Businesses Doing the Right Thing

For those of you who didn't see or read the most recent www.ethiquette.ca bulletin, I just wanted to warn you not to buy bamboo textiles thinking they are a greener option. While some textile articles may be derived from bamboo pulp, they have not been made from natural bamboo fiber and are, in fact, rayon fibers made through a chemical process.

To read the article in the ethiquette bulletin see:
http://www.ethiquette.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2983&...

Ethiquette Director, Brenda Plant, was identified as one of the 28 Women of the Year 2009 by the Magazine ELLE Québec (March 2010 Issue).

Twenty eight women from around the world were selected as female role models by ELLE Quebec for their contribution to changing the world. The 28 women that were honoured include:

Brenda Plant, Sonia Sotomayor, Loubna Ahmed Al-Hussein, Lady Gaga, Kathryn Bigelow, Kim Clijsters, Jacynthe Côté, Natasha Ivisic, Beth Ditto, Giorgia Boscolo, Victoria Kaspi, Sheena Matheiken, India Desjardins, Christine Poirier, Marie-France Roy, Maya Gabeira, Lizzie Miler, Neda Agha-Soltan, Béatrice Martin, Julia Child, Janette Sadik-Khan, Evelyne de la Chenelière, Brenda Milner, Gabourey Sidibe, Mariah Carey, Mo-Nique and Olivia Tapiero.
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The Huma Challenge: A positive social impact adventure from World Expeditions. A new series of travel packages has been created for those who value positive social impact along with adventure. The HUMA Challenge series of adventure trips is a unique hybrid of fundraising initiatives and trekking tours. This initiative was launched as a separate division of World Expeditions, a travel company with an exemplary approach to environmental and social responsibility. World Expeditions has already put in place a concrete code of conduct for low-impact travel and initiated a Community Project Travel program where travelers spend time in disadvantaged villages upgrading basic facilities such as health, education and water access.

The HUMA Challenge works like this: You accept a fundraising challenge for a charitable cause and set out to raise the target amount from friends and colleagues. Once you have achieved your fundraising goal, you set out on an overseas adventure, in places like Peru, China, India or Vietnam, with a small group of people who, like you, have raised money for a cause. In so doing, you've added a valuable social dimension to your trip and you'll enjoy it with people who share the same passions. To see the full list of available adventures and the charitable causes that are supported, visit …

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Desjardins, a cooperative powerhouse, has released its 2008 Social Responsibility and Cooperative Report. Based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) performance indicators, their social and cooperative responsibility report describes Desjardins' actions for social responsibility, sustainable development and cooperative life. Have a look at it all online by clicking on the image below.

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This is a personal account of green consumer disappointment and a parable on corporate actions that can kill credibility outright. I've been an apple user (computer that is) for over 10 years now. We were all on Macs when I started working for Adbusters in '97. Maybe that's when the branding of Apple with creativity and social awareness began for me as well. If you had asked me then, which system was more eco-friendly: Mac or Windows PCs, I would have gone with Apple, without really knowing why. They were the underdog then, the alternative to the corporate monolith that Windows-run systems represented. So, naturally, they were the machine of choice for many activists I knew at the time.

Then Greenpeace began seriously digging into the environmental practices chez Mac and opened up a real can of worms. Their 'Green my Apple' campaign in 06 and 07 was very effective precisely because it targetted that warm fuzzy feeling eco-minded users had for the brand, the feeling that gave Apples a green glow that the products really didn't deserve. Apparently, the campaign got to Apple, as Steve Jobs announced soon after their intention to address some of the concerns raised, including the removal of some toxic elements from the production process.

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Find and write up sustainable business practices and you could win a 500$ parka...

This fall, we're encouraging the submission of sustainable business practices from our community of students, consultants, company reps and other sustainability enthusiasts.

If you identify a sustainable business practice that isn't yet in our database, and provide a 1000-1500 word writeup according to our submission guidelines by November 30st 2009, you could qualify to win one of our great eco-ethical prizes including one of two Canada Goose down-filled parkas worth approximately 500$ each! Given the specific knowledge-base required, the challenge is identifying a case study we have not yet found and writing it up according to requirements. If your submission is accepted, chances of winning one of the prizes are quite high!

>>Click here to see prizes

Here are some useful links:

-Contest Rules
-Prizes
-Overview of what a Sustainable Business Practice is
-Sustainable Business Practice publication guidelines Read more

Here's an article on greener electronics we just updated  including tips for Canadians on e-waste disposal

The world of high tech has traditionally been more obsessed with gadgetry and lightning-speed progress than such everyday concerns as the environment and social welfare. However, new sensitivities have lately begun growing a larger space in geek culture and several social and environmental initiatives are worth keeping track of.

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Learn how a caterer made the switch to compostable packaging on ethipedia.net

ethipedia.net, our encyclopedia of sustainable business practices, now has the support of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). Seeing the role this new resource could play in helping small and medium-sized Canadian businesses move towards greener operations, BDC has become the official sponsor of the site's Canadian case studies.   

 
"We welcome BDC’s support at this early stage of the site's development. We also applaud its foresight and appreciation of the value this assembled knowledge will have for Canadian businesses striving to gain a competitive edge by becoming sustainability innovators," states ethipedia Co-founder, Brenda Plant.Read more

ethiquette is proud to announce the Cascades group as a year-long sponsor of ethiquette.ca.

This Quebec paper products company has in the recycling biz ince 1964. Today, the company is Canada’s pre-eminent recycler of paper. Since 2005, we have presented their paper products on the site as environmentally-preferable choices. We now invite site visitors to discover the many eco-innovations this green leader has incorporated into its operations.

With recycling as part of its core business, it comes as no surprise that this paper company can boast some outstanding environmental value for consumers and society.

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