Marc Gutman, the owner of Lighthouse Conferencing, is excited to announce that his company has recently become a member of 1% for the Planet. Lighthouse Conferencing delivers industry leading audio, web, and video services to businesses of all sizes. Lighthouse’s main goal is to make their clients look good while making sure they are having productive and effective meetings in a sustainable manner.  If your business is looking for more sustainable conferencing support- make sure to check out Lighthouse’s services!

Lighthouse is excited to be the first conferencing company to make the 1% commitment! Since they are based in Colorado, it is almost a given that Marc and his employees love playing in the outdoors. They are thrilled to carry this energy into our network in the form of financial donations to our local non-profit partners and connections with other business members!

Another new member is The Green Playroom, an online shop committed to offering the best in high quality children’s furniture, room décor and kids toys for your children’s playroom.  All of their products are sustainably produced, eco-friendly, and non-toxic. They realize the importance of having these products available, so that parents don’t have to worry about what they are surrounding their children with. The Green Playroom is excited to be part of this necessary cause and to actively participate in giving back to important environmental causes- and they are our first member based in North Dakota!

We are excited to have both of these new members in our network; please keep them in mind when thinking about how you can make your home and business life more sustainable!

Not only has V.Co-logical already made the 1% commitment, but they have decided to donate an additional 5% of all orangutan print shirts from this season’s V.Co Loves collection to SOS! SOS, a UK based organization, works to raise awareness of habitat loss and poaching that could ultimately lead to the extinction of this species.

This partnership has even inspired the creation of a documentary, The Last Orangutans, which is likely to be launched this fall. We are very proud of the support that V.Co-logical is giving to SOS and are definitely inspired by this story! Read more about this partnership here, and make sure to check out their shirts!

To date, PeopleTowels has contributed over 12,000 hand towels to create Sustainable Hygiene Kits, which have been distributed to communities in Haiti, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and the United States by Clean the World.  The Clean Hands, Clean World partnership cements the relationship between the two organizations, establishing a mutual goal of distributing 100,000 sustainable hygiene kits and launching the PeopleTowels’ ‘One for One’ donation program.

PeopleTowels is committed to this mission because they are aware of the massive amount of resources that are wasted everyday due to the average American’s lifestyle. Every day in North America, hotels discard millions of pounds of soap, which can leach out of landfills to contaminate fragile groundwater systems. In addition, on average, people use over 3,000 paper towels outside the home every year, wasting trees, water and energy for a product that is used for a few seconds then thrown away. The worst fact of all is that five million people die every year from infectious diseases, the majority being children under the age of 5. By pairing recycled soap with reusable hand towels, millions of pounds of waste will be diverted from landfills while providing those in need with the means to practice life saving hand hygiene.

We are proud of the work that PeopleTowels is doing and hope that everyone in our network will take a page out of their book by making an honest commitment to helping those in need!  Thank you for sharing this story with us!

The GOATS (Gathering of Artists, Athletes and Technologists) bred Jackson Hole WY are a different type… feisty and stubborn maybe, lovers of the steep mountain trails and wild winter weather, but also incredibly creative and innovative and accomplished… Led by rad skiers and boarders Dirk Collins, Alex Hillinger, Jenny Collins and Circe Wallace, last year’s GOAT helped build the 1% Ambassador Program …a group of not-your-usual-suspects that brings-to-life the story and mission of 1% in a real, human way, with a message that reaches broad and appeals to many.

SUCCESS:  Too be successful overall, 1% not only has to engage its core audience, it has to go broad and inspire many and create a brand and movement with which peeps identify, that they are psyched to be a part of.

IMPORTANT: Ambassadors are important in this regard, because the enviro problem is too big for ‘dark greens’ to solve alone, we need diversity… fashionistas, members of hook and bullet crowd, lawyers, photographers, racecar drivers, you name it!…it needs to reach medium greens and light greens too… the Ambassador Program does just that.

BEAUTY OF IT:  Ambassadors taps into heroes, in all walks life, who care about planet, giving back, have influence exponential, inspire others by how live and who they are.

LIVING THE LIFESTYLE:

Lelani Munter – Female, Hawaiian, German racecar driver who runs her racecar on biofuel.

Kim Jordan – CEO New Belgium Brewery, powers her brewery on all renewable energy, built one of the biggest solar arrays in the country and is passionate about Saving the Colorado and biking (aka, hosts annual Tour de Fat and importance and supports alternative transportation).

Kris Holm—Extreme unicyclist in Vancouver just published a book about how thinking in new ways and approaching things differently (for him, on 1 wheel not 2 or 4) helps you reach heights and summits you’d not overcome otherwise (he was also the first 1% member in Canada).

Chris Keyes—Editor-N-Chief Outside Magazine wrote an editorial in September’s Outside issue challenging companies to step up and give back in a significant way.  He’s moderating a panel in May at Telluride Mountain Film on the value of companies and non-profits working together.  Outside is  a 1% Media Partner.

Julie Gilhardt—Beautiful fashionista who has worked as head designer for Barneys and now Amazon, lives her passion for sustainability and, through her writing and interviews, encourages others to do the same.

And many more…

MOMENTUM:  Last year was a building year for the 1% Ambassador Program, one activated in the social media space (1%’s press this year is already double LY!), with 8-10 new ambassadors on the horizon.  They are showing up at key gatherings like GOAT 2 in March and at TMFF.

We are most excited to ENGAGE MORE in the year ahead… we think Ambassadors are, in the words of Travis Rice,  RADDER, RADISH, ROOT.. aka, poised to do amazing work in the year ahead!

Photo Courtesy of Katie Costello

The event culminated in the formation of a human dot in a large field, where a couple hundred people in attendance all joined hands and gathered around a giant canvas dot that said “Vermont, USA Connects the Dots.”  A small heli-cam flew overhead and took pictures of the crowd’s formation.  Our event’s picture was then added to thousands at 350.org, all screaming the same thing, climate change is directly connected to extreme weather!

Photo courtesy of 350 Vermont

I’d like to thank everyone, on behalf of 1%, who helped put this event together and everyone else all around the world who took part in helping the growth of the climate change movement.  If you’d like to see photos of the event check them out on our Facebook or Pinterest pages!

Photo Courtesy of Katie Costello

Continuing with this theme of connecting the dots, I challenge you to connect the dots between the following businesses around the world….

West Coast-  PlugOut, Spore Lore, Grass Roots Home Consulting,  California Solar Electric Company, Simply Straws, Green Bliss, Siempre Verde, The Greenfield Group, Skyline Eco-Adventures - Akaka Falls, Small Yellow Horses

East Coast – Hipcycle, The Whiteboard Team, EcoLogic Associates, Coast Toast Organics

Somewhere in the Middle – Nicey Treat, Simple Water, Bristol Family Law, Neighborhood Welcoming Committee, Lighthouse Conferencing, Sustainable Management Group

New England – Enriched Learning Center, North Country Enterprises, Naturesource Communications, Andy Duback Photography, OMBE, Atlantic Acupuncture

Canada –  GIVE Group, White Leaf Photographs

Japan – BeWet, Masahiro Terada

Scandinavia – SavetheC, Good Things International, MNML Agency

France – One Planet Surf, MBC Premium, Planetik

Netherlands – CleanSolutions, 7zerolab

United Kingdom – medical-artist.com

New Zealand- Safebottles

I’m sure that by now you have guessed that these are April’s 40 new 1% members! Welcome to our network, and I wish you all a very happy Green Up Day and hope you all find a way to get involved with cleaning up your local natural landscape!

Photo courtesy of 350.org

Each event will feature different techniques of getting our message out.  The gathering in our hometown, Waitsfield, VT, will feature a rally and speeches from Bill McKibben, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Governor Peter Shumlin.  1% is proud to sponsor such a great event and we hope that everyone within our network (and anyone else!) will have the opportunity to show up and help the world connect the dots!

If you’re a member or non-profit partner and have photos or stories from the event please feel free to upload them to our Facebook page, Twitter, or Pinterest afterward!

Andrew M. Sidford Architects (ASA), 1% member since 2006 , was recently highlighted in North Shore Magazine for their innovative work in sustainable design and build.  An architectural firm from Newburyport, Massachusetts, ASA is one of the nations premier green building firms, Andrew, the owner, holds certifications from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as well as having procured Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Professional Accreditation (LEED AP).

Photo Courtesy of Andrew M. Sidford Architects

One of the firm’s recent projects that stands out is their recent renovation to The Carriage House.   This deteriorating barn got a new life with ASA’s green building techniques including recycled materials, geothermal heating/cooling as well as on site water reuse.

“Andrew Sidford Architects’ Carriage House Project has been profiled several times for its sustainable design, most recently in the North Shore Magazine.  The project is indeed special – it reprogrammed (lets just say saved!) a decaying antique barn while employing innovative green building technologies,” says a spokesperson for the firm.

Photo Courtesy of Andrew M. Sidford Architects

Projects like this one as well as the long standing relationships Andrew Sidford Architects has with their 1% non-profit recipients are what make them such extraordinary members and such a vital part of the 1% network.  Their continued support of 1% non-profits, Appalachian Mountain Club, Global Green Grants, Clean Air – Cool Planet, and Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) are what we here, at 1%, love to see.  Keep up the good work!

Caudalie is also:

…a fantastic new 1% member company!  WELCOME Caudalíe!

Headquartered in France, Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas have been carefully creating natural beauty products with grapeseed polyphenals for more than 15 years.  Their scientific research has perfected Caudalíe’s business model… ‘recycling’ raw materials from grapes, grapevine stalks and grape-seeds, extracting the active ingredients and creating for consumers a product that respects both the environment and their skin

Caudalie, joining 1%, made strategic giving a meaningful part of its environmental commitment. Working with 1%, the company thoughtfully created a portfolio of causes aligned with what they care about most– protecting the natural environment–and what the company stands for— supporting regions that produce the natural ingredients of its products.

Learn more from Mathilde by watching this video.

One great example, Caudalie is working with Coeur de Foret to plant a ‘Caudalie forest’ in Peru that mitigates materials used in packaging.  When a customer purchases a designated product, a tree is planted.   Be on the lookout for other giving projects that will launch throughout the year aligned with organic farming and species preservation in areas from which palm oil, shea butter and essential oils come.