While many American companies have chosen to take the easy route and exploit workers from vulnerable populations, such as immigrants, the deep green companies in the Green Business Network® protect workers across their supply chains.

A few have even gone out of their way to employ a business model that empowers traditionally disenfranchised populations.

Rivanna Designs.

Jobs For Refugees

Crystal Mario, founder and CEO of Rivanna Designs, served as an English-as-a-second-language (ESL) tutor while in college, and she often played squash with her ESL students, including Raul, a former attorney and one of 7,000 Chilean refugees who resettled in Canada after the violent overthrow of the government and installation of a military dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet. One day while the two were having a game, Mario’s racquet slipped out of her hands and flew across the court, almost hitting him at a blistering speed.

“I was young, genuinely shaken, and near tears, and I said, ‘Raul, I’m so sorry. I almost killed you!’” she recalls. Raul responded with a laugh. He pulled up his shirt and pointed to a large scar on his chest, near his heart. “You see here? This almost killed me.” He pointed to another scar. “And you see here? This almost killed me. You must understand, I have been shot. I have been tortured. You did not almost kill me. I have never been better.”

“Then he handed my racquet back to me and said, ‘Now, let’s keep going,’” Mario says.

The incident, and Raul’s memorable advice, “let’s keep going,” stayed with her for years. When she founded Rivanna Designs—which sells awards, plaques, and promotional items made of recycled glass and sustainable wood—she partnered with International Rescue Committee Charlottesville (IRC) to hire IRC clients. IRC helps provide international refugees like Raul with the means to survive, recover, and restore their dignity.

Today, Rivanna continues to hire newly arrived refugees, providing them with the kind of job whose features are important in meeting their needs as they recover from trauma and resettlement: flexible hours, a living wage, on-site training for those who speak English and those who do not, and a workplace accessible by public transportation.

Rivanna’s care in reaching out to this vulnerable population has been a benefit to both the employees and the company, says Mario. She speaks of workers like Admir Hasanovic, “who never missed a work assignment or deadline in 12 years.” With his wife Binasa, Hasanovic saved money, bought a car, bought a house, and sent their daughter Melisa to college. “Their generosity and hospitality is such that no one ever leaves their home without a full belly and a full heart,” she adds.

“And with the contributions and collective determination of Admir and other IRC clients, we’ve built a successful business that has created new jobs in our community not only for more recently arrived refugees, but for that other group in Charlottesville in dire need of employment, recent University of Virginia graduates,” she says. “I have come to depend on IRC clients not simply because of their solid work ethic, but because they bring with them unique and valuable strengths, experiences, perspectives, and skills.”

Beans for a Better Life

Women's Bean Project.

Crystal Mario is not the only green business owner to use her company to lift up vulnerable populations. While volunteering at a women’s shelter in Denver, CO, Jossy Eyre observed that while the shelter worked to fix a particular symptom of poverty—homelessness—it did little to address its cause, which she perceived to be a lack of employable skills.

Noticing that a lot of her friends ate soup, Eyre bought $500 worth of beans with her own money and taught two women how to assemble pre-made soup mixes. That holiday season, Eyre sold the mixes and saw a 600 percent return on her $500 investment.

Fast-forward 25 years, and the company that started from those humble beginnings, the Women’s Bean Project (WBP), now has an operating budget of $2.1 million and employs over 70 women. In a six-month process, the gourmet food and jewelry company moves its employees, mostly chronically unemployed women, through all aspects of the business to help them create diversified skill sets. It also trains participants in how to find a job once the program is over.

That attention to detail seems to pay off. According to WBP CEO Tamra Ryan, 100 percent of WBP graduates are able to keep their next job after the first six months of employment, and 85 percent retain employment after a full year.

“We employ women who need someone to believe in them,who have already had some hard chapters in their lives and work to create a safe and accepting environment to make the rest of [the chapters] better,” she says.

Fair Wages for Farmers

TS Designs.

And after watching farmers in his native state of North Carolina take a hit during the ongoing economic downturn, TS Designs president Eric Henry decided he could use his eco-friendly textile printing and dyeing company to do something about it. He brought together farmers and business leaders to launch the Cotton of the Carolinas initiative, which officially marked its second year in 2013 making organic cotton T-shirts grown, woven, and sewn entirely in the Carolinas.

The result is a batch of organic cotton shirts made in the US entirely within a 750-mile radius. In comparison, a globally sourced shirt can travel more than 16,000 miles before being sold, according to Henry. It also empowered the state’s cotton farmers, paying them rather than paying them bottom dollar and shipping the cotton overseas for production, as conventional T-shirt production often does.

The first batch of Cotton of the Carolinas shirts opened up more than 700 local, green jobs for the state. As a result, the initiative has created a model green business that is good for the planet and good for workers. The entire supply chain “from dirt to shirt” is completely transparent. Customers can track their shirt’s journey via the
initiative’s Web site by entering a code on the shirt’s label.


Baked Goods that Do Good

Greyston Bakery.

Greyston Bakery, a solar-powered company specializing in premium-quality brownies and other baked goods, hires and trains the ex convicts, ex-addicts, other “hard to employ” populations of Yonkers, NY. Greyston provides a comprehensive training program, fair wages, and benefits, so its employees can attain the skills and financial stability necessary to achieve self-sufficiency.

Greyston keeps working for its employees long after they leave work. The bakery is owned by and donates all of its profits to the Greyston Foundation, a network of for-profit and not-for-profit entities working on a wide range of community-development initiatives, including affordable housing, child care, and HIV/AIDS-friendly housing and care.

As the Greyston motto says, “We don’t hire people to bake brownies. We bake brownies to hire people.”

Rising use of glyphosate, the world’s most heavily applied herbicide, is putting the population at risk of significant health problems, according to a report recently released by As You Sow. Glyphosate is applied frequently to the most widely grown crops in the U.S., including corn, soybeans, and wheat, and has been found in many common food products including “all-natural” Quaker Oats. The report raises concerns about the health and environmental impacts of current glyphosate use, gaps in the regulation of pesticides, and how large chemical companies are promoting the use of glyphosate.

New Report: Glyphosate in Our Food System

Available online at asyousow.org, the new report, titled Roundup Revealed: Glyphosate in Our Food System, consolidates years of research, cutting through to the heart of the controversy over glyphosate. One key finding: glyphosate is increasingly being sprayed on crops just before harvest to dry out (“desiccate”) the plants to speed up harvest operations; this practice results in greater residues of glyphosate in foods. The report’s analysis finds that in 2015, nearly a third of U.S. wheat was treated with glyphosate, likely through pre-harvest use in most cases. A recent biomonitoring study revealed that 93% of Americans tested had glyphosate in their bodies.

In 2015, glyphosate was classified as a probable carcinogen by the world’s leading cancer authority. Recent research suggests that glyphosate is likely to cause other chronic health impacts, including disruption of the body’s endocrine system.

American regulators are dismissing key scientific data and continuing to raise the allowable limits for glyphosate residue in food, leaving the population at risk of health harms. The widespread use of glyphosate is also creating environmental problems, including herbicide-resistant weeds and reduced biodiversity. For too long, pesticides have been the foundation of agriculture, with glyphosate as the cornerstone; the cracks in this system run deep.

As You Sow has brought this issue to the attention of major companies, including Kellogg, a leader in sustainable agriculture who responded by agreeing to survey its supply chain about the pre-harvest use of glyphosate.

Experts, including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, agree that pesticides are not necessary or helpful to feed the world. Investors would be prudent to analyze their exposure to pesticide-intensive agriculture and prioritize sustainable solutions.

While the legal and political battles over glyphosate continue to emerge and develop, pesticide companies are staking their future on increased use of toxic pesticides. Monsanto and Dow Chemical are betting that farmers will adopt a new generation of genetically engineered crops that can be treated with both glyphosate and the more toxic herbicides dicamba and 2,4-D, increasing sales of these pesticides ten-fold while keeping the use of glyphosate at current high levels.

Monsanto, which sells half of the world’s glyphosate, has proposed to merge with Bayer, a major seed and pesticide company; the merger has yet to clear regulatory approval. This consolidation in the already uncompetitive seed and agrochemical industry concerns farmers who fear that prices will continue to increase.

The pesticide industry mergers, including the Monsanto-Bayer merger, are likely to exacerbate the food systems’ greatest challenges. Investors, communities, and downstream companies should be opposing these mergers and advocating for more sustainable agriculture methods.

BY CHRISTOPHER COLLINS  |  Agroecology, Climate, Food Policy, Labeling
07.10.17

The soil at Adobe House Farm in Durango, Colorado, gets better each time the landscaping trucks, brimming with leaves from a nearby housing development, make a delivery. Linley Dixon, a farmer and soil scientist for the Cornucopia Institute, says that over the years the leaves have helped raise her soil’s organic matter from 2 percent to about 8 percent.

This is good for an obvious reason: Plants grow better in soil with high levels of organic matter. But soil fertility is a reliable indicator of something else, too: how much carbon dioxide the ground can absorb from the surrounding environment. Scientists have linked high atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide to a warming climate, so the more CO₂ the soil can sequester from the air, the better. Research has also indicated carbon sequestration can replenish depleted carbon networks in soil.

Dixon practices a farming method she calls “regenerative agriculture.” She uses compost, cover crops, and tills only minimally. These practices have been around since at least the 1970s, and have often been described as organic or agroecological. But Dixon says that regenerative agriculture goes further than most organic farming, and she hopes to help bring the approach to the mainstream.

Dixon and other members of the movement have used the growing threat of climate change as their rallying cry. “There’s so much doom and gloom around climate change, so if you can come up with a solution, it’s absolutely exciting,” Dixon said. At the Cornucopia Institute, regenerative agriculture is touted as a protection for farmers against the floods and droughts that are becoming more frequent in our rapidly warming world.

Dixon and the Cornucopia Institute aren’t alone. The people behind Holistic Management International, the Carbon Underground, Green America, and the Rodale Institute are all working to make inroads to bring regenerative ag to the mainstream. In some cases, these organizations are in conversations with suppliers, regulators, and manufacturers to begin using the term as a label on food. And while it’s not clear that the market has room for another eco-label, some regenerative ag advocates appear to be pushing that agenda forward.

Seizing an Opportune Moment

Because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has oversight over the certified organic label, changes to existing rules have happened slowly. Case in point: The agency spent years working on an update to the animal welfare practices put forth in the current certification. Despite some momentum at the beginning of 2017, under the Trump administration it has been delayed several times. Similarly, while organic standards call for special attention to soil fertility, not all organic farms practice those techniques.

With a growing number of large producers transitioning some or all of their business to organic to capture the market, challenges to the label’s legitimacy have arisen, as evidenced by two scathing Washington Post investigative pieces spotlighting the USDA’s failure to regulate organic products.

Although organic sales are at a record high ($43.5 billion in 2015), the organic brand is struggling with a perception problem. A 2015 study by market research firm Mintel found that more than one-third of shoppers are skeptical that organic products are any better than conventionally grown food.

And even more are confused by alternative labels: A 2016 Consumer Reports survey found that 73 percent of consumers sought out products labeled “natural”—a label with no regulatory teeth—while only 58 percent look for organic products. This may be due in part to a 2012 Stanford meta-analysis study that found organic food is only slightly more nutritious than conventionally grown food, although the report’s methodology has drawn criticism.

“The organic certification is struggling. There are people who feel like it’s been watered down,” said Ann Adams, executive director of Holistic Management International. She also points to the fact that while less than 1 percent of farmland in the U.S. is certified organic, organic sales account for closer to 4 percent of the market. “Because we can’t produce enough of these organic products in this country, we’re importing a lot and people are looking the other way.”

And while foods grown using regenerative practices may help fill the void left by inadequate organic regulation, Adams said, it would likely be an uphill battle to convince consumers to buy them. “The number one reason people buy organic is for the health of their children,” she said, pointing out that some regenerative tenets—soil health and farmworker rights, for example—may be too abstract to win over organic customers.

But Larry Kopald, president and co-founder of the Carbon Underground, sees the climate argument as an effective marketing pitch for regenerative farming. According to its website, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit specializes in “crafting campaigns that motivate people to act,” with past clients including Honda, American Express, PepsiCo, and McDonalds. “We’d like to get to a point where we can hang a sign above the apples at the co-op that says, ‘These apples helped reverse climate change.’ The pressure that would put on the apples next to them would be immense,” Kopald said.

Carbon Underground is in the early stages of discussions with “investment and development people” to bring regenerative ag to the public consciousness. Kopald declined to give details, but said that the organization has worked with California State University, Chico and the National Co-op Association on the project and he hopes to achieve “significant scale” within five years.

Avoiding ‘Label Burnout’

One key challenge facing Kopald and other proponents is the question of certification. Should such a certification fit within the confines of the existing National Organic Program, for instance? The answer depends on whom you ask.

“Most people feel there needs to be a certification or a label to let people know the food they’re buying is making the planet healthy and reversing climate change,” Kopald said. “But there is certification burnout out there.”

Kopald’s preliminary plan sees a regenerative label being used separately from the USDA-certified organic label. But he added that those who really want to eat healthy while ensuring the planet’s health would probably want to buy both regenerative and certified organic products.

Urvashi Rangan, former executive director of the Consumer Reports Food Safety and Sustainability Center and a current consultant on sustainable food systems, said a regenerative product label could legitimize the movement. She stressed, however, that products would need to be undergirded by a set of “meaningful” standards.

“You want to make sure it’s not being watered down,” she said. “What we need to avoid is a bunch of regenerative claims where consumers have to decide, ‘Is that one meaningful or not?’”

Rangan said a regenerative product label “probably” will crop up in the relatively near future, and that there may be more than one—at least at first.

Improving Organic vs. Competing with It

At the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania, executive director Jeff Moyer wants to use regenerative ag to help raise the standards of the National Organic Program. The Institute is uniquely positioned to make that happen, since founder J. I. Rodale popularized the term “organic” in the 1940s and Robert Rodale began using “regenerative” in the 1980s.

“We want to be very cautious and maintain ownership of the word regenerative and link it to organic as a baseline,” Moyer said. “We’re well aware of what happened to the word ‘sustainable’—it was a buzzword and it became so watered down it became meaningless. There’s going to be a battle for words and language expressed over the next few years.” That battle could manifest itself in the form of a trademark, he said.

Moyer said Rodale is also in discussions with “specific partners” in the marketing and food industries regarding regenerative, but gave few details. A Rodale spokeswoman said, “there will be some big announcements with really well-known brands and some products that are going to be on the market.”

Laura Batcha, CEO and executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), said, “from our perspective, organic is regenerative.” Organic growing practices already facilitate carbon sequestration, she said; a forthcoming study by the OTA’s Organic Center and Northeastern University is expected to show higher levels of sequestration in organic soil than in conventional soil.

As far as the possibility of regenerative products competing for consumer dollars with organics, Batcha questioned the movement’s ability to mobilize an effective label, standards, and verification system. “Building up a private label and a standard and getting that in the marketplace in a way that breaks through with the shopper is no small task,” she said.

On a similar note, Adams of Holistic Management International doubts that federal certification for regenerative producers would be effective, and Linley Dixon of the Cornucopia Institute says that while a certification and label are feasible, she dreads the idea of a more complicated marketplace.

Before the movement can make a dent in the market, proponents need to agree on key points, said Anna Meyer, food campaigns director for Green America. “We’re all coming from a place of wanting to do things better, but if we can’t clearly specify what we’re asking for and if we’re asking for 10 different things, it really dilutes the messaging and it does more harm than good.”

For now, regenerative agriculture will be resigned to the liminal space of the agriculture world, and will remain essentially unenforceable in the marketplace until there is a meaningful standard with third-party certification. Consumers can still interact with farms directly and ask producers about their growing practices. And, regardless of the outcome, the dialogue is an important one.

“We’re starting to have these discussions,” Meyer said. “And that’s good, though those are also challenging conversations to have.”

Industry, labour, NGOs unite on zero toxic exposure of workers

29 June 2017 / Alternatives assessment & substitution, Electrical & electronics, United States

Several pilot projects are underway to test alternatives to solvents and bonding adhesives commonly used in electronics manufacturing, according to director of Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN) Sarah O'Brien, less than a year after its first meeting. 

It is too early to break confidentiality by naming specific chemicals, Ms O'Brien said, "but you can guess what some of them are". She said they were chosen because they are some of the most dangerous and members believe alternatives are in reach.

"Over the past five years, there have been a lot of investigations of working conditions and toxic exposure, so we know what some of the big issues are," she told Chemical Watch. "These are also some of the chemicals most widely in use, so we can get a big bang for the buck."

The group was established in 2015 by Green America’s Center for Sustainability Solutions. The mission is to use stakeholder networks to "address sustainability problems in supply chains and complex systems".

It says workers in the industry are often exposed to toxic substances, such as n-hexane, especially in countries such as China, Mexico and Indonesia. Its members have agreed to move towards zero exposure in the electronics manufacturing process, and to develop four initiatives covering: safer substitutions; process chemical reporting; tracking and measuring exposure; and worker engagement and empowerment.

The network includes not only manufacturers - such as Apple, Hewlett Packard and Dell - but also NGOs and labour advocates and the EPA.

"We may make some recommendations in terms of protective equipment, but what we are looking for is limited exposure and finding substitutions," said Ms O’Brien.

The idea is to "build a consensus" and allow suppliers and manufacturers of finished products to change their practices, with less fear of being at a competitive disadvantage.

"If we can show that [new] substances are workable and meet the performance needs the customer is looking for, the supplier can have some confidence in trying something new," Ms O'Brien said.

"It's a high-volume, high-throughput industry and anything that disrupts that is a cause of anxiety."

Also, she said, no one company can make a truly meaningful change.

"One customer might ask for a change in their production line, but if you are in a facility with ten production lines and you ask for a change in one, they will keep using the cheaper, easier chemical [elsewhere] and the exposure profile doesn't change that much."

Once solutions "mature" to the point of being deemed successful, O'Brien said, the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition will take on a key role in "scaling up sector-wide".

At that point, she said, "when we are advocating for wider adoption, then we would be more public about what the substances are and what the plans are in addressing specific chemicals."

While the network's broad base, particularly the inclusion of labour organisations, is unusual, some electronics companies had already started moving toward cleaner production. For example, Apple's progress report, released in April, ranks the company’s prioritisation of substances "it intends to phase out". And industry group the EICC, a network member, has a chemicals management taskforce that promotes the use of safer chemicals.

Members of the CEPN include:

• Apple;
• Dell;
• Fairphone;
• HP;
• Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition;
• Flex;
• Seagate Technologies;
• Inventec Performance Chemicals;
• CEREAL (El Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral);
• Good World Solutions/Labor Link;
• International Campaign for Responsible Technology (ICRT);
• Social Accountability International;
• The Sustainability Consortium, Arizona State University;
• University of California, Irvine;
• University of Massachusetts Lowell;
• Clean Production Action;
• Green Electronics Council;
• TCO Certified; and
• US EPA.

Hours: M-F 7am-7pm, Sa-Su 8am-7pm

Organic Milk - Yes

Grass-Fed Milk - Yes

Fair Trade Coffee - Yes, Must Ask

Organic Coffee - Yes, Must Ask 

Organic Milk - Yes 

Grass-Fed Milk - No 

Fair Trade Coffee - No

Organic Coffee - yes 

Organic Milk - Yes 

Grass-Fed Milk - No

Fair Trade Coffee - Yes

Organic Coffee - At Most Locations 

Replace common single-use plastics with these sturdy reusables, recommended by MyPlasticFreeLife.com's Beth Terry and the editors of the Green American.

1. Instead of accepting plastic bags at the grocery store, carry your own cloth grocery and produce bags. Choose stretchy string bags that carry many times their weight (ReuseIt.com), paper-thin organic cotton produce bags (BlueLotusGoods.com, EcoBags.com), compact recycled nylon bags that crush down to the size of two golf balls and fit in a bag or purse (Chicobags.com), and more.

Find more retailers in the "Bags/Baskets" category at GreenPages.org and at ShopGreenPages.org.

2. Give up plastic water bottles and carry your own unlined, reusable stainless steel bottle. Klean Kanteen (KleanKanteen.com) now offers a 100-percent plastic-free "Reflect" bottle, crafted from stainless steel, sustainably harvested bamboo, and food-grade silicone. Try an insulated steel bottle to keep your drinks hot in winter and cold in summer.

Find more at GreenPages.org, "Exercise/Sporting Goods" or "Housewares", or at ShopGreenPages.org.

3. Bring your own reusable food containers to buy builk items at the store and when you're ordering take-out. To-GoWare.com offers stainless steel "tiffin" boxes with two or three compartments. LifeWithoutPlastic.com sells stainless steel and glass "Tupperware"-like containers, lunchboxes, and more. And Dr. Wallace J. Nichols funds his sea turtle research in part through sales of the "Sporklace" (Sporklace.com), an attractive metal spork on a chain that functions as to-go silverware and a conversation starter.

Find more at GreenPages.org, "Housewares", or at ShopGreenPages.org.

4. When buying supplies for school or the office, choose plastic-free three-ring binders, notebooks, badges, folders, CD cases, and office labels from companies like ReBinder (ReBinder.com). ReBinder's products are made from recycled cardboard and can be recycled again at the end of their useful life.

Find more at GreenPages.org, "Office/Desk Supplies."

5. Eliminate the need for plastic wrap or plastic "ziploc" bags with reusable sandwich wrappers and snack bags, like the plastic-free, organic cotton snack and sandwich bags from GrazeOrganic.com and EcoDitty.com. For more moisture-proofing, SnackTaxi (SnackTaxi.com) sandwich/snack sacks are made of cotton with a nylon-coated interior. (The company plans to use recycled nylon and organic cotton in the future.)

Find more at GreenPages.org, "Children" and "Housewares," or ShopGreenPages.org.

6. Women can jump on the plastic-free train by choosing reusable cloth menstrual pads (GladRags.com, Lunapads.com) in a variety of sizes. Also, replace tampons with washable sea sponges (JadeandPearl.com), or reusable silicone or natural latex menstrual cups like the Keeper (theKeeper.com), the Moon Cup (MoonCup.com), Lunette (Lunette.com), or Diva Cup (DivaCup.com).

Find more at GreenPages.org, "Women."

7. When you purchase a cold beverage to go, refuse to accept a single-use plastic straw. Instead, whip out one of Glass Dharma's reusable glass straws (cleaning brush included). If you see a crack in your straw, Glass Dharma (GlassDharma.com) will replace it for free.

Our goal at Brush & Color as artists and tradespeople is to deliver a top quality painting service, while being mindful of waste, health and the conservation of our planet. In reaching this goal, we will raise the standards of the painting industry to "Eco All of the Time", therefore influencing other industries to raise their standards, to be more mindful of waste, health and the conservation of our planet.

Ecofriendly T-shirt printing using 100% water-based ink and windpower. Affordable and sustainable, with a deep committment to the environment. Your design printed on T-shirts, hoodies, onesies, totes, and more.

Ecofriendly T-shirt printing using 100% water-based ink and windpower. Affordable and sustainable, with a deep committment to the environment. Your design printed on T-shirts, hoodies, onesies, totes, and more.

Wealth management and Trust services. Registered investment advisory firm.

We provide fee-only investment consulting services to individual and institutional investors who have socially responsible investment preferences. Member of First Affirmative Financial Network

All Good by Elemental Herbs offers organic bodycare products: lip balms, zinc sunscreens, healing balm, on-demand pain relief spray, lotions, and coconut oils.

Offers a complete line of handcrafted mineral makeup that is nontoxic, cruelty-free, and beautiful. Samples are available.

Makers of handcrafted all-wood caskets, coffins, urns and trundles GBC-certified for green burial or cremation.

It is said that we come from the earth and we return to the earth. Here at Aldergrove Caskets we build a vessel for the return journey, mindful of the spiritual and environmental needs of the deceased, their friends and family, and the world that they are leaving behind.

We build with local, sustainable woods such as southern yellow pine and spruce. Finishes and adhesives are environmentally friendly during production, in our shop and for cremation or burial. We build our caskets and urns without metal fasteners of any kind for a complete and timely return to the earth.

At Aldergrove Caskets, we build a 'plain pine box.'

Full-service, design/build remodeling firm. Specializes in energy-efficient, environmentally conscious, toxin-free, and lead-safe remodeling. Professionally designed and built kitchens, bathrooms, decks, additions, renovations.

Impact Financial Planners is a fee-only financial planning firm that specializes in Sustainable Responsible Impact Investing (SRI). We offer a free upfront meeting. We work with individual clients throughout the US. As an independent fee only personal financial planning firm we earn no commissions and sell no products. SRI is an investment strategy seeking to maximize both financial return and social good.

We are comprehensive advisors, working with you on: investment management, retirement planning, tax planning, insurance review and estate planning. 

Elegantly handcrafted fashion accessories in palettes of infinite beauty. Award-winning pieces worn by Halle Barry, Christina Aguilera, and featured in Good Housekeeping, Essence, and Seventeen.

Helps families tastefully, conveniently, and easily take pesticides and allergens out of food, danger out of cleaning products, and toxins out of body care products.

Technical services: composting, watershed protection, and sustainable development. Offering composting and thermal energy systems (hot water) to farms, commercial/municipal and institutional sites. Patented renewable energy capture (heat) from aerated compost. Agrilab Technologies continues the work of WASTE NOT Resource Solutions as part of its portfolio.

Imports and wholesales fairly traded African market baskets, working directly with weavers in Ghana. Proceeds contribute to health care, education, and community buildings for weavers and their families. For wholesale orders: wholesale@africanmarketbaskets.com.

Advanced Maintenance and Pest Solutions, LLC is a locally owned pest control and maintenance company that provides services throughout Chicagoland, with a focus on integrated pest management (IPM) and minimizing the need to apply pesticides.

A 'financial coach' who can help maximize your opportunities with investments, insurance, tax, estate, and retirement planning. Building relationships with SRI-focused clients since 1986. Member, First Affirmative Financial Network.

Notecards, journals, and stationery printed on 100% recycled paper and handmade tree-free paper. Beautiful imagery inspired by nature. Fundraising kit available.

Private label/promotional natural lip balm and sunscreen lotions, sticks; petroleum-free soy-based candles; and more. Eco-hats, tree-free paper options too!

"Providing nontoxic cleaning of homes and organizations using natural and environmentally safe products. Cleaning your world; saving ours. Using Earth-friendly solutions, everyone benefits."

Green consultants (eco-consultants). Specializing in no-/low-cost solutions for businesses and organizations desiring to incorporate green strategies into their operations. "We make going green easier!"

Local, organic, and Fair Trade fresh produce; plus large bulk selection including nuts, grains, oils, tamari, liquid soaps, and shampoo. Member-run and everyone can shop.

All-Natural Soaps, spa style foot and body scrubs, body butters, lip balms—all packaged in recycled and recyclable containers. No artificial preservatives, no animal testing.

The firm works with socially aware investors to create customized investment portfolios in harmony with their moral and ethical values. Account minimum: $2 million.

Financial activist serving SRI clients since 1989. Co-authored Investing with Your Values: Making Money & Making a Difference (2000). Please see Natural Investment LLC. Member of First Affirmative Financial Network.

Sunshine Burger makes certified organic, verified non-GMO vegan burgers with whole food ingredients free of major allergens. We use raw sunflower kernels and brown rice!

The leading national network of Community Development Financial Institutions, OFN shapes policy, conducts research, and creates partnerships and programs that deliver high impact in financially stressed communities.

'Through the lens of faith, ICCR builds a more just and sustainable world by integrating social values into corporate and investor actions.'

A community development financial institution (CDFI) that is a bridge between socially responsible investors and cooperatives, community-oriented non-profits, and worker-owned businesses in New England.

Calvert Impact Capital (CIC) is a proven market leader in the global impact investing industry, with over $2 billion raised through its unique and accessible fixed-income investment product, the Community Investment Note® (“Note”), which channels high impact investments into communities around the world. Note investors range from institutional, accredited, and retail investors, and Note purchases range from over $20mm to $20 (the minimum through CIC’s online platform). The Note blends financial, social, and environmental returns into one accessible product that offers global exposure to more than 100 countries including the US, as well as exposure across a multitude of sectors. The Note also includes robust reporting on social and environmental impact. Additionally, CIC offers loan syndications, where they originate, structure, and administer loans for institutional and accredited lenders seeking environmental and social impact. To date, CIC has syndicated and/or administered more than $300 million of capital for impact-oriented transactions.

Investment Thesis:

CIC invests to connect capital with the communities that need it most, demonstrating that private capital can be successfully invested in communities often overlooked and underserved by traditional finance in order to provide broad economic opportunity and protect our planet.

Investment Overview:

CIC prioritizes both financial resiliency and lasting impact, and its portfolio strategy is focused on creating more inclusive and accessible markets around the world. CIC helps its borrowers to build, grow, and sustain their portfolios, organizational strength, and impact that they have on the ground. CIC makes investments that create a positive, measurable impact as well as financial return across nine sectors including: small business finance, renewable energy, health, microfinance, sustainable agriculture, education, environmental sustainability, and community development. Each sector has a unique impact thesis and strategy that outlines the impact CIC seeks to affect in that sector, how impact is measured, and what role CIC’s capital plays in strengthening local markets. CIC conducts thorough due diligence on each organization to which it lends, and has rigorous credit quality and social performance standards.

Company Differentiator:

Calvert Impact Capital (CIC) is known for its 25-year track record of innovation, impact, and financial performance. Through the Community Investment Note®, CIC has a diversified portfolio across impact sectors and geographies, creating measurable social and environmental impact, that is managed by a team with deep credit analysis and risk management expertise. Complementing our strong portfolio performance is a capitalization cushion of over $100 million to protect investors against any potential portfolio losses, which has led to 100% repayment with returns to all investors to date. More than 5,400 individual and institutional investors, as well as financial advisors, have conveniently made investments ranging from $20 to $20 million via CIC’s online investment platform or through over 120 brokerage firms. Beyond the Note, CIC provides a syndications service, thought leadership practice, and other investor and industry resources that support moving investment capital toward creating an equitable and sustainable world.

Investment Example

One of our borrowers is Greenline Ventures ("Greenline"), a financial services company that specializes in serving the unmet capital needs of small businesses. Their objectives include job creation and retention, worker training, improving employee benefits, boosting minority and women-owned businesses, and reducing environmental impacts. In December 2016, Greenline launched a $20 million Small Business Capital Fund (SBCF I) to provide affordable loans to underserved small businesses in distressed census tracts throughout the US. SBCF I leverages federal tax credits with mission-driven capital to provide flexible, patient financing to small businesses. After the success of SBCF I, Greenline launched the SBCF II in 2018 with the same goal of creating quality jobs and wealth-building opportunities for low-income populations in under-invested communities. Calvert Impact Capital syndicated both funds and made a larger loan to Greenline's second fund to help them grow their impact. All of our borrowers can be found at calvertimpactcapital.org/portfolio/list.

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Green alternative to AAA with 24-hour nationwide roadside assistance for autos and bikes. Discounts on hybrid car rentals, eco-travel, hotels. Trip routing, auto insurance, bicycle roadside assistance, and free maps. Supports a cleaner environment and alternative modes of transportation.

Everyone and anyone can be sustainable! Save time and money! Clean water and Air are best for our health, these are by-products of being sustainable. Make a plan, implement it, monitor and measure the plan and then review the plan!

Since 1987, crafting comfortable, durable, and Earth-friendly products for home, health, and comfort. Browse the selection of buckwheat, kapok, and recycled Sleeping Bean body pillows, reading, and head pillows. Great tools for Pilates, maternity, yoga, and meditation. Bean-bag chairs and floor comfort living products, shower curtains from hemp or cotton. Introducing contemporary upholstered furniture of hemp and organic cotton.

Highly specialized GOTS Certified sourcing consultancy. Offering consultancy and sourcing services for businesses in the organic and sustainable textile industries. Research, development, stock and custom sourcing, production and quality assistance, shipping and logistics coordination.

Green America urges everyone to end their relationships with big Wall Street banks and to “Break Up with Your Mega-Bank." Instead, open accounts with community investing banks and credit unions, which have a mission of lifting up low- and middle-income communities.

Why break up with your mega-bank?

Mega-banks often use your money to fund projects that may not be in line with your values— and nearly 40 of them are financially supporting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), including US Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and more. (See the graphic below from our allies at Food & Water Watch for a complete list.)

Break up with your DAPL-funding bank by:

• Following these 10 steps to find and switch to a socially responsible bank.
• Switching your credit card to one of these responsible credit cards.
• Find a socially responsible financial institution, loan fund, or credit card from our national database!

Victory!

DNB, Norway’s largest bank, sold its assets in the DAPL and is considering terminating the three loans it made to the project. DNB loans made up ten percent of the project’s costs, according to Reuters.

Image © Food & Water Watch
Sources and more info here.

Want to create a greener world that works for all people? One of the most important things you can do is vote with your dollar. Where you spend and invest your money is a powerful way of voting each day to support local communities, fair wages, and a healthy planet. 

Here at Green America, we’ve helped educate and mobilize consumers to use their money for a greener world, and we’ve seen the results in the growth of organic foods, fair trade products, clean energy solutions, and community banks and credit unions, just to name a few. Voting with our dollars works. 

When we talk about building the green economy, it's about more than being informed about corporations—it’s about actually supporting businesses that have adopted green practices, are growing the local economies, and pay suppliers fairly. Where you shop and what you buy when you do sends a direct message to business owners. If many of us shift our spending at once – to preference non-GMO foods, for example – it can force large corporations to scramble and drop harmful ingredients from their products. And in the case of small businesses, it helps them stay afloat in a competitive, deal-driven market. 

Green America's mission of creating a green economy that works for all – one that preferences social justice, environmental preservation, and healthy communities, is one that we can participate in at any time. Like casting ballots in an election, decisions we make every day cast votes for our values. When people support small businesses with forward-thinking practices, we call that #VoteWithYourDollar.  Vote With Your Dollars is a powerful way to build the green economy we need, without Washington. 

One of the most powerful actions you can take to Vote with Your Dollar keeping your money in your wallet, to not buy what you don't need, and to not line the pockets of CEOs of big box stores you don't agree with. Our culture is obsessed with deals, but those deals are paid for by the people who work low wages in factories or in big-box stores. In the case of shopping on the biggest store, Amazon.com, well, its track record isn't the cleanest. Every dollar you don't spend, is a dollar you can put in a community bank or credit union, where your dollars will be used to finance jobs, housing and social services that every community needs.  Or, it can be donated to a charity that is helping those less fortunate, combating hate, or taking action on climate change. 

It’s unrealistic not to shop at all, and unnecessary. The money you use to buy necessities, treat yourself, or spend on gifts for others is a vote cast for your values. Here are our tips for feeling good about the products you buy, but also the businesses you support.

Vote with your dollar

• Every time you buy at a local business, you tell the world your community is worth more than a big-box store sale. 

• Every time you buy organic, you tell the world you want more farmers to grow healthy, safe food. 

• Every time you buy certified fair trade, you fight poverty. 

• Every time you buy from a business owned by women or people of color, you help build an inclusive economy. 

• Every time you don’t buy something, you tell the world you don’t need more stuff to have a good life.

Where do we go from here?

• Read more tips on what it's like to live green.
• Get yourself a better bank and make money moves with socially responsible investing! Voting with your dollars at a financial institution can have an outsized impact.
• Shop the Green Business Network, where our certified businesses are much more likely to match your values!
• Check out our Vote With Your Dollar Toolkit to find out how your dollars impact everything from clothes to forests and food.