in all sorts of infrastructure and buildings, as well as transportation, airplanes and much more.

“It’s the perfect package,” Anton says. “It’s infinitely recyclable. That water can you drink out of can be recycled in 60 days, back on the shelf, back in your hand. So, the soda can you had at your Fourth of July picnic can actually be back [in time] to use for your Labor Day picnic.”

It doesn’t stop there. Aluminum is beneficial in the transportation industry, increasing fuel efficiency and lowering costs wherever it is implemented. And again, it can be recycled over and over. Anton also cites the architecture industry as the fastest growing segment that has been turned on to aluminum, helping to lower energy costs and secure LEED certification points.

One of the biggest changes Anton has helped to implement at Alcoa has been employee engagement. Nearly half of Alcoa employees regularly volunteer in their communities, helping to strengthen the company’s bond with the public. Furthermore, the focus has turned to waste and energy minimization. Anton won’t rest until Alcoa becomes a zero-waste-to-landfill company, and he is constantly stressing ways to cut back energy usage throughout the company.

Anton’s green quest will continue as he hopes to help the American aluminum recycling rates tick upward, as well as increase energy efficiency and reduce the footprints of Alcoa’s facilities worldwide.

Practice Greenhealth is a nonprofit member organization that works to find environmental solutions for the healthcare sector, creating greener, safer workplaces along the way. The nonprofit deals with everything from green-building solutions and sustainable business practices, to responsible end-of-life policies for medical supplies and products. The group currently has approximately 1,100 hospital members.

“Not only do we as healthcare providers need to heal our individual patients, but also the environment and the communities that we are serving,” Gilmore Hall says. “We also know that the healthcare sector is facing a rising disease burden. Over the last 15 years, science is implicating environmental threats to health as becoming impossible to ignore.”

Listen to Anna Gilmore Hall’s segment here.

Los Angeles-based Deborah Kattler Kupetz worked in clothing manufacturing for a decade-plus before heading back to school to earn double master’s in social work and gerontology. Now, her focus has shifted to greening the event-planning business, a gap she felt needed to be filled in the Southern California area.

Five years in, Kattler Kupetz is consistently relied upon to plan and execute green-focused events — everything from professional functions to birthdays and bar and bat mitzvahs — in the LA area and beyond. Kattler Kupetz’s “Second Day Events” concept, in particular, is of green interest: using the materials from one event to power a separate event on a later date.

“The green space is not necessarily a profit-driven opportunity,” Kattler Kupetz admits. “The nature of my business is to reduce, reuse and recycle. There are so many ways I can make an event a little easier on the earth. There are all kinds of things we can do, and people appreciate it, because it feels different.”

Listen to Deborah Kattler Kupetz’s segment here.

Broughton truly believes that for the rental car brand to be successful in its second 55-year stint as a company, conservation and eco-thinking is key. Just one example: A 2007 pledge to work with the Arbor Day Foundation and U.S. Forestry Service to plant 50 million trees in national parks over a 50-year span.

“A huge piece of what we’re doing to drive the future is investing alternative technology to ensure that we’re a significant piece in the value chain of bringing electric vehicles to market,” Broughton explains. “Everyone is more cognizant and conscious of the environmental impact.”

Listen to Lee Broughton’s segment here.

Richard Eidlin’s background in renewable energy fueled his passion for discovering how businesses can create a more sustainable economy. Through years of working in sustainable industries, Eidlin developed the Progress Group, a Denver-based consultancy that helps low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs develop triple-bottom-line businesses.

Eidlin is also the Director of Campaigns and Business Management at the American Sustainable Business Council, an organization of businesses and business leaders that aims to adopt a sustainable economy through public policy.

“While I’m a great fan of voluntary sustainability initiatives that companies adopt, I also know that we need to change the rules and the laws in order to encourage businesses to do the right thing,” Eidlin says. “[We need to] really provide the incentive for companies to make the changes necessary. We also need to address the externalities that riddle the economy.”

Listen to Richard Eidlin’s segment here.

The list of Carli’s clients is large — Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, Adobe and so many more. The overarching goal: how to make the products we use every day more efficient and effective. The Institute for Sustainable Communications’ mission ties directly in: to raise awareness and build capacity for the sustainable use of print and digital media.

“For the majority of people, ‘green’ is just not a motivating factor,” Carli admits. “People first and foremost focus on primary benefits — utility, convenience, effectiveness. If it also happens to be green, that may be the tiebreaker in the decision.”

Neg Norton’s entire career has been based in the local search arena — transitioning from Yellow Pages and local marketing to digital local search with Local Search Association.

Norton mentions yellowpagesoptout.com, a handy online tool that helps save valuable materials and energy by allowing users to opt-out of phone book delivery at their home or business. By supporting both digital and print location services, Local Search provides options for each segment of its user base. Despite what one may think, the print Yellow Pages is still referenced every day — nearly 11 billion times a year.

“Delivering phone books to people that don’t want them is an irritant to the consumer,” Norton says. “It’s expensive and it doesn’t create any value for our advertisers. It’s just the right thing to do.”

Simply put, the gallery’s mission is, “supporting art and the environment.” Following each exhibition, the gallery donates all proceeds to environmental charities and causes, including California-based Heal the Bay, the Ballona Wetlands and Audubon California. Beyond the art’s environmental focus, the gallery itself tries to conserve whenever possible, including installing bamboo flooring and using no-VOC paint each time the walls are redone for a show.

“It’s been an evolution process at the gallery,” Hanson says. “We look at environmental issues or concepts that we want to address, we look at our organizations that we’re working with and we try to match things up. Once that perfect fit happens, it really works.”

P.J. Simmons has dedicated his career to enlightening others with environmental issues — taking them out of the “green box,” as he puts it, and into the mainstream. He has taken to co-founding the Corporate Eco Forum, a way for business leaders to collectively share their best green practices in a no-pressure environment. Collectively, the 80-some member businesses have a combined value of $3 trillion.

Simmons recently published The Green to Gold Business Playbook with co-author Dan Esty, a follow-up to the original Green to Gold book by Esty and Andrew Winston. The book makes a compelling case as to why companies should consider the environment at the forefront of their business strategies.

“Going green is not really a business panacea,” Simmons says. “It requires the same kind of strategic business approach that you would take with any kind of business decision.”

Welch geared the book toward people from all walks of life — social, economic and otherwise — with simple ideas of how we must unite to create the kind of earth that future generations can be proud of. As Welch asks, “That’s something we all have in common. Who disagrees about this?”

“The book is an effort to engage people in the discussion, and in the process, the visualization,” he explains. “The only way it happens is through a process of billions of human imaginations.”

The Huffington Post named Michel Nischan a “gamechanger,” and it’s easy to see why: The green eating aficionado is a co-founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave and a storied restaurateur and chef with a long history of farm-to-table sourcing. But it wasn’t until his son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes that his motivation really took form.

Nischan mentions that underserved communities, both urban and rural, don’t have access to sustainable, fresh, healthy food sources, and some do not even realize that they’re missing out. Yet Nischan found that many people would want to eat better and more sustainably if they had affordable means to do so. He co-founded Wholesome Wave in 2007 to serve that very purpose.

“There are federal benefits that exist that are so thinly spread that there is not enough for folks to feed their families well,” Nischan says. “We go into communities and provide an incentive. If these folks come to a farmer’s market or a farm stand or a CSA and spend their money on locally grown fruits and vegetables, we double their money.”

There is a certain degree of push and pull, of course. Manufacturers are weary of giving away their recipes for their products, while consumers, particularly those with young children, fear that their household products are chock full of toxins. As a result, some brands have chosen to release “eco-friendly” formulas while continuing to produce their namesake product.

“Consumer awareness has been growing over the past several years when it comes to chemicals, not only in the environment, but also when it comes to the things we eat and drink and put on our bodies,” Wright-Treadway explains. “At the same time, we’re tuned into the fact that other countries are significantly ahead of us when it comes to keeping these things out of our bodies.”

Ohio Mattress Recovery and Recycling founder Chuck Brickman never dreamt he would end up in the mattress recycling business, but a television program on landfill waste took him by such surprise that he felt compelled to make a difference.

OMRR was founded in 2007 as the only mattress recycler in the U.S. offering pick-up service. In 2010, the company recycled 1.5 million pounds of mattresses, and that number only figures to steadily rise. At the same time, the mattress industry has little to no regulation as far as recycling is concerned, so Brickman spends much time trying to educate consumers and companies.

“A great majority of the population is sleeping on mattresses that, considering the contents, are probably 80% recyclable,” Brickman explains. “We’re now able to recycle approximately 95% of the materials [in mattresses we receive].”

The Travel for Good program provides an extensive, worldwide list of certified green hotels, carbon offset programs and hybrid rental locations. The site even features a grant-funded “voluntourism” package, where winners take trips aimed at volunteering and inspiring.

“There are a lot of little ways that you can go green on vacation,” Presley explains. “Many of these will actually save you money. For instance, get your home into ‘vacation mode’ before you leave. Pack a reusable water bottle. Skip the car rental. Eat local. Recycle when you can.”

Wanda Urbanska is a well-known greenie who hosts her own TV show, Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska, and has authored many eco-flavored books, including her latest, The Heart of Simple Living: 7 Paths to a Better Life.

Urbanska specializes in living simply and efficiently. She has been a self-touted “simple living” guru for more than 20 years, and offers effective solutions for others to live with a lower economic base, which in turn lessens consumption and saves money.

Urbanska suggests that people need to start their path to simplistic living by focusing on financing and financial independence. “I suggest that people live frugally, pay their bills immediately and get a real road map of where you stand financially.”

Honest Tea has grown by leaps and bounds in its 13 years, yes, but its original commitments as a company remain very much in place: working to make healthy, environmentally friendly drinks that skip the sugar and focus on all-natural ingredients. Still, even with its growth, Honest Tea’s focus remains to “tread as lightly on the earth as it can.”

“We have the potential, over time, to be wherever Coca-Cola products are sold,” Goldman explains. “That’s an opportunity to take our mission to a much deeper level.”

A decades-long journey through the restaurant industry, from washing dishes in Southern California, to stints at TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut and Baja Fresh, brought Greg Dollarhyde to Los Angeles-based Veggie Grill. The fast-casual restaurants feature indulgent 100% plant-based fare.

The Veggie Grill’s claim to fame is its healthy slant — no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils and few sugars — that doesn’t skimp on quality or taste.

“The myth we’re trying to overcome is bland, mushy sautéed vegetables, salads and bowls,” Dollarhyde says. “[At The Veggie Grill ] you get the combination of delicious food, fair price, a great crowd of people and a menu that really works.”

One of GM’s main eco-focuses over the past several years: making half (or more) of its 150 worldwide plants landfill-free. As of 2010, the company met and drastically exceeded its goal, allowing it to aim higher down the line. Of those 75-plus facilities, none are transferring any waste to landfills.

“[GM uses] more renewables than virtually anybody in manufacturing right now,” Robinson says. “We use more landfill gas than anybody else we know of; we use wind; we use solar; we use hyrdo. It’s a relentless pursuit.”

Pitney Bowes’ Director of Business Development Green Products, Adam Lewenberg, and Director of Environmental Affairs, Ellen Huang, share the software and hardware manufacturer’s secrets to recycling prowess. The company utilizes much of the equipment customers drop off to its recycling program to create newer, better products.

Factory-certified refurbishing and rebuilding helps Pitney Bowes save resources, and in turn, their customers save money on new, dependable units. The company designs all of its products with recyclability and end-of-life solutions in mind.

“Over 95% [of the machines Pitney Bowes produce] is recyclable in terms of commodity materials when it does finally reach its end of life,” Huang explains. “We scrap and recycle the equipment, and those parts can be broken down into commodity materials easily.”

Today, the company displaces nearly 50% of the oil used in its boiler with a “bio-gas” byproduct from its wastewater. Sourcing local power is a big plus for the brand, but the reduced dependence on foreign oil — including the production and transportation — is a major eco-boon.

“This is the ultimate in local production,” Dr. Serrallés says. “At the end of the day, we do this anaerobic process, reducing about 70% of the organic material. That wasn’t enough — we had to make this water irrigation-grade water. We end up with a 99% reduction in organic material.”

Rodrigo Veloso founded Los Angeles-based O.N.E. Drinks, the maker of O.N.E. Coconut Water, as a means of spreading his love for the health-conscious beverage. Coconut water, the juice from young green coconuts, was once considered a waste product, but in recent years, its all-natural health benefits have been promoted, so much so that coconut water is now the fastest-growing nonalcoholic beverage in the U.S.

Veloso, who was raised on a coffee farm in Brazil, was always fascinated that the coffee fruit — also rich in health benefits — is completely discarded in favor of the coffee bean. It was this fascination with food and agricultural waste that fueled his passion for coconut water.

“We harvest the coconut at a point where every part is utilized,” Veloso explains. [O.N.E. Coconut Water] is minimally processed, and packaged in one of the most sustainable beverage containers in the world.”

Okabashi shoes are made of 100% recycled Microplast, a carefully selected mixture of waste materials, in a closed-loop system, and the company encourages users to return old pairs to recycle once more into new products. The brand’s carbon footprint is constantly being reduced as well: A typical pair of Okabashi shoes travels about 700 miles, compared to the 11,000 miles that imported shoes travel.

“Sustainability is a very big part of Okabashi, but you can get stagnant just being sustainable,” LaPorte admits. “Moving to the next level, we’re developing Microplast 2, which is lighter and stronger and uses less fossil fuels to make the product.”

Spencer Brown is the founder and Chief Treehugger in Charge at Rent a Green Box. After a moving experience left him at a loss at what to do with his leftover cardboard boxes, he resolved to “make a better box” using plastics typically destined for landfills, and zero-waste moving was born. Rent a Green Box’s proprietary boxes last 400 uses and are delivered and picked up using the company’s biofueled fleet.

The user experience is simple: Rent the reusable boxes and Rent a Green Box delivers them to you. Use them for a move and then Rent a Green Box picks them up, sanitizes them and makes them available for rental again. It’s genius green business — saving trees, shunning landfills and creating green jobs.

“We’re experts at making it cheaper, faster and easier for America to pack and move their stuff,” Brown says. “What’s amazing is that America has accepted our offer, because it is cheaper, it is more convenient and it’s also good for the environment.”