Category Archives: Sustainability

Krrb Your Shopping

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Krrb Your ShoppingKrrb.com: The best merchandise in the neighborhood, online and around the corner.

Garage sales can be fun, but who has time these days?  That’s where Krrb comes in.  Pronounced “curb” (get it?) it’s an online garage sale: Craigslist meets Etsy.  Users can shop based on their locations and view images of the merchandise in their neighborhoods. It’s a safer, more attractive and more personal shopping experience.

Why?

“Krrb’s mission is to create a fun, friendly and safe online venue that enables better and more personal face-to-face dealings between neighbors.”

Krrb gets personal, in a good way. Continue reading →

B Corp 101: Re-defining Business Success

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B Corp 101: Re defining Business Success For-profit companies have long been categorized as either C Corps, S Corps, or LLCs.  But look out, there’s a new show in town.

Over the past few years, the Benefit Corporation or “B Corp” has been gaining ground.

B Corps are social enterprises; businesses working for social and environmental good as well as profit.  They’re an important addition to the marketplace, so I wanted to get down to the main points of what it actually means to be a B Corp.

Filling a Need

Working with non-profit organizations, I was often frustrated by their lack of scalability.  NGOs and charities spend a lot of time and resources fundraising and so aren’t able to maximize their impact.  When my business partner and I decided to found Modavanti.com, an ethical fashion retail site, we wanted create a for-profit business aimed at changing consumer behavior and reforming the garment industry.  We felt there was big potential there.

That’s exactly the purpose of the B Corp.

Certified “Good” Business

B Corps are distinct from regular corporations in that their success is measured in part by their social and environmental value.  The third-party NGO B Lab certifies that B Corps meet higher standards of transparency, accountability, and social/environmental performance.  In their mission statements and articles of incorporation, these companies proclaim their purposes, whether they be building infrastructure, protecting the environment, labor reform, or any number of others.

So far, B Lab has certified 600 companies across 60 industries as B Corps, a list that includes prominent retailers like Patagonia and Seventh Generation.

Legal Classification

There’s a legal element for Benefit Corporations as well.

Since its founding in 2006, B Lab has led the charge to get B Corp legislation passed in all 50 states.  In April off 2010, Maryland became the first state to take the plunge.  As of early 2013, 12 states have enacted laws certifying B Corps and 14 others are hot on their heals.  Support for the laws has been overwhelmingly bi-partisan to boot – and how often does that happen?

The Ben & Jerry’s Tragedy

Besides sending a clear message Continue reading →

How to Succeed as a Sustainable Small Business in a Global World

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GUEST POST BY DARREN HOAD

The Current Global Climate

Small and medium-sized businesses are often unsung heroes of sustainability. At the same time, though, creative industries around the world are facing the challenges of globalisation. The relentless onslaught of deregulation through trade liberalisation and the end of agreements like the MFA (Multi-Fibre Agreement) in 2005, sounded the death knell for many small fashion and design businesses.  Main St. USA and High St. UK have been flooded by cheap imports from resource rich and labour cheap economies in the developing world.

Competing With Disposable Fashion

In as little as 20 years the US apparel manufacturing sector has lost approximately 80% of its jobs, and it’s not hard to see why. How can the creative industries, the small-scale producer, the designer and manufacturer compete with jeans at £10 and t-shirts at £1 (that’s about $15 and $1)? Couple that with rip-off design and intellectual property theft, it means the loss of revenue for many cash strapped designers and creators.

For consumers, cheap clothing is often seen as a great opportunity to bag a bargain. But at what cost? Cheap clothes are cheap for a reason. They are often Continue reading →

Green Carpet Challenge teams with Gucci to create the first Zero Deforestation Leather Handbag

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At the start of Paris Fashion Week Monday, the Green Carpet Challenge launched its brand mark on a collection of sustainable handbags created by Gucci.  The production of the bags – which was conducted in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and Rainforest Alliance – adhered to strict environmental and ethical standards.

Green Carpet Challenge teams with Gucci to create the first Zero Deforestation Leather HandbagGreen Carpet Challenge teams with Gucci to create the first Zero Deforestation Leather Handbag

Livia Firth, creator of the Green Carpet Challenge and founder of Eco Age, announced the news on her blog Tuesday.  The aim of the GCC is to raise the profile of sustainable fashion in the public eye.  With the Gucci partnership, they’ve done it again.

Green Carpet Challenge teams with Gucci to create the first Zero Deforestation Leather Handbag

Livia Firth

The great leather debate rages on.  Can it be ethical?  Can’t it?  

I’ve written about this before, and am personally of the opinion that as long as cattle are raised for meat, there ought to be an ethical and environmentally friendly way to process leather.  I know some vegans and veggies will disagree, but that’s the beauty of debate, right?

But if any leather is ethical, these handbags are. Livia explained the choice of partner and material: Continue reading →

H&M Launches Global Recycling Program

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H&M Launches Global Recycling ProgramH&M is known to most of us as a purveyor of cute, cheap clothes.  But it is also the world’s largest buyer of organic cotton.  Later this month, it will launch another eco-friendly Conscious Collection, and just last week, the second largest fashion retailer in the world launched the first ever global garment recycling program.

Now, shoppers/closet-cleansers can bring old clothes to any of H&M’s 269 U.S. locations or any store in its 48 markets worldwide.  Any clothes, not just H&M brand.

In exchange, they’ll receive a voucher for 15% off the purchase of one item.  This part of the initiative has been criticized as encouraging further consumption but really, what do you expect from a fashion retailer?  As one journalist put it, not every brand is Patagonia.  I would hope that people will be replacing a bundle of old clothes with one new item, which is a step in the right direction.  The coupon also might be a necessary incentive to get people to participate in the first place.  I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to wait and see how it goes.

H&M Launches Global Recycling ProgramBut I digress.  From the stores, the garments will be collected by H&M’s partner organization, I:Co, which will do the actual recycling.  Clothing will be either re-sold on the second-hand market, re-purposed into cleaning cloths and such, or  Continue reading →