Over the last year, we have been working with the George Gund Foundation to increase environmental funding for the state through 1% awareness building and new member acquisition.

1% recently traveled to Cleveland, Ohio for the Burning River Festival hosted by Great Lakes Brewing. It was a gathering to celebrate good beer and music while raising awareness of local environmental issues. And also happened to be my first business trip!  Not many people get to have their first “business trip” be to a festival featuring local craft beer, three stages for constant music, local business vendors, and a dozen non-profits representing in the “eco village.”  The weather was HOT, especially coming from Vermont but it was an awesome experience, nonetheless.

In the eco-village, 1% was in familiar company with 1% NGO Recipients: The Sierra Club, The Trust for Public Lands, and Surfrider Foundation while making new connections with new regional NGO leaders.

We’d like to thank Great Lakes Brewing and all of the volunteers involved in organizing the festival.  It was a fantastic opportunity for 1% to explore a part of the country where we see great potential and inspiring to see Cleveland’s commitment to protecting and reinvesting in their local ecosystem.

Photo Courtesy of Focus the Nation

Last night was the third week of the Ecotrust Sundown Concert Series and the theme was energy, particularly alternative energy.  1% for the Planet had its usual tent and table, which was hosted by the fantastic Focus the Nation and sweet new member Skate Lift.  The NGO and business handed out t-shirts and stickers to the crowds of people who attended while sharing their 1% stories and getting to meet each other and discuss the 1% network.  They also got the chance to meet 1%’s VP of Organizational Development, Rebecca Calahan Klein who was in town for the day and made it to the show.

Photo Courtesy of Focus the Nation

We’d like to extend a big thank you to Anne and Sasha from Focus the Nation and Bobby and Anthony from Skate Lift for holding down the fort last night! If you’ll be in Portland make sure to stop by next Thursday at 5:30 for a great concert and exhibits with the theme of forests.

The 1% team has been growing fast this fall with two new additions, Brittany Nunnink (left) and Grace Kronenberg (right).  Both have hit the ground running, and can be found behind the 1% HQ during lunch hour with their whitewater kayaks–class-V cornfields only.

Brittany Nunnink is a recent alumna of Scripps College, with a B.A. in Environmental Analysis. A native Vermonter, she’s happy to be out of southern California and back in the Green Mountain State running through sap lines, sipping ginger jack, hiking with her St. Bernard, and of course, helping to promote responsible business practices.  Brittany has done some work with Seventh Generation in the past, and is interested in helping more (and soon ALL) businesses to take on a similar responsible business approach – doing business for positive change, while simultaneously perceiving ones business practices with a holistic perspective. Currently, she’s working with member services, helping Chrissy with global membership wrangling and support. She is also hoping to get office composting underway and do some fundraising for a double-sided printer!

Brittany loves beets and we call her the Terminator.

Grace Kronenberg is a 2006 graduate of Middlebury College where she majored in psychology and creative writing.  Before joining the 1% team she spent three years growing Choose Responsibility, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting national debate on the 21 year-old drinking age.  Previous employment took her to Washington, DC, but she is happy to be back in the Green Mountain State and is looking forward to all the skiing, running, and hiking the Mad River Valley has to offer.  Grace is excited to be working at the intersection of business and the environment, and is currently focused on marketing support for the upcoming 1% music and film releases.

Grace is hoping to free the heel this winter and give telemark skiing a try.

We are pleased to share that 1% for the Planet co-founder Yvon Chouinard and the 1% for the Planet community have received a leadership nod by U.S. News & World Report for their commitment to revolutionizing the way business is done on this planet.

To join the movement with your business’s membership please contact us at memberships@onepercentfortheplanet.org.

For the full article please click here. Please click here to learn of the 20 fellow honorees of America’s Best Leaders for 2009.

This Saturday we encourage you to drop all plans, grab your circle of friends and family, and join the big circle, our global community, in action for 1% for the Planet Non-Profit Partner 350.org‘s International Day of Climate Action. Voice, act, dance, paddle, ring, play, sing, whatever you can offer, in show of your support for the number 350, representing 350 parts per million, the scientifically backed “safe upper limit” for CO2 in our atmosphere. With creative events and gatherings across the globe, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with this powerful message that affects us all. Click here to find out what’s happening nearest you.

How are we celebrating? You can find us at Vermont’s 350 Dance Party at Higher Ground in Burlington. Headlined by 1% for the Planet member Barefoot Truth (member since Jan. ’08) the show will be simulcast online and on cable throughout the state so all can join.

1% for the Planet will also have a presence in New York City, circumnavigating Manhattan Island with a group in kayaks stenciled by area students.

Calling all 1% for the Planet members, if you’re participating in a 350 action this Saturday, please write me at kate@onepercentfortheplanet.org. We’d be happy to share your support with updates to our blog post here!

Last week 1% CEO Terry Kellogg interviewed with marketing extraordinaire Lynda Resnick for her first Ruby Tuesday: Pick of the Week of the fall. Terry helped start the season off with a colorful Vermont bang. Titled “Doing Well by Doing Good: 1% for the Planet Lives the Message”, Lynda concludes the interview with a line we love: “If you’re not doing something for the planet, you don’t deserve to be in business. It’s basic to your being. So, I think what you’re doing is fantastic. I wish the very best for you.” Read the full interview on Lynda’s blog by clicking here.

Our good friends and 1% Recipient organization, Clean Air–Cool Planet, will lead the first call of the series. For about an hour, we will learn about the latest in climate and energy legislation in Washington, D.C., the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which currently resides in the Senate. The historic bill aims to put a price on the emissions of greenhouse gases created in the United States. The plan may transform the way we support our economy’s growing energy demands, use our transportation systems, and invest in businesses and technology.

Get involved:

Submit your questions to jake@onepercentfortheplanet.org, or ask us on Twitter. We will do our best to make sure that they are addressed during the call!

If you are a 1% Member business or 1% approved non-profit partner, keep an eye out for call-in details in your inbox. Also, we’ll be sharing the the full-audio recordings right here, on the 1% for the Planet Blog, during the week following the call. And if you find yourself tirelessly trolling social networks for the latest news like we are, you can find and contribute to live updates of the call on the 1% Twitter page.

About the experts:

Clean Air-Cool Planet is a leading non-profit organization dedicated solely to finding and promoting solutions to global warming. CEO Adam Markham will lead with a brief overview of the organization’s work in practical corporate engagement in climate change solutions. President Rafe Pomerance will follow and answer your questions about the American Clean Energy and Security Act – also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill – and efforts in Washington to help develop new climate policies. Formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment and Development and U.S. representative to Kyoto negotiations, Pomerance is also the founder of National Clean Air Coalition coordinator and Climate Policy Center.

We have some new friends at our space in the old schoolhouse this summer, and we thought to share the good news. Please join us in welcoming Danny, Cecilia, and Patrick (pictured above in order) to the 1% team!

Danny Kuzio is a recent high-school graduate from Green Mountain Valley School right down the street from 1%, in Waitsfield, Vermont.  In the fall he’ll be a first year student at Bates College in Maine where he hopes to study economics or environmental science.  This summer he’ll be working mostly with Chrissy in member services and certification, and training for cross-country ski racing in his spare time.

1%’s favorite Danny-hobby: cross-country skiing in our backyard, the Green Mountains (ok… we’re slightly biased)

Cecilia Su has just finished her first year at Dartmouth College, pursuing a B.A. in Government and Economics. She was drawn to 1% because of her interest in environmental problems and policy solutions as well as her faith in 1%’s innovative environmental investment model. In addition to marketing support, Cecilia is spearheading much of 1%’s new media outreach (give a shout-out or follow our Celia-led 1% Twitter updates).

Top “social networking” activity: with friends, shefing-up vegan cookies that aren’t cooked (the “un-cookie”)

Patrick Johnson is an Environmental Policy major at Middlebury College. He refuses to leave Vermont during the brief annual spell of glorious weather and lives over the mountains from 1%, in Charlotte. Patrick has spent time in work relating to venture capital, land conservation, and the study of policy matters related to the reduction of greenhouse gasses. At 1%, he’s focusing on the upcoming release of our 1% short film (stay tuned for more about the film!).

Favorite street-wear: a used-to-be-neon-colored Ducks Unlimited cap from the 70s

A warm welcome from our extended 1% For The Planet family!

That’s right, our newest auction offers a day of catch and release fly-fishing with famed angler, renowned guide, author, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies and 1% for the Planet co-founder Craig Mathews!

Craig will take the highest bidder and friend out on Montana rivers for a day this summer or fall. Complete with special fishing holes, spectacular views, and Craig tying a fly one-handed and blindfolded (ok, maybe not blindfolded), he’ll be sure to provide you with any required gear and end the day with a wonderful dinner enjoyed in good company.

An experience truly not to be missed, click HERE to make your bid! This auction closes April 30th at 8 pm EST.

1% for the Planet received a phone call this past winter with an opportunity to tell our story to a devoted readership interested in triple bottom line practices. Little did GreenMoney Journal Publisher and Managing Editor Cliff Feigenbaum realize, but his offer could not have been more timely. Despite the economic downturn, we were fresh off one of our best months ever (51 new members in October). To read 1% CEO Terry Kellogg’s words in GMJ’s Spring 2009 Issue, please click here.