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	Dot Neutral	Dot Neutral is actively working with and educating customers on reducing environmental impact where possible and offsetting where it's not. Dot Neutral's services directly drive this impact since it is selling voluntary carbon offsets to offset shipping emissions, which is virtually impossible for a company to reduce or eliminate. The only material negative impact Dot Neutral has on the environment related to operations is the founding member's commute to a coworking space in Louisville, KY. This business is 100% online so other environmental efforts have a nominal impact on the environment.
	Can we have more sustainable clothing?	Clothing supply chains – from field to factory to store -- can be long, complex, and often seemingly opaque, and even in cases where brands promote their transparency or sustainability, they often fall short in sharing enough information with consumers so that they can make an informed decision. As our toxic textiles campaign highlights, the clothing industry takes a huge toll on the environment and the health of workers. Vague corporate messaging about sustainability programs and corporate impacts can leave a green shopper at a loss for where to buy clothes. Is it even possible to find a sustainable clothing company? The Toxic Textiles report found that brands often have one ‘sustainable’ line of clothing, but a vast majority of their products aren’t made with people or the planet in mind. This puts the burden on consumers to research each piece of clothing they want to buy, which most people don’t have time to do. In order to transform the clothing industry, we need brands integrating environmentally and socially responsible practices across their entire business model. While it can be difficult, Maven Women, a Green Business Network member, has done just that. The founder, Rebecca Ballard, started her career working on human and labor rights issues, but she was having trouble finding clothing options that both were well-fitting and fit her values. So, Rebecca set out to make her own socially and environmentally conscious clothing brand – Maven Women. Maven Women is now a leader in responsibly-sourced clothing, but Rebecca found it challenging at times to find the right partners or suppliers, which resulted in a three year process of creating her supply chain. For the clothes produced domestically, Maven Women works with Lefty Production Co., an LA based clothing production company. Lefty pays employees a living wage and provides a clean and safe work environment. Additionally, the cotton used in Maven Women’s clothing is GOTS certified, which lessens dangerous chemical exposure to both workers and consumers. Maven Women’s clothing also is meant to last. It is the opposite of the fast fashion clothing that is the norm these days, and is accelerating the industry’s negative impacts on people and the planet. The high demand for cheap clothing, perpetuated by the fast fashion industry, creates a ripple effect of problems. High, unpredictable demands for clothing creates production stress for suppliers, which can result in labor abuses within clothing manufacturing facilities. On top of this, cheap clothes often do not last as long, resulting in increased waste. Between 2000 and 2015, clothing production doubled, and during that same period, the clothing that Americans dispose of annually nearly tripled! The EPA estimates that Americans create 16 million tons of textile waste a year and 62% of this waste ends up in landfills. In addition to making clothes built to last, Maven Women lessens their waste impact by donating clothing scraps to local foundations. In India, their scraps are donated to a foundation teaching women new skills; in the US, scraps are donated to several women-led businesses. As noted in Green America’s From Fast to Fair Fashion, “choosing ethical and sustainable fashion goes beyond voting with your dollar—it manifests substantial change for disenfranchised women workers around the world. Clothing brands based on fair trade principles empower women on both sides of the supply chain.” Maven Women also calculates the positive impact the shopper has by opting to buy new from Maven Women, rather than buying new from a traditional clothing brand. To read more about Maven Women’s environmental impact, check out this blog by Green Story. What is the individual’s role in the sustainable clothing industry? When Rebecca started her Maven Women journey, she realized she wasn’t alone in wanting socially and environmentally conscious clothing. The greater the demand for ethically made clothing and the level of transparency that Maven Women provides, the more sustainable clothing options there will be. While Green America recommends buying used clothing when you can to lower your impact on the planet, buying new can still help to move the industry forward. For those times, when you aren’t able to shop second hand, looking for and supporting brands similar to Maven Women is a great option. Maven Women and other Green Business Members, such as Sympatico Clothing, Natural Clothing Company, and Organic Attire, demonstrate that a business model that prioritizes the planet and people is possible. For $40 off your first order from Maven Women, use the discount code "GreenAmerica" at check out. Here are some tips to spot leaders in sustainable clothing: Look to see if the brands: Are measuring their waste impacts; incorporating more recycling & recycled products into their supply chain. Are taking part in industry initiatives to help standardize information tracking. Have chemical management policies, such as public MRSLs and RSLs, and/or are a part of industry initiatives, such as ZDHC or Bluesign, to phase out the most dangerous chemicals. Have water treatment plans as well, to help clean up water that is discharged. Share goals and benchmarks to incorporate more sustainable textiles into their supply chains and are not limiting sustainable alternatives to one line of clothing or one type of clothing. Are transparent about labor practices and sourcing. Additional resources: If you would like to learn more about what it takes for a clothing company to become a Green Business Member, check out How to be a Sustainable Apparel Business. If you would like to learn more about Maven Women and Rebecca’s story, I highly recommend their blog! For more examples of how to determine if a corporate led effort is green or greenwashing, in our last issue of The Green American Magazine, we took a deeper dive into three popular brands with “green options”. To take a deep dive into the fashion industry see our Winter 2019 issue of the Green American Magazine: Unraveling the Fashion Industry.
	Go Green for Free	One person's trash is another person’s treasure, but with a little creativity, some of your waste may never have to make a trip to the landfill. Many items lying around the house can be repurposed into something new without needing to buy anything. Here is a short list of free zero-waste swaps that are kind to your wallet and to the planet. Silverware Wooden utensils are a favorite among zero waste bloggers—but they’re not a necessity, especially when cutlery already exists in our kitchen drawers. Also, many thrift stores such as Salvation Army and Goodwill sell cheap kitchenware. If you’re on the crafty side, try taking an old t-shirt and sewing a wrap for your cutlery to make it easy to-go. Or wrap them with a cloth napkin and slip them in your bag or glove box. Old T-shirts They’re not just the bottom-dwellers in our drawers. They can be cleaning rags and kitchen towels, too! Cut them up to the size you need, and you won’t have to purchase anything—just add them to your laundry routine and run them with hot water when dirty. If you’re crafty, you can turn old t-shirts into yarn for crocheting reusable facial rounds, potholders, and other neat things. Brown Paper Bags Even the most resolute Green Americans will forget a reusable grocery bag from time to time. While recycling and composting are both options, brown paper bags can also double as wrapping paper, book covers, or taped into a mailer for a small package. Old Sheets Do your bed sheets have tears, stains, or are generally not usable anymore? Like old t-shirts, bed sheets are a gold mine for cloth. YouTube and Pinterest have a plethora of how-to’s for cutting your bed sheet into yarn to crochet for rugs, baskets, and more. Check out this simple how-to from YouTube here Grow Your Own Food The industrial agricultural system creates mass amounts of food waste before it even makes it to our plates. Try asking your Buy Nothing group or Facebook Marketplace for seeds to start your own garden or try a locally owned garden shop. You’ll skip the entire agricultural supply chain when you do this and know exactly what’s in your food, too. Permaculture Gardens offers workshops to help urban gardeners make the most of their space. If you’ve got an organic garden going, register it as a Climate Victory Garden with us at greenamerica.org/cvg. Using Up Your Food On the same thread as growing your own food, we can also reduce food waste and save money by doing the mundane: eating leftovers and the long-time residents of our pantries before they spoil. Additionally, “sell by” and “best by” dates are not for the consumer—they’re so the retailer knows how long they’ve been on the shelves. “Use by” dates just mark when the food is at peak quality, not that it has spoiled. The only food that has an actual expiration date—in other words, when the food should not be consumed—is infant formula because it loses nutrients. Therefore, most food past its date belongs on the table, not the trash. Read more about using up food at greenamerica.org/foodwaste. Urban Foraging While a little unorthodox, urban foraging —searching for wild food, like plants and berries—is entirely free. Join an urban foraging class near you or pick up Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons, a reliable guidebook, at the library. As long as you’re searching responsibly, not trespassing, and thoroughly washing what you pick, urban foraging is a low-impact way to add food to your plate without spending a penny. Broken Mugs and Old Candle Containers Candle containers that come with a lid can be repurposed as containers for DIY beauty products, like exfoliant made from used coffee grounds and honey. When a mug handle breaks or a crack develops, its not good at its intended purpose of holding hot drinks anymore; however, it does make a charming container for succulents or other small plants. Gently Used Clothing Organizing a clothing swap is simple: gather a group of friends or co-workers, ask them to bring gently used clothes they don’t wear anymore, and swap amongst yourselves. Clothing swaps are a great way to refresh your wardrobe without buying anything new and keeps perfectly good clothing in use. According to WRAP UK, keeping clothing in use for just nine extra months can reduce the related carbon, water, and waste footprint by 20-30 percent. Read more about the benefits of clothing swaps over donating in “Unraveling the Fashion Industry." This short list is just the beginning—you will likely invent new ways to repurpose things as you go about reducing individual waste. Joining communities online and in-person can help spark creativity and the cross-pollination of zero waste ideas. Browsing the r/zerowaste subreddit, Facebook zero waste groups, and meeting with sustainability-minded people near you are all ways to learn more. Read “What You Gain When You Buy Nothing” to learn more about community-based green living.
	The Voices of a Green America	Over the last decade, podcasts have skyrocketed in popularity—over 100 million people listened to a podcast every week in 2019. Compared to conventional radio stations that have limited airtime and contracts, podcasts offer in-depth storytelling on topics ranging from the daily news to comedy, and true crime to sci-fi stories. Here are a few picks from the Green America staff that cover a wide array of environmental topics. Sustainability Defined Recommended by Beth Porter, Climate Campaigns Director Beth Porter recommends Sustainability Defined, a podcast that explores all facets of sustainability, one topic—and one bad joke—at a time. “I like this podcast because it explores climate solutions that also support communities, interviews experts, and encourages ways to take action,” says Porter. “I liked the August episode on advocacy [episode 42]—with Grist and the Sunrise Movement—and the October episode on biomimicry in nature [episode 44] and how to apply those learnings to organizations. It’s really interesting!” Sustainability Defined brings together different experts for each episode to define sustainability under seven topics: energy, cities, natural environment, transportation, business, society, and policy. Co-hosts Jay Siegel and Scott Breen started the podcast out of their shared passions for the environment, good conversations, bad jokes, and communicating the big picture ideas of sustainability. Each episode is added to an organizational tree to categorize topics for listeners seeking specific themes, making it popular in school curricula. Sustainability Defined is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Similar podcasts: Sustainababble, Living on Earth. Bite Recommended by Jes Walton, Food Campaigns Manager Bite is a podcast for people who think hard about their food. “Bite addresses food issues in a really current context and it shows the connectivity between issues,” says Walton. “It talks about food from lots of different perspectives and it includes controversial topics.” Bite is co-hosted by Mother Jones editors Kiera Butler and Maddie Oatman, as well as acclaimed food journalist Tom Philpott. The informative show invites writers, farmers, scientists, and chefs to help the hosts dig into the politics and science of what we eat and why, revealing the stories behind the food on our plates. The show’s 100th episode featured a Green America Soil Superhero, Leah Penniman from Soul Fire Farm, who spoke about young Black farmers in America fighting the legacy of racism in agriculture. Walton’s other favorite was episode 98, which addressed catering waste from tech company events and local entrepreneurs bringing this to those in need. “Even as someone working in food, I hadn’t thought about this issue or solution,” says Walton. Bite’s recent series, “Eating in Climate Chaos,” explores the role of food in a changing climate; from the newest technologies in lab-grown meat to the way each presidential candidate would influence our dinners. Listen to Bite with additional context on Mother Jones, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Similar podcast: Eating Matters. Think 100% Recommended by Sytonia Reid, Associate Editor Nicknamed “The Coolest Show on Climate Change,” the Hip-Hop Caucus’s Think 100% podcast explores topics like environmental justice, job creation, voter mobilization, and diversity in the climate movement. Instead of arguing the facts on climate change, the podcast focuses on solutions. The co-hosts, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. and Antonique Smith, interview community leaders, elected officials, and entertainers who are using their platform to advocate for climate solutions and share action items with listeners who are eager to get involved. Rev. Yearwood is the president and CEO of the Hip-Hop Caucus and a community activist. Smith is a Grammy-nominated singer, actress, and activist—together, their style brings a realness and relatability to the climate conversation. The theme for season two is “Young People Will Win,” focusing on youth climate heroes pushing climate change to the forefront of the political agenda. Think 100% is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Similar podcasts: No Place Like Home, Mothers of Invention. Drilled Recommended by Mary Meade, Green Business Network & Editorial Fellow Drilled is one of the most alarming environmental podcasts of 2019: as the first investigative true crime-style podcast on climate change, Drilled examines and uncovers the “propaganda campaign of the century—the creation of climate denial.” Season one traces the manufacturing and spread of climate denial, funded by corporations. Host Amy Westervelt is an award-winning climate journalist who pieces together primary source documents, uncovers the history of fossil fuel-funded influence campaigns, and interviews former Exxon scientists to get to the bottom of climate denial as we know it. “I listen to podcasts mostly when I’m traveling,” says Meade, “so I like to get into mysteries to help pass the time. Drilled took that and added climate change to unravel the truth behind climate denial history.” Drilled’s second season—called “Hot Water”—looks at West Coast crab fisherman who are experiencing the devastating impacts of the climate crisis first-hand. This industry has become the first to sue big oil. Listen to Drilled on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and TuneIn. Similar podcasts: Warm Regards, Hot Take.
	Banking On Hope and Investing in Communities	HOPE Credit Union is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving the Mississippi Delta region of the United States, which encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. With a mission to strengthen economically under-served communities, HOPE provides financial services and engages in policy analysis. In 2019, HOPE authored the “HBCU-CDFI Economic Mobility Strategy Guide,” a pioneering framework for the ways that CDFIs and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) can work together to advance economic mobility, inclusion, and even justice. Since this report speaks to the heart of Green America’s work to harness economic action for social justice and the environment, we seized the opportunity to interview William J. Bynum. Bill is the CEO of HOPE, board member of several social justice organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the William Winter Center for Racial Reconciliation, and a longtime friend of Green America. Bill spoke with associate editor Sytonia Reid about the report. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Green American/Sytonia Reid: HOPE serves lower-income communities in the Mississippi Delta. Can you give some background about the economic challenges in the region? Bill Bynum: The Delta encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. One-third of the nation's persistent poverty counties are in the Mississippi Delta region and federal funds have not been invested in economic development of these towns. We’re not a reinvestment priority area for any of the national banks and don’t have megabanks that support community development in larger markets like New York, Boston, and Chicago. So, these are resource-constrained areas and we’ve decided to build on what we have and that’s the people. Through our HOPE Community Partnerships, we review the economic data of certain communities, ask residents and leaders what would most improve conditions there and from that, we develop strategic plans. Green American/Sytonia Reid: How did the idea for the “HBCU-CDFI Economic Mobility Guide” come about? Bill Bynum: In 2019, we expanded our HOPE Community Partnerships programs to engage HBCUs, which are the primary financial anchor in many low-income communities across the Deep South. We have more HBCUs per capita than most other parts of the country and the poverty rate in neighborhoods surrounding HBCUs is 10 percent higher than that of PWIs (Predominantly White Institutions). [Editor’s note: HBCUs and PWIs aren’t the only types of colleges. There are 304 Hispanic Serving Institutions, which are colleges that have 25 percent or more full-time Hispanic undergraduate students, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI). The US has 107 HBCUs with 37 located in the Deep South.] Since HOPE started over 25 years ago, we’ve known that we can’t fulfill our mission alone, and there are certain institutions that share our interests, HBCUs especially. Over the last three years, HOPE Community Partnerships has worked with seven neighborhoods in the city of Itta Bena, Mississippi, where Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) is located. MVSU has produced brilliant minds in the heart of the Mississippi Delta but it is one of the least-funded public institutions in the state. Since MVSU is an anchor institution—one of the primary financial assets in Itta Bena with historical ties to the city—it was a natural partner. With our headquarters being in Jackson, Mississippi, working with Jackson State University was also a natural next step. Green American/Sytonia Reid: What is it about HBCUs that empower them to put students of color on a path to economic mobility? Bill Bynum: While we know that HBCUs are under-resourced, they outperform in their return to their communities and in the nation. Research shows that students who move from the bottom two percentile to the top two quintiles [60th to 100th percentiles] were twice as high at HBCUs compared to at PWIs. HBCUs only represent three percent of all US colleges but they enroll 10 percent of all African American students and produce 17 percent of all African American graduates, so they play a critical role in helping some of the most vulnerable members in society become prosperous and contribute to the economy. Bill Bynum, photo courtesy of HOPE Credit Union. Green American/Sytonia Reid: The report mentions that two of the major lessons gained from the partnership is the importance of 1) knowing the history of community development efforts near HBCU campuses and 2) building relationships. How did HOPE learn these lessons? Bill Bynum: We did several focus groups and it became very clear that the residents know more about their community than anyone. We were privileged to have the opportunity to work with community leaders, elected leaders, and HBCU administrators to find common ground. Like other campus neighborhoods, there can be tension between “town and gown,” so intentionally creating a process for honest conversations was important. I think it was also helpful that we already had a presence in these communities with staff who’ve lived in these neighborhoods and attended these universities—that gave us credibility to play the role of facilitator. Green American/Sytonia Reid: What are some of the top shared priorities between residents in Itta Bena, West Jackson, and the HBCU campuses? Bill Bynum: The priorities are consistent across the Mississippi Delta. We recently met with the leadership of Alabama State University (ASU) in Montgomery and quality, affordable housing is a major need. In some of the neighborhoods surrounding HBCU campuses, there are blighted properties that bring undesirable elements like crime, and that is a priority that we’re working on. Another is the need for jobs and one of the things we do is support small businesses. The gap between white and Black entrepreneurs is 3:1 and the average white American family's net-worth is almost ten times greater than that of an African American family. The more we can support Black-owned businesses, which you will likely find near HBCU campuses, the more we can create wealth. Access to grocery stores is another issue, and we’ve heard stories of students who are on campus during seasonal breaks and can’t find healthy food because there are no nearby grocery stores that sell fresh produce. These are all areas that align with HOPE’s capabilities and that we have experience in. Green American/Sytonia Reid: Does the HBCU-CDFI Economic Mobility Strategy Guide include a framework for how HBCU communities can access CDFI services? Bill Bynum: We’re in a partnership with ASU to hire students and implement a financial education program that will address student debt, which is a significant issue on HBCU campuses, particularly for upperclassmen whose debt could prevent them from graduating. We want to restructure debt so that it’s not as much of a burden. 80 percent of the staff at ASU are members of HOPE and we’re looking to deepen that relationship by tailoring our services to meet campus needs. Green American/Sytonia Reid: As we talk about community development and HBCUs, I wonder if there are strategies HOPE uses to ensure that development benefits longtime residents? Washington, DC, for example, is the most rapidly gentrifying US city and one of the areas where gentrification is most visible is near Howard University’s (an HBCU) campus. Bill Bynum: I think we can do it by amplifying the voices of residents and equipping them to control their fate. Fostering agency is the root of why HOPE exists in the first place, and the more that people feel they have stake in their communities and can hold elected officials accountable, the more we’ll see outcomes that benefit their interests.
	Planting Seeds of Climate Hope	One calorie of food grown on a conventional farm takes 10 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce. That’s because industrial agriculture relies on energy-intensive chemical inputs and results in difficult-to-manage waste. This linear system is wreaking havoc on our planet and it just doesn’t make sense. Conventional agriculture depends on the production, transportation and use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers that release enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Even though these chemicals are expensive, they’re often used in excess in conventional systems, with waste polluting nearby ecosystems and waterways because yields take priority over environmental health. In industrial agriculture, imperfect produce is often wasted and animals are raised on concentrated lots where manure causes additional pollution concerns. The systems that once defined agricultural and nutrient cycles are broken. Emissions from our global food system account for nearly one third of all climate change-causing greenhouse gases. But research by the Rodale Institute has shown that widespread adoption of regenerative growing methods could sequester a significant amount of the world’s current emissions. There’s hope, and it can start at home. With the right practices, your Climate Victory Garden has the potential to be an efficient, climate-friendly closed loop. Instead of relying on fossil fuels, you can harness the energy of the sun and soil for your food. Tina Jacobs, owner of Devine Gardens, supplies gardeners with compost created on her 70-acre regenerative farm. For her, soil health, and nutrient cycling are key to closing the loop. “When plants grow, they take up nutrients from the soil. They pass these nutrients to you when you eat them and it’s your job as a Climate Victory Gardener to return nutrients to the soil for future growing seasons,” says Jacobs. “Nourish your soil and your soil will nourish you.” Acadia Tucker, author of Growing Good Food from Stone Pier Press, looks to healthy ecosystems for guidance. “Think of a forest: Nutrient-rich leaves fall to the ground where insects, fungi, bacteria, and other critters incorporate the fallen material into the soil,” says Tucker. “This cycle builds topsoil packed with nutrients that support more plant growth. It’s a process that replenishes ecosystems the world over, from forests to grasslands.” When you start looking for ways to reduce waste and close the loop in your garden, you’ll find that minor changes can have major impacts. Instead of raking, bagging, and discarding leaves, you can compost them on site, creating fodder for healthy soil microbes. It’s easier on the wallet and beneficial for your garden. Plus, it eliminates the pollution associated with single-use plastics, waste pickup services, and fertilizer production. Dr. Sasha Kramer is the co-founder and executive director of SOIL, an organization that treats and transforms human waste into agricultural-grade compost in Haiti. She advocates for ditching commercial fertilizers and instead regenerating soil fertility with organic matter. “By recycling waste into the soil, we are reestablishing the broken nutrient cycles that tie us to the land,” Kramer says. “Compost helps the soil sequester carbon and increase plant growth—a win for both climate and agriculture.” Curious about “humanure” and safely composting human waste? Read more about Dr. Kramer’s work to transform a public health issue into an environmental solution on her Soil SuperHero profile. [Editor’s note: We don’t recommend composting human waste unless you’re an expert or working closely with one.] Looking for more ways to close the loop in your garden? Seed saving, sharing excess harvest, and using graywater are all great ways to decrease your garden’s footprint and become even more self-sufficient. For Climate Victory Gardening tips, visit our guide.
	The Upsides of Downsizing	Look around your home and think about all the ways you use this place where you spend much of your time. You’ve heard about the circular economy and zero waste, but have you considered how your space itself could be contributing to your environmental footprint? Despite the fact that census surveys show that American families are shrinking, the same data show that our homes continue to get larger and larger. Living large seems quintessentially American; in fact, over the last forty years, the average size of a home in the US has increased by 1000 square feet. But when houses grow, the effects go far beyond simply adding an extra room. Larger houses require significant energy usage, with the average American home using approximately 914 kWh per month. Additionally, the space required for large houses can reduce biodiversity by breaking up habitats. Living in a smaller place can have the added benefit of reducing your footprint in other ways, including some that we may not initially notice. Downsizing for the Earth People who have downsized prove you don’t need to sacrifice comfort for the Earth. By reducing the size of your home, you can save money, make more time for the things you truly love, and reduce your environmental footprint in the process. Miranda Anderson, small-space blogger and host of the Live Free Creative podcast, recounted her experience moving from a 2500-square-foot home to a 1000-square-foot home with her family of five. “It feels just right—it’s the just right amount of space and just right amount of furniture,” Anderson says. “We knew from a financial perspective how it would reduce our water, electrical, and gas, because when you’re in a big house, you don’t even realize how you’re putting energy in a corner of the house you never go in.” Dr. Maria Saxton, a researcher focusing on the tiny house movement, found just this phenomenon when she conducted a study on the environmental footprints of tiny house residents. These people take downsizing to the next level by living in a space of 100 to 400 square feet. While there is not a cap on space to be considered a tiny house, residents who identify their homes as such generally live within this size. Dr. Saxton’s study found that the average American has an ecological footprint of 8.4 global hectares, while those that have lived in tiny homes for over a year have a considerably lower footprint at 3.87 global hectares—about a 45 percent difference. The hectare measurement is a universal scale of carbon emissions and shows the amount of land that would be required to counter an individual’s ecological footprint, making a small change significant. Enrich Your Life People interested in downsizing don’t have to go straight into a tiny house to reduce their footprint. For Anderson, simply transitioning to a smaller house sparked lifestyle changes. “Downsizing almost created a domino effect for the people in my study,” says Dr. Saxton. “Things like their diet, their transportation, especially the purchasing habits and recycling habits, there’s a myriad of things that downsizing influences in other parts of your lifestyle.” Dr. Saxton found that respondents reduced the amount of meat in their diet, ate less food packaged in plastic, and even flew less. The full effects impacts of these trends aren’t entirely known, but these far-reaching effects are encouraging. Tiny houses are part of a relatively new movement and represent the extremes of downsizing, but the positive impacts of transitioning into smaller homes shows that in addition to improving your environmental impact, downsizing influences all aspects of your life. The tiny house residents Dr. Saxton interviewed said that their living situations left them better able to save and spend on what they care about most, like travel, children’s education, or other goals. “They would say things like, ‘now I have more money to travel,’” Dr. Saxton says. “‘Now I have more money to set aside for my children’s college education or to save.’” Anderson started downsizing at the same time as she decided to challenge herself and her family to not buy any non-consumable goods for a year. “We started to spend our time and money in new ways,” Anderson says. “And that for us was experiences, adventures, and traveling, like going on picnics and taking my kids to the park more often. Our motto ended up being ‘less stuff; more adventure.’” The Downsizers Community Both Anderson and Dr. Saxton found that when you downsize, you may become engaged with the “buy less” community (see more here). The sharing economy is very important to the downsizing movement, as downsizers can find clothing, furniture, and other household items, all without contributing to further waste. “This enables them to volunteer both in their communities, or spend more time with their family,” Dr. Saxton says. “They’re going out into their community and doing what they want to be doing.” Anderson agrees with Dr. Saxton’s findings, saying that downsizing forced her to narrow her shopping to necessities. It was easier than she expected, because her smaller living space would have made it impossible to store more items than just what she needed. Even after the year of not shopping ended, Anderson didn’t fall out of the habit of buying less. “I realized really quickly that I was not shopping,” she says. “I opened up so much space, resources, and extra money in our budget every month because I hadn’t gone to Target to buy random things.” The Path Forward Although small apartments are permitted under zoning laws, many municipalities restrict the construction of residences under 400-500 square feet, making tiny houses effectively impossible to build. As a result, many residents take advantage of their mobility and use large vehicles to tow their homes to rural areas, friends’ properties, or RV parks. Of course, tiny houses aren’t the only good options for downsizing; apartments feature benefits these freestanding residences can lack. Tiny houses can have external energy footprints from activities that may be impossible to fit inside, like showering at a gym or eating out for meals that can’t be made in micro-kitchens, while apartments are likely to contain the basics. Architectural researchers have found that apartment buildings also have very low embodied carbon levels, and the condensed living arrangements further reduce individual footprints. Home-sharing and co-ops also allow for more traditional living styles while still having a positive impact on the environment. Green America partners with green housing organizations (find them by searching for housing at GreenPages.org) that help residents choose homes that reduce energy and space. Additionally, living in a small apartment close to work would allow for even shorter commutes and access to mass transit, making it a practical option for young professionals. Thom Stanton's Tiny Home For Thom Stanton and his family, downsizing seemed like the best way they could make a difference in their personal lives. “I’m not going to be the person who invented the scrubber for the upper stratosphere,” says Stanton. “But with this home, the smaller the house, the less that goes into it from the start and the ongoing efficiency is incredible—we predominantly run off of a 400-watt space heater.” Our growing houses have taken a toll on our environment. These stories show that downsizing can reduce your footprint and waste. It can even free up money and time for the people and activities you care about most.
	What You Gain When You Buy Nothing	When Cory Chow’s sister got married, Cory bought a bridesmaid’s dress. After the wedding, she put it in her closet, where it hung there for more than three years. Then, someone on her local Washington, DC, “Buy Nothing” Facebook group posted in search of a formal dress in her size. “Being able to pass it along to a neighbor who would otherwise be buying a new dress gives me the little push I needed to let it go,” Chow says. Across the country, groups are popping up where people can participate in burgeoning low-consumption and low-waste communities. These groups are both informal and formal and can be hyperlocal or part of municipal efforts. What makes them special is that they challenge American culture’s “buy more” messaging as they help people save money and engage with neighbors. Zero Waste & Buy Nothing The Zero Waste movement is not new. The idea goes across cultures over the centuries, back to the ideas of “waste not, want not,” and “use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without.” But between the Great Depression and the beginning of the 1950s, that thinking changed in America. In 1955, Life Magazine published an article celebrating “throwaway society” which framed convenience food, paper towels, and disposable diapers as giving back time to housewives. Plastic did save people time, but now we see the societal and environmental costs of having an economy based on products that are designed to be thrown out. All along, there have been people going against the grain to be thrifty and make do. It finally seems that those people are becoming part of the mainstream again. Many forward-thinking cities are starting to implement Zero Waste plans to encourage reducing consumption, composting, and recycling. Encouraging these ideas can save municipalities money for incineration and landfill space. In 2013, Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller started “Buy Nothing Bainbridge” on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where they lived. Their project was founded on the principle of “give where you live” and encourages members to give freely and ask for what they need. Since 2013, Buy Nothing participants have grown to number over a million in at least 25 countries. While people may join groups as they declutter or to save money, the Project says “a gift economy’s real wealth is the people involved and the web of connections that forms to support them.” Of course, social movements are only as strong as the people in them. Luckily, they’re everywhere. Living with Less Polly Barks cared about the planet but didn’t engage far beyond recycling in her home. She was (and still is) living in a low-income and food-insecure neighborhood in Lafayette, Indiana, and wasn’t making much money herself. Waiting for the bus one day, she couldn’t help but notice plastic trash sitting at her ankles. She realized if she wasn’t part of the solution of excess waste and litter, then she was part of the problem. “I realized I always had the privilege of being away from trash. But I was in this neighborhood where I really had to confront it,” says Barks. “I didn’t have money and I didn’t really have connections in this new city. But the one thing I could control was my waste.” Barks didn’t stop at curbing her own waste. She wanted to find a community to share tips, hold each other accountable, and take collective action, but realized she’d have to work at it. Her first meetup attracted only three people, but they enjoyed sharing tips and getting to know each other. Over time, she joined a Buy Nothing group, put a “Little Free Pantry” in her yard to give pantry staples and the bounty of her garden to her neighbors. Now, Barks is the co-organizer of a local climate action group. Its first goal is to get the city to instate a climate action plan. “Zero waste as it’s often presented is insular. […] Sustainability needs to be community-oriented, but too often it isn’t,” says Barks. “What I always tell people is, ‘what is the point of you creating a mason jar of trash every year if all your neighbors are throwing out ten giant trash cans every week?’ Or, ‘what’s the point of a trash jar if your neighbors are hungry?’” Two thousand miles away, in Lafayette, California, lives Nancy Hu, a self-identified “Zero Waste Mom.” She works as a dentist for the Department of Veterans Affairs and has accepted that hers is an inherently wasteful industry. Her spare time, though, is dedicated to creating less trash and helping others do the same. It isn’t always easy, but it is rewarding to work with members of her community and figure out how to create less waste together. Hu got an idea from the City of Palo Alto’s Zero Waste team to put together a “zero waste party pack:” a set of reusable dishes, cups, and flatware to loan out to residents for parties. She took on the project herself and is eager to share the pack with community members, even when it means arriving early and staying late at her kids’ piano recital to collect the party pack. “Reducing plastic waste is like a gateway drug to political action. If you can make positive steps in your own personal life, say, reducing plastic waste within your own circle of influence, you can feel pretty good,” Hu says. “You start realizing and seeing a bigger picture behind why it is you’re doing what you’re doing. Then you realize there are limitations of personal action, and that leads you to doing more in your community and getting involved. At least, that’s has happened with me, and how I’ve seen it happen to those around me.” Hu became the administrator of her local Buy Nothing group and hosts six TerraCycle bins in her backyard so neighbors can drop off hard-to-recycle waste, like cigarette butts and kids’ apple sauce pouches. When the bins fill up, she sends them to the company for recycling (read more about TerraCycle here). She also joined a 2018 training for climate activists put on by Al Gore’s nonprofit The Climate Reality Project, after which she got involved with her local chapter working on public comments and rallies in the Bay Area. Putting the You in Community Reducing demand for new items and reducing trash both have obvious benefits for the Earth and your wallet, but joining communities like these can boost your self-esteem, too. A 2012 study from Stanford psychologists showed that even small cues of social connection can boost personal motivation for shared goals (like getting a community to reduce its waste). A study from the University of North Carolina showed that positive social connections could improve your physical health as well as your mood. Cory Chow, who finally donated her bridesmaid dress from her Buy Nothing Group, got something in return, too: a heavy-duty thermos to help reduce her use of disposable cups. She says she uses it every day. Whether you’re giving or requesting, have something to teach about waste or a lot to learn, communities are out there. Find your local group by searching buy nothing, zero waste, or another term and your town name on Google, Facebook, or Meetup. Don’t forget to ask around on NextDoor, your local listserv, or at in-person community events, too. If you come up short, start your own group by registering with Buy Nothing or spread the word about a zero waste group on social media, local bulletin boards, and listservs.
	Come As You Are: Zero Waste for Everyone	Balled-up paper towels, plastic food containers and crumpled stationery: when Anamarie Shreeves did her first trash analysis back in 2013, these were some of the most common culprits she found in the pile, and it probably isn’t far off from what many of us would find if we perused our own. The average American produces roughly 1,700 lbs of trash per year, which is almost three times the global average, according to a 2019 report by the research group Verisk Maplecroft. Though waste-prevention practices have always been around, “going zero waste” has gained momentum in recent years as advocates take to social media to model their lifestyle. While everyone can produce less waste, we can’t all do it the same way. For this lifestyle switch to make a real impact on our planet, it is important to understand the ways that rigid zero-waste “rules” can exclude certain groups and find low-waste solutions that allow everybody to get involved. But First, What is Zero Waste? Zero waste encompasses a strict set of principles that lead to zero percent of personal waste going in the trash can. Some zero- and low waste advocates have expanded the Three Rs rule to include repair and refuse, so everyday habits include: refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle. “[A trash analysis] turns on a visual lens that most of us have never exercised before, and once you become aware of your trash there’s no turning that off,” says Shreeves. She’s the founder of Fort Negrita, an online community where she shares waste reduction tips and hosts a store that sells reusable cloth menstrual pads and upcycled products. Shreeves says the metaphorical “Fort Negrita” is where resilience, green spaces, and “Black girl magic” meet. Trash analyses draw the connection between the waste we produce at home and what we see when we drive by a dump. It’s a literal deep dive people do by sorting through their trash bins and identifying items that could have been recycled, composted, or maybe didn’t need to be bought in the first place. Often these are single-use items like napkins, plastic bags, and food scraps. Invite Only: Exclusivity in Zero Waste While consciousness of our consumer habits is an important aspect to reducing waste, where a person lives and their socioeconomic circumstance are not as adjustable. Shreeves, who lives in Atlanta, says she used to shop regularly at a natural foods market but had to cut back after she started grad school and stopped working full-time. “If a zero-waste lifestyle is out of your means, you simply can’t do it. But that doesn’t mean that you’re less of an environmentalist,” says Shreeves. While she has incorporated these habits into her own life, Shreeves doesn’t call herself a “zero waster,” because of the barriers to inclusivity that everyday people face when it comes to pursuing a completely zero waste lifestyle. For example, getting food from bulk and fresh produce sections of grocery stores is key to reducing plastic waste, but at least 23.5 million Americans live in communities where access to fresh produce is extremely limited. Eighteen million Americans also live in neighborhoods where water systems are in violation of EPA lead standards. While the plastic water bottle has become a symbol for unsustainability to some, it remains a reminder of a national environmental injustice for others. Freweyni Asress has been living a low-waste lifestyle for four years and is the founder of the Zero Waste Habesha community (named so in homage to her Ethiopian roots). Her work focuses on the experiences of Black people and land sovereignty. “I started doing low waste for similar reasons as many others who are in that mainstream culture—to reduce my impact,” Asress says. “But my intentions evolved as I learned more about environmental racism, environmental justice, indigenity, and eco-movements in Ethiopia.” Food insecurity disproportionately harms African American and Latin American communities, according to the nonprofit Move for Hunger, and is one example of how constructs like race and class can intersect with a person’s environmentalism. What society considers “normal” ability is another: In 2018, when Starbucks announced that it would eliminate plastic straws, the news sparked debate about ableism within the environmental movement, since plastic straws are considered a necessity for many disabled individuals. Disability rights advocates recommended offering straws by request only, instead of creating outright bans. Another way we can understand the role of privilege in zero waste spaces is by taking a closer look at who is most burdened by waste and who works hardest to reduce it. Married American mothers spend twice as much time on housework than fathers, according to a 2012 Oxford study. Since domestic activities like cooking and cleaning can generate preventable waste, many women find themselves taking on sustainability leadership roles in their households—and there are numerous zero-waste blogs, YouTube channels, and Instagram accounts run by working moms to prove it. A 2017 Scientific American study also found that some men perceive eco-friendly behaviors as feminine and may avoid them because of it. “When it comes to gender, there may be a lack of interest among men and it’s up to them to get involved,” says activist Rob Greenfield. Greenfield famously wore a suit made of trash around New York City for 30 days to bring attention to the waste crisis and in 2019, he completed one year of growing 100 percent of his own food while living in Orlando, Florida. “Men need to overcome the idea of masculine versus feminine and that’s no easy task in a society that has ingrained these ideas about gender,” says Greenfield. “Carrying a pouch of reusable items, for example, is considered feminine but men have to overcome these stigmas.” All of this is to say that where we live, what we buy, and how we use products are all indicative of the types of privilege each of us may have. Will You Have This Dance? It’s often said that inclusivity goes beyond inviting someone to a party; it’s asking them to dance. Here are a few actions you can take to foster inclusivity along your own low-waste journey: Celebrate Everyday Actions: Mundane habits like eating leftovers and sharing hand-me-downs may not seem like much, but they prevent a lot of waste. So does taking reusable items like tote bags, food containers, and silverware with you on-the-go. Don’t Eco-Shame: When we know the power of our everyday actions, it’s tempting to judge others who we don’t feel are exercising that power. Keep in mind that sustainability looks different across cultures and communities and the best way to inspire isn’t to be preachy, but lead by example. Learn From Others: Sustainability looks different across cultures and communities. Seek out low-wasters from different backgrounds and ask yourself what can you learn, support, and adapt for your own low-waste life. You can follow @FortNegrita, @ZeroWasteHabesha, and @RobGreenfield on social media for ideas. Embrace Low Waste: Everyone who starts their journey may not get to 100 percent zero waste, but appreciating the steps people are taking to radically reduce wastecreates a sense of empowerment and community.
	What is the Circular Economy?	Turning bike tires into bags, sugar cane waste into to-go boxes, and reclaimed wood to new flooring is what the circular economy looks like. Each of these trash-to-treasure concepts are real practices by real businesses: Green Guru, which makes outdoor gear out of busted bike tubes and old climbing rope; Greenline Paper Company, which offers compostable to-go clamshells from bagasse (sugar cane waste fiber); and Pioneer Millworks which takes wood from dilapidated buildings for new home building projects. These are just a few examples of business leaders redefining capitalism as a mechanism to care for the planet instead of taking advantage of it. While this concept is getting more press in recent years, it is not a new phenomenon—compassionate businesses have been coming together for decades under Green America’s Green Business Network® to demonstrate unity for a circular economy. While there are several schools of thought that inform a circular economy—from cradle to cradle, to natural capitalism, to industrial ecology—at its most basic level, a circular economy is about rethinking supply chains to minimize waste. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes it in three parts: “designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.” This economic model takes the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, and scales them throughout society. Read more about the various schools of thought at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s website. Conversely, our country runs on a linear economy: we take resources, make products, and when we tire of them or they outlive their usefulness, throw them away. This take-make-toss model operates as if resources are infinite—whereas the circular economy makes the most of the planet’s resources while giving back. The following case studies from Wrangler, TerraCycle, and Green America’s Center for Sustainability Solutions demonstrate examples of each piece in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation definition of designing out waste, keeping things in use, and regeneration. Design Out Waste Most pollution and waste occur early in the supply chain, not from consumer purchasing. For example, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) states that about one-fifth of the world’s industrial water pollution occurs in textile mills, long before the finished clothing items make it to the hands of buyers. Green America’s winter 2019 issue, “Unraveling the Fashion Industry,” took a deep dive into the world of harmful fashion be an authoritative resource on issues and victories throughout the industry. Jeans alone will go through several chemical-intensive washes to get that “lived in” look (unless you’re buying raw denim, yours have gone through this too), generating a significant amount of wastewater; however, by designing out waste at the beginning of the supply chain, businesses have the opportunity to generate industry- wide positive impacts. Wrangler’s newest denim collection is one such example. In 2019, the brand released Indigood™, a collection that uses a foam-dyeing process to eliminate 100 percent of wastewater from the indigo dyeing process. Wrangler collaborated with Texas Tech University, Indigo Mill Designs and the Spanish fabric company Tejidos Royo to bring the foam-dyed denim to market. Compared to conventional denim manufacturing, which uses around 1,500 to 2,000 liters of water by dipping denim yarn in 12 to 14 different dyeboxes—imagine bathtubs filled with dye—the foam dyeing processes uses almost no water. “Instead of using water to carry the indigo dye, this process uses foam, which is comprised mostly of air. The foam is introduced via applicator brushes and the yarn runs over it,” says Roian Atwood, Wrangler’s director of sustainability, who states the technology is a totally different system than conventional methods. The Indigood Collection was originally released in 2019 and is currently available in stores. Atwood says Wrangler intends to increase the amount of foam-dyed denim throughout their entire collection. “We want to incorporate foam-dyed denim into our products as fast as possible, because without water, you eliminate wastewater,” says Atwood. “And a denim mill that isn’t producing wastewater as a result of its operations is almost unheard of.” Additionally, Atwood states that Wrangler won’t monopolize the foam-dyed denim market. Wrangler has already shared the technology with competitors because of its potential to completely change the denim industry. For a notoriously water-intensive item of clothing, the foam-dyeing process offers a clear solution to designing out waste near the beginning of the supply chain—the first piece in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s definition of a circular economy. Keep in Use A linear economy turns a profit off waste: Americans threw away 4.51 pounds of trash per person per day in 2017, according to the EPA. Most of that discarded material comes from goods that are used briefly, such as food waste and packaging materials. As these items are replaced, they perpetuate the take-make-waste model of a linear economy. Combating this model begins with re-imagining how these materials are wasted and is also the second part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s circular economy definition: keeping items in use longer. In the Wrangler example, pollution and waste must be managed by businesses and therefore, are out of the average person’s control; however, we do have control over how often we buy items, how long we use them, and how we repurpose them. Food waste and some paper materials can be composted, which gives them a new life as fertilizer. Certain plastics, metals, and glass can be recycled in curbside bins, too. But what about household items that can’t be composted, repaired, or recycled? Empty toothpaste tubes, dead car batteries, and dried out markers are a few examples of “unrecyclables”— in other words, items that are not accepted by municipal recycling and thus, landfilled. This is where TerraCycle comes in. “TerraCycle’s mission has always been ‘to eliminate the idea of waste,’” says Sue Kauffman, the North American public relations manager of the recycling company, which has been in operation for over a decade. TerraCycle is a leader in recycling the unrecyclable—the company partners with major consumer goods manufacturers to offer recycling programs. In 2019 alone, TerraCycle collected and diverted over 30 million pounds of post-consumer and post-industrial waste from landfills. The company won Green America’s People and Planet Award in 2015 for recycling innovation and has since won additional accolades and expanded to 21 countries. The recycling company offers multiple programs for collecting unrecyclables, from the Zero Waste Box program for picking up nearly every type of waste, to the Regulated Waste program for items like fluorescent lamps and batteries that would be hazardous in a landfill. To make these programs possible, TerraCycle works with a variety of third-party processing subcontractors that sort and reprocess the waste into usable raw materials for new product manufacturing. Whenever possible, these processing locations are located near where the collections take place. TerraCycle’s newest project, Loop, follows the “milkman model”—like when the milkman came to the doorstep with a fresh delivery and picked up used containers. Loop expands on this concept with familiar consumer brands by delivering reusable and recyclable packaging of everyday products instead of single-use packaging. “With the launch of Loop, a fully circular economy was our desired outcome,” says Kauffman. “Through all of the waste reduction programs offered by TerraCycle, we have redefined the concept of what truly is waste and encouraged consumers and the packaged goods industry alike to reconsider what can be given a second life through recycling.” Regenerate Natural Systems In nature, waste does not exist. When a leaf falls, it becomes food for microorganisms, then becomes part of the soil to feed the tree. While there are multiple schools of thought educating circular economy theory, the concept of ‘waste as food’ is an underlying theme. Thus, the third foundational pillar of a circular economy is regenerating natural systems; not only does this principle close the loop of a circular economy, it has the potential to protect and improve the environment by returning nutrients to ecosystems. Vermicomposting (composting using live worms) is an example: in a household vermicompost system, earthworms are fed kitchen waste, from eggshells to orange peels. Their eliminated waste can be used as a nutrient-dense fertilizer. Now imagine that process on a much larger scale, considering increased biodiversity, soil health, and surrounding ecosystems. This is the idea of regenerative agriculture. Mary Johnson, the Carbon Farming Innovation Network director at Green America, explains that regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming that mimics nature to create a healthy and symbiotic ecosystem. “Over the last hundred years, conventional and tillage-based farming systems have not reflected how important living organisms are,” says Johnson. “Regenerative agriculture uses knowledge of how nature works on a deep, complex systems level to farm in harmony with those systems, rather than dumbing them down to the most reductionist, controlled approach that relies heavily on applications of toxic chemicals and sterilized soils.” Regenerative agriculture also has the capacity to capture carbon and store it in the ground, reducing the effects of the climate crisis and sequestering global carbon emissions. Read more in “Planting Seeds of Climate Hope." With this in mind, regenerative agriculture has the potential to not only protect natural ecosystems but improve deteriorated conditions caused by conventional agriculture. Project Drawdown ranks regenerative agriculture as its 11th highest-impact solution to climate change. The practices of farming regeneratively are applicable to both small, worker-owned or family farms as well as large corporations are looking to incorporate regenerative methods in their supply chains. In 2018, Green America announced its collaboration with DanoneWave—a maker of dairy and plant-based products such as coffee creamer and yogurt—to implement regenerative agriculture practices in its supply chain, as well as to develop a certification for regenerative farms. If regenerative agriculture becomes widely adopted, it has the potential to drastically alter our economic relationship with food, the land, and the climate. Closing the Loop Collectively, each of these case studies offer a glimpse at what is possible in a circular economy. The shift would require all facets of society to participate—from government and business, to cities and individuals—but the momentum is already growing. Climate change has never mattered more to American voters. Businesses across the nation are increasingly taking the initiative to be greener. A circular economy is the only economic model that can support humanity on planet Earth—and it is more important than ever.
	Consume Less, Live More	As the calendar shifted from 2019 to 2020, it felt like other shifts occurred too—with the US elections on the horizon and Australia on fire for the last few months, many are waking up to the reality of climate change and the growing need to act on it. Trying times are times for trying, right? This is a moment when we can all look at our habits and challenge ourselves to make change. How can we make do with what we have? When it comes to things we must buy, like food, how can we get the greenest, cleanest food with the least plastic trash coming along with it? Learn how to take some simple steps for cutting down on your personal waste in “Go Green for Free”. And your food can get to you with the least chemical inputs if you’re able to grow it yourself—read how your garden can feed you and nourish itself with regenerative gardening techniques in “Planting Seeds of Climate Hope." These are choices we can make for ourselves every day, but this is also a moment for inclusivity. As we stand up for the Earth, we have to also consider how we can welcome our friends and neighbors into our environmental and social justice communities, as Polly Barks and Nancy Hu do in “What You Get When You Buy Nothing." While everyone can produce less waste, we can’t all do it the same way. In order for this lifestyle switch to make a real impact on our planet, it is important to understand the ways that rigid zero-waste “rules” can exclude certain groups and find low-waste solutions that create space for everybody to get involved. Read more about how privilege plays into this movement in “Come As You Are: Zero Waste for Everyone." This work, like so much of our economic work, starts with individual action. Then we join hands with neighbors to form and improve communities. Our communities can work together around the world to hold companies accountable, because companies are responsible for most of the pollution— through high demand for dirty energy and pushing impulse purchases that lead to waste (the ubiquitous Amazon does both, unfortunately). Our communities join together to hold local and national governments accountable too, as they have the power to rein in corporate excess and allocate funds to clean up pollution or act in other ways to help those who have less means and privilege. One of the ways you can stand up to corporations is, as always, visiting GreenAmerica.org and participating in our many corporate actions—like Cool It!, our new campaign telling Walmart to end the use of climate-polluting gases in its refrigeration, which make up half of the company’s emissions and rapidly escalate climate change. Here at Green America, we also join hands in coalitions with allies to leverage change faster. For example, building on our campaigns to pressure Amazon on both environment and justice issues, we have joined the Athena coalition as a leading member. The coalition brings together nearly 50 nonprofits, unions, and community organizations to force Amazon to take accountability for its bad actions to the Earth, its workers, the communities it’s located in, and even to the country. Read more about Amazon and Athena. What will you do as an individual and as part of the global community to reduce your waste this year, and to make the Earth happier for yourself and others—to consume less and live more?
	Consume Less, Live More	Making the most of what you have isn’t just good for the environment. Bucking wasteful consumer culture can build community and save money as individuals team up to save the planet.
	E-Commerce Times
	Jeff Bezos Puts Up $10B From His Pocket to Fight Climate Change	Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday announced a commitment of US$10 billion of his personal money to the newly launched Bezos Earth Fund to fight climate change. "Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," Bezos wrote. "This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) -- any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world." The fund will begin issuing grants this summer, Bezos said. The $10 billion commitment is to start the effort, which suggests he will contribute more money in the future. Whether he does so "likely will depend on what the reaction to this investment is," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. Reactions to the Announcement The $10 billion "is not sufficient," said Charlotte Tate, labor justice campaigns manager at Green America. "While it's good that Jeff Bezos is finally recognizing that we're facing a climate crisis, he needs to tackle Amazon's massive climate emissions more quickly and effectively in order to create sustainable climate solutions," she told the E-Commerce Times. Amazon emitted 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2018, an amount Green America said was "larger than the emissions of UPS and FedEx, and the emissions of Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft. "We applaud Jeff Bezos' philanthropy but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away," Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said in a statement. AECJ pointed to Amazon's signing up oil and gas companies for its services; funding think tanks like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which denies climate change; and the company's threat to fire employees for speaking out publicly about its role in the climate crisis. "People often seem to want to be critical before learning what they are being critical about, and thus are working against the greater good in many cases rather than for it," Enderle told the E-Commerce Times. "If we want wealthy people to donate to causes like this it might be wise to cut back on the criticism." Many tech companies have announced efforts to combat climate change. "Almost every tech giant is focused on driving down the cost of datacenter energy usage," noted Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research. "It's in their self-interest," he told the E-Commerce Times. "However, not many tech CEOs have pledged green initiatives," Wang added. The Business of Business "Business decisions can no longer be made with only profits in mind," said Green America's Tate. "The future of our society and our planet must be incorporated into all business decisions, and corporations as large as Amazon have a responsibility to prioritize ethical decision making." She suggested that Amazon take these steps: Not renew contracts with oil and gas companies; Not seek new contracts with them; and Publicly announce this commitment, giving a date for ending all contracts with oil and gas companies. If Amazon were to pull out of servicing the oil and gas industry, it might lose ground to Google and Microsoft, which also work with the industry. "There is no business rationale to get out of this business," Constellation's Wang said. "Being in the business may help Amazon find solutions for energy-intensive and carbon-based businesses to shift to greener alternatives." The purpose of any business arguably is to make money first, last and always. That may be changing, though, with company staff, investors and shareholders now pressuring businesses on issues such as climate change. AECJ wrote an open letter to Bezos and the Amazon Board of Directors last April. Nearly 1,800 Amazon employees staged a walkout in support of a global climate strike last fall. Activist shareholders have been pressuring Amazon on climate change and other issues. Further, 251 institutional investors around the world with more than $16 trillion under management have called for corporate action over deforestation and the forest fire in the Amazon rainforest. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission last fall proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8 to modernize the process for shareholder proposals' inclusion in proxy statements. The amendment "would make it more difficult for shareholders to file and refile resolutions," Green America's Tate pointed out. "Shareholder resolutions have been highly effective in addressing environmental, social and governance issues at corporations for years." Green America, together with Americans for Financial Reform and As You Sow, delivered a petition with 18,000 signatures opposing the amendment. Being Good Needs More Work The major high-tech companies have pledged to combat climate change. However, their plans may be more hype than reality, according to Greenpeace. Amazon's commitment to renewable energy covers its own operations and electricity use but leaves out its supply chain, which constitutes more than 75 percent of its overall carbon footprint, for example. Amazon, like Microsoft and Google, includes renewable energy credits (RECs) in its carbon footprint calculations. RECs confirm that one megawatt-hour (Meh) of electricity is generated and delivered to the grid from a renewal energy resource. However, RECs can be purchased, and reporting RECs lets companies claim they run on clean energy while actually not doing so. Getting rid of RECs is not a solution, though, because "this model ensures that they budget for offsets," Wang pointed out. "However, there is a need to take these investments and drive down the cost of renewable energy production and distribution."
	Your Best Path Financial Planning	Gordon is a leader in the field of Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact Investing (SRI), having received the CSRIC designation - the first-ever certification for study in the SRI discipline. Gordon is a Fairfax, VA Fee-Only financial planner and at Your Best Path Financial Planning, he provides comprehensive financial planning, retirement planning, and investment management to help clients in any situation organize, grow, and protect their assets. He serves clients as a fiduciary at all times and never takes compensation from anyone, at any time, other than fees the client agrees to in advance.
	Sorry Jeff Bezos, a $10 billion commitment won't undo Amazon's climate impacts	Jeff Bezos made news this week when he publicized an upcoming $10 billion donation to address the climate crisis. But, as the richest person on Earth, Bezos is making his money off Amazon.com, a company that is a major driver of climate change. As the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice aptly put it: “One hand cannot give what the other is taking away.” While it’s good that Jeff Bezos is finally recognizing we’re facing a climate crisis, he needs to tackle Amazon’s massive climate emissions more quickly and effectively in order to create sustainable climate solutions. Last year, Amazon.com finally released some data on its climate emissions, which are staggering. The company emitted 44 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2018, including indirect sources. That is larger than the emissions of United Parcel Service and FedEx. It’s also larger than the emissions of tech competitors Apple, Alphabet (Google), and Microsoft. Amazon should be working aggressively to reduce those emissions and taking action to address prior years’ emissions on the planet, like Microsoft recently agreed to do. Donating money is a nice gesture, but it doesn’t make up for the harm that Amazon is causing, and has caused, to people and the planet. Bezos’ $10 billion commitment is a large sum of money, although it is a small percentage of his fortune. We do need huge investments into climate solutions, but $10 billion will eventually run out. More importantly, if Amazon hasn’t addressed its harmful impacts, people and the planet will continue to pay the price. Steps Jeff Bezos and Amazon can take to address climate change Stop intimidating employees from speaking out on Amazon’s climate policies. Silencing workers and environmental activists will NOT solve the climate crisis. Commit to 100% renewable energy by 2020 and end the construction of any new data centers that rely on fossil fuel or nuclear power. Many of Amazon’s competitors reached 100% renewable energy already. Submit complete and accurate data to the Carbon Disclosure Project. Amazon is a laggard amongst large tech companies in refusing to report out fully on its climate emissions. End efforts to sell Amazon Web Services technology to the oil and gas industry to support increased exploration and drilling. You can’t end the climate crisis by fueling it. Take action to protect the health and well-being of employees in Amazon warehouses and throughout the supply chain. Addressing environmental justice issues in communities impacted by Amazon’s operations. Amazon’s warehouses cause massive pollution from shipping. Ensure no labor rights abuses are occurring throughout your operations, and allow workers through the entire supply chain – from factory, to warehouse, to the office – to raise concerns without fear of retaliation Ensure that companies manufacturing Amazon electronics are in compliance with local laws regarding wages and hours, providing a safe work environment, allowing for unions, and taking steps to move towards a living wage. In addition to having a huge impact on the planet, Amazon workers report dangerous and grueling working conditions; within Amazon warehouses. Injury rates are more than double the industry average. Numerous reports have found Amazon violating human rights across its operations, impacting workers, consumers, and children. Through its various electronic devices (Alexa, Ring, etc.), Amazon may be listening to your conversations and sharing video footage without your permission. This behavior must stop! Sustainable climate solutions prioritize both the planet and people. In order for Amazon to transform from a laggard to a climate leader, it must address its massive emissions and end the labor and human rights violations occurring throughout its operations. Take Action on Amazon and Climate Change Share the truth on social media! Or paste the below message in your Facebook status or on Twitter: Hey @jeffbezos $10 billion won’t erase @amazon ’s climate impact! You can’t end the #climatecrisis by fueling it: https://www.greenamerica.org/blog/sorry-bezos-10-billion-donation-wont-undo-amazons-climate-impact Call Amazon's customer line! Call (888) 280-4331 When the automated message prompts you to verify your Amazon account, just press # and then ask to speak to an associate about Amazon’s social and environmental policies: "Hello, My name is ____ and I am concerned about Amazon’s impact on the people and the planet. While I appreciate that Jeff Bezos recently committed $10 billion to fight climate change, that money will not negate the massive damage that Amazon’s everyday operations are having on the climate crisis. I am joining Green America in calling on Amazon to get serious about addressing its negative impact on people and the planet." Please feel free to select whichever points from the bulleted list below speaks to you most: "When will Amazon: Cut ties with the oil and gas industry? Submit accurate and complete data to the Carbon Disclosure Project? Stop intimidating employees from speaking out on Amazon’s climate policies? Silencing workers and environmental activists will not solve the climate crisis. Reach 100% renewable energy? Some of Amazon’s competitors have already reached 100% - the planet cannot wait 10 years for Amazon to get to 100%! Address environmental justice issues in communities impacted by Amazon’s operations? Address worker health and safety concerns throughout Amazon’s entire supply chain?" Let us know you called by simply clicking the button below. I called Amazon
	8 Black Leaders Who've Revolutionized the Climate Movement	Black history is rich with connections to the natural environment, from the sustainable maroon communities that sprang up in the Carolinas and Florida, to the Great Migration and search for nature near urban spaces, to the modern environmental justice movement for clean land, air and water for all. Green America celebrates the contributions of these eight Black leader who have revolutionized the movement. Dorceta Taylor In 1991, the Jamaican-born sociologist Dorceta Taylor became the first Black woman to receive a doctoral degree from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In 2014, Taylor authored the most comprehensive study of gender, racial and class diversity within the environmental movement, “The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations,” which found a serious lag in the progress of racial diversity within environmental institution and that men are still more likely than women to hold executive positions. For 27 years, Taylor was a professor and director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. Inn 2021, she became the first Senior Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Yale School of the Environment, where she still works and teaches today. Robert Bullard In 1979, sociologist Robert Bullard served as an expert witness for the landmark case, Bean vs. Southwestern Waste Management Inc. Bullard’s wife, Linda McKeever Bullard, was the attorney for a Black Houston couple who believed the decision to build a solid waste facility in their neighborhood was largely based on its racial demographics. Mr. Bullard led a study that found that toxic waste sites were most likely to be located in Houston’s predominantly Black neighborhoods, and eventually launched a national study that found this was true across the US. Since then, he’s served as Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, authored several books, and is fondly called the "father of environmental justice." In 2021, President Joe Biden named him to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Rev. Lennox Yearwood Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. is a minister with the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) with penchants for community activism, political organizing and hip-hop culture. In 2004, he was a key organizer for Sean P. Combs ‘Vote or Die’ campaign and founded the nonprofit Hip Hop Caucus in the same year. Hip Hop Caucus describes itself as an organization that links policy and culture and operates with a mission to empower communities hit first and worst by injustice, including climate injustice. In 2008, Yearwood led Hip Hop Caucus’s ‘Respect My Vote’ campaign which registered 32,000 people to vote in a single day, setting a world record. Yearwood continues to lead Hip Hop Caucus’s campaigns and is the co-host of the podcast Think 100%--The Coolest Show On Climate Change. He also currently serves on The Climate Mobilization's advisory board. Mustafa Santiago Ali Mustafa Santiago Ali is the vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). Before NWF, Ali served as vice president at Hip Hop Caucus and worked at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 24 years in the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ), of which he was a founding member. During his time at the EPA, Ali brought attention to social and environmental justice issues in the U.S. and abroad. In 2017, Ali resigned from the EPA. A snippet of his resignation letter to administrator Scott Pruitt read: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We may have come to these shores on different ships, but we are now all in the same boat”. The upcoming choices you make will have significant impacts on the public health and environment of our country. Those choices can stand as a beacon of hope, and as a powerful role model to the rest of the world on our priorities and values. Catherine Flowers Catherine Coleman Flowers is the founder and CEO of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise (ACRE)—an organization working to fight poverty and provide water and sanitation equity. For years, Flowers has worked to address the persistent issue of substandard sewage systems in her native Lowndes County, Alabama that disproportionately affect African Americans in the area. In 2019, Flowers testified to Congress about the Alabama Department of Health and Lowndes County Health Department’s failure to provide affordable and effective septic systems to residents and called on policy makers to make meaningful investments at the local, state and federal levels to accomplish this. One year later, she was chosen as a MacArthur Fellow and published her first book, Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret. Jacqueline Patterson Jacqueline "Jacqui" Patterson has experience at a variety of organizations working at the intersection of race and climate justice, including as the director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice program, and at Women of Color United and ActionAid where she approached issues like climate change and food access from a gender lens. In 2021 she founded The Chrisholm Legacy Project, which serves to connect Black communities with resources for frontline climate justice leadership. The organization's name pays homage to Shirley Chrisholm, the first African American woman to be elected to Congress in 1968, and to later seek nomination for a presidential candidacy. Rue Mapp Due to a lack of representation, there's a misperception that African Americans don't like the outdoors. The most recent National Parks data shows that 78 percent of visitors are white and when African American, Asian American, and Latinx populations do visit, they often report feeling uncomfortable. In 2009, adventurer Rue Mapp founded the nonprofit Outdoor Afro to celebrate African Americans’ connections with nature and leadership in exploration spaces. Today, the organization has chapters in 30 states and 80 leaders who guide members through nature tours and other recreational activities. Warren Washington The landmark research by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) can be traced back to the trailblazing work of atmospheric scientist, Warren M. Washington. In 1964, he became the second African American to earn a doctorate degree in meteorology and started his career at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). There, he and fellow scientist Akira Kasahara created one of the firsts computer climate models that simulate weather patterns and make predictions about how changes in temperature will impact the earth over time. Washington has served multiple presidential administrations and has received several prestigious awards including the Nobel Peace Prize (2007), National Medal of Science (2010), and Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2019). Updated February 2023.
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	Climate Campaigns Director	Supervisor: Executive Co-Director, Consumer and Corporate Engagement Hours: Full-time (4 days, 32 hours/week) Salary: Commensurate with experience Benefits: Generous benefits including medical, dental, disability insurance, sick leave, vacation Green America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a just and sustainable society by harnessing economic power for positive change. Our unique approach involves working with consumers, investors, and businesses. Our workplace reflects our goal of creating a more cooperative, environmentally sound economy. We have a participatory decision-making process, which aims to build consensus within the departments and teams. The Climate Campaigns Director is part of Green America’s Corporate Responsibility Programs team, which works to educate consumers about various social and environmental issues and to push large companies to improve their practices. The Climate Campaigns Director will primarily work on Green America’s climate campaigns, with a focus on corporate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Campaigns Director will lead Green America’s various campaigns focused on reducing emissions from various sources in several sectors and addressing environmental racism and impacts on frontline communities. Duties and Responsibilities Campaigns Plan and execute several, simultaneous campaigns to get large corporations to take action on climate change impacts (including greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and solid waste generation). Take existing campaigns to the next level to create greater corporate impacts and consumer education. Ensure that justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) impacts are a priority in all campaigns. Incorporate JEDI impacts into our existing campaigns and ensure that JEDI considerations are at the forefront in all future campaigns. Take a lead role in strategic partnerships with outside coalitions for our campaigns. Direct outreach to and engage productively with target companies. Draft comments to regulatory agencies, provide comments on legislation, and build support for government action on climate change. Management Provide supervision to the campaign associate. Supervise interns and fellows working on climate issues. Content and Outreach Work with the publications team to support content on climate issues. Oversee and work with the new campaign associate to research and develop content (blogs, e-blasts, webpages, social posts, and press releases) to educate consumers about various climate issues. Create actions for Green America members and the public to take to advance campaign goals and raise awareness on climate issues. Speak on behalf of Green America at events and to the media on campaigns and relevant topics. Work with consultants on generating earned media. Work with Web and Social Media Teams to ensure climate campaigns content is well-suited for the web and social media, reaching a wide audience. Work with Green America staff to integrate the campaign into Green America’s events, websites, social media, and publications. Fundraising and Organizational Support Assist Development Team with fundraising and grant proposals and reports. Assist the marketing team in developing language for direct mail and online appeal. Take part in Green America staff meetings, annual planning meetings, and budgeting process. Participation in Green America Cross Departmental Teams: The success of our work and the strength of our organization depend on the voluntary participation of staff from all levels of the organization in various cross departmental teams, in addition to the core responsibilities of each staff position. While staff are not required to participate in a voluntary team every year, we do depend on volunteers throughout the year for teams such as: Space Team; Operating Plan & Budget Team; Justice, Equity Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Team; Pulse Survey Team; and the Fun Days Team. Please check-in with your supervisor about your interest in joining a team to ensure the time for team participation makes sense in a given period. Qualified Candidates should have the following skills and qualities: Strong campaign skills. The ability to conduct powerful campaigns that result in substantive change in targeted entities with little supervision. Applicants will have 7 or more years’ experience and a track record of success. Experience with corporate campaigning, including strategy development, power mapping, and negotiating with senior management at corporations. Strong research and writing skills. Experience creating content for various audiences and for web and social media. A passion for climate issues. Experience with outreach to diverse communities including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and/or international communities. Ability to manage multiple projects at once and meet deadlines. Proven ability to use social media creatively and effectively, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Strong public speaking skills. Proven ability to lead coalitions and to reach consensus. Experience with fundraising. Bachelor’s degree in climate/environmental science or other related field or comparable experience preferred. Willingness to publicly present Green America’s campaigns and mission. Willingness for occasional travel. To Apply: Please email your cover letter and resume to cdhiring@greenamerica.org and note in your cover letter where you learned of the position. ********************************************************************************** Green America is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination regarding: actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, related medical conditions, breastfeeding, or reproductive health disorders), age (18 years of age or older), marital status (including domestic partnership and parenthood), personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, genetic information, disability, matriculation, political affiliation, citizenship status, credit information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Harassment on the basis of a protected characteristic is included as a form of discrimination and is strictly prohibited.
	Thousands Of People Are Growing ‘Climate Victory Gardens’ To Save The Planet	Right across from Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland, sits a garden roughly a third of an acre with rows of vegetable beds and a newly added pond to encourage wildlife. The garden, located along the road so it’s the first thing people see when they drive past, is being managed mostly by students who planted their first perennial seeds to support pollinators last fall and are now eagerly waiting to see what springs up. It is part of a 6.4-acre plot of farmland bought last June by the Community Ecology Institute, a nonprofit that seeks to reunite people with nature, from a retiring organic farmer who had managed it since the 1980s and didn’t want it to be lost to development. Fifty years ago, the entire area was agricultural land. Today, this plot is the only farm left. And one of the first things the Community Ecology Institute did when it took over the farm was to plant this “climate victory garden.” The nonprofit is one of over 2,000 organizations and individuals across the country growing food in climate victory gardens ― be it on a balcony or in a backyard, a community garden or larger urban farm project ― in a bid to mitigate the climate crisis. Climate change is “a tremendous crisis, but it’s also a really amazing opportunity to shift the way that we’ve been doing things that no longer work,” said Chiara D’Amore, the Community Ecology Institute’s executive director. “We want to use the entire farm as a way to teach about climate action… and we see land-based climate action as one of the more tangible, gratifying ways to help people feel like there’s some hope, feel like there’s something they can do.” The climate victory garden movement was launched by nonprofit Green American two years ago. It is inspired by the estimated 20 million victory gardens planted across the U.S. by the end of World War II, responsible for producing 40% of all vegetables consumed in the country at the time. The environmental nonprofit is calling on people to use whatever outdoor space they have to grow fruits and vegetables, using “regenerative” methods to help tackle agriculture’s carbon footprint. About a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from food production ― that includes emissions related to storing, transporting and selling food. However, the main climate contribution comes from growing crops and livestock and the effect of deforestation to create more cropland. In the U.S., the agriculture sector accounts for roughly 9% of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial agriculture can also contribute to water pollution from fertilizer runoff and a loss in biodiversity. Individual gardening efforts alone aren’t enough to address these issues, but it’s a start. “Certainly the victory garden didn’t solve the problem, it didn’t win the war, but it was something people could be called on to do to feel like they were a part of the solution and doing something that was a benefit,” reflected D’Amore, who said the same goes for the climate crisis today. Many of the goals of the victory garden in the 20th century are echoed in the modern environmental movement. Herbert Hoover, head of the U.S. Food Administration during World War I, encouraged Americans to live simply, grow their own food and consume less. The Federal Bureau of Education also launched the U.S. School Garden Army, which enrolled 2.5 million children in 1919. Those school gardens are credited with helping produce food worth $48 million at the time. Thanks to efforts like these, the U.S. successfully avoided having to ration during that war. During World War II, citizens were once again encouraged to grow everything from potatoes to peach trees, and many women, as part of the Women’s Land Army, stepped in to manage urban victory gardens and rural farms. In 1943, first lady Eleanore Roosevelt planted a victory garden on the front lawn of the White House in an effort to show that anyone could successfully grow food. Soy was promoted as an alternative protein to meat ― although more because meat was being rationed to feed the military rather than over environmental concerns. Soybeans were marketed as “wonder” or “miracle” beans that were easier to grow and store than meat. Canning, drying and preserving were also encouraged to help foods last longer. “For us, the inspiration grew from knowing how many people were involved [in these victory gardens], how many people wanted to make a difference, and how many people really wanted to be involved in this food culture,” said Jillian Semaan, food campaigns director for Green America. “Knowing those numbers and what victory gardens did at that time, we felt we had a great opportunity.” The difference now, though, is that Green America hopes to harness this same spirit through the potential of what’s known as “regenerative agriculture” ― a way of farming that’s dedicated to enriching the soil while also producing healthful food, with the added benefit of storing carbon in the ground. As the government’s 2018 National Climate Assessment, along with many other scientists, acknowledges, “agriculture is one of the few sectors with the potential for significant increases in carbon sequestration to offset [greenhouse gas] emissions.” The challenge, however, will be to scale it up. There’s a long way to go before reaching wartime levels, but Green America hopes to more than double the number of climate victory gardens this year to 5,000. The term “regenerative agriculture” was coined in the 1980s by Robert Rodale, son of the man who applied the term “organic” to food. The most important idea behind regenerative farming (or “carbon farming”) is soil health. This means relying far less on fertilizers and chemicals and focusing more on methods like planting cover crops, applying compost to build up nutrients in the soil and make it more fertile, and not tilling. Tilling ― breaking up the soil’s surface ― is used to fight weeds and prepare soil for growing. But it reduces the soil’s structural integrity, meaning it won’t hold as much water and will erode more easily ― two qualities of increasing importance as climate change brings extreme weather, such as the devastating floods the Midwest experienced last year. Tilling also releases carbon that has been locked into the earth throughout the plant’s life cycle. The more carbon-rich the soil becomes, the better plants grow. Prioritizing soil health is what differentiates climate victory gardens from organic or wildlife gardens, D’Amore said. “Starting from that literally ground-up perspective, we need to make sure that the soil is really healthy to be mindful of what we’re growing,” she said, describing roots as a “whole underground infrastructure” that helps sequester carbon. In practice, this means finding some edible perennial plants with deep roots, such as currant bushes, which her farm will be growing along with other berries. Meanwhile, cover crops ― like clover, turnips, barley and spinach ― help keep the soil in place and act as a protective blanket in winter. “If a farmer is practicing regenerative agriculture on his or her land, the soil is getting improved over time. It’s going to get healthier,” said Jeff Tkach, chief impact officer at the Rodale Institute, an educational nonprofit that researches and promotes regenerative organic farming. “If the soil is improving, well, then the food that the farmer is producing is going to become more nutrient-dense over time. And if those consuming that food are eating more nutrient-dense food, then they’re going to get healthier over time… and the community’s going to thrive.” A healthy community is at the heart of BLISS Meadows, a climate victory garden that launched last March in Baltimore. The urban farm is run by Backyard Basecamp, an organization that seeks to connect communities of color with nature. It’s founder and executive director, Atiya Wells, is a nurse practitioner by trade, and her approach is to promote the health benefits of having a local green space and of growing your own food. The community garden is in the process of renovating a vacant home next door to the farm and plans to transform it into a community kitchen that will host cooking classes and tastings, Wells said, “to show people we can eat healthier and it can be delicious.” But it’s also about community resilience. “When we all think about climate change and what’s going to happen, we know that people who have means can just pick up and go, and the rest of us are going to be here,” Wells said. The BLISS Meadows garden is in a predominantly black and brown neighborhood. “So this is kind of us really starting things so that when that time comes, we already have a self-sustaining neighborhood where we’re growing food for our neighbors,” she explained, “[and] we’re able to continue to survive.” Many who support the regenerative agriculture movement see it as a clear, easy climate win with enormous potential. Some, including Green America, go so far as to claim we can “reverse” climate change by simply changing how we farm. According to a 40-year trial conducted by the Rodale Institute of growing conventional and regenerative crops side-by-side, adopting regenerative methods brought 40% higher crop yields during drought times, used 45% less energy and produced 40% fewer emissions compared to conventional farming. However, as David Montgomery, a geologist at the University of Washington and author of two books on dirt and soil, told Civil Eats last October, regenerative agriculture should be seen as a “good down-payment on reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide” as opposed to a panacea. Claims that it can reverse climate change, he said, are a stretch. The hope is that climate victory gardens will nudge us toward climate action. But how can something as seemingly small as one person growing tomatoes in their backyard help tackle a problem as immense as agriculture’s effect on climate? “Everything starts with incremental change,” Semaan said. It begins with reconnecting people to their food and how it got to their plates. Working with high school students in the Maryland area, the Community Ecology Institute plans to help set up a youth-led program to encourage others to start climate victory gardens throughout the community. “I think our youth get it in a way that many of our leaders and older generations, in general, don’t,” D’Amore said. “They see climate change as the crisis it is. It’s going to impact all our lives, and they want to feel like they can do something that matters.” Every item grown at home also means one less thing purchased from the store, cutting down on transportation. Even if it’s just a patch of chives, Semaan said, each gardener knows the resources, from water to gas money, that are saved with those plants. “It’s all incremental change,” she said, “and the more people who do it, even if it’s just herbs on a windowsill, the better the planet is for it.” Tkach agreed. He views the climate victory gardens as a way to “shift people’s consciousness by getting people to just take some kind of action in their own backyards.” By growing your own food, you have a better understanding of what goes into it, he echoed. “I think as consumers become more attuned to that, it’s going to influence their own decisions,” so people might pay closer attention to food labels that tell you how and where something was grown. “When they go to the grocery store, they’re going to be more adept at [knowing] what to look for.” Eventually, if enough people are doing this, they can help shift society toward a tipping point, where consumer demand for regenerative farming disrupts the conventional system, Tkach explained. “I feel like it’s our moment in history. If we could just continue to change the way people eat, it changes everything.”
	Breakthrough Soil Health Management Systems	<p>Focus on the validation and adoption of innovative soil solutions to speed soil regeneration. Field trails embedded in systems to scale start fall 2019. Paper on the science behind breakthrough soil health innovations: fall 2019.</p>
	Policy	<p>Supply chain education about the role of healthy soil. Webinars, special forums, C-Suite and board briefings.</p>
	Soil SuperHeroes	<p>Public campaign to build the narrative that soil health is essential for climate and food system solutions. Phase I launched Earth Day, 2019. Phase II launched Labor Day 2019, targeting 40 million through network members’ media channels.<br />  <br /> Poor soil stewardship is creating a crisis in top soil available for food production –  at the rate we’re going, according to the international Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) we only have 50 years of topsoil left. Because conventional farming practices have released so much carbon from the soil, farming is also fueling climate change.  Soil SuperHeroes are working to reverse that damage and turn soil into a  carbon sink to store the excess carbon contributing to climate change. We need to  regenerate the soil to save farming and to save the planet – SoilSuperHeroes are showing us how. To learn more or to nominate a Soil SuperHero, visit Soil SuperHeroes home page.</p>
	Regional Implementation	<p>Bringing all of the Center's agricultural initiatives together into large-scale commercial projects. Currently focused on small grains in the Midwest and Dairy in the Northeast.</p>
	Investors Oppose SEC’s restriction on shareholder rights	WASHINGTON, DC (Feb. 5, 2020) – As of Monday’s deadline for public comments on the SEC’s proposed restriction on shareholder rights, a broad group of investors has weighed in strongly against the SEC’s proposal to limit shareholders’ rights to file proposals for shareholders to consider and vote on at annual shareholders meetings. Commenters opposing the new restrictions on shareholder rights include large investment funds, pension funds, religious institutions, foundations, investment managers, university endowments, individual investors and the SEC’s own Investor Advisory Committee. These investor letters describe in detail the immense benefits from many important ideas that originated with shareholder proposals that would not have been allowed if the SEC’s new restrictions had been in effect. Criticism On SEC's Proposed Restrictions On Shareholder Rights Many of these investors also criticized the SEC’s companion proposal to require independent proxy advisors to clear their advice with the subject companies before providing it to their investor clients. These investors lamented that corporate involvement in proxy advice will jeopardize the independence and reliability of a critical resource for investors to hold management accountable for delivering long-term shareholder value. “Investors’ comments on the SEC proposals staunchly defended their rights to continue to file and vote on shareholder proposals, as well as to continue to obtain independent proxy voting advice,” said Sanford Lewis, Director of the Shareholder Rights Group. “The current changes, proposed by SEC Chair Jay Clayton and adopted on a 3-2 party-line vote, were not asked for by any investors. They are the result of an intense, multi-year lobbying campaign funded by corporate trade associations led by the Chamber and the Business Roundtable.” Comments on SEC proposals As of the February 3 deadline, more than 14,000 comment letters have been filed and listed on the SEC’s website on the SEC’s proposed amendments to restrict shareholder proposals, including from more than 31 asset managers, 7 pension funds, 73 faith-based groups, 60 prominent scholars, 9 state or local government officials, 2 unions and several thousand individual investors. Numerous investor groups also filed letters opposing the SEC proposals to place "restrictions on shareholder rights", including: the Council of Institutional Investors (a nonprofit, nonpartisan association of U.S. public, corporate and union employee benefit funds, other employee benefit plans, state and local entities charged with investing public assets, and foundations and endowments with combined assets under management of approximately $4 trillion), US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (with members comprised of investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, asset owners, research firms, financial planners, advisors and broker-dealers, represent more than $3 trillion in assets under management or advisement), the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (a coalition of more than 300 faith-based institutional investors collectively representing more than $500 billion in invested capital), the U.N. Principles of Responsible Investing (an international network of 2,800 investor signatories that manage more than $90 trillion in assets, including more than 500 U.S. signatories managing more than $45 trillion in assets), the Shareholder Rights Group (an association of investors formed in 2016 to strengthen and support shareowners’ rights to engage with public companies on governance and long-term value creation). Comments were also filed by several civil society groups, including Public Citizen, Green America, Oxfam and the Thirty Percent Coalition. More than 500 individual investors filed their own comment letters, and 13,000 additional individuals weighed in through petitions organized by As You Sow, Public Citizen and the Friends of the Earth. SEC's Proposals Placing "Restrictions On Shareholder Rights" Reflect A Disturbing Anti-Investor Bias? Tim Smith of Boston Trust Walden, a member of the Shareholder Rights Group, stated, “We have seen an outpouring of investor opposition to these new restrictive rules coming from a significant cross-section of investors. The SEC’s role is to be the investor’s advocate, protecting investor interests. The message from these comments is clear that the SEC should put aside these two proposals that reflect a disturbing anti-investor bias.” Since the 1940s, shareholder proposals have been a critical tool for investors to raise issues of concern at annual shareholders meetings and hold corporate CEOs and boards accountable to their owners. Proposals allow shareholders to speak to, inform and test the waters on an issue with their fellow shareholders. Over the last 50-plus years, shareholder resolutions have spurred numerous changes in corporate governance, policy and disclosure. The investor comments filed in opposition to the SEC’s proposal reflect deep research, analysis and experience, and reveal serious flaws in the SEC’s analysis and economic justification. The Shareholder Rights Group (SRG) is distributing this information on behalf of its members as well as numerous other investment organizations affected by the rulemaking proposals. For more information visit www.investorrightsforum.com.
	People and Planet Winners: Local Community Action	Since 2012, Green America's People and Planet Award has recognized outstanding small businesses with deep commitments to social justice and environmental sustainability. This project has been made possible thanks to a special donor committed to giving a boost to innovative entrepreneurs. The People and Planet Award has bestowed over $300,000 on green businesses since its inception. The three winners of the first award cycle were Green Kid Crafts, Raleigh City Farm, and Sonoma Compost Company. Penny Bauder of Green Kid Crafts holding a craft box Volunteers with Raleigh City Farm Where are they now? At the conclusion of the People and Planet Award, we reached out to the winners to learn how the prize helped their business. Below are their answers. Sonoma Compost Company did not respond. How did the People and Planet Award money help your business? Penny of Green Kid Crafts: Thanks to the People and Planet Award, Green Kid Crafts has grown from a boot-strapped company operating out of my garage to an award-winning, multi-million-dollar company. Motivated by a passion to raise a generation of environmental leaders, in 2010 I founded Green Kid Crafts, a children’s media company that provides kids around the world with convenient and sustainable STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) activities. Today, it’s become a leader in the subscription industry, with over 1 million packages shipped worldwide. Every month’s package is packed with up to 6 science and art kits designed by teachers and STEAM experts to foster a child’s creativity and confidence while helping to raise the nation's next generation of creative leaders. Each package includes a 12-page STEAM activity magazine and achievement badges. Each month brings a new theme; past themes have included Botany Nocturnal Animals, Green Energy, Around the World, and Volcanoes. My company mission to foster the next generation of creative, environmental leaders by engaging kids with the planet in hands-on, creative ways has exposed over one million kids to think about and take a leadership role in sustainability. Winning the People and Planet Award money helped to take us to the next level by providing us with financial resources during a particular cash-strapped time. Raleigh City Farm: In the spring of 2012, the first group of volunteers gathered on the site of Raleigh City Farm with shovels in hand to begin the transformation of a largely abandoned one-acre site. This groundbreaking was the result of three years of planning and dreaming and fundraising by the founding board members whose vision was to “create a place where anyone can learn about farming.” Early donations, including prize money from the “People and Planet Award” fueled the continued growth, change and evolution of Raleigh City Farm. What did you use the prize money for? Penny of GKC: When we applied for the People and Planet Award grant, we were limping by on a pretty inefficient website that had many problems. We put the grant money towards the strategy, design, construction and launch of a new mobile-optimized website, with sophisticated marketing, e-commerce and website management tools. The launch of our new website a few months later resulted in the immediate growth and long-term success of Green Kid Crafts. Raleigh City Farm: Our current mission is to grow the next generation of farmers by connecting our community to sustainable agriculture and we’ve partnered and helped incubate many farmers including Farmers’ Collective, Endless Sun Farms, High Country Firs, Farmer James and Infinity Hundred Farms. Our Impact can be broken down into three strategies: grow, connect and dig. We grow farmers by providing the site, marketing and volunteer infrastructure and resources necessary to support their success. We connect the community by leading workdays and tours, hosting special events and providing a variety of educational programming. The "dig" strategy ties to the many benefits of urban farms to support more healthy eating habits and lifestyles while protecting the environment. What is your business up to now? Penny of GKC: Now that we’ve reached our goal of selling our one millionth kit this past August, we are now focusing on selling our two millionth kit! Also, in the next month we will be releasing many new STEM and STEAM kits. Green Kid Crafts' themes generally fall within four categories: Ecosystem Science, Environmental Activism, Wildlife Science, and Earth Science. Past kits have included Outer Space, Save our Oceans, Green Energy, Rocket Science, and Arctic Science. Our new packs will follow along these thematic lines and will include an Ecosystem Pack, an Environmental Activist Pack, an Animal Science Pack, a Chemistry Pack, and an Ultimate STEM pack. We are also working on the launch of a Climate Change Box and a Save our Bees Box. These and current STEM and STEAM boxes are available for purchase here. The next year will see Green Kid Crafts building out our international program and shipping to more counties. My passions include environmental and youth advocacy, STEAM education, and international connections so it makes sense that Green Kid Crafts’ STEM and STEAM kids become available around the world! We are also working on a new program that will connect kids all over the world to learn from each other, help the environment, and develop the skills to make the world a better place. Through online and offline opportunities, kids around the world will be connected through monthly STEM and STEAM activities linked to international conservation projects, so stay tuned! In this age of global divide, I believe that art and science are the most powerful unifying force we have at our disposal, and I want to do what I can to put these skills in the hands of the world’s youth. Raleigh City Farm: The impact of Raleigh CIty Farm is far-reaching: our nonprofit farm is nestled in a very busy expanding urban area with over 15,000 cars passing by each day and over 20,000 eyeballs following us on social media (11K Instagram, and 5K/5K Fbook and Twitter). In many respects, we can be considered a "billboard" for farming and farmers - an important reminder that food is grown in the ground by human beings (as opposed to being sold in a supermarket) and that it is both nourishing for the body and pleasing to the eyes! We collaborate with a variety of partners to host fun events and educational programming that celebrates sustainability and urban agriculture. The success of the nonprofit has been overseen by a dedicated board of directors with widespread support from the community. We enter into 2020 with a new vision to donate over 50% of our produce to nonprofits increasing food access and addressing food insecurity. We’re excited about envisioning our community more deeply rooted in appreciation and cultivation of local food and horticulture and taking the lead in connecting them through Raleigh City Farm.
	Advocacy Groups Charge SEC With Limiting Shareholder Votes	A coalition of environmental and advocacy groups is petitioning the Securities and Exchange Commission asking that it not adopt changes to its regulations that would reduce the number of shareholders who can present resolutions to a corporation. The coalition claims the regulation changes would “muzzle” many smaller groups of shareholders that are trying to change corporate policies involving such things as environmental, social and governance issues, as well as executive compensation. The coalition is made up of Green America, Americans for Financial Reform, As You Sow and Public Citizen. The groups on Monday delivered petitions with more than 18,000 signatures to the SEC. The groups oppose the changes because they would “bar many investors from pushing corporations for action on major issues, including greenhouse gas reduction goals, lobbying and election spending discussion, human rights abuses and discrimination,” according to a statement they put out. “The proposed changes will weaken the ability of investors to raise important concerns and thereby give corporations more unchecked power, including the ability to essentially ignore the views of shareholders and other stakeholders.” One proposed change would increase the stock ownership level needed to submit a resolution to a public corporation from $2,000 to $25,000. Increasing the percentage of support a shareholder resolution needs to get in one year in order for it to be resubmitted in a subsequent year is another proposal, as is limiting investors or their representatives to one shareholder resolution per shareholder meeting. The SEC does not comment on petitions that are submitted to it. Shareholders can present resolutions proposing changes in corporate policies at shareholder meetings to be voted on. If the resolution passes, it becomes corporation policy. Resolutions can cover a range of policies and practices for a corporation from the handling of supply chains for materials to transparency in corporate actions to executive compensation. The petition says, “We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the need to build an economy that will be successful over the long term. This means we need to ensure that social, environmental, and corporate governance issues facing corporations are effectively addressed. “Investors, including small investors, have an important role to play in identifying for corporations a number of risks and corporate impacts … that may damage specific companies and the larger economy,” the petition continued. Green America executive co-director Fran Teplitz said, “There is no democracy for shareholders in America unless they have a right to engage in meaningful shareholder advocacy and to be heard. The SEC is contemplating locking many shareholders out of the process.”
	Opposition to SEC Proxy Proposals Grows	On the final day of public comment on two related proposals by the Securities and Exchange Commission on proxy voting rules, a petition signed by more than 18,000 individuals opposing the policy change was submitted to the SEC, which was also the subject of a protest by some of the signatories. Green America, a not-for-profit membership organization focused on the economic power of consumers, investors and businesses to create a environmentally sustainable economy, along with Americans for Financial Reform and As You Sow, delivered the petition. Both SEC proposals, if finalized, would make it harder for investors to challenge corporate management on environmental, social and governance issues. In one proposal, a shareholder would have to own at least $2,000 worth of stock for three years to sponsor a first-time proxy proposal, up from one year currently. A $25,000 stake would be required if they owned the stock for one year and $15,000 if they owned it for two years. The rule also raises the minimum vote percentage required to resubmit a proxy proposal for the first time from 3% to 5%. For the second and third resubmissions, the requirement moves from 6% and 10%, respectively, to 15% and 25%, and it restricts the activities of proxy advisor firms. In the related proposal, proxy advisory firms would be required to give a company a chance to comment on its recommendations and include a link to those companies in its distributions to clients and disclose any conflicts of interest. In recommending a vote against management, for example, a proxy advisory firm would need to include management’s opinion in their final report to shareholders. SEC Jay Clayton has said that the amendments are long overdue and were “carefully crafted to more appropriately balance the benefits and burdens to all shareholders.” The Green America petitioners don’t agree. They are “deeply concerned about the need to build an economy that will be successful over the long term,” which requires “that social, environmental, and corporate governance issues facing corporations are effectively addressed, “according to the petition. The shareholder proposal process, known as Rule 14a-8, has worked well since 1934 and “should certainly not be weakened.” “There is no democracy for shareholders in America unless they have a right to engage in meaningful shareholder advocacy and to be heard,” said Green America Executive Co-Director Fran Teplitz. “Many of the major advances of recent corporate history — going back to the rejection of racist apartheid South Africa and as recently as action on climate change — owe their success to shareholder advocacy.“ Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, said, “With this vote, the SEC has apparently inverted its mandate of protecting shareholders to that of protecting companies from shareholder input — even where company action creates increasing risk to shareholders, people, or the environment.” Behar said the proposal to limit shareholder proxies “has the potential to increase shareholder and company risk, particularly regarding growing climate concerns” and is unlikely to face “public or legal scrutiny.” In its comment letter filed Monday, the PRI, which represents the world’s largest institutional investors that support the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment, wrote that the SEC shareholder proxy proposal would block hundreds of shareholder proposals and lock out smaller and medium-size investors from influencing outcomes of votes. “By erecting hurdles to the resubmission of proposals, the SEC will effectively hamper U.S. companies’ ability to make progress on ESG goals,” said Fiona Reynolds, CEO of Principles for Responsible Investment. “U.S. corporations will inevitably fall behind on sustainable business practices compared to their competitors in the global market, losing out on both a competitive advantage and changes necessary for a more sustainable marketplace.” PRI noted in its press release that the proposed rule on proxy advisor firms” would impose prohibitive costs on proxy advisory firms,” which many institutional investors use to supplement their own research and understanding of proxies for their portfolio. The SEC will first review public comments before proceeding with the proposal. It could potentially revise the proposal, which would involve additional public comments. No meetings on the current proposals have been scheduled yet.
	Green America: 18,000 Signatures Delivered Urging SEC Not to Muzzle Voice of Shareholders	Vital Shareholder Proposal Process Has Allowed Investors to Raise Important Social, Environmental and Governance Issues with Corporate America. WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Concerned citizens delivered over 18,000 signatures to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in a major show of opposition to a SEC rule proposal that would bar many investors from pushing corporations for action on major issues, including greenhouse gas reduction goals, lobbying and election spending discussion, human rights abuses and discrimination. The proposed changes will weaken the ability of investors to raise important concerns and thereby give corporations more unchecked power, including the ability to essentially ignore the views of shareholders and other stakeholders. Green America, Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and As You Sow delivered the signatures today to the SEC at its Washington, D.C., offices at 100 F Street NE. Signatures also were gathered by Public Citizen. The Green America petition states: “We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the need to build an economy that will be successful over the long term. This means we need to ensure that social, environmental, and corporate governance issues facing corporations are effectively addressed. As we know, significant improvement across these issues is needed if our economy and society are to thrive for generations to come. “Investors, including small investors, have an important role to play in identifying for corporations a number of risks and corporate impacts of which they may not be aware. These risks and impacts may damage specific companies and the larger economy. “Since 1934, the shareholder proposal process (Rule 14a-8) has been a positive tool that enables investors to share important information with fellow investors and with corporate management. It is working well and should certainly not be weakened.” Green America Executive Co-Director Fran Teplitz said: “There is no democracy for shareholders in America unless they have a right to engage in meaningful shareholder advocacy and to be heard. The SEC is contemplating locking many shareholders out of the process. Many of the major advances of recent corporate history – going back to the rejection of racist apartheid South Africa and as recently as action on climate change – owe their success to shareholder advocacy. Today, we are fighting for democracy and against a world that is run even more than it is today by corporations that can ignore the public. We are pleased that over 10,000 Green America members signed our petition to the SEC.” Along with Green America, several groups also urged the SEC to uphold the current shareholder resolution process: Marcus Stanley, policy director at AFR, said, “This administration has consistently weakened regulations that foster corporate accountability. Now the SEC is weakening even the mechanisms by which the majority of shareholders can advocate for responsible corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.” Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate, Public Citizen said, “Shareholder activists serve on the front line with whistleblowers, unions and even the police to keep American corporations honest. It’s not quantum physics to figure why big business through its U.S. Chamber front wants to stifle these agents of reform.” Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, said, “With this vote, the SEC has apparently inverted its mandate of protecting shareholders to that of protecting companies from shareholder input — even where company action creates increasing risk to shareholders, people, or the environment. This proposal flies in the face of the SEC’s mandate of ensuring transparency, open discussion, and company responsiveness to shareholder concerns; it has the potential to increase shareholder and company risk, particularly regarding growing climate concerns. We don’t believe that it will withstand public or legal scrutiny.” Josh Zinner, CEO of Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), said, “The current proxy process offers shareholders of all sizes a straightforward channel to company management, board, and other investors to provide constructive feedback and, when needed, raise concerns about critical ESG risks. This important give and take process has been demonstrably beneficial for the long value of companies and investors and should be safeguarded by the SEC." Sanford Lewis, director of the Shareholder Rights Group (a group of leading proponents of shareholder proposals), said: “The SEC rule change proposals are fatally flawed. The SEC failed to conduct the needed research prior to issuing the proposals, and therefore they lacked the necessary legal and economic foundation for a rule proposal. The proposals undermine the rights of investors to file proposals, hire representatives, and to aggregate stock with other concerned shareholders.” ABOUT GREEN AMERICA Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org
	Advocates Say SEC Proxy Change Limits Corporate Owners' Oversight	A proposed SEC rule would limit the influence shareholders have on the corporations they own, according to advocates who delivered more than 18,000 signatures opposing the change to the commission's headquarters in Washington, D.C., today. According to Andrew Behar, CEO at As You Sow, a nonprofit advocacy group representing shareholders, the SEC has “inverted its mandate” to protect equity owners in favor of shielding corporate boards and managing executives from addressing owners' concerns around issues like climate change and corporate governance. “This proposal flies in the face of the SEC’s mandate of ensuring transparency, open discussion, and company responsiveness to shareholder concerns; it has the potential to increase shareholder and company risk, particularly regarding growing climate concerns,” he said. “We don’t believe that it will withstand public or legal scrutiny.” The petition was delivered by representatives for As You Sow, Green America and Americans for Financial Reform and criticized SEC commissioners for a November 3-2 vote in favor of amending Rule 14a-8, which enabled investors, including small investors, to introduce proposals that could be included on a company’s proxy document, needed to garner shareholder support. These critics argue that such shareholder proposals are ways equity owners can hold boards accountable around the owners' concerns, including encouraging companies to respond to climate and human rights issues, as well as addressing good governance. Advocates for corporate boards say the proposals, usually from smaller shareholders, are nuisances that take time and resources, and do not reflect the sentiment of larger groups of owners. Advocates for the current rule dispute that. “While some companies claim that the current shareholder resolution process is onerous to them, the average company in the Russell 3000 receives only one shareholder proposal every seven years,” he said. “The benefits of hearing from investors on key issues should be a priority of corporate management.” The petition detailed several changes that could inhibit shareholder power, including changing the current requirement that shareholders must have held at least $2,000 worth of a company’s securities for one year in order to submit a proposal. If the proposed rule goes into effect, shareholders would have to hold at least $2,000 worth of equity in the company for three years, or $25,000 for one year, to submit proposals. The proposed changes also demand that shareholders who have submitted proposals be available to speak with management, even if they’ve hired a "proxy advisor"—several groups that coordinate efforts by shareholders to advocate for specific issues—to speak on their behalf. The proposed change also increases the level of shareholder support a resolution needs to win among all shareholders to be included in a subsequent proxy. Currently, a first-year resolution needs at least 3% support to get on the ballot the following year, while a second-year resolution needs 6%. Proposals submitted for a third time must have at least 10% support to get on the proxy the following year. The SEC is proposing to raise these barriers to 5%, 10% and 25%, respectively. Critics argue that means shareholder proposals would be outlawed if they don't immediately grab widespread endorsement, as few proposals do. “The current levels of support are working well, and allow new, cutting-edge issues to garner support over time,” the petition read. The new thresholds "will prevent important resolutions from being re-filed and will not help companies improve.”
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	Press Release: Child Labor Has Always Been Here, Now It's on the Rise	On this World Social Justice Day, the Campaign to End US Child Labor calls for justice for the hundreds of thousands of children across the United States who are forced to work, often in hazardous conditions.
	How To Be a Sustainable Apparel Business	Green businesses adopt principles, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life for its customers, employees, communities, and planet. But just because a business claims it is “green” doesn’t mean it upholds the standards of social responsibility and sustainability. So how can you determine what is in fact a sustainable business, or how can your business achieve that high standard? That’s where third-party certifications come in. A third-party certification serves to verify a business’s claims against their independently developed criterion. Such certifications reduce conflicts of interest and provide accountability to a business’s claims. Studies show that customers look for such things from businesses and are willing to pay more for high-quality products with safety and sustainability standards. Green America's Green Business Certification is the leading trust mark for true green business practices. Our program recognizes businesses that excel in social and environmental responsibility, and the businesses found in our Green Pages directory have met or exceeded our certification standards to become leaders in the green economy.  The Green Business Network at Green America recommends businesses consider both environmental and social justice issues when making decisions. To earn our certification, businesses must meet both standards of social and environmental responsibility. If you are interested in becoming a green business, we’ve highlighted a few important steps—and if you’ve reached these steps, check out the full requirements of our Apparel certification. You may be ready to apply.  Environmental Responsibility  "Green" or sustainable business make planet health a core part of their mission. The following steps are ways your apparel business can account for environmental responsibility in its operations.  Certified organic, reclaimed and recycled fibers, or other sustainable materials.  Organic and sustainable materials are a requirement of our apparel businesses. That includes no genetically-modified cotton, which poses threats to the surrounding ecosystem through pesticides and a disruption of natural processes through a monoculture. Conversely, organic cotton greatly decreases the amount of harmful chemicals that workers and their communities are exposed to during the farming level of the supply chain. Additional fabrics made from post or pre-consumer recycled fibers are acceptable if the process does not result in toxic waste, and if the materials can be recycled or composted. There must be transparency around animal derivatives if there are animals in your supply chain. Packaging and transportation. We expect green apparel businesses to have environmentally and socially positive packaging. It must be from recycled sources and must be recyclable or compostable. We love to see businesses take back packaging for reuse, too. Your business must have a program in place to reduce emissions from company vehicles and work with your distributors to take steps to reduce emissions from transportation and shipping. Since transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions in the US, it’s very important that your business does its part! Educating consumers. Conscious consumers are what keep sustainable businesses running. Therefore, we require apparel companies to educate consumers on the life cycle of their product, such as how to properly dispose of the product when it is no longer usable. We love to see established take back programs, too. To be an industry leader, we expect your business to advocate for green practices in your field and be open to feedback from internal and external stakeholders. Green office or facility.  Not only do we count the steps in the supply chain, we are also interested in your business’s operational and administrative fronts. Our definition of a green office or facility includes reusing resources, recyclability, and maximum water and energy efficiency. Your office space must divert its waste appropriately, including using a certified E-Steward for electronics and composting all food waste. Your office must be energy efficient and must be taking action on clean energy, such as purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or using on-site clean energy. Your business must also use 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper and have procedures in place to maximize office resources. Using non-toxic cleaning supplies and pest control products is important in-house, too. A green office is a testament to your business’s values—not only do you care about people and the planet in your products, but also in the treatment of your employees. Social Responsibility  Triple bottom line businesses are not only kind to the planet, but kind to people—hence, social responsibility. The following points are a handful of ways your business can be an ethical one.  Safe and fair manufacturing.  Whether you partner with workers in the US or abroad, we expect you to offer your workers safe and healthy working conditions, a living wage, and transparency. Offshore factories are okay if the factory has an established worker representation mechanism, a code of conduct with an enforcement mechanism is in place, and your business has long-term contracts with the manufacturers. Many of our businesses are certified fair trade and work with unions to help demonstrate this. Safe and quality company employment. Your company’s workplace culture should reflect the values of your mission. Employees should have access to quality benefits and be paid wages that ensure well-being. Your company culture should encourage work/life balance, inclusivity, and have non-discrimination and whistle blower protection policies in place. Your business is only as good as its people, so having a thriving workplace will help your employees be the best they can be. Uphold transparency.  Transparency is weaker in the apparel industry than it should be—which is why we make it a requirement of our certification. Your business must share its social and environmental mission on its website. For each individual product, the country of manufacture should be clearly visible. If all products come from the same country, that should be disclosed on the front page. Your business must also be transparent in its supply chain, including sub-contracting, and be committed to the continuous improvement of sustainable labor practices. Customers are increasingly interested in the people behind the product. According to Harvard Business Review, customers prefer products that are handmade or can see the person behind the product; compared to mass automation, the presence of a human signals intent, meaning, and effort.  Why Certify?  In a sea of businesses claiming to be “conscious" or "natura," it’s hard for the average consumer to weed out the green from the greenwashed. Third-party certifications demonstrate that your business has withstood the vetting of an outside body and come out as a truly socially and environmentally responsible business. With certification, your customers will know your business has the credentials to back up claims of environmental and social responsibility—and they’ll wear your values on their sleeves.  While these requirements are comprehensive, they are not definite. We love seeing businesses exceed these standards and take steps beyond certification to be even greener. In addition, our certification analyzes business practices and not individual products. We believe a sustainable future is also an ethical one and ensure the businesses that earn our certification reflect that.  If you believe you meet these criteria, you can view the full requirements for Apparel businesses at our Apparel certification standard and begin the process of becoming a member and official sustainable business.  Join Today
	When it comes to bills and receipts, are you Team Paper or Team Digital?	Like many soon-to-be empty-nesters, Vered DeLeeuw and her husband have been thinking about downsizing. Surveying her garage, DeLeeuw noticed boxes of documents, pay stubs, bills, credit card statements — 20 years worth — and realized the harsh truth: She was a paper pack rat. Using a paper shredder, it took her two months to trash everything. “I don’t want to do this again in 20 years,” she says. “That’s why when a business asks if I want to go paperless or receive a receipt by email, I think, ‘Why not?’ ” There was a time when your only checkout decision was paper or plastic bag. Now, the question is “paper or digital receipt?” We must decide whether we want to collect all the receipts we need — for tax purposes, warranties, insurance benefits, mail-in rebates and more — in paper or virtual file folders. And we need to make the same choice about bills and all kinds of statements — credit card, bank, investment and insurance — as well as health records. “The world is changing into an expectation of convenience, what I call ‘B-To-Me’ (business to me). Thanks to technology, not only can we bank through our smartphones, but receive bills and receipts digitally,” says Alice Frazier, president and chief executive of Bank of Charles Town in West Virginia. Digital bills, statements and receipts alleviate the costs of handling and processing for businesses. For customers, digital receipts save space and allow them to quickly look things up. And overall, digital bills, statements and receipts are friendlier for the environment, because they waste less money and require no physical delivery. The use of paper receipts consumes more than 3 million trees, 9 billion gallons of water and generates more than 4 billion pounds of carbon dioxide and 302 million pounds of solid waste during production, according to the 2019 report from Green America, a nonprofit group focused on environmental issues related to consumerism. Roberto Castaneda, program director for Walden University’s online master’s in finance degree, says: “As we move into a digital world, we will see more retailers, medical offices, businesses and a host of venues taking advantage of digital processing of transactions.” Still, many of us grew up with paper, and it’s hard to let go. You shouldn’t beat yourself up if you like paper, says Eileen Roth, co-author of “Organizing For Dummies.” “For bills that change monthly, like credit cards, I like the paper version to match to my paper receipts from the store. I could print a digital bill, but why do I want to spend my ink, my computer space and my time when the company will mail me the bill for free?” Whether you prefer paper or digital, you need an organizational system that works, especially for receipts. Otherwise, you risk turning your disorganized receipt-stuffed cardboard shoe box into a digital one. Here’s a look at both options. Team Paper Pros: ●Provides a sense of security because the process has been in place for a long time. ●Accurate paper trail at your fingertips. ●No need for computer or smartphone. ●Printed bill is a reminder when bills are due. ●You’re more likely to look at it. Cons: ●Take up space. ●May make it difficult to find a specific receipt. ●Receipt may deteriorate over time. ●Not environmentally friendly. ●Slower response time between payment and confirmation of receipt. ●Could get lost in the mail. Tips for handling paper receipts, bills, statements: Roth suggests a two-pronged approach: one for bills and statements (bank, brokerage, credit card), and one for receipts. Label one large plastic file folder “To Pay” in which to sort all incoming bills. Once a week, open this file. Mark each bill with the date paid. Sort paid bills into paper file folders labeled by category, such as utilities, insurance, medical, donations and warranties. Place statements in appropriately labeled folders for future reference. For your receipts, buy a 12-month check file folder. This is where you will temporarily store all your small paper receipts. Sort by categories such as groceries, restaurants, office, gasoline, hardware stores, hobby/craft. Each month, when your credit card statement arrives, match the receipts to your statement. After matching, you can pitch grocery, restaurant, carwash, gasoline and similar receipts. Pull out any receipt for warranties and place it into the appropriate folder. Staple the remaining receipts to your credit card statement. After a year, shred or destroy the statement and attached receipts. You can toss warranties when you no longer have the product or the warranty expires. Hang onto bank statements for one year until you file your taxes. However, says Roth, if you have no write-offs, there is no need to keep them more than two months once you have balanced your statements. Castaneda advises keeping investment and brokerage statements until six years after you’ve sold your stocks or bonds. Likewise, retain physical receipts of the purchase of your home and remodeling costs for, at minimum, six years after selling your home and filing your taxes. Though Castaneda prefers digital records, he does print and store tax return documents in a large envelope marked “Tax Return” and the year. “Many organizations provide digital copies of tax documents such as W-2s, brokerage and mortgage statements, and real estate taxes, which I also print and store in my tax return file,” he says. “Keeping tax documents in one folder eliminates the hassle of trying to gather them later if the IRS calls.” Team Digital Pros: ●Reduces clutter. ●Eliminates the need for shredding. ●Environmentally friendly. ●Searchable from your computer ●Can file and store receipts in multiple categories. ●Can confirm your payment was submitted properly and received on time. ●Access from anywhere. Cons: ●Easier to overlook or miss a bill payment. ●Requires general technology skills. ●Often requires signing into a website to view. ●May require a scanner to digitize receipts. ●Risks someone compromising your data. ●Could lose data in case of a computer crash, unless you store your data in the cloud. ●May require an online storage service or external hard drive large enough to hold your data. Tips for handling digital receipts, bills statements: Robert Berger, deputy editor of Forbes Money Advisor and author of “Retire Before Mom and Dad,” figured converting from paper to digital was as simple as buying a scanner to digitize his receipts and bills, giving each a unique name, then putting them all into an online folder. “Because I was selling my house and moving into a new one, I became super-focused on decluttering and finding an organizational method that worked,” he says. What sounded good in theory didn’t pan out. “My paper mess became a digital mess,” he says. His solution: Create an online filing system involving Dropbox for storage and several Google docs organized by topic, such as “house” or “medical.” Invoices, receipts for large purchases and bills that come as attachments instead of embedded within an email get scanned and converted to a PDF, as do any important paper receipts such as his home inspection and deed. Either the email or PDF is saved to Dropbox. A link for each is copied and pasted into the appropriate Google doc. “I can see every service call for home repairs by looking at one master document. If I need the receipt, it’s one click away,” says Berger, who adds that you can even give your master document with embedded links to receipts and statements to your accountant come tax season. There’s no need to send credit card statements or similar documentation unless your tax preparer asks for it. For those who prefer what Frazier calls “a virtual file cabinet,” consider downloading statements and/or investment reports to your online storage. Categorize them into labeled folders such as “retirement” or “Visa card.” Another option is to use a free online financial management tool — for example, Mint, which can automatically connect to and import your financial data, including credit cards, bank and retirement accounts, into one easily accessible place. DeLeeuw’s two-month shredding slog was worth it. Now she stores all her bills and receipts on an external hard drive in folders sorted by topic and year. “It was amazingly scary to shred all that paper,” she says, “but once I got started I realized, ‘Who needs a 20-year-old utility bill?’ ”
	As Valentine's Approaches, Major Retailers Rated on Whether Chocolate Products Address Child Labor, Deforestation and Fair Trade	WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 8, 2020 – Green America released a chocolate scorecard for retailers ahead of Valentine’s Day, rating top US grocery stores and pharmacies on how well their product offerings address child labor conditions and sustainability, which are major problems in the chocolate industry. Aldi, Food Lion and Kroger received the best grades, while Trader’s Joe and CVS got the lowest marks. “For decades the chocolate industry, including retailers, has known about child labor in chocolate production, but we are still seeing major retailers, like Trader Joe’s, doing relatively little to address this issue,” said Charlotte Tate, manager, Labor Justice Campaigns, Green America. “Complex problems like child labor and deforestation need holistic solutions, and if retailers do not prioritize human and environmental rights, those needed holistic solutions will remain out of reach.” Aldi, Food Lion and Kroger were the top-ranking retailers on the Scorecard for addressing child labor, poverty and deforestation. Walmart, Whole Foods, Safeway, Target, Costco and Walgreens received middle scores. Trader’s Joe and CVS were the worst-ranking retailers. See the detailed chart here. It is estimated that retailers take more than 40 percent of the profits from the annual billions of dollars in chocolate sales in the US, while cocoa farmers in West Africa, where 60 percent of the world’s cocoa is produced, earn around a dollar a day. The US Department of Labor estimates that two million children in West Africa are engaged in hazardous work in cocoa fields. “Retailers control what chocolate brands the public sees and eventually buys, and they should take a leading role in promoting products that benefit cocoa farmers and the environment,” said Todd Larsen, executive co-director, Consumer and Corporate Engagement, Green America. “The unfair division of chocolate profits must change. Farmers must be paid fairly, or we have no hope of ending child labor in the cocoa industry.” While solving the child labor problem in cocoa and addressing deforestation involves working with the entire supply chain, paying farmers a living wage is a necessary part of the solution, and retailers can play a major role by selling chocolate with higher labor and environmental standards. If retailers and chocolate companies remain unwilling to ensure farmers are paid fairly, then poverty, child labor and deforestation will continue to grow. The new Chocolate Retailer Scorecard is a tool that allows consumers to make more informed choices about where they shop for their chocolate. In addition, annually, Green America maintains a scorecard that examines the chocolate brands’ efforts to address child labor in their chocolate supply chain. About Green America Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org Media Contact: Max Karlin for Green America, (703) 276-3255, or mkarlin@hastingsgroup.com.
	Chocolate Retailer Scorecard	Child labor in the chocolate industry has been a well-known problem for decades, and despite numerous stakeholders pressuring big chocolate companies to address the issue, child labor remains prevalent in West Africa’s cocoa industry. In addition to our annual Chocolate Scorecard rating major US chocolate companies, this scorecard rates stores carrying chocolates. Why a retailer scorecard? Green America issues an annual Chocolate Scorecard, which rates major US chocolate companies on its efforts to address child labor. Building on that scorecard, we think it is important to highlight the role that grocery stores and pharmacies have in perpetuating child labor issues in cocoa. Store brand or ‘own brand’ chocolate is gaining a bigger and bigger market share, but grocery stores or retailers have not received the same kind of consumer and civil society pressure that chocolate companies, like Godiva, have received. Retailers make billions of dollars on chocolate sales, taking up to 44% of the profits while cocoa farmers earn a measly 6.6%, according to the Cocoa Barometer. This unfair division of chocolate profits must change. Farmers need to be paid more, or we have no hope of ending child labor in the cocoa industry. One of the results of consumer, civil society, and government pressure on the chocolate industry is big chocolate brands developing sustainability initiatives. This pressure has also led to greater transparency about what chocolate brands are doing to address social and environmental harms, including child labor and deforestation. But, it is retailers that control what chocolates the public sees, and likely buys. And, since these retailers make the bulk of the profit off of chocolate, they should take the lead in promoting products that benefit farmers and the environment. Grocery stores and chocolate companies’ commitments to fair trade chocolate vary widely. Many chocolate companies have made time-bound commitments to fair trade chocolate, but as you can see in the scorecard, far fewer grocery stores have a fair trade option of chocolate for their store brand, let alone commitment to 100% fair trade chocolate – and this must change! What can you do? If your favorite retailer received a low score, you can reach out to its customer service team to let them know this is an issue you care about and that you hope they will make advances in addressing child labor and deforestation in chocolate production in 2020. If your favorite retailer did well, you can also let them know! It is important that companies know what their consumers care about and keep prioritizing the issue. If you have the option, you can also use your purchasing power to shop with local stores with a wide variety of fair trade chocolate options or shop from some of the higher scoring retailers, like Aldi. You can also buy your Valentine's Day chocolates directly from these A-rated chocolate companies! How we determined the ratings: We chose some of the largest US retailers to look at its efforts to address child labor in cocoa; we also included Trader Joe’s, as after the release of the 2019 Chocolate Scorecard, we had numerous members reach out with questions about Trader Joe’s chocolate. Food Lion is owned by Ahold Delhaize, and we used Ahold’s reporting information for this scorecard; similarly, Safeway is owned by Albertsons, so we used Albertsons' reporting information for this scorecard. Only publicly available information was used for the scorecard (sustainability information from company websites and products listed on company websites or found in stores). For grading, a mix of colors and thumbs up, down, or sideways was used. For the overall company ratings, green is the highest rating, while there is likely room for improvement, the retailers in green came out on top; yellow indicates that the retailer should be doing more; and red indicates that much more needs to be done in addressing child labor and deforestation in chocolate production. For each category, thumbs up is the highest rating; a sideways thumb indicates that the retailer should be doing more; and thumbs down indicates that the retailer is either doing nothing or very little. Companies receiving one or more thumbs down ratings in any category were not eligible for an overall green rating. The categories all carried the same weight. For this scorecard, only chocolate candy and chocolate baking products were considered. Categories: Addressing child labor in the store's brand(s) of chocolate: = Offers at least one fair trade option. = Offers at least one organic option. = No fair trade or organic option. Has a commitment to no deforestation: = There is a commitment to zero deforestation. = There is a deforestation policy, but the company does not commit to zero deforestation. = There was no public deforestation policy. Beyond fair trade: = The retailer notes that child labor or poverty are an issue in the cocoa industry, and it is doing something to address it. = The retailer mentions the connection between cocoa and child labor or poverty but is not clearly doing something to specifically address it, or if a company had a strong no child labor policy across multiple commodities. = There was no mention of child labor and cocoa, and/or a weak child labor policy. Note, nearly every retailer did have a no child labor policy, though we believe it is important that all companies publicly recognize those goods that are at a higher risk for child labor. Fair trade options: = The retailer offers 11 or more fair trade certified chocolate brands. = The retailer offers between 6-10 different brands. = The retailer offered 5 or less fair trade options of chocolate brands. This category consisted of estimates, and retailers' inventory can vary by location and may differ online versus in-store. We looked at information available online in most cases. In the case of Trader Joe’s, we visited a few store locations in the DC area. As Albertsons owns multiple grocery store chains, we looked at Safeway for this category; Ahold Delhaize also owns multiple grocery store chains, and we looked at Food Lion for this category. In the case of Aldi, since it sells very few other brands of chocolate and as its own brand is fair trade certified, we made an exception for this category, and Aldi received a sideways thumb. If a retailer's own brand is fair trade, it was not counted in this category as they already received credit for this in the first category. Only chocolate candy was included for this category.
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	Senior Director, Climate & Agriculture Networks	Senior Director, Climate and Agriculture Network Hours: Full-time (4-days, 32 hours/week) Salary: $70,000 - $80,000 Benefits: medical, dental, sick days, holidays Supervisor: CEO Green America is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a just and sustainable society by harnessing economic power for positive change. Our unique approach involves working with consumers, investors and businesses to create a world that works for all. We deploy marketplace solutions to solve the most pressing social and environmental problems facing society today. The Center of Sustainability Solutions builds on Green America’s work over the years, where we’ve brought together industry groups across supply chains to create major shifts in such areas as solar, community investing, sustainable agriculture and fair labor. The Center supports Innovation Networks, focused working groups of stakeholders with the objective of making significant, industry-wide system change. The Climate and Agriculture Network is a multi-stakeholder, cross- industry working group supporting initiatives that focus on improving agricultural and food system outcomes in the areas of carbon sequestration, soil health, water quality, and ecosystem impacts (the “network”). The Senior Director will provide leadership and team support in all facets of the network including: strategic direction, fundraising, stakeholder engagement, Network and team management, facilitation and operations management. Working with network managers, project managers, as well as senior Center staff, the Senior Director will help to ensure progress against project objectives, timelines, and targets. Duties and Responsibilities: Participant Vetting and Cultivation and Fundraising -30% Work closely with network manager, design team and CEO to identify qualified, collaborative participants and support processes for stakeholder outreach, engagement and recruitment across all working groups and initiatives. Senior Director is responsible for ensuring revenue targets are attained for both the network and the initiatives. Revenue sources include: participant fees, corporate and foundation grants, major donors, and special project funding from private entities. Support includes development of proposals and partnership agreements. Senior Director will work closely with the network manager and CEO Strategy, Planning and Networks Management – 20% In concert with senior Center staff, develop and implement strategy of the network including working groups and initiatives, and work to oversee and support network directors and their teams as they implement project strategy. In collaboration with agriculture team, identify priorities, coordinate team work plans, assess capacity, monitor and evaluate progress to ensure the Networks is effective, meaningful, and timely. Work with CEO to coordinate the work of the network with other Green America priorities. Work closely with senior Center staff on budget and operating plan development Track working group and initiative progress against goals and timelines using work management software. Lead efforts to successfully launch, maintain, and evaluate initiatives within the Agriculture and Food Network. Attend and contribute to network meetings. Ensure team produces accurate, high-quality project deliverables in a timely manner, including: meeting reports, special research projects, and other outputs. Coordinate team in producing communications materials for variety of audiences Ensure knowledge gained is converted into “knowledge capital” for Center and Green America teams, including how to launch and manage working groups successfully and shift markets toward sustainability. Soil Carbon Initiative Management – 50% Provide direction, oversight and coordination for the continued development of the Soil Carbon Initiative. In 2020 this work will developing a go to market plan for the standard including identifying the technical development partners needed for the full launch, the supply chain partners needed for the pilot phase, and the funding resources needed The Senior Director will work closely with the CEO and Design Team to develop a strategic work plan for SCI that covers the next 12 month. The position involves domestic travel for Network meetings, conferences and business cultivation meetings, staff training, and other purposes. Position has direct supervisory responsibility for agricultural Network Manager, the Climate and Agriculture Program Manager, and some contract positions as applicable. Qualified Candidates should have the following skills and qualities: Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to develop trusting relationships with senior executives and high-level leaders across the food and agriculture sector. A strong knowledge of food and agriculture issues, including GMOs, food supply chains, local foods, and organics. The ability to understand and converse competently about complex supply chain issues with a broad range of stakeholders, and to provide useful frameworks for analysis and action on key supply chain issues. Strong project management skills, with 5+ years of experience managing multiple projects simultaneously. Negotiating experience and the ability to move groups both quickly and collaboratively on key priorities. Experience facilitating large and small group discussions. Proven experience with business and client development (5-10 years) Strong research and writing skills. Strong speaking skills. MBA or equivalent strongly preferred. How to apply: Please email your cover letter and resume/CV to CenterAgHire@greenamerica.org. No phone calls. ********************************************************************************** Green America is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination regarding: actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, related medical conditions, breastfeeding, or reproductive health disorders), age (18 years of age or older), marital status (including domestic partnership and parenthood), personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, genetic information, disability, matriculation, political affiliation, citizenship status, credit information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Harassment on the basis of a protected characteristic is included as a form of discrimination and is strictly prohibited.
	Goldman Sachs to End Oil & Gas Financing in the Arctic	33 banks have funneled 1.9 trillion into fossil fuels since 2016. Of these banks, Goldman Sachs ranks number 12 in the biggest financiers of fossil fuels, pouring approximately $59.26 billion dollars over the last three years. Yet in December of 2019, the US firm announced its decision to end the financing of new oil drilling and exploration projects in the Arctic, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Goldman Sachs’ decision includes a ban on funding new thermal coal mines worldwide. The megabank acknowledged the scientific consensus behind climate change and stated that “climate change is one of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21^st century” in its revised environmental policy framework. It also stated to more effectively help its clients manage climate impacts, including through the sale of weather-related catastrophe bonds. The revisions were reportedly a result of meetings between leaders of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, the Sierra Club, and representatives from Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is the first US megabank to end financing of Arctic oil and gas projects, as well as cite the climate crisis as a reason for its decision. This is a good sign for environmentalists and Arctic indigenous groups, who hope other banks will follow suit. However, the Goldman Sachs announcement doesn’t completely sever ties with the fossil fuel industry since it has not mentioned any commitments to end the financing of fracking projects. There is a financial incentive to sever investments to the fossil fuel industry. Over the last decade, BlackRock has lost an estimated $90 billion by ignoring the risks of investing in fossil fuel companies instead of renewable energy. With solar photovoltaic installers and wind turbine service technicians as the two fastest-growing occupations in the US as of 2018, clean energy alternatives have increased accessibility and competitiveness. While Goldman Sachs is the first US megabank to draw a red line over oil and gas projects, other major financial institutions are still pouring billions of dollars into the climate crisis. JPMorgan Chase is the single largest funder of fossil fuels in the world—it has financed a total of $195 billion over the last three years. As a green business leader, your voice matters in pressuring JPMorgan Chase to stop funding fossil fuels and invest in clean energy. Take action with us today.
	DC Concepts, LLC	DC Concepts, LLC strives to reduce our carbon footprint by using 100% recycled materials to manufacture our products. We enourage Fair Trade by having honest and transparent dialogues with international distributors in an effort to establish an equitable relationship. We outsource our production and fulfillment to companies who share our practices. We provide free or low-cost products to persons, organizations, and countries in need. In addition, we volunteer our time in educational and service settings nationally and internationally on an as needed basis.