What a day! As promised, 1% for the Planet participated in and sponsored a Climate Impacts Day event in our hometown of Waitsfield, VT, this past Saturday afternoon. The event was successful, informative, and fun! Booths where people talked about their local businesses or their non-profit organization, a panel of community members whose homes or businesses were damaged by flooding that occurred during Tropical Storm Irene last August, and speeches from Senator Bernie Sanders, Bill McKibben and an array of other local organizations, all echoed the importance of working to curb climate change.
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!
As Danny mentioned in his previous post, this Saturday is 350.org’s Climate Impacts Day all over the world! Here in Vermont, not only will people be taking part in this event, but they will also be celebrating Green Up Day. Annually, on the first Saturday in May, people from all corners of Vermont will flood into roadside ditches, lake shores and fields with a mission of picking up trash, planting trees and keeping the state beautiful! Here in Waitsfield, just outside our office doors, Hurricane Irene did quite a number on our community. All of us at 1% for the Planet we will be helping green up our community and then later in the day joining people from 350.org to “connect the dots between climate change and extreme weather.” We hope to see some of you there, or if you are from out of town, find an event in your area!
Continuing with this theme of connecting the dots, I challenge you to connect the dots between the following businesses around the world….
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!
Are you looking for some weekend fun? This Saturday, May 5th, 1% for the Planet will be participating in 350.org’s Climate Impacts Day and we want you to participate too! Climate Impacts Day is a day to draw attention to and connect the dots between climate change and the extreme weather that the world has faced in recent years. There will be thousands of events around the world, click here to find one in your area. We are challenging all of our members to be involved in some way, by spreading the word, organizing an event, or attending one.
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!
We are excited to introduce ioby, an innovative non-profit partner, to the 1% community! ioby – the opposite of NIMBY – was created to get people who want to do something meaningful for the environment involved with local projects. Read on to learn more about a great opportunity to support ioby!
ioby’s crowdsourcing platform exemplifies the local connection that we encourage all of our community to take part in! ioby.org combines the tools of social media with citizen philanthropy to power environmental action in urban centers. Since their founding, they have seen the successful completion of nearly 150 community-driven, neighbor-funded projects in NYC’s five boroughs. Their web platform is a groundbreaking tool for change and has been written up recently in Fast Company, Outside Magazine, Wall Street Journal and Mother Nature News.
On ioby, anyone with a good idea for change in their neighborhood can post their community gardening, bicycling, park or waterfront project online to collect tax-deductible donations, connect with local volunteers and share ideas in the likeminded community. On average, micro-donors contribute $35 to projects and live within 2 miles of the project site.
ioby is growing. This Earth Day, April 22, ioby is running a dollar-for-dollar match campaign for all donations to projects, in increments up to $22. There are currently 97 (and counting!) live projects on ioby, where organizations are fundraising for all kinds of local environmental projects, from open streets to park festivals to urban farms in vacant lots. This past Valentine’s Day, ioby ran a Neighborhood Love match campaign and raised $42,000 in matched micro-donations in 24 hours, these funds helped fully fund more than a dozen great projects.
ioby is looking for a business partner to help sponsor their Earth Day match, and they hope to work with a company who cares about the same mission, who loves the planet and its people and wants to help catalyze thousands of citizen projects in cities across the country. Ioby is seeking sponsors who can contribute $5,000-$20,000 to this campaign. Businesses that helped sponsor their Valentine’s Day match received a huge amount of publicity because of the almost 350,000 followers of ioby’s social media networks!
If you’re a business member and still looking for non-profits to give your 1% to, partnering with ioby would be a great way to support a broad range of projects that make a huge difference, and to get some great visibility too! Drop Erin (ED at ioby, erin@ioby.org) a line for more information about being a cosponsor.
We are excited to welcome ioby to the 1% Team and wish them a very happy (early) Earth Day!
Although I do not share an extreme interest in cycling with many of my co-workers at 1%, Cycle The Sierra sounds like a great event and even I would consider doing it! As you make your summer plans, you should consider taking part in 1% member event Cycle The Sierra from June 23rd to the 27th. It sounds like an awesome trip and surely should not be missed by all of you adventurers out there!
Cycle The Sierra is an annual cycling event that takes place in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. This fully supported, five-day journey takes riders on a 300-mile loop through breathtaking country, beneath granite peaks, through evergreen forests and to alpine hot springs. The ride meanders through iconic locations like Lake Tahoe and the area where gold was discovered starting the California Gold Rush, over the 4th highest bridge in the US, and through numerous unique and historical communities along the way.
Each day cyclists will ride around 70 mountain miles for one of our non-profit partners like, 1% for the Planet, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the American River Conservancy and SYRCL. At night, everyone will camp together under the stars. Camps will feature delicious food, live music, a beer and wine garden, massage therapists, bike mechanics and other cyclists letting loose on vacation from all over the United States. If you like truly beautiful mountain scenery, good food and live music, relaxing with a cold beer after a great ride, spending time with old friends and meeting new, Cycle The Sierra is an event you don’t want to miss! Space is limited, so visit their webpage to register today!
Wedding gifts: often redundant, sometimes essential, occasionally pulled out of the closet just before the person who gifted it to you comes by for dinner, and always, of course, a useful tool to impress the ladies — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDda4zG3zvE. But other times wedding gifts have an entirely different effect: Arjan and Rimjhim tell the story of how Nature’s Path’s latest granola series, Love Crunch, came out of an idea to have their wedding guests gift community service projects in place of material items. Love Crunch is now a product that gives back Bite4Bite so that for every bag you buy, Nature’s Path will donate the equivalent amount in cash or organic food to the food bank (up to $1 Million per year!).
This story was my introduction to one of our newest members, Nature’s Path, who has joined 1% for the Planet with their EnviroKidz Brand. I was completely taken aback (with delight and admiration, of course!) by the core values that began Nature’s Path and that remain as the solid foundation upon which the company thrives today. Nature’s Path is a remarkable example of a company looking at its triple bottom line and really living and breathing its everyday values. Founded by a family that grew up on an organic farm, they’re highly committed to organics and proper land stewardship. As founder, Arron Stephens, says, “Always leave the Earth better than you found it,” Nature’s Path truly goes the distance to provide a product that does good from the moment its ingredients are planted in the soil, to the point where kids eating it for breakfast are prompted by artwork on the cereal box to learn about the food cycle.
It was truly a pleasure to kick off this year’s Natural Product ExpoWest show with a luncheon hosted by Nature’s Path. Myself and colleague, Rebecca, had the pleasure of welcoming the Nature’s Path family into the 1% for the Planet network, hearing their history, plans for growth and engaging with the 1% network, and watching as a scholarship from the Rodale Institute to support young organic farmers was named in honor of Arron Stephens. Congratulations, Arron!
It’s the stories like that of Nature’s Path, and the diverse nature of our membership base that make this alliance so intriguing. It’s enormously encouraging to see the movement spreading virally, and during our happy hour co-hosted with Klean Kanteen it was a hoot to bring together such an eccentric crew — from ice cream makers (Three Twins & McConnell’s!), to lawyers (Lara Pearson and Wendel, Rosen, Black and Dean) or green retirement plan providers (SocialK), we had a solid 1% presence. In addition to current members, prospective members swung by to check in and other show attendees frequented our booth to learn about the business model and/or to find out how they could get one of the beautiful steel 1% pints! I want to graciously thank all of our members that attended the show! There’s nothing more invigorating than getting out and meeting the faces that stand behind the good work, and to speak with the people who are causing revolutionary change in the way we do business.
In Seven Samurai, a classic Japanese film set in sixteenth century Japan, a marauding group of bandits regularly loot a poor village, taking from them their rice harvest – pretend this village is the environment and these bandits are environmentally unconscious businesses. Though poor in monetary resources, the village is rich in spirit. In a last ditch effort to save the town and their livelihoods, some townsfolk venture out in search of some protectors, trained fighters. They end up recruiting seven samurai (all of whom have fallen on hard times) to defend their village – think of these warriors as 1% member companies.
After some lessons in basic village defending, the group of banditos comes back to raise hell. Little do they know, the village (environment) is being protected by these samurai (1% members). The battle eventually subsides and it turns out these 1% member companies (the samurai) have converted all other companies (the bandits)! Environmental stewardship becomes a mainstay in business philosophies worldwide, world peace, etc… Now, obviously that’s not the way it went down (you’ll have to watch the movie to find out), but I think you get the idea.
In the real world the environment isn’t physically recruiting people to fight in its honor, it’s proverbially beckoning great individuals and companies to become its stewards. All of whom are committed to creating a healthy planet. Just to clear up another misnomer borne from my analogy, the 1% member companies haven’t fallen on hard times, no. In fact, they’re at the cutting edge of a samurai’s blade, and that edge is only getting sharper.
In early February 1% sent its own samurai warriors (CEO, Terry Kellogg and SVP of Marketing, Acquisitions and Partnerships, Melody Badgett) over to Japan for “Make A Difference With 1%” held on February 7th. In total, 173 people attended this event. These participants were represented as 34 1% member companies, 87 prospective companies, two sole proprietors, 17 1% non-profit partners, 12 non-profits, four members of the Japanese Environmental Ministry, 16 members of the media, and one other. Also in attendance were 15 members of Patagonia’s staff, as well as six dedicated Daishinsha (the name of the venue) staff members.
The evening was split into two parts. The earlier half consisted of greetings, a keynote speaker, and panel discussions between current member companies. Keynote speaker, Mr. Hatekeyama, spoke without any visual aides for 45 minutes on a story from his childhood, his travels, his realization that the forests, rivers, ocean and the oysters are all connected, and the devastating effect of the earthquake and tsunami. Much like the samurai who taught the villagers in Seven Samurai, Mr. Hatekeyama had the audience captivated by his talk up to the very end.
Following Mr. Hatekeyama’s talk, three member companies held a panel discussion where they discussed topics ranging from each member’s reason for joining, their hardships, and their strong connection to their chosen recipient. This discussion was made more impactful by the fact that one of the panelists is donating to Mr. Hatekeyama’s non-profit (Forests are Lovers of the Sea) through 1% for the Planet.
The second part of the evening was a positive energy mingle and entertainment session catered by an organic restaurant with close ties to Daishinsha, Yahoo Brewery, and 73, a bar/caterer.
Paired with the wonderful food arrangements, live jazz musician Karen Aoki and a famous pianist played for the reception. Apparently, the pianist brought the audience to their feet, calling for an encore! Obviously the energy was palpable, with members, non-profits, prospective companies, media, and staff all mingling and having great, in-depth discussions centered on 1% for the Planet.
All us samurai at 1% want to thank everyone who attended this awesome event! Always remember to follow the seven virtues of Bushido: Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor, and Loyalty.
The South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL, pronounced “circle”), was formed in 1983 to oppose the construction of two dams on the river. Along with successfully halting the construction of the dam, 39 miles of the South Yuba has since been permanently protected. Although SYRCL started as just a small group of concerned citizens, it has evolved into a vibrant community organization. SYRCL’s mission is “to protect and restore the Yuba River and the Greater Yuba Watershed.” They do this to support the native fish that have lived in the river for many generations and also to make sure it remains a clean, recreational area for many years to come. SYRCL sponsors many events and programs annually, including one that we’re excited to highligh today: the Wild & Scenic Film Festival!
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is the world’s largest environmental film festival. This year is the Festival’s tenth year in existence and will include over one hundred films! The festival kicks off every January in Nevada City, California where they show environmental films for three straight days. Last year, 1% for the Planet released [one percent] of the story at this festival, and it was a hit. Our video was well received, received the 2011 Award from EthicMark Certificate, showed at numerous Wild & Scenic Film Festivals around the country and was the reason for a large amount of new membership inquiries. Thank you Wild ‘n Scenic! If you’re wondering if your nonprofit is a fit for this festival, take note that these films encompass a wide range of environmental topics – adventure, conservation, wildlife, climate change, environmental justice, community activism and agriculture, just to name a few.
After the festival’s first year, SYRCL was so pleased with the turnout that they decided to take the show on the road and offer it in communities across the country. Throughout 2012, the festival will take place at over one hundred venues, including Antarctica! Eighty percent of the venues are hosted by community organizations that have applied for grants through Wild & Scenic, with help from Patagonia. The basic guidelines require that grant recipients use the festival as an outreach tool to increase membership. This allows for smaller communities to increase involvement and learn about a number of environmental issues without doing all of the organizing themselves. Wild & Scenic will supply the films, PR materials and planning guides, while the organizations just need to secure the venue and organize the local marketing.
(The previous video features The Edible Schoolyard Project, which is a 1% recipient!!) Check out the Wild & Scenic Film Festival’s calendar to see if any venues are nearby, or apply for a grant to host one! We’re thankful for all of the hard work that SYRCL and Wild & Scenic have done over the last decade and are proud to be part of the movement!
We’re lucky every so often to get to head north (and west) to beautiful British Columbia. Home to 55 1% members and 88 non-profit partners, BC is the most stunning convergence of mountains, sea, and sky I’ve ever experienced. It was also the site of the first stop in our recently launched Canadian event series, Conversations on Conservation, a national campaign highlighting urgent, local environmental issues and the impact 1% member businesses and non-profit partners are having on them.
In Vancouver, the panel discussion focused on issues facing BC’s coastal waters, ranging from increased tanker traffic and recreational boating impacts, to salmon farming and orca habitat protection. Local, issue-experts Sabine Jessen of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Jeffery Young of the David Suzuki Foundation, Christianne Wilhelmson of the Georgia Strait Alliance, were joined on the panel by Marc St. Onge, CEO of 1% member and leading omega-3 producer Ascenta Health.
From Vancouver, we took a(n exhilarating!) seaplane ride across the Georgia Strait to Victoria, for a chance to meet for the first time with our active and fast-growing network of members and NGOs on Vancouver Island. Thanks in large part to the support of long-time 1% member Horne Coupar and 1% recipient Victoria Foundation, we convened a lively reception, made many new friends, and left with a deepened understanding of the environmental challenges facing Vancouver Island.
During the trip, 1% CEO Terry Kellogg also had a chance to sit down with Vancouver Sun reporter Scott Simpson to talk about 1% and our impact in Canada. Check out the resulting article, which also features comments from members Mountain Equipment Co-op and Clif Bar, and CPAWS, one of our largest 1% non-profit recipients in Canada.
The next event the series takes place in Montreal on November 16, where panelists from the David Suzuki Foundation, Fondation de la Faune du Quebec, and Naya Water will discuss initiatives to protect Quebec’s freshwater resources. Please join us if you’re in the area!
In less than a month, 1% for the Planet will be in San Francisco for the Slow Money National Gathering. Slow Money is an emerging network of investors, donors, and farmers committed to building local food economies, and they are playing a critical role at redefining the boundaries between philanthropy and investing. This is their third National Gathering and the first two have launched national activity that holds great promise for all of us who want to see our economy transformed.
1% for the Planet is an early and proud supporter. Our very own, Rebecca Calahan Klein will be speaking on 1% for the Planet’s model of corporate engagement and environmental investing on a panel: Giving Something Back: New visions of corporate philanthropy. See the schedule for details.
As a benefit of our partnership, Slow Money is offering all 1% Members a 10% discount to attend the gathering on October 12-14th. Click here to register at the discounted price.
Click to listen to Woody Tasch, Slow Money Founder, explain how moving towards more local economic principles can benefit our planet and everyone involved.
