Amazon has NO public info on its chemical management policy for its own apparel brands nor for any textiles it sells.

43 million tons of chemicals are used to dye and treat our clothes every year AND there are 8,000 different chemicals used to manufacture clothing as noted in our 2019 Toxic Textiles report.

How do popular apparel brands, leading fast fashion brands, and retailers stack up on chemical management? Our two scorecards reveal which companies are working to end toxic textiles and which are not. 

Tell Amazon to ditch the Toxic Textiles!

Even if a company has some policies in place to address sustainability within its current supply chain, it does not negate the sheer volume of resources used and lost annually to manufacture new clothes.

There is still no way for us to shop our way to sustainability, but there are many ways to shop with the planet and workers in mind.

Contact What's Good: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook 

Greenwashing. You’ve heard the term. It’s when an organization spreads disinformation to appear sustainable and environmentally responsible without being so. 

Jennifer Young began getting frustrated every time she ran into this problem while trying to be an ethical consumer. 

“’Hey, here’s an eco-friendly product,’” she describes of various companies’ marketing. “And it’s like, ‘Are you kidding me? That’s not really green.’” 

This, combined with being in a moment of transition—“My youngest son was off to college, I was no longer at the job I thought I would be at for the rest of my life,”—led Young to create What’s Good, an eco-friendly online store boasting a variety of products at fair prices. 

The way What’s Good works is simple. You’re looking for greener products? What’s Good is your one-stop-shop. 

Every product offered at What’s Good is personally vetted by Young—but that’s not all. 

“We also take a look at the makers and the small businesses we’re buying from,” she explains. “What is their corporate responsibility? Are they giving back to their community?” 

Young also makes sure her company is vetted and giving back. What’s Good has a commitment to 1% for the Planet and donates to a new organization monthly, from the ACLU, to the Equal Justice Initiative and more. When advisors warned Young she may want more of a profit before donating like this, she pushed back. 

“It’s my business,” she recounts. “This is where we lay the foundation for what we’re going to do moving forward. Could we put more money in our pocket? Yeah, but we’re giving back and we’re working with makers committed to the environment and social justice in their communities, so it’s a win-win.” 

Young says small businesses are “role models.” She describes these environments and their cultures as domino effects. When employees experience an equitable, just, and sustainable work environment, they take that home and model it for others. 

“You hear that people say we vote with our dollars,” she says. “Well, small business owners vote with their company culture. Small businesses can create change, not just in the product you're making, but in the way you run your business.” 

Ready to get shopping yet? We know, we know, but hold on—there's more good on the way. Each first order comes with a sample packet of monarch milkweed seeds in support of the organization Save Our Monarchs. 

“I think it's important—when you're dipping your toe in trying products that are not traditional—to be able to sample them.” 

If it sounds like Young runs her business based on her own beliefs and desires, that’s not far off. 

She admits part of the inspiration behind What’s Good was a selfish want to find eco-friendly products and not buy from corporations like Amazon or Walmart. Then she thought, why not share these finds and collect them in one place? 

You don’t need to be a green expert immediately to buy green products—or ever. 

As Young says, not everyone is “ready to go to soap nuts in their washing machines.” Instead, you could try soap strips, eco-friendly powder detergent, and more. 

That’s why What’s Good offers a broad variety of products in numerous areas.  

“You have a choice,” Young enthuses. “And choice is really important to us. Someday we’ll have huge capital, every product we offer will have three choices.” 

Until then, shopping at What’s Good remains an easy and ethical way to find products that are kinder to the planet. 

“There are days that I wake up and I'm like, ‘What are we doing?’ Young admits. “Especially with things like plastic-free July, it’s so challenging to try and live in our culture without plastic. 

“You get overwhelmed and bombarded with, you know, the planet, the planet, and that creates a lot of anxiety. So I say: ‘Take it easy, just do one green thing.’ I really, really believe that if all of us are doing a little here and there, it's better than none of us doing nothing. And I think it becomes a lifestyle, you start with one thing, and then you move on to the next." 

Contact Emma’s Eco Clean: Website | Facebook 

Household products can be a lot more dangerous than you might expect. Did you know that there are over 1,000 chemicals used in the formula to add scent to Clorox? Some of those chemicals have been linked to infertility, asthma, and are even possible carcinogens.  

That’s why Emma’s Eco Clean, a woman-owned Bay Area cleaning cooperative, uses non-toxic cleaning supplies to protect the health of their employees and customers. With over 2,600 clients, the business has come a long way from its beginnings at Wages. Wages, now known as Prospera, is a nonprofit founded by two women who were cleaning houses in Palo Alto and were not happy with the poor benefits house cleaners were receiving. So, they decided to teach Latina women how to legally open a cooperative, Emma’s Eco Clean being one of many, with the goal of economically uplifting them. 

Maria Rosales, one of the partial owners of Emma’s Eco Clean, was in the original co-op class back in the 90s. “We received weekly training for a year to learn how to run meetings, financials, and legal matters,” she recalls. 

Whether they were unsatisfied with pay, looking for better benefits, or had an entrepreneurial mindset, everyone had their reason to join the program. Maria explains, “I always wanted to have my own business— when I was going to school in Mexico, I sold clothes to people. When I heard Wages was helping people start their business, I thought ‘you know what, I’m interested.’”  

While many of the women were already housecleaners, people from all backgrounds found their niche within team. Rosales, who worked for an electronic company for 11 years prior to Emma’s Eco Clean, said, “My English was not great, and I cannot do housecleaning because I have a condition that does not allow me to do that. So, Wages offered me a job in the office.”  

At the end of the program, more than 20 women dropped out, leaving a group of five to build their business. From the start, they were determined to use simple cleaning agents and vegetable-based soaps from natural brands including Seventh Generations. 

“Wages published a study about how people working in cleaning were getting sick with asthma and a cough when using Clorox. We wanted to protect both the housecleaners’ and customers’ health by using safe soaps, which have the same quality clean,” Maria explains.  

Starting Emma's Eco Clean

The early days were not easy; their first step was to get funded. 

“To get a $10,000 loan from the bank, we had to raise $3,000,” Maria said. “Some of the ladies sold tamales and we hosted garage sales to make it happen.” 

With their hard work, they secured the loan and opened in 1999. At times, the team drove an hour just to clean one house and at times and only found a couple hours of work each week. 

“Luckily, we grew fast. People were hungry for eco-friendly cleaning,” Rosales recounts. 

With 27 co-owners, multiple awards, and residential as well as commercial services, it’s clear that their clean approach is thriving. Their co-op model is also a strong example of the strength of many. Maria says, “We get paid but health insurance, vacation, sick time, profit distributions at the end of the year, which wouldn’t happen if we worked by ourselves.” 

To learn more about sustainable labor, check out Green America’s research on everything from chocolate child labor to smartphone sweatshops. 

Supermarkets like Trader Joe's are leaking potent greenhouse gases called HFCs and it’s a huge climate problem.

In fact, refrigerant leaks from U.S. supermarkets are the emissions equivalent of adding 9.5 million cars to the road each year! Eliminating HFCs and improving refrigeration can avoid half a degree of global warming and 460 billion of tons of greenhouse gases in the coming decades.

Trader Joe’s has a particularly bad history of emitting refrigerant gases that hurt the climate and the ozone, and the company doesn’t follow best practices in reporting its current refrigerant use. The good news is, it’s pretty easy to find out.

That’s why we’re working with our friends at the Environmental Investigation Agency to crowdsource photos of refrigerant labels at your local Trader Joe’s!

How can you investigate your local store? All you need is a camera phone.

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A post shared by Green America (@greenamerica_)

1. Find the label on the refrigerated shelves

On most refrigerator cases in a store there is a label that lists the refrigerant number. Start in the refrigerated foods section for dairy. Take a look up to the top of the refrigerated shelves for the label.

The refrigerant can be clearly marked, or you’ll just see R followed by a few numbers (most commonly, R22, R404A, or R134a - these are all different types of HFCs!), and sometimes you’ll see more than one refrigerant listed. That’s normal too! Look for something like this:

2. Turn on geotagging on your device

This helps us confirm the location of the store for our data collection.

IPHONE

ANDROID

3. Take a photo of the label

Make sure the refrigerant number is in frame!

4. Email climatefriendlysupermarkets@eia-global.org and include:

• The Geotagged Image and ensure geographic information is shared:
  • On an iOS device, using the built-in photo app, you must choose to send the image "Actual Size"
  • On an android device, you must attach your image from your phone storage and not from the google cloud
• Store name (Trader Joe's) 
• Store address and zip code (optional, in case of Goetagging error)

Check back soon to see your store on EIA's Supermarket map that tracks which stores are climate-friendly and which are super polluters!

Have questions? Send us an email!

By Christopher Marquis

In establishing Beneficial State Bank as a financial institution with social and environmental impact in mind, co-founders Kat Taylor and Tom Steyer saw an opportunity to serve as an example for others in the U.S. financial industry, which handles trillions of dollars in finances daily. The potential for positive change is great in a system where the biggest U.S. banks have trillions in assets, and even smaller financial institutions oversee millions.   

“It’s a very powerful system that has monopolistic tendencies. Banking is really a utility that should be governed in the public interest,” Taylor says. “We had a hunch that this powerful positive public system was going terribly awry, and somebody had to set an example for the banking industry that said, ‘You can be financially sustainable without trashing people or the planet.’” 

They launched Beneficial State Bank in 2007, just before the Great Recession, as a foundation-owned, for-profit bank as well as a Community Development Financial Institution and Certified B Corporation. All of that adds up to a mission-focused bank committed to doing good in its communities — so the money goes toward community, environmental, and social benefit. With about $1.5 billion in assets, Beneficial State Bank has offices in California, Oregon, and Washington, and an eye on expansion of its services to provide more people a banking option with positive impact. 

By establishing Beneficial State Foundation as the owner of the bank’s economic rights and a public charity, Taylor and Steyer sought to ensure that no entity would use its resources for self-serving interests and instill the community connection from the start. The foundation works with coalitions, campaigns, and other partnerships to advance social and economic justice, and environmental advocacy.

In 2020, Taylor shifted from her role as CEO to a member of the bank’s Board of Directors, and Randell Leach was named to succeed her. As a longtime COO at Beneficial State Bank, Leach is familiar with its unique value set that helps it envision and provide new products, services, and outcomes for its customers and community partners. 

Continue reading.

If money talks, then divestment walks. At least it does in the fossil fuel divestment movement that has prompted large and scalable campaigns against organizations that ally with oil and gas. Since 2012, investment activists and college students have been pressuring universities, religious institutions, and philanthropic foundations to divest from fossil fuels. Nine years later, the movement has totaled over $14 trillion in institutional divestments, according to advocacy group Fossil Free. 

These activists have prompted the largest anti-corporate campaign of its kind, sending a market signal to industries and investors that the public wants companies to stop fueling the climate crisis and start putting their resources into clean energy and other sustainable investments. The success of the fossil fuel divestment movement has encouraged others to launch additional campaigns against companies and projects that are harmful to people and the planet. 

Fossil Fuels

2020 is currently tied with 2016 for hottest years ever. US carbon emissions decreased in 2020, but analysts credit lockdown, not significant action by the government or companies to fight the climate crisis. However, the fossil fuel divestment campaign has made significant strides in squeezing the industry: in 2020, Dominion Energy sold its gas transmissions holdings and BP announced the $5 billion sale of its petrochemicals business (chemicals made through the use of oil, like plastics and solvents). 

To prevent the burning of fossil fuels and further exacerbate climate change, 350.org founder Bill McKibben launched a campaign to get investors around the world to divest from the top 200 publicly traded fossil-fuel companies. The movement has evolved significantly since its launch in 2012—what began with universities, religious institutions, and philanthropic foundations now includes major capital cities, mainstream banks, insurance companies, and massive pension funds. Divestment pledges now span across 48 countries with over 70% of commitments outside the US, as of Fossil Free’s latest report.

Recent victories have added to the multi-trillion dollar divestment records. New York City promised to completely decarbonize its portfolio by 2040—at a value of over $500 billion. Also in 2020, 42 faith institutions in 14 countries announced their divestment in the largest-ever joint announcement by faith groups. 

Despite these new records, there is much work to be done. Harvard University sits on the largest academic endowment in the world, $41 billion. Yet the university refuses to divest despite growing pressure, including a complaint to the Attorney General of Massachusetts claiming the university is violating its duty as a nonprofit by investing in fossil fuels. Other higher institutions have stepped up, including Columbia University, which has divested from companies that derive 35% or more revenue from coal production. 

The biggest opportunity for divestment lies with the largest financial institutions in the country. Megabank JPMorgan Chase has not only continued to fund but has increased funding for fossil fuels and their expansion. Its financing of $253 billion in the last four years alone is by far the greatest investment in the climate disaster that any bank in the world has made. 

JPMorgan Chase is not the only one—between 2016 and 2020, 56 global private sector banks funneled $3.8 trillion dollars into fossil fuel projects and companies. Some banks have taken small steps such as increasing their lending for renewable energy, but these actions don’t target the root of the problem that is fossil fuel funding. FossilBanks.org has the full list of banks that are the largest financers of the fossil fuel industry, including, but not limited to: Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Barclays, TD, and Morgan Stanley. 

Studies show that the return on investment for fossil fuels is no longer lucrative. Citing figures from stock market company MSCI, the Guardian noted in 2015 that “investors who divested from fossil fuel companies would have earned an average return of 13% a year since 2010, compared to the 11.8% a year return earned by conventional investors.” Sustainable funds held up better than conventional counterparts in the first quarter market downturn in 2020, according to investment research company Morningstar.

Visit greenamerica.org/divest-reinvest for a list of resources to help you divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in sustainability, including fossil-free mutual funds, CDs, as well as financial advisors who can help clients construct fossil-free portfolios.

Private Prisons and Detention Centers

Incarcerated people in both government and private prisons face poor living conditions such as insufficient food and shelter, coupled with inadequate services like poor healthcare, education, and working environments. Inmates are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act and can be required to work for free while incarcerated under the 13th Amendment. Most inmates work in maintenance or food service in their own prison facilities to reduce the overall operating costs. 

Operating costs are also cut by skimming on safety, education, and health standards; a 2016 report from the Justice Department found that private prisons have more safety and security incidents per capita than federal institutions.

Private prisons, unlike public ones, have an added profit incentive. Rather than reducing recidivism and rehabilitating prisoners, private prisons can increase their profit margin by lobbying for laws that increase incarceration and extend sentences. 

Of the biggest private prison companies, GEO Group derives $1.3 billion in profits from its contracts with the government and CoreCivic makes about $1 billion per year from government contracts. They benefit from the aggressive immigration policy that fills detention beds and backlogs immigration courts—all while having unlimited access to a growing pool of workers. In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order that the Department of Justice would not renew contracts with private prison operators, but this does not affect ICE detention centers, which are run through the Department of Homeland Security.

A federal lawsuit filed in 2018 by a coalition of civil rights groups and lawyers alleges that detainees in the Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia were coerced into working for a few cents each day or go without necessities like food and soap. Stewart Detention Center, which is run by CoreCivic, is still open and oversaw some of Georgia’s highest COVID-19 rates due to a spike at the facility. The lawsuit is ongoing as of June 2021.

Like people convicted to sentences in private prisons, immigrants in for-profit detention centers face—and work in—inhumane conditions; however, asylum seekers are fleeing persecution, torture, or death in their home countries and come to the US for protection. Zero-tolerance policies led to the separation of over 5,500 children from their families at the US-Mexico border. Some of those families have been reunited. Others have not been deemed eligible, or parents had already been deported, cutting contact without well-kept records.

Activists are standing up for prison workers and unfairly detained immigrants through divestment. Freedom to Thrive (formerly Enlace) is urging investors to remove investments from GEO Group and CoreCivic. They’re also targeting the The Million Shares Club, a group of 39 major financial investors that each own over one million shares of these two private prison companies combined. The Million Shares Club includes groups like BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group INC, and Prudential Financial Inc, to name a few.

In a wave of 2019 victories, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, SunTrust, and US Bancorp all announced decisions to exit the private prison and immigrant detention industries. Private prisons continue with funding from smaller banks, contracts with ICE/DHS, and with states.

You can take action by breaking up with mega-banks that support fossil fuels or private prisons and detention centers and put your funds in a community development, green bank or credit union. These institutions work to build the green economy through community development projects and loans—not private prisons and detention centers.

Get A Better Bank

Since 2018, professionally managed assets in the U.S. using socially responsible investing (SRI) strategies have grown by 42% and now total $17 trillion, according to the United States Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment. 

With SRI—which also refers to sustainable, responsible, and impact Investing—on the rise, robo-advisors, automated investment management services with minimal or no human involvement, are increasingly offering sustainable investment portfolios. 

Whether called SRI; environmental, social, governance (ESG) investing; impact investing; or sustainable investing—a few of the terms currently in use—this approach to investing recognizes that the social, environmental, and corporate governance impacts of investments are part of the returns generated by every portfolio. Those impacts should help guide investment decision-making. In other words, with SRI (the term we’ll use), you can invest for profit, people, and the planet. 

Robo-advisors, such as Ellevest, Wealthfront, or SoFi, use computer software and an algorithm to both put together and maintain investment portfolios. Many robo-advisors champion certain causes or target specific audiences. For example, Ellevest is a robo-advisor which markets itself specifically to women in order to address a gender gap in the financial services industry. According to Data USA, 68.5% of personal financial advisors are men. 

“Some robo-advisors have different focuses than others,” says Helen Beichel [see footnote], founder of FatTail Financial Advisory Group {GBN}. “But one thing I think they probably have in common is basic investment management services with a focus on low cost, passive investment management.” 

Art Tabuenca is the founder of EarthFolio, an automated investing service managed by Blue Marble Investments which focuses solely on sustainable investing. Tabuenca says robo-advisors have made investing in a fully diversified portfolio more accessible because of lower management fees and what is typically a lower minimum investment amount. Consulting a financial advisor, he says, is significantly more expensive. 

“What robos did is just kind of disrupted [the personal] model and said, ‘Look, we can deliver this advice to someone at a high level, at a much lower amount,’” he says. 
Boris Khentov, senior vice president of operations and legal counsel at Betterment, a financial advisory company which offers robo-advising services, says it can be more expensive to have a portfolio composed entirely of SRI investments because the investments required to put together that kind of investment portfolio are more expensive to manage. Betterment’s portfolios generally consist of a broader mix of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are less expensive to manage. 

Betterment, which first launched its SRI options in 2017, offers three SRI portfolios—Broad Impact, Climate Impact, and Social Impact. These options are greener than conventional robo-investing offerings and less green than a non-robo option that actively screens and engages with companies. SRI does not have a fixed definition but can instead be understood as a range of practices. Khentov says Betterment’s SRI portfolios aim to balance financial performance with accessibility and impact. 

EarthFolio offers entirely ESG portfolios, some of which are also fossil-free. Tabuenca says an entirely ESG portfolio can be more expensive because it must incorporate different types of investments, such as mutual funds, which can lead to slightly higher operating expenses. This is because there is not currently enough variety in ETFs to build a fully ESG portfolio. 

The Importance of Accountability 

One factor to consider is whether an investment firm is independent. Beichel says conflicts of interest can arise when companies, including those offering robo-advisors, provide multiple in-house financial services, which decreases the checks and balances that come from doing business with other companies. These practices can create incentives to only offer clients in-house services or portfolios, rather than considering other potentially more beneficial options. 

“One thing to consider is what the potential conflicts of interest might be,” Beichel says. “Is the firm you’re dealing with independent? Are your financial planning, custodial, broker, dealer, and investment advisory firms separate, and if they’re not separate, why not?” 

Beichel also recommends being aware of what criteria and data providers portfolio managers are using when integrating SRI concerns, especially when it comes to robo-advisors that lack active, human management and have fewer investment options. 

“[Robo-advisors] could be a good option for novice investors, in particular for people who are just beginning to grow their portfolios,” Beichel says. “[People] just need to be educated consumers and understand that robo-advisor money managers are not involved in changing corporate manager behavior beyond using the data from ESG data providers.” 

Human vs. Robot 

Investors should also consider the pros and cons of robo-advisors when searching for the best tools and products to increase their socially and environmentally responsible investments. 

Robo-advisors differ from traditional financial advisors in that they offer investment management services and advice at a lower investment minimum and money management fee. Tabuenca says an online platform may also make investing more accessible to younger generations who frequent that medium and tend to support social justice issues. 

However, robo-advisors do not know the ins-and-outs of a person’s financial situation, or interests, which can be important in SRI. 
“Robo-advisors provide services online and through call centers,” Beichel says. “They don’t actually meet people face-to-face like I do. You don’t get a person who knows your financial situation intimately, and financial advising can be an intimate process.” 

The value to working with live financial advisors is that they have more strategies and products to offer, including community investment options and support for shareholder engagement. 

Beichel also says robo-advisors tend to provide only basic, standardized financial education and investment management based on your investment goals, values, and risk with limited support for more complex financial needs. 

As the SRI marketplace continues to grow and evolve, both Tabuenca and Khentov predict that more investment options will become available, expanding what robo-advisors can offer. 

“We see social and environmental issues that we’re grappling with, and we’re saying, ‘Well, what can I do about it?’” Tabuenca says. “Money becomes an extension of what you want to see in the world.” 

What can you do to green your investments? 

No matter what kind of advisor you may use, there are ways you can make your money work for the causes you care about. 

Find a Financial Advisor Focused on SRI 

Having an expert guide you through the transition to SRI, or strengthen your current SRI portfolio, can help you navigate the growing number of investment options. Find an advisor that is the best fit for you at greenpages.org. 

Divest and Reinvest 

The burning of fossil fuels is a major cause of climate change. You can contribute to a clean-energy economy by divesting from fossil fuels, shifting your investments to clean energy and supporting policies which work toward a fossil-free future. Learn more about how you can divest at greenamerica.org/divest-reinvest. 

Use Your Power as a Shareholder 

If you own stock directly, rather than in a mutual fund, you have influence over how companies operate. As a shareholder, you can advocate for the issues that you care about and have an impact on corporate behavior. Learn more about shareholder activism at greenamerica.org/shareholder-activism.

_{FOOTNOTE: Registered Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Inc., a Registered Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC, Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc., Cambridge and Fattail Financial Advisory Group are not affiliated.}

Breaking up with a megabank is easy. And it can make your life easier, too.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, Michael Butler sold his car to pay his medical bills, and racked up 1,400 miles on his Nikes walking to and from work for nine months. His mother saw an ad for HOPE Credit Union {GBN} and encouraged him to apply for a car loan, even though he thought his bad credit would disqualify him. An auto loan from HOPE helped him get a 2015 Dodge 3500. “I was overjoyed to get a car loan from HOPE,” Butler says, “I haven’t met too many people that nice. Of course I want to pay it forward. Now I’m happy to be able to help other people who also need a hand.”

Get Started Today:

1. 

Choose your new bank or credit union. While picking a local bank is a good option, and a local credit union an even better option, moving your accounts to a community development bank or credit union is your best bet to matching your banking with your values. Find hundreds of options at greenamerica.org/getabetterbank.

2.     

Open your new account. Keep your old account open as you order checks, debit cards, and deposit slips.

3.

Make a list of your automatic payments and withdrawals.

4.

Move your automatic deposits to your new account. Ask your employer to transfer your direct deposit paychecks to your new account. Do the same for Social Security and other deposits you receive. Ask for the date on which deposits to your new account will take place. 

5.

Move your automatic withdrawals to your new account, once you know you’ll have sufficient funds in the account. Ask for the date on which payments from your new account will begin. It’s wise to leave a small amount in your old account for a month after you’ve shifted your deposits and withdrawals to your new bank or credit union, just in case.

6.

Get print or electronic copies of statements and canceled checks that you may later need if you have only online banking through your mega-bank.

7.

Transfer the remaining funds in your mega-bank account to your new account after you have all your automatic payments and deposits transferred and any final checks have cleared your old account.

8.

Close your mega-bank account! Obtain written confirmation that your account is closed.

9.

Inform your mega-bank why you’re breaking up with it. See a sample letter in our “Break Up with Your Mega-Bank Kit,” free at Green America’s BreakUpWithYourMegaBank.org.

10.

 Encourage your house of worship, alma mater, workplace, and community organizations to use a community development bank or credit union. 

For congregations, turn to US SIF’s {GBN} free “Community Investing Toolkit for Faith Communities” at ussif.org/pubs. 

Colleges and universities can get assistance from the Responsible Endowment Coalition  {GBN} at endowmentethics.org.

The Black Lives Matter protests after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, inequities exposed by the covid-19 pandemic, and a rising sense of urgency on climate and environmental issues have made people reevaluate their priorities and question the systems they are a part of. One of those systems is the financial system, which attracted a historic level of support from investors in the spring 2021 proxy season for resolutions on issues such as corporate political activity, corporate policies on diversity, and corporate impacts on the climate. 

For example, as of June 24, 2021 there have been 34 majority votes on shareholder resolutions pertaining to environmental, social, and governance issues (ESG), with more possibly by the end of the year, according to Proxy Preview, an annual report which tracks shareholder action. This is extraordinary because corporate management typically urges all investors to vote against resolutions on ESG issues and most investors follow that advice—even when it’s contrary to the long-term benefit of the company and society. During the 2021 season, 17 votes broke 70% support; in comparison, only two resolutions received that much support in 2020. Moreover, four ESG resolutions that received over 90% support also had the support of management. For so many ESG-focused resolutions to receive majority support is historic and a dynamic to watch closely.

Importantly, however, shareholder resolutions can succeed by earning far less than 50% support since success includes the ability to remain in front of management and investors in subsequent years by remaining on the proxy ballot. A first-time resolution now needs to garner 5% support, a second-year resolution needs 10%, and thereafter a resolution needs 25% support to continue to appear on the ballot and thereby generate investor pressure for corporate transparency and change in corporate conduct. 

Some are crediting the overwhelming turnout to the volatility of the last year. 

“We’ve been locked in our homes and had a little time to think about what’s important in life,” says Andrew Behar, the CEO of As You Sow [GBN]. “[As shareholders,] we are owners of these companies, we profit from these companies … [and] we are complicit in the system that we live in.”

The increased attention to ESG issues among shareholders is also a possible sign that investors are seeing issues of climate, racial equity, and political transparency as important to long-term financial sustainability. Even larger asset managers, like BlackRock and Vanguard, have begun voting in favor of ESG proposals, which is vital to ensuring change, says Josh Zinner, CEO of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.

“We’re seeing that the big fund managers like BlackRock, who have been talking for some years now about ESG, are finally beginning to look their proxies in accordance with what their stated values and concerns are,” Zinner says. “Once you have those big fund managers who are significant universal owners starting to support these proposals, you’re seeing a major rise in the votes.”

Changes to the Shareholder Resolution Process

Despite investor support of ESG issues this proxy season, the next year in shareholder action is hard to predict. In late 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the Trump administration, made changes to the 14a-8 rule that decides exactly who and how a stockholder can file resolutions. 

Previously, any stockholder owning at least $2,000 worth of stock for a year could file a resolution; investors must now own a whopping $25,000 worth of stock if they have owned the stock for one year. Shareholders need $15,000 worth of stock if held for two years if they wish to file a resolution, and smaller shareholders, with at least $2,000, must now wait three years before they can file resolutions. This is an attack on shareholder democracy and the rights of smaller investors. As SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw said in opposing the new rule, “the implication of today’s rulemaking is that the wealthy are more likely to possess ideas worthy of corporate consideration. That is one way to reduce the burden on corporations, but I believe that that is a bad result.” 

Green America mobilized thousands of concerned investors and consumers to oppose the SEC rule, calling for strong corporate oversight through the shareholder resolution, rather than less oversight by restricting the participation of smaller shareholders and by increasing the percentage of support needed for resolutions to be refiled.

As You Sow, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and individual investor James McRitchie have filed a lawsuit to challenge the SEC’s proposed changes to the 14a-8 rule. The lawsuit, which was formally presented on June 15, argues that the new regulations are a Trump-era attempt to curb the voices of activist shareholders and smaller investors.

“It’s really ironic that at a time where investor support for ESG resolutions is skyrocketing that this SEC rule would significantly curb the filing of those resolutions,” says Zinner.

Climate

Perhaps the most notable shakeup in 2021 in the realm of shareholder action happened at ExxonMobil, where shareholders voted to elect three activist investors to the oil company’s board of directors this June. The three new directors were put forward as candidates by Engine No. 1, a relatively new, small investment firm, with the intention of installing leaders who would push Exxon to reduce its carbon footprint and explore sustainable energy options. 

What’s more, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street voted on behalf of their clients against the formal recommendation of ExxonMobil’s management to oppose the new board candidates—instead supporting Engine No. 1’s dissident directors.

Heidi Welsh, the Executive Director of the Sustainable Investment Institute, says that the change in the board was a result of a perceived lack of climate action on Exxon Mobil’s part.

“The results that occurred are enough to make companies really think hard about how much disclosure they need to do and what their goals are with regard to climate change,” Welsh says. “It’s basically an affirmation that climate change is a big problem for business.”

In addition to the events with Exxon, eight climate change proposals earned more than 50% support this year, resulting in two of the highest votes of the season. Management-backed resolutions at Bunge and General Electric calling for reporting on different environment-related goals resulted in 98.8% support and 98% support, respectively. 

More shocking, however, were the majority votes for climate and environmental resolutions that were opposed by management. A resolution at DuPont for more disclose on plastics pollution received 81.2% support from investors, and one at Chevron asking for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions received 60.7% support.

Investors at Walmart also voted this past season on the first-ever resolution regarding the climate impacts of refrigerants, specifically the leakage of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The resolution was filed by the State of Rhode Island with Walmart and built on refrigerant-related campaigns at Green America and the Environmental Investigation Agency. HFCs are an incredibly potent greenhouse gas and make up 48% of the company’s climate emissions. The resolution received 5.5% approval—despite the Walton family owning half of Walmart’s shares—and has reached enough support to be refiled next season.

Political Spending and Lobbying

Proposals about political spending, money donated by corporations through PACs, trade associations, and other organizations to influence elections and policymaking at all levels, received 14 majority votes overall, the most out of any other issue. The Center for Political Accountability found that, since 2010, IRS-designated 527 PACs have raised over $1.5 billion. Much of this spending is undisclosed or only partially disclosed, to the peril of our democracy. Resolutions at Netflix and Chemed asking for more disclosure about election spending received 80.6% support and 80.1% support, respectively. 

ICCR members introduced resolutions this year regarding climate lobbying—that is, asking corporations to not only disclose corporate lobbying activities, but to lobby in favor of environmentally-responsible policies.

“The resolutions on climate lobbying are noteworthy because they're not policy engagement with their stated values,” Zinner says. 

ICCR members filed climate lobbying resolutions with seven companies, reaching agreements with five of them. Most noteworthy is the resolution at Norfolk Southern, a transportation corporation, which went to vote and received 76.4% support.

Diversity and Race

Increased national attention to racial justice issues throughout 2020 resulted in shareholders asking for reports on racism. Resolutions covered a broad area of issues—asking for reports on lobbying related to equity and racial justice; gender and minority pay gaps; racial justice impact reports; and more. 

Of the 46 proposals in the 2021 proxy season that asked companies to address a human rights issue, 18 asked companies to produce reports on how racism affects company proceedings or plans to address systemic racism. Proposals at Amazon and JPMorgan Chase received 44.2% and 40.5% support, respectively—which is an unusually high level of support for a first-year resolution. 

Behar says that the success of resolutions asking for racial justice audits was especially noteworthy, considering that organizations like As You Sow have only developed metrics for measuring racial justice in the past year or so.

“We only started … collecting data on racial justice after the George Floyd murder, and to see that data become actionable, and companies really using it to rate and rank themselves—that was, I think, really profound,” Behar says. 

Additionally, more attention was given to the diversity of companies, their executives, and their boards of directors during this proxy season. A resolution at IBM asking for a report on the effectiveness of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs received 94.3% with management support, while a call for more diversity at First Solar received 91.2% without management support. Overall, there were nine majority votes on diversity-related proposals.

To monitor and strengthen follow-up on corporate pledges made to fortify their diversity and equity commitments, William Michael Cunningham of Creative Investment Research [GBN] filed a petition with the SEC in May 2021 calling on the Commission to develop a “comprehensive framework requiring any public companies or issuers that have promised financial support for Black Lives Matter ("BLM Pledge") to accurately disclose, on a timely basis, all activity related to that pledge” as well as to address the costs of anti-Black racism and how BLM corporate pledges could reduce that cost. These points and others raised in the petition, if enacted, would demonstrate the reliability of corporate BLM pledges and as Cunningham states, “Requiring additional BLM Pledge disclosure will enhance the competitiveness of U.S. markets and help correct economic injustices perpetrated against African Americans.”

Creative Investment Research has also developed a Black Lives Matter Donation Tracker to hold corporations accountable for their BLM pledges and to help ensure that needed changes in corporate conduct actually take root.

Looking to Future Seasons

The 2022 proxy season is expected to be a transition period as the changes to the 14a-8 rule go into effect unless they are reversed; as such, it’s hard to predict exactly what will happen in the next year. That being said, Welsh says that she expects issues of diversity, political spending, and climate change to be leading issues, but the individual focus of those proposals might change.

Regardless of changes to the resolution process, there are still ways for investors and shareholders to encourage change. Tim Smith, the director of ESG shareowner engagement for Boston Trust Walden, noted that pressure on companies to make change is happening not just through shareholder action — fund managers like BlackRock are also putting pressure on companies through pledges of divestment.

“In 2020, several large institutional investors pledged to divest from fossil fuel companies,” Smith says. “In addition, we witnessed record levels of votes supporting climate-related shareholder resolutions in the 2020-21 proxy season. This combined pressure from global investors should prompt company management and boards of directors to take a closer look at how they are addressing the climate crisis.”

Green America resources on shareholder action include our infographic on how to read a shareholder proxy ballot (p 19) and our list of sample resolutions to vote at greenamerica.org/shareholder-resolutions-vote.

_{Special thanks to the authors of the 2021 Proxy Preview report} 
 

When Gambian immigrant Mariama Jallow aspired to launch an African hair shop in Maine more than five years ago, she lacked a cosmetology license and other means to start a business in an unfamiliar country. Today, however, thanks to assistance from a community development financial institution (CDFI) called Coastal Enterprises, she runs Mariama’s Beauty Supply, a unique hair-braiding salon employing immigrants in Portland. 

Across the US, people from diverse economic backgrounds are increasingly recognizing and moving toward community investing, which uplifts marginalized localities by boosting livelihoods and economic resources. This trend has expanded substantially over the past couple decades, delivering job creation, affordable housing, sustainable agriculture, robust infrastructure, and climate change mitigation. According to the US Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, community investing assets rose to $266 billion last year, climbing 44% since 2018. 

What’s more, anyone can explore and contribute to them via CDFIs and similarly mission-centered institutions. 

“It’s never been easier” to invest for racial, gender and economic justice, according to Justin Conway, vice president of investment partnerships at Calvert Impact Capital, a community investment firm based in Washington, DC. 

Fostering Wealth to Counter Injustice 

The goal of community development financial institutions is to shift resources to under-served and under-estimated communities and those of color, where longstanding unjust policies and underinvestment have trapped a lot of residents in poverty and hindered their success. 

Calvert Impact Capital{GBN} collaborates with organizations worldwide to fix the harms of structural racism, sexism, economic injustice, and environmental injustice. It uses investor dollars to fulfill local needs like housing, healthcare, schooling, and childcare and spread prosperity by supplying inexpensive credit. The nonprofit aims to spur capital markets to make a difference “loan by loan, family by family [and] community by community,” Conway says.  

To maximize investor payoffs and promote racial equity, Community Capital Management’s {GBN} Minority CARES investment program combines investment themes, receiving the most financing for community development ventures and people of color, including enterprise development, affordable housing and healthcare, and education and childcare. 

“Economic inequality, racial injustice and the need for sustainable investing are very connected,” according to David Sand, the Florida-based company’s chief impact strategist. 

In Maine, Coastal Enterprises concentrates its lending, investing, and advising on underprivileged entrepreneurs and businesses in poorer localities or with low-wage workers. It maintains a special focus on America’s rural regions, which often experience limited access to economic resources. To aid in establishing jobs, the CDFI leverages flexible private funding via the federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, and even venture capital funds. 

Another CDFI, Chicago Community Loan Fund{GBN}, turns investor contributions into advances for projects in low-income minority neighborhoods throughout the city to “ignite the local economy,” according to its president, Calvin Holmes. It takes chances on for-profit and nonprofit organizations that would otherwise struggle to obtain financing, he says. This enables “their growth, their employee growth, their balance sheet growth [and] their ability to spend money in the neighborhoods, which all leads to higher levels of community wealth.”  

And Optus Bank, a CDFI in Columbia, South Carolina, uses deposits to offer loans and banking services to elevate disadvantaged locals like minorities and women through businesses, homes, and savings they can hand down to later generations. To address the racial wealth gap that African Americans face, CEO and president Dominik Mjartan says the bank aims to uplift entrepreneurs and empower would-be homeowners in the community. 

“When communities are thriving with small businesses, they can employ other members of the community to help them grow, create wealth and ultimately give back to that same community, which hopefully creates long-term effects of growth and self-sufficiency,” Danielle Burns says.

Many Needs, Many Possibilities 

Community investing presents a broad scope of causes to finance, with the prospect of steady gains over several years. 

Affordable housing and small-business advancement are areas of high impact , according to Danielle Burns, vice president of CNote, a company that harnesses technology to facilitate investment in CDFIs. She also serves on the board of directors at Green America. 

“When communities are thriving with small businesses, they can employ other members of the community to help them grow, create wealth and ultimately give back to that same community, which hopefully creates long-term effects of growth and self-sufficiency,” Burns says. 

Due to the massive number of jobs resulting from construction of housing, affordable housing is a smart investment. Recent investing trends involve scaling up livelihoods in poorer locales through avenues such as green technology production, affordable housing construction, and mixed-use development, Holmes says. The numerous layoffs suffered due to the coronavirus stress the need to ensure all Americans have, at minimum, living-wage jobs producing savings to buffer against future disasters. 

Calvert Impact Capital’s Justin Conway noted that small-business investments have not seen serious risk since 2020 because community-based financing institutions are designed to serve their people. They “work with their customers and provide accommodations…to make sure people can stay in their homes or keep their jobs and doors open through challenges.” 

He added that given climate change’s disproportionate burden on disadvantaged communities, investors are now most interested in improving racial and climate justice. 

Renewable energy, sustainable food, and education are also major investment sectors, according to Coastal Enterprises’ spokesperson Elizabeth Rogers. She highlighted the opportunity the food system offers, from farming and fishing to processing, manufacturing, and distribution. She added that work from home policies due to the pandemic requirements underscored the importance of funding childcare and broadband as well. 

The coronavirus fallout and George Floyd’s killing have raised awareness of entrenched racial wealth disparities and related vulnerabilities, including inadequate livelihoods, housing and healthcare, according to Optus Bank’s Mjartan. He added that those two events have emphasized community investing’s significance and encouraged participation in mission-oriented local initiatives. He pointed out that billions of dollars went into CDFIs last year—more than the total across their prior 25-year history. 

“That’s an unprecedented opportunity to build a stronger economy for everyone in America, not just the top 1%,” Mjartan says. He underlined the need to transform this moment into a movement to secure community resilience and equitable opportunities for everyone, no matter their zip code or inherited privilege. 

Tips for Investing 

From community banks and credit unions to investment advisers and brokerage accounts, the opportunities are growing when it comes to community investing. Supporting a nearby CDFI such as by holding a checking or savings account there, is a good start. 

According to Community Capital Management’s Sand, CDFIs are “first financial responders…helping communities survive and rebuild,” so the Federal Reserve deems them “economic shock absorbers.” 

Using CDFIs to hold your checking or savings account is a low-risk way to manage your money, with the potential to make a big impact. By definition, federally certified CDFI banks and credit unions must be insured by the Federal Reserve for at least $250,000 per account. You can ask your bank or credit union if it is federally insured. 

“Have a real honest conversation with yourself and your family about what areas of impact are important to you,” says CNote’s Burns. She recommends incorporating issue and geographic priorities into your portfolio. 

Optus Bank’s Mjartan says if you’re able, putting your money into an account or financial product for five to fifteen years gives it the greatest potential to solve longer-term systemic problems. Community investments can play an important role in every portfolio, no matter what size.

Individual Action Matters 

While institutional investors bring large sums to community investing, individuals can also have big impact. Although individuals frequently think their actions are too tiny to achieve change, people are nimbler than institutions and are able to have collective power, putting their dollars to work. 

Community investing leaders who have witnessed amazing growth in community development investments appreciate how individuals continue to strengthen this effort with their assets and voices. 

“Every person in America can be a community investor,” Mjartan says. “Regardless how much money you have and where you’re located now, you can align your money with your values.” 

“Ultimately,” says Fran Teplitz, Green America’s executive co-director for business, investing and policy, “community development investments are about dignity, hope, and opportunity for individuals and neighborhoods left out of the economic mainstream.” 

Find a bank or credit union

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If you ask multiple financial advisors for generalized advice on money matters, they’ll likely tell you that every person’s finances are different and ever-changing based on goals and plans. If they’re advisors who specialize in socially responsible investing (SRI), they’ll also agree that no matter how much money you have, you can use your money to support sustainable business practices and local economies. 

That said, Green America pinned a few of them down on general financial and SRI advice for every decade of our lives, based on where the average person is at each stage. Use it as a rough guide to maximizing the power of your investments as you go through life. 

In Your 20s

People in their 20s tend to have: 

• Some debt, including student loans. 
• An entry-level salary in their field. 
• Few expenses (may have no kids, rent instead of own a home, etc.).
• A beginner's knowledge and comfort level with investments. 

Start saving early: People in their 20s may feel that the need to save for retirement is less urgent, since it’s 40-plus years away. However, Kathleen McQuiggan, senior vice president of Global Women’s Strategies at Pax World {GBN} stresses that the money you put away today will compound over time, so the earlier you start saving, the more you’ll have when you need it most. 

Steve Dixon, principal and investment manager at Birchwood Financial Partners {GBN} says it’s critical for young people to start saving. “My parents, the Baby Boom generation, didn’t need to figure this stuff out like younger generations will need to. Pensions were more prevalent and Social Security was more secure. Nowadays, [no one can count on these]. It’s much more critical that young people save for retirement. The nice part is that there are lots of ways to do it.” 

Save as much as you can: Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Senator and bankruptcy expert, coined the “50/30/20” rule of budgeting, which suggests you should keep your necessary costs to 50% of your after-tax income, spend up to 30% on “wants,” and sock 20% into savings. When you’re just starting out in the working world, 50/30/20 might be more of a goal than a reality, but make a point to save as much as you can until you can reach 20%. 

Make saving routine: Steve Dixon says your financial plan in your 20s should emphasize making saving for retirement part of your routine. 

“It’s like working out or exercising or eating right; if you build it into a routine, it’s so much easier than if you put it off,” he says. “Don’t wait until you have money to put away, because invariably, we never feel like we have enough money to put away.”

Get involved in your workplace retirement account: The easiest place to start saving is at work: If your employer offers a retirement savings account and will match a portion of your savings, take advantage of that—it’s free money! Make sure to save at least the amount that earns you the maximum employer match amount. 

Save more if you’re a woman: McQuiggan warns young women to consider their savings and investments even more strategically than men: “Women live five to six years longer than men. Also, the wage gap exists—[white] women make 80 cents [for every dollar a man makes, and women of color make even less]. So when women retire, they have to have more money than men.” 

Considering SRI:

Break up with your mega-bank: The easiest thing to do to use your money for good is to switch banks. Break up with your mega-bank, if you belong to one, and choose a community investing bank or credit union. (The federal government provides certification for some, which will be called “community development financial institutions.” Not all are certified.)

Community investing banks and credit unions are known for treating customers better and generally charging lower fees than mega-banks. Most allow the same convenience of online banking that a mega-bank would have. 

Where does the socially responsible part come in? Community investing banks and credit unions have a mission to use their money to lift up low- and middle-income communities. For example, Wells Fargo lends its money to fossil-fuel projects, while many community investing banks make a point of avoiding fossil fuels, instead lending money to foster local businesses, support people trying to buy homes, and more. Community investing banks and credit unions are federally insured, which means they’re just as safe as a mega-bank or your local bank. 

Get SRI into your workplace retirement account: Ask your employer if socially responsible funds are included in your workplace retirement account. If they aren’t, ask your employer to consider adding them. 

In Your 30s

People in their 30s tend to have: 

• Less debt. 
• A higher salary than in their 20s. 
• Growing expenses, from buying a home, growing a family, etc. 
• Some retirement savings. 

Set aside an emergency fund: The investment advice site Betterment.com recommends making sure you have an emergency fund by your early 30s. Most experts recommend setting aside at least six months’ worth of your salary in a savings account, in case of illness or job loss, for example. 

Don’t cash out retirement accounts: People with even a small amount of retirement savings shouldn’t cash it out early, an article from Money Magazine warns. When you cash out a 401(k), the government takes out extra taxes, so a $5,000 balance could turn into $3,500 cash. If you leave your retirement accounts alone, you keep the money growing. 

Reconsider your savings: As you age, make a point to divert as much as you can into retirement and other savings. Increase your contribution to your workplace retirement account, which you can have your employer automatically pull from your paycheck. And have your bank or credit union automatically divert money from your checking account into savings every paycheck, as well. 

Consider mutual funds: If you didn’t already start in your 20s, investing some of your savings in mutual funds may also be a good option in your 30s, because at a younger age, you can be more tolerant to risk since you have time to absorb any losses. As a general rule of thumb, the higher the risk, the more potential for greater returns.

Considering SRI

SRI mutual funds: Generally, socially responsible mutual funds do as well or outperform the general market (see p. 15), making them a great option for green-minded people in their 30s who want to get started investing outside of a retirement account. 

Look for socially responsible mutual funds, such as those listed in the “Mutual Funds” category at Green America’s GreenPages.org. Mutual funds offer automatic diversification, which can help minimize risk, and most types are actively managed. 

A socially responsible financial advisor: Your life is likely to go through some big changes in your 30s. You may get married and/or start a family, and you may buy your first home. Consequently, your finances will go through some big changes as well. A financial advisor can help you navigate these changes. Look for a socially responsible financial advisor, who can offer general financial advice and help you invest your money in line with your values. 

Community investing: Your 30s may be a good time to maximize the social aspect of your portfolio and move some of your money into community investments that go beyond banking. These investments help finance community-building projects in the US or elsewhere in the world. They may help people build houses, install renewable energy, start small businesses, or otherwise help lift up local communities. 

The Calvert Foundation {GBN}, for example, offers Community Investment Notes, which put your money into a pool of community development projects across the US and around the world—from loans for women-owned small businesses in Tanzania powered by solar to loans for affordable housing in Baltimore. 

“Community investing is an important part of every portfolio and can play a key role in diversification,” says Fran Teplitz, Green America’s executive co-director. 

In Your 40s

People in their 40s tend to have: 

• The highest wages of their careers. 
• Long-term loans from big purchases.
• Established retirement savings. 
• A need to continue saving for big purchases/children’s needs, like college. 

Max out your retirement savings: Advisors at Bankrate.com recommend making the maximum annual contribution possible to your retirement savings in your 40s, if you aren’t already. For example, for the 2019 tax year, the maximum annual contribution to a 401(k) was $19,000. 

Consider individual stock investments: If you haven’t already decided to invest in individual stock, your 40s could be a good time to do so. Buying individual stock has more risk than investing in mutual funds, but the rewards can be greater if the company does well. 

Considering SRI

Screen your stock investments: Research companies before buying stock in them to ensure they’re socially and environmentally responsible. And purge any companies from your portfolio that you find are being poor corporate citizens. A socially responsible financial advisor can screen your holdings for you. 

Become an active shareholder: If you hold stock, you’ll receive a shareholder proxy ballot every spring. Vote your proxy ballot in favor of social and environmental shareholder resolutions (see p. 16). (Mutual fund managers receive and vote the proxy ballots for their stock holdings, and they must disclose those votes on the fund website. If you disagree with how one of your mutual funds voted on particular ballot, call the investor relations department and let them know.) 

In Your 50s

People in their 50s tend to have:

• Peak savings and investments.
• A short “time horizon” until retirement. 
• A continued need to help children with college, plus assist aging parents with health and other issues. 

Consider lessening your investment risk: As you start to think about retirement in the next decade or so, it may be time to shift your investments to be more conservative. Bill Holliday of AIO Financial uses the term “time horizon” to talk about how much time people can keep their money in an investment before they need it back. 

"We don’t want to be forced to sell out of a volatile market when markets are down. If you have a short time horizon or don’t tolerate much risk, you want to have a good amount in fixed, stable investments,” Holliday says.

Consider your personal time horizon until retirement, and check with a financial advisor to see if lessening investment risk is right for your portfolio. 

Considering SRI

Find lower-risk socially responsible investments: Just because your investments may be getting less risky doesn’t mean you have to compromise on your values. No matter what your risk tolerance and time horizon, you or a financial planner will still be able to find socially responsible alternatives that fit with your needs. 

Government bonds and certificates of deposit (CDs), for example, offer fixed returns and less risk for investors. Money market funds, or pools of CDs, bonds, and certain other investments offer automatic diversification and reduced risk.

SRI At Retirement (65+)

At 65, you might be setting the date for your retirement, or be retired, and you’re starting to withdraw from your savings and investment accounts. (Be sure to read up on the requirements for starting such withdrawals, to avoid fines or penalties.) 

Steve Dixon suggests reconsidering community investing, which generally has a low level of risk, when you retire. 

“If I know I’m going to need that money in 18 months, if I’m being prudent, I shouldn’t be willing to take a lot of risk,” he says. “I want it in something secure.” 

Community investments can deliver social impact while simultaneously being available for the near term. Many community investments allow you to choose an investment term of anywhere from one to 15 years. 

You know by now that socially responsible investing (SRI) does make a difference in the world, but perhaps you’re wondering what kind of difference it will make in your portfolio. Will you sacrifice financial returns if you align your investments with your values? 

The evidence, amassed through hundreds of studies, shows that historically, SRI investments have performed as well as or better than their conventional counterparts. 

For well over a decade, financial studies have been confirming what green investors already know: that investing to support people and the environment makes financial sense.

In 2021, a study from Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing found that in a year marked by volatility and recession, funds that focused “on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, across both stocks and bonds, weathered the year better than non-ESG portfolios.” The research looked at more than 3,000 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and found that sustainable funds performed better than non-ESG funds in 2020 and 2019. 

Investment research firm Morningstar published a report in 2021 finding that the returns of 69% of sustainable funds ranked in the top half of funds, and 37% in the top quartile for returns. Data from the last five years found similar results. 

And even in 2007, a report by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative analyzed academic work and key broker studies and found that SRI investment strategies had a competitive performance with non-SRI strategies. 

Conclusion: You can do well by doing good with SRI.

The Green America Visa

Cut up those mega-bank credit cards and get a card issued by a community investing bank or credit union that puts its money to work helping people and the Earth. 

To make it even easier for you to find such a card, Green America offers a credit card in partnership with TCM Bank, N.A. which is owned by ICBA Bancard, a subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America. Every purchase on the card supports Green America’s high-impact action campaigns. The card even allows you to earn reward points! 

Visit TakeChargeofYourCard.org to learn about Green America’s card and other cards that benefit environmentally and socially conscious organizations. 

1. If you want to:

• Get problematic industries like tobacco, fossil fuels, weapons, and others out of your portfolio 
• Invest in forward-thinking companies on the cutting edge of green technologies, like renewable energy, water purification, and responsible waste management

Try: Screening

What is it? 

• Screening is making the choice to include or exclude investments in your portfolio based on social and environmental criteria. 
• Avoidance screens mean that investments that violate your social and environmental criteria are kept out of your portfolio. 
• Affirmative screens seek out investments that support business practices in which you believe. 

Scale

• As of November 2020, investors have put $17.1 trillion into vehicles managed with sustainable investing strategies, up 42% from that figure in 2018, according to the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investing (Also called US SIF). 

Impact 

“The very act of buying a portfolio that’s more consistent with goals of universal human dignity and ecological sustainability changes the conversation. It expands the mission of companies. 90-plus global stock exchanges have joined the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, which means that over 50,000 companies now attempt to track their impact on people and the planet. Those things never would have happened had just Wall Street been their shareholders.” —Amy Domini, Domini Social Investments {GBN} 

Get Started

• Do research and screen your own investments, or hire a socially responsible financial advisor to help you. Find one in the “Financial—Advisors & Planners” category at Green America’s GreenPages.org. 

2. If you want to: 

• Use your investor power to pressure irresponsible corporations to clean up their acts

Try: Shareholder Activism

What is it? 

• Shareholder activism/advocacy describes the actions many investors take to press corporations to improve their social and environmental practices—using their status as part-owners of companies as leverage. 
• Shareholders, generally in coalition, may start out by dialoguing behind the scenes with corporate management to ask for change.
• If dialogues don’t work, shareholders may introduce a shareholder resolution, which is a formal request to corporate management to change company policies or procedures. All shareholders vote on shareholder resolutions through a proxy ballot mailed to them each spring, or in person at a company’s annual meeting. 

Scale

• Investors controlling nearly $1.98 trillion in assets filed or co-filed shareholder resolutions between 2018 and the first half of 2020, according to the 2020 Report on Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends produced by US SIF. Investors introduced over 435 environmental, social, and governance resolutions, in the 2021 shareholder season, according to As You Sow.

Impact 

“Publicly traded companies can benefit from the unique insights offered by their shareholders. Shareholders’ specific views on the marketplace, society, resource constraints, and policy provide us with a clear, powerful, and persuasive voice that can be compelling for corporate directors and management. Through dialogue, shareholder proposals, and other channels of communication, investors serve as an important catalyst for improved ESG policies, practices, and performance.” —Jonas Kron, Trillium Asset Management {GBN}

Get Started

• If you own stock, look for a shareholder ballot to arrive in the mail in the spring, and vote in favor of social and environmental proposals. See p. 12, and visit Green America’s annual shareholder roundup on our key issues at shareholderaction.org. 

3. If you want to:

• Put your money to work helping low- and middle-income people lift themselves up economically
• Move your money away from predatory mega-banks tied to the foreclosure crisis, and toward institutions that are doing good

Try: Community Investing

What is it? 

• The simplest method is to open accounts in a community investing bank/credit union. 
• Community-investing vehicles maximize the social impact of your investments, providing capital to low-and middle-income people in the US and abroad who are under-served by conventional banks. 
• Other options include CDs and money-market accounts in a community-investing bank or credit union, community-investing loan funds and venture capital, and mutual funds with community investments in their portfolios. 

Scale

• Thanks in part to Green America and US SIF’s publicity campaigns, the community investing field has grown from $5 billion in 1999 to $266 billion currently, according to the US SIF 2020 Trends Report. This sector has experienced rapid growth especially in recent years, growing over 600% in the last decade (from $41.7 billion in 2010).

Impact 

“Community development financial institutions like HOPE offer a tremendous return on investment. A credit union is a powerful resource that empowers individuals and communities to help themselves. For more than two decades, HOPE has generated nearly $3 billion in financing that has improved conditions for 1.7 million people in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In collaboration with a strong network of partners, we equip members to drive positive change. When these kinds of communities have access to the right tools, they thrive. That benefits not only the region, but ultimately the nation.” —Bill Bynum, Hope Credit Union {GBN} 

Get Started

• Find a community investing bank, credit union, or loan fund in Green America’s Get a Better Bank Database at greenamerica.org/getabetterbank. 
• Find more community investments in the “Financial—Community Investments” category at GreenPages.org. 

4. If you want to:

• Send a message to an entire industry that it’s not sustainable

Try: Divestment

What is it? 

• Divestment means pulling all of your money out of a particular investment or industry. 
• The goal is to send a market signal to a company, industry, or government that its actions are not sustainable, and their investors and customers want them to change course. 

Scale

• As of June 2021, 1,326 institutions representing over $14.58 trillion in assets have made a fossil-fuel divestment commitment. This signifies a 160% growth in divested assets just in the last two years. More than 58,000 individuals with about $5.2 billion in assets have committed to divestment as well, according to the Fossil Free campaign of 350.org.
• Investors have divested $4.8 billion from private prisons as of 2019, according to Freedom to Thrive.

Impact 

“Divestment is a powerful strategy, used after other strategies have not achieved the change needed. By pulling assets out of a country, industry, or company, investors declare that entity a pariah, and acutely raise the stakes for the continuation of the unacceptable conduct or policy. Divestment shines a spotlight on an issue that can no longer be ignored, intensifying the pressure for change.” —Fran Teplitz, Green America Executive Co-director

Get Started

• Join the Fossil Fuel Divest/Invest campaign and pull your money out of the top 200 fossil-fuel companies. Also, see p. 20-22 about new divestment campaigns to put pressure on the fossil fuel industry, and private prisons and private detention centers.

In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to use every tool available to protect people and the planet. Can your financial life—beyond charitable giving—make a difference to struggling communities, corporate conduct, and the environment? Yes, it can! With this guide, we want to show you how. 

Strategies to “vote with your dollars,” as we call it, can be used by anyone, no matter where you may fall on the spectrum of wealth. Even if you only have $50 in the bank, it can be in an account where those assets support the kind of world you want to live in as a Green American. 

For example, if you use a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit, mortgage or other basic banking products, you don’t have to use a conventional mega bank. Instead, you could meet your financial needs through either a community development financial institution (CDFI) or a local community bank. CDFIs are dedicated to the economic uplift of low-to-moderate income communities. A community bank that’s not a CDFI can be a good choice if you want to bank locally and have your money support your community. Minority-owned banks and financial institutions certified by Green America are also great options.

Mega banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citi continue to invest at record levels in fossil fuels. Is that what you want your money to support? You can join the “Fossil Banks, No Thanks” movement by using a financial institution that does not invest in fossil fuels and by urging “fossil banks” to change their lending policies at greenamerica.org/fossilbanknothanks.

If you have investments in mutual funds, consider choosing funds that screen their holdings with attention to social, environmental, and corporate governance issues. Many studies have shown that integrating these issues into the investment process does not harm one’s portfolio—and may even diminish risk (see p. 8). 
If you own company stock directly, be sure to review and vote your proxy ballots. There may be votes on labor, diversity, human rights, climate change, and environmental issues you won’t want to miss. Make sure you are using your shareholder voice—corporate management listens to investors. 

Whether our political processes are working optimally or not—you can vote with your dollars and make a positive difference today!
 

OLD CITY ACRES
Growing produce sustainably, lovingly, conservatively, locally, and beyond organic

Established:  2013
Location:  Belleville, MI
Website: http://www.oldcityacres.com/

Old City Acres was established in 2013 by Alexander Ball in Sumpter, Michigan, about 30 miles southwest of Detroit.  At 19 years old, Alex was driven to start farming when the last grocery store in his hometown of Romulus closed. He admits that he was a bit naïve at the start, thinking that he would start a farm and feed people.  Naïve perhaps in terms of farming skills, but not in purpose and need.  Starting in his own backyard with a shovel, a neighbor helped Alex till the land (something he no longer does since he now farms regeneratively). 

An entrepreneurial spirit, nurtured on the grounds of Greenfield Village with its array of sights and sounds of agricultural evolution, Alex conceived of the farm as a business from the start, quantifying each part of production.  For the first four to five years, he rented land, but lost the lease back-to-back almost every year for various reasons, including, for example, a pipeline.  Systematically keeping track of production and sales allowed him to show proof of success when he had saved enough to buy his own land. 

Once he owned his own land, Alex felt he really had a stake in the game.  He thinks of his land as his “forever farm”, developing it not only for as it is now, but how it could be in the future.  For example, Michigan saw heavy rains and massive flooding the first year he owned his own land.  He went in with the mindset that “this is the norm now” and planned for it.  Alex built a 400 ft levee and dredged ditches along the whole property.  He also opened a pond up, digging down about 5 more feet and re-routing the water through the ditch system.  Since then, the pond attracts frogs, birds, bluegills, and other native creatures.

The soil is on a long-term improvement plan as well.  At Old City Acres, “beyond organic” practices are used, including no-till and using organic compost to help keep carbon in the soil.  Native plants have re-flowered the prairie, and eagles, hawks, and blue heron have appeared.  These native plants and creatures are a natural defense against harmful pests.

An innovative approach

After starting off with a traditional CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Old City Acres took an innovative approach to them. Unlike other CSAs, Old City Acres operates a year-round CSA that supporters are able to customize each week.  They operate 6 unheated greenhouses to make this possible, growing veggies like spinach and winter kale in the winter months. As of late, they have also been expanding to include other local products as add-ins to the weekly CSA, such as eggs and spices.

Furthermore, Old City Acres utilizes a debit card model, whereby people invest in the CSA which people can then use to pay for the items they want in each CSA order.  Any credit leftover rolls into the next year.  By allowing customers to customize their orders, Old City Acres has learned their preferences and adopted its growing habits to match them. For example, not many people order cabbage, so they only grow a few.  What’s more, when COVID hit, Old City Acres was the only CSA around that already had contactless pickup.

The typical CSA customer base is white women aged 25-55.  Alex wants to serve a wider community and has been marketing to younger folks and men.  Old City Acres was recently approved as an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) retailer as well.

How you can support local agriculture

Finally, Alex discussed the struggle young farmers, and particularly BIPOC farmers, have obtaining land access.  There is a lack of funds and many barriers to entry, including a struggle to get loans.  Alex suggests that others can help by empowering and purchasing from small farms, supporting a local producer by investing in the farm by sponsoring land if able, and/or by purchasing CSA shares.  

If you'd like to support Old City Acres' work, you can make a contribution here.  

The right to vote is the cornerstone of democracy – and central for creating a just, equitable, regenerative economy that works for all. 

The United States considers itself to be a leading democracy in the world. The 2020 election, which was without fraud or corruption, had a record turnout – particularly remarkable in the middle of a dangerous pandemic.

So logically, it would make sense that politicians across the US political landscape would support the right of all American citizens to vote and work to make it as easy as possible for all citizens to take part in elections.

Sadly, that is not the case.

Voting Rights at Risk

Leaders of the Republican Party at both state and national levels are actively working to suppress voters.

So far in 2021, over 30 laws in 18 states have been enacted to make it harder to vote, according to The Brennan Center for Justice. 

These laws restrict mail in voting, early voting, impose harsher voter ID requirements, and will result in more voters being purged from the rolls (many incorrectly). Texas is the latest state to pass restrictive voting rights legislation, over the heroic objection of state Democrats. Additional restrictive voting laws could be put in place around the country before the end of this year.

The history of voter suppression in the US is tied to racism; in particular Jim Crow laws made it nearly impossible for many Black citizens to cast a ballot for 100 years after all Black men were given the right to vote. Additionally, even after the 19th amendment was enacted, Black women faced repeated barriers, which were purposely designed to keep them from having their vote counted.

It is therefore no surprise that Black citizens and other citizens of color, as well as working class people, people with disabilities, trans people and other marginalized genders will be disproportionately affected by the new voter restrictions. That’s why these new laws restricting voting rights are being called “The New Jim Crow.”

We Can Act to Protect Voting Rights

That’s why Green America supports the call of voting rights organizations, including Stacey Abram’s Fair Fight Action and Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote, to urge the US Congress to pass legislation to protect voting rights nationwide and to get more Americans registered to vote.

Congress has the opportunity to pass two bills, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act that, between them, would undo many voting restrictions nationwide and would restore the Voting Rights Act and the US Justice Department’s ability to challenge unconstitutional voting restrictions, which have been gutted by the US Supreme Court.

How You Can Help

• Call Your Senators. Green America strongly supports the passage of both bills, and we urge everyone to call their US Senators through the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to urge their passage as soon as possible. The legislation needs to be in place in order to ensure a free and fair election, where all citizens can vote, in 2022. 
• Get others to take action as well. Share this video from Michelle Obama and Stacey Abrams – encouraging everyone to take action for voting rights.
• Join the August 28 March On For Voting Rights marches, in DC and around the country.  Join people near where you live to take a stand for voting rights!
• Volunteer with or donate to groups, such as Fair Fight Action and When We All Vote to protect voting rights and get more Americans voting!

Ready to start living your green life? The 5-Day Waste-Less Challenge is designed to help you kick start your green journey to zero waste!

Day 1: Conduct a Trash Audit

Before we can reduce our waste, we must first dig into the trash we make—both figuratively and literally.

If you have a full trash bin already, you can start immediately by digging in and separating items by type—paper, food, plastic, etc. We recommend putting the items in separate containers, like brown paper bags or plastic bags from the grocery store, or taking it outside to keep your house from getting too dirty.

If you don’t already have a full trash bin (or if getting elbow-deep in your garbage seems gross), you can set up individual trash bags for each type of trash to collect throughout the week. Once it’s all laid out, ask yourself: Which bag is the biggest? Do you notice that you use a lot of paper towels, napkins, or something else? What could be recycled?

Day 2: Make A Zero-Waste Kit

Now that you know what’s in your waste, it’s time to build a zero-waste kit: a simple, personalized collection of reusables to replace the single-use items you use daily.

Make a list of the items you use every day or weekly, then identify which ones are disposable and could be replaced with a reusable item. Some common items to swap in could be reusable products, like shopping bags, coffee cups, cutlery, cotton rounds, coffee filters, straws, menstrual cups, razors, produce bags, beeswax wraps, and water bottles.

Day 3: Quit Food Waste

If food waste were a country, it would be the third-highest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. Food scraps in your trash go to the landfill where they do not decompose organically (as they would in a composter) and release methane, contributing to the climate crisis. For day 3, fight food waste by finishing your leftovers! Check your fridge for produce on the cusp and use older pantry items to make a stew, stir-fry, or casserole. 

If you need more of a challenge, commit to buying your next round of groceries from your farmers market. Most foods in our grocery stores travel long distances and are grown in ways that damage the soil—by purchasing from local farmers, you are voting with your dollar for a resilient local food system. 

How To Make An Indoor Compost

Day 4: Curate a Sustainable Closet

Our clothes have an outsized impact—the fashion industry produces more carbon emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. It also pollutes waterways with toxic microfibers and reinforces wealth inequality and social injustice for garment workers.

Use Day 4 to start a capsule wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe is comprised of a few versatile basics that are appropriate for various occasions. This exercise helps us rethink how we wear clothes from trendy, fast fashion pieces to beloved, quality items that will last a long time and remember the pieces we still love but may have forgotten.

Go through your closet and find 25 or so versatile pieces for the next month. Try wearing just these items for the month. At the end of the month, ask yourself, were you able to come up with fun and sufficient combinations with just 25 items?

Unraveling the Fashion Industry magazine issue

Day 5: Buy Nothing New

Day 5 is designed to help you be more intentional with your purchases. Try not to buy anything new, except for necessities like prescriptions, transportation costs, and food. Find ways to give old things a fresh purpose or look for something used on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Freecycle, or your local Buy Nothing group.

This day is about thinking critically about your needs versus wants. How many spontaneous purchases have you made, just to be used once or to end up as clutter in the back of your closet? By buying nothing new, you are slowing down your consumption, which is a very sustainable thing to do. If you thought Day 5 was too easy for you, extend it for the rest of the week—or keep it going and let us know how long you lasted! 

Remember that reducing waste is a process, full of trial and error. But day by day, one step at a time, you're on your way to a greener life!

Green America’s Cool It! campaign tackles the climate disaster hiding in our refrigerators by urging companies to eliminate the use of greenhouse gases called HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons).

HFCs are potent gases that leak out of refrigerators and air conditioners into the atmosphere and escalate the climate crisis. These refrigerant gases regularly leak out of poorly maintained equipment and through irresponsible disposal of appliances.

Appliances have other hazardous components besides HFCs that can also pose threats to the environment and communities if (and when) they leak out.

Refrigerants called HFCs are 9,000 to 12,000 times more potent than CO2

Fortunately, as an alternative to buying a new refrigerator, there are numerous ways to safely manage that old fridge and protect the environment.

What should I do with my old refrigerator or AC?

My fridge is old. Do I need a new one?

• The most eco-friendly thing to do is to keep what you have working efficiently. If your fridge is more than 20 years old, use energy star’s Flip Your Fridge calculator to see how much electricity you could be saving by switching to a more efficient model.
• Move your fridge a few inches away from walls. This will help hot air from the compressor disperse, making it easier for the appliance to stay cool. You can place a board behind (and on the side if it’s in a corner) to keep it from scooting back into the walls.
• Vacuum the coils in the back of your fridge (or across the bottom front, behind a grille) at least annually.
• Keep it full—if you’ve got chronically bare shelves, add some jugs of water—then the fridge only has to cool the water when you add it, instead of cooling all the warm air that rushes in every time you open the door.
• Make sure it’s functioning well. Your fridge doesn’t have a check engine light, so keep a thermometer inside if it doesn’t have one built-in, to make sure you’re not in the danger zone (over 40 degrees). For less than $10 you will potentially save hundreds in food or fridge replacement costs.
• Be aware of the signs of a coolant leak, which could not only compromise the freshness of your food but your health as well. Warning signs that you may have a leak: food feels warm; electric bill is unusually high; the motor runs constantly; odd musty smell; a prolonged leak could cause physical symptoms such as headache, nausea, fainting, or other inexplicable symptoms.
• If your fridge makes loud or prolonged sounds, that’s another way to know to call for repairs.

My fridge isn’t working right, is all lost?

• When hiring a company or technician to make repairs in your home (or car A/C) make sure they are certified under Section 608 (or 609, for motor vehicles repairs) from the Clean Air Act.
• Renters, urge your landlord to hire section 608 certified technicians and create a schedule for monitoring leaks on your property annually.
• If you suspect that whomever you hire is venting out gases instead of responsibly containing them, you can report it on the EPA’s tip line. If the refrigerant is being properly recovered, your technician will be using a machine and a reusable cylinder to capture the gas. If the technician is emptying the gas into a plastic jug or no container at all, it’s not being recovered properly and is venting out into the air.

My fridge is beyond repair, what should I do?

• Check with your electric utility to see if it sponsors a turn-in program that will pay you for your old appliance. Many do!
• Use the EPA’s Responsible Appliance Disposal Program to find retailers and utility companies who will dispose of your old appliance. These partners send appliances to certified technicians to responsibly remove the substances.
• Do not attempt to cut any refrigerant line yourself or remove items like the compressor, which will result in venting out the gases.
• When you get a new fridge, get one that’s energy star-rated, a high-efficiency ranking from the EPA. Fridges with this rating are nine percent more efficient than the federal standard for that year and are sold by most major brands. energy star also certifies A/C units and other appliances. The Flip Your Fridge Calculator can tell you how much you could save by replacing your fridge with an energy-efficient one based on its size, shape, age, and your electricity rate.

I own fridges and A/C units at my business, what sustainability steps should I take?

• Commit to monitoring leaks on a quarterly or annual basis.
• Develop a plan to make a quick repair if you detect a refrigerant leak, and make sure to contract with technicians who are Section 608 certified under the Clean Air Act.

How can my business improve refrigerant management?

Tell Walmart to Cool It! For Climate

How you choose to chill is up to you, but it's important to consider your HFC impact and think about quick fixes to stay sustainable before buying a new refrigerator.

Worm composting is a great way to make use of your kitchen scraps and make your own free, nutrient-rich fertilizer for your garden. Better yet, composting reduces your climate footprint by diverting organic waste from the landfill, where it rots and releases greenhouse gases.

An in-home worm compost setup is unassuming and friendly to both house- and apartment-dwellers. If you are concerned that it will lead to unsavory odors, worry no more—vermicomposting, or worm composting, generates no smell when done right and produces usable fertilizer quickly. All it takes is a cool, dry place, such as a pantry or under the kitchen sink, and a weekly check-in on your wriggly friends. Bonus: Green Americans who already do this report the worms provide lots of entertainment and lessons for kids learning remotely.

How To Make an Indoor Worm Compost

To start your compost, all you need is a large tote bin, some bedding, and red worms (also known as red wigglers).

The recommended size is a 1’ x 2’ x 12” to 18” tall bin. Modify the bin by poking several 1/8-inch holes in the sides near the top. Add a bedding of as many of the following as you have access to: dried leaves, shredded paper (not glossy pages from magazines), food-grade cardboard (such as pizza boxes), peat moss, coconut fiber, and straw. The bedding should be several inches deep.

Dampen the bedding. It should be moist like a wrung-out dish sponge—worms breathe through their skin and need a damp, but not soggy, home. Mix in some sandy soil or potting soil, which can aid in digestion for the worms.

Push some bedding aside and add the redworms to their new home! You can order worms from Devine Gardens {GBN}, purchase from a bait shop, or source from your community such as neighbors or a gardener group. Purchased worms usually come by the pound, which is enough for most households.

Devine Gardens

Add your kitchen scraps on top to give them food, then push some bedding back on top to gently bury them. Worms love fruit and veggie scraps. Do not feed them meat and oily foods. Crushed eggshells are okay and provide grit for digestion. Check in on your worms weekly with a new delivery of kitchen scraps. You can feed them more often, but a weekly check-in may be more convenient for you and less disturbing to the worms.

When you first add the worms, they will need to adjust to their new home. You can do this by pointing a bright light at the soil for a couple days. This will prevent the worms from crawling out.

After a few months, you’ll be able to harvest the worm castings from the bottom of the bin. Worm castings are rich fertilizers—so nutritious for plants that its also known as "black gold" among gardeners! Use these castings to enrich your garden, your household plants, or share with your neighbors. Community gardens are also a great place to share the wealth. Depending on what plants you want to grow, you will need to mix the castings with minerals or grit.

Gardening Tips and Resources

Tina's Tips

Tina Jacobs, owner and founder of Devine Gardens {GBN}, is a vermicomposter extraordinaire and long-time farm owner. She sells her own composting worms by the pound and half pound. Here are her tips
for getting started with your bin.

• As you accumulate kitchen scraps throughout the week, put them in the freezer. This will prevent any unwanted pests from being intro- duced and make the scraps soft and easy to eat for the worms.
• Avoid giving the worms too much citrus. If the bin is too acidic, the worms may try to escape.
• Do not overfeed your worms. During your weekly check in, if all the scraps are gone, you can add more; if they have not finished last week’s delivery, give them less, otherwise you risk attracting bugs and unsavory odors.
• Start small! If your worms are happy, they will multiply. After a few months, you can start a second bin or teach your neighbors how to compost and share your worms.

Fun Fact: Composting reduces your climate footprint by diverting organic waste from the landfill, where it rots and releases greenhouse gases.

Worm Composting Not For You?

There are many other ways to curb your food waste without setting up an indoor worm composter. Your local farmers market is a good place to start. More and more farmers markets serve as drop-off points for municipal composting efforts.

Some local composting businesses may set up at a farmers market, where you can sign up for their services for weekly pickup on the spot. Directories a good starting point, but if you don’t see a service listed in your city, we recommend asking the organizers at your local farmers market.

Offering veggie scraps to community gardens may work, too. And if you start an indoor worm compost, you can share worm castings with the gardeners!

Find Gardeners In Your Area
 

As environmentalists and zero-waste-enthusiasts, we love composting of any kind but not everyone may have the resources to compost conventionally. No matter your home situation, give worm composting a try and become a vermicomposter!

Protect The Future You Are Investing For

• Are you concerned about climate change?
• Is social justice important to you?
• Do you think corporations should be responsible to their communities and the planet?

We can help you achieve your financial goals while aligning your investments with your values. 

As a fee-only fiduciary, we always put your best interests first ‒ which includes the health of our planet.

We are a pioneer and thought-leader in the sustainable investing movement, and believe it is crucial to consider the effect our investments have on the world we leave for future generations. As stewards of client’s assets, we engage with companies and technologies that support rather than exploit humanity without sacrificing expected returns.

Certified B Corporation

LongView is the first Registered Investment Advisor in New Mexico to become a Certified B Corporation. Unlike conventional companies, Certified B Corps are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, suppliers, clients, community, and the environment.

LongView’s mission is to help our clients align their investments with their values and to manage wealth with the goal of sustainability for our planet. We have long been proponents of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) standards in our investments. Our certification as a B Corporation speaks to our commitment to maintaining similarly high standards in our own conduct as a business.

Recommendations for government, industry, and individuals to accelerate action at speed and scale  

This summer, many of us see the devastating floods, fires, storms, and heat waves worldwide as a sign that climate change is here and getting worse.  On Monday, the scientific community validated those concerns. 

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – based on more than 14,000 studies, approved by 195 global governments, and the most comprehensive summary of the physical science of climate change – confirms its prior warnings and outlines the dire need for aggressive climate action now.  

The report also states that it’s not too late to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis with our current knowledge and solutions if we accelerate them to scale, through actions of governments, businesses, and individuals (who are key to driving government and business action).  

 A few staggering findings: 

• It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land – in fact, human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that’s unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years. 

• In 2019, CO2 concentrations in our atmosphere were higher than any time in at least two million years and concentrations of highly potent greenhouse gases including methane and nitrous oxide were higher than any time in the last 800,000 years.  

• Climate change is already affecting every inhabited region around the world – with every additional increment of warming, regions are projected to experience intensifying affects, including extreme heat with increasing frequency of long droughts in some regions and heavier monsoons and deadly flooding in others, in addition to rising sea levels and melting ice sheets.  

• The more emissions increase, the proportion of emissions that can be sequestered by land and ocean carbon sinks gets smaller.  

• The world has already surpassed 1 degree Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels and will exceed 2 degrees Celsius this century – unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.  

These numbers may sound small, but 1 degree of warming has already begun to cause devastating climate effects, and the IPCC tells us that the difference in impacts between 1.5 and 2 degrees of warming is enormous. This is why efforts to prevent every increment of warming are crucial. 

And we have the solutions to cut greenhouse gas emissions, expand carbon sequestration through agriculture and forests, and build up regenerative and just systems to replace the extractive and polluting ones that are driving this crisis.

Green America is calling on government, business, and individuals to accelerate action now to reduce climate emissions and change the way we engage in agriculture, energy, materials consumption, and finance to ensure we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. 

Government Action Needed on the Climate Crisis 

Urgently Needed Legislation 

The US Congress has failed to pass comprehensive legislation addressing the climate crisis.  Now, Congress has the opportunity to pass two bills, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate and is headed to the House, and the reconciliation package (the Senate voted to allocate $3.5 trillion and now must decide on the provisions), that would go a long way towards shifting our economy in a greener direction while also addressing longstanding environmental and social justice issues. While these two pieces of legislation are not perfect – and false solutions to the climate crisis such as industrial carbon capture and sequestration on fossil fuel facilities, should be removed – we will be far worse off if Congress fails to enact them.   

We need both bills to pass because the provisions in the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill alone are not nearly enough to address the climate crisis.  At the same time, there are legislators that will not enact the larger reconciliation package without the bipartisan infrastructure package in place. Both pieces of legislation are needed to start moving the country in the right direction to reduce our emissions rapidly, address environmental justice issues nationwide, and build the resiliency we need.  

Green America is also encouraging Congress to incorporate our Clean Energy Victory Bonds bill into the pending infrastructure or reconciliation bills. Clean Energy Victory Bonds, which were recently re-introduced in the US House and Senate, would allow all Americans to invest in the growing clean energy economy and create jobs in the US for as little as $25.   

Regulate Methane

In addition, the IPCC report finds that the threat from methane, which has 80 times the short-term global warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide, is growing enormously, and Green America works closely with allies to urge regulatory action on methane leaks and oppose the build out of new natural gas infrastructure.  

Protect Worker and Human Rights 

The government must, simultaneously with climate action, strengthen workers' rights and address the human rights and environmental abuses in US business operations and supply chains. The government should aim to create a legal environment in which both economic and social freedoms are respected, prioritizing protecting the rights of people over profits. We must create holistic solutions to the climate crisis that account for both the human and environmental harm caused by the way society operates. 

Business Needs to Act on the Climate Crisis 

Along with governmental action, we still need businesses, large and small, across the US to move even faster on the climate crisis than laws and regulations require. Businesses are a major driver of the climate crisis and can be a major part of the solution.   

But many of the climate announcements from large corporations are largely greenwashing, so we need to ensure that companies are really reducing their emissions rapidly, while supporting a just transition to renewable energy and other climate solutions that ends legacy pollution in impacted communities and centers environmental justice in the solutions. 

Green America is urging large companies to move faster on energy, emissions, agriculture, and finance, four areas of the economy that are major drivers of the climate crisis. 

• Corporations need to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025 and use their influence to push for a just transition for communities and workers. 

  Our campaigns are moving Amazon.com to clean energy by 2025 and creating the largest corporate purchases in the US amongst the top telecom companies (AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile/Sprint). 

• Corporations must phase out all high global warming potential emissions by 2030. 

  Our Cool It campaign is pressuring the largest supermarkets in the country to end their use of super-polluting refrigerants that have thousands of times the global warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide. Supermarkets currently leak 45 million metric tons of super-polluting gases each year (equal to the emissions of 9.5 million cars), and ultra-low GWP solutions exist.    

• Agriculture companies need to shift their supply chains to regenerative agriculture by 2030. 

  Our Soil & Climate Alliance works with farmers and food companies to shift agriculture to regenerative practices that will help to reverse the climate crisis by drawing down and sequestering carbon in the soil, expanding the capacity for our land to be a carbon sink.  As we achieve a fossil free economy, soil carbon sequestration could actually reverse the climate crisis, while improving soil health, water availability, biodiversity, climate resilience for global food security and farm and rural community economics.   

• Financial Institutions need to end their investment in fossil fuels in the next decade. 

  Our Climate Safe Lending Network is working with banks and regulators worldwide to shift lending and investing away from fossil fuels to climate solutions. Our finance campaigns are putting pressure on JP Morgan Chase and Liberty Mutual to end their financing of fossil fuels and mobilizing shareholders to support climate resolutions at the largest companies in the US.  

• Small green businesses are the leaders in creating environmental and social change.

  Green America supports the greenest small businesses across the country, which lead the way on climate and environmental solutions, in our Green Business Network. 

How You Can Take Action for the Climate 

People are taking action in their homes, communities, and nationally to create solutions to the climate crisis.  While each person acting alone can only make a small difference, when individuals band together, they are major drivers of environmental solutions. 

• Get started on climate action with Green America’s 10 Ways You Can Fight Climate Change. 

• Call Congress through the US Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and tell your legislators that you support bold legislation to address the climate crisis. Urge passage of both the infrastructure bill in the US House and reconciliation package in both Houses of Congress, including improved access to mass transit and improving electric vehicle infrastructure; reaching 100 percent clean energy; ending fossil fuel subsidies; electrification of housing, schools, and hospitals; clean and safe drinking water for all; and Clean Energy Victory Bonds. 

• Support the campaigns of national groups like Green America, and get active with local environmental and climate justice organizations near you to reduce climate emissions and the impacts of pollutants on frontline communities. 

• Reach out to companies you shop or receive services from to tell them they need to act fast to eliminate their emissions. When companies hear directly from consumers, it makes a big difference.  

• Take part in regenerative agriculture in your home or community by planting a Climate Victory Garden.  Climate Victory Gardeners are sequestering carbon, creating healthy foods, and building more resilient communities nationwide. 

• Green your spending and investing. Green America’s National Green Pages is a great resource for finding the greenest businesses, and we have a wealth of information about how to divest from fossil fuels and move your money from banks that finance the climate crisis to banks and credit unions that support local communities. 

• Share information with friends, family, and social media communities about the need to take action on climate change, the solutions that we should all be supporting, and to counter the disinformation that is out there. 

If we all work together immediately, at the governmental, business, and individual levels, we have the resources we need to address the climate crisis and limit its impacts for our and future generations.  

Contact GrandyOats: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram 

CEO and co-owner Aaron Anker has worked at GrandyOats since 2000 and views it as a chance to do good in the world with his career and business ventures. He worked in a variety of positions before this, including hotels, restaurants, and a vegan café. Yet, after 20 years, he considers GrandyOats to be like his child.     

“I call myself the Chief Granola Officer,” Anker comments when describing his work. 

GrandyOats has been around since 1979, selling 100% organic granolas, trail mixes, nuts, hot cereal, and more. Anker notes that “the business was founded in Maine, it’s always been in Maine, and it’s really important for us to keep it in Maine.” A company of roughly 35 workers, 20 of them work in a factory in a rural town an hour from Portland.  

In 2015, GrandyOats bought the building where they now work. Before this, the abandoned single-story school was slowly becoming a blight on the local community. Then, GrandyOats came along to renovate it, clean it, and update it to create a safe and proper workspace.   

A part of this process involved covering the roof of the facility with solar panels. It took some effort to finance, but now GrandyOats has had their solar panels for over five years with help from banks and the solar company. 

Anker has a positive and constructive view of the different obstacles that can arise when owning a business. For example, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anker found that his love for networking and making friends in the industry helped him.  

“Through the pandemic, it was really awesome to be able to call some of those friends and say, ‘What are you doing here?’, because there was no right or wrong answer... There was no playbook. And there was just so much energy out there from other entrepreneurs.” 

He similarly loves the people and work he does at GrandyOats, finding that it is never dull. Instead, it is mission-driven, and there is always a new project. In the early 2000s, they went 100% organic. After that, the goal was to make their facility solar. Now, they are in the process of moving towards Fair Trade™, as seen with their fair trade certified cashews, coconuts, coffee, and chocolate. 

All in all, Anker finds it rewarding to work for an organic company. He hopes he can contribute to a better world and climate, and work for a business that is authentic and eco-friendly.  

“I like how quickly more and more consumers are gravitating towards organic and clean energy, and to be a part of that, to be a leader in that is such a great feeling.” 

Contact Vermont Soap: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram 

“It has to be natural and come completely from Vermont!” Larry Plesent exclaimed to a stranger over 30 years ago while working as a window washer and brainstorming his initial idea for Vermont Soap. Someone asked him how he would create a product, something special that people would want to buy more than once. Plesent knew from the start that he would want to create a product made of natural ingredients.  

He also knew that he wanted a large production of his product.  

“I’m what you call a ‘batch man,’” Plesent explained. In his life and with his business, he loves large quantities of whichever items he creates. He does not just make one bar of soap but builds a whole factory for them. 

Vermont Soap was founded in 1992 and ahead of the curve when it came to producing natural products. The company started small, creating organic pet shampoo, and expanded to shower gels, bars of soap, deodorant, cleaners, and more. Their products are eco-friendly, good for sensitive skin, and they do not use any artificial scents, colors, or dangerous preservatives. 

Plesent quickly discovered that there was not a good definition of the word “natural” when he started making his products. He ran a blog questioning its definition and helped found the Green Products Alliance to try to differentiate the companies who used true natural products from those who did not. 

“When we started, there wasn’t a large kit to work with, there weren’t a lot of materials that were certified organic. So, I was very interested in expanding that kit and seeing what we could do with using truly natural, raw materials.” 

Now, as more definitions for the words natural and organic are forming, most all Vermont Soap products are USDA certified organic. 

Vermont Soap also works on clean energy as a part of their sustainability efforts. In fact, the factory that produces Vermont Soap’s products out in Middlebury, Vermont, has a roof covered in solar panels. This is in line with the Plesent’s home life, where he powers his house the same way. His passion for natural living extends so far that he even spent a decade building his home from logs on his land. 

“We call it the Get with The Program, Program,” Plesent laughs when describing the goals of the business. He hopes that his business and lifestyle can inspire others to change their way of living. The ‘program’ that Vermont Soap works on is to convince and help people systematically move towards sustainable, natural, plant-based products. 

After almost 30 years running this business, Plesent successfully does something he and the other workers at Vermont Soap love. They are a great employer who prioritizes and rewards those who work with them. When asked how to replicate this success and give advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, Plesent took some time to reflect on his stories. His advice was to love what you do, play to your strengths, and stick to your desired path.  

“Never quit—you may just be ahead of your time. Eventually, the world will come around to where you are.” 

As students prepare to head off to their college dorm this year, they can take steps to make the experience more eco-friendly. For example, it is important to bring hand-me-downs and reuse items you already have so that you do not produce unnecessary waste. However, if it is time to buy some newer items, there are many businesses selling eco-friendly and sustainable dorm products and décor. Find 10 sustainable product suggestions below to help green your room! 

1. Organic Bedding 

Purchase organic and natural duvets, comforters, sheets, and blankets with the Green Business Network {GBN} member Bed Voyage. The sheets pictured are $42.00 and made of 100% organically grown bamboo. They are also vegan and hypoallergenic. 

$42.00 Bamboo Fitted Sheets

2. 100% Organic Cotton Towels 

When choosing your bath towels, consider shopping at Goodnight Naturals {GBN}. They sell Fair Trade Certified^TM Coyuchi towels made from 100% organic cotton. Their wash towels are only $8! 

Click here for further towel pricing information  

3. Desk Décor 

Check out some of the vases, desk mates, and pillows at UPAVIM {GBN}. Items are fair trade and handmade by women in Esperanza, Guatemala. They are a great colorful addition to any room.  

$10.00 Owl Deskmate and $10.00 Petite Stoneware Bowl/Saucer 

4. Backpack 

Terra Thread, from the same founder as Gallant International {GBN} sells 100% organic, GOTS certified, and fair trade cotton backpacks and tote bags. They come in 14 different colors and 2 different sizes.  

$65.00 Sustainable Backpacks  

5. Moving Boxes 

Even the materials used to move into your dorm can be green! If you like around NYC, check out Box Up {GBN}. This company allows you to rent moving supplies. Their crates can be reused about 300 times before they are recycled, helping you move without any cardboard waste. 

$98.00 to rent 15 boxes for one week

6. Food Storage 

For students who enjoy to meal prep, leftovers, or simply want food to-go, check out these stainless-steel containers. What’s Good {GBN} sells multiple containers of different sizes, beeswax food wraps, and reusable sandwich bags, making them a great source for green food storage. 

Buy their Square Stainless-Steel containers for $13.98 

7. Posters 

Find a variety of posters perfect for your dorm at Syracuse Cultural Workers {GBN}. Posters are printed on postconsumer waste recycled content and are processed chlorine and dioxin free. They are sold both with frames and without frames.  

$15.00 Make Art Not War Poster

8. Laundry Detergent 

For laundry detergent that is green and chemical free, try Molly’s Suds {GBN}. Their detergent is affordable, vegan, and they work to reduce their carbon footprint in shipping. 

$13.99 Original Unscented Laundry Detergent Powder 70 Loads

9. Office Supplies 

In need of office supplies? Check out Green America’s previous post on the topic for suggestions including index cards, highlighters, binders, and more! Naturally Playful {GBN} is featured, a great option for affordable recycled index cards, paper clips, and other office supplies. 

$1.00 Recycled Paper Clips 

For more tips on green living during college, read through Green America’s post How to Green Your College Experience. 

At the end of July, Carter’s released its first sustainability report! This is a positive step for the company, which is the largest retailer of children’s clothing in the US. But we need to see bolder action on chemical management from Carter’s to end toxic textiles and create more sustainable apparel.

What is Carter’s doing?

Commits to source 100% sustainable cotton and polyester fibers by 2030.

Carter’s notes a majority of the fabric it sources is either cotton or polyester – so, there is a large potential impact with this commitment. However, it left us wondering what percentages of cotton and polyester are currently sustainable and what support will be provided to current suppliers so that the cotton they sell becomes more sustainable?

Additionally, Carter’s should report on progress being made on this commitment in future sustainability reports in a meaningful way, such as including percentages of the total and target dates. 

Carter’s also launched a line of clothing, Little Planet, that is GOTS certified. This is a positive step; Carter’s should expand its offerings of the GOTS certification to a wider percentage of its products so that clothing made with organic cotton is more widely available to its customers. In the report, Carter's vaguely notes that there is the intention to expand the scope of this brand – we encourage Carter’s to issue a time-bound commitment stating the percentage of total products that will be GOTS certified.

Many companies have one or two sustainable lines of clothing, but in order to transform the industry, companies need to apply sustainability efforts to all products.  

Obtain the Oeko-Tex certification on “much of” 0-24 months baby clothing by 2022.

The Oeko-Tex certification is a strong certification and addresses some of the hazardous chemicals used in apparel. This is a step in the right direction.

However, this commitment is vague. Rather, Carter’s should state what percentage of its clothing will be certified by 2022. Additionally, we would like to see Carter’s apply this goal it all its clothing, where possible.

Expects to require many raw material suppliers to carry Oeko-Tex certification.

Similar to the commitment above, this is a vague statement, and Carter’s should announce what percentage of raw material suppliers will carry this certification and by when.

Require Teir 1 apparel suppliers to follow the company's Restricted Substances List (RSL) and “heightened restricted substance requirements”.

We are glad to see this update from Carter’s and appreciate the reporting on progress of implementation of its RSL (which protects customers from many toxic chemicals and other substances). However, it is not clear what “heightened restricted substance requirements” are, and it is a relatively meaningless statement without additional details.

Carter’s still lacks a public manufacturing restricted substances list (MRSL), which limits what harmful chemicals garments workers are exposed to. We are seeing more and more companies make strong commitments to limit and phase out hazardous chemicals and protecting workers and local communities near factory suppliers, demonstrating that it is possible to end toxic textiles. Carter's needs to join these companies in issuing an MRSL. 

We encourage Carter’s to look at leaders in chemical management, such as Target which has time-bound goals to phase out Perfluorinated Chemicals and added flame retardants by 2022 as well as removing added Perfluorinated Alky Substances by 2025. Target has also implemented an RSL and MRSL in its textile supply chains.  

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Carter’s also committed to reducing greenhouse gas emission by 25% by 2030 and developing science-based targets.  While this is a positive step and is a clearly stated goal, we need urgent, bolder action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carter’s has also disclosed data on its energy usage and emissions for the past three years; this type of transparency is a step in the right direction and we hope Carter’s will apply this transparency across all issue areas.

Increasing data collection.

By 2025, Carter’s intends to source only from suppliers that use the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s HIGG Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM). This will help to standardize data tracking within its supply chain, allow the company to see where improvements can be made, and better monitor year over year impacts.

Improving water management. 

The apparel industry is a water intensive industry and is the second largest polluter of water. Carter’s is starting to understand and monitor the water usage within its supply chain. Carter’s needs to commit to bolder action to address its water impact – we hope to see this in the next iteration of its reporting as it strengthens its environmental impact data collection processes.

Partnering with TerraCycle:

Carter’s has teamed up with TerraCycle to launch a program to recycle children’s clothing. Individuals can send in children’s clothing that cannot be donated or used to be recycled, rather than being thrown out. Using this program is free.

Learn more about the recycling program here: https://www.terracycle.com/carters.

You made Carter's improve. Now more consumer pressure is needed!

When we launched the Toxic Textiles campaign in 2019, Carter’s shared very little information about its sustainability efforts publicly, since then Carter’s has taken a number of steps:

• launching an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) website,
• disclosing a restricted substances list (RSL),
• released a sustainability report.

This progress is thanks to the nearly 30,000 individuals who have called on Carter’s to step it up, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, so please take and share the action:

Carter’s CSR report can be found here and additional information about its sustainability efforts can be found here.

By Melissa Pandika

Common wisdom says to put your money where your values are. If the wildfires, heat waves, droughts, and floods that have been ravaging much of the world lately have left you with an unshakeable sense of grief, dread, or both, chances are that your values align with ending the climate crisis, which makes such extreme weather events more frequent and intense. But what if you’ve already donated to your favorite climate nonprofits and want to do more with your dollars? One option is to move them from a big bank that funds the fossil fuel industry to a smaller, more sustainability-oriented bank that doesn’t.

Big banks direct a ton of money to the fossil fuel companies that have largely driven the climate crisis. A report published by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), in collaboration with other organizations, found that the 60 largest commercial and private investment banks gave the fossil fuel industry $3.8 trillion in the five years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, a plan to significantly lower global greenhouse gas emissions. A sizable portion of this money goes toward expanding fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure, according to the report. The banks responsible include household names like Well Fargo, Bank of America, and Citibank. JPMorgan Chase is the worst offender by far, pumping $51.3 billion into fossil fuel companies in 2020 alone.

And don’t be fooled by initiatives like Bank of the West’s “1% for the planet” credit card and “climate-conscious checking account,” warned Sierra, the magazine of the Sierra Club, which collaborated with RAN on the Banking on Climate Chaos report. If big banks offer them, they probably amount to little more than greenwashing. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, Sierra pointed out — the leading funder of offshore oil and gas projects from 2016 to 2020.

While your checking and savings accounts might be only a sliver of what your bank directs to the fossil fuel industry, your decision to house them there does have an impact. “Money makes the world go round,” says Sylvia Panek, a financial advisor for Natural Investments, which focuses on socially responsible investing. “If they’re sitting at a bank that is financing natural resource extraction, very extractive, exploitative practices, your dollars essentially are being used for that.”

Like a lot of people, maybe you just went with whatever bank your friends or family use. “Because of their marketing power and their lobbying power, [big banks] seem to be top of mind for people,” Panek tells Mic. “They may not really be aware of better, more local, greener, more socially just and responsible banks.” These banks tend to be smaller, she explains — as in, they don’t have nearly the amount of money that major multinational fossil fuel companies would need to fund their projects.

The good news is that most of these banks have offerings comparable to those of big banks, such as online banking portals, apps, and waived ATM fees, Panek says. You can likely use their debit and credit cards at checkout, too, she adds, because the processor would probably still be a major one accepted by most retailers (i.e., Visa or Mastercard).

The main advantage that big banks have over smaller, more sustainable ones is their ability to offer credit cards with cash back rewards, frequent flyer miles, discounts from certain major retailers, and the like, thanks to their size Panek explains. But if you’re someone who, say, prefers to travel by bicycle and buy as little as possible — and patronize small businesses when you do — you’re probably ok going without these perks.

That said, times seem to be a-changing. Panek says her federal credit union recently announced a new rewards program for debit card users that includes travel, merchandise, and more. Transitions away from big banks — a movement partly due to the financial crisis caused by these institutions and their huge bailouts in 2008 — “has led to greater bargaining power” among smaller banks, she says, making it easier for them to compete.

If you learn from the Banking on Climate Chaos report or elsewhere that your current bank finances the fossil fuel industry, moving your money to a bank that doesn’t is a small yet meaningful step you can take toward fighting the climate crisis. Here’s how to switch to a sustainable financial institution that works for you.

Use “better banking” search tools

Panek recommends searching Better Banking Options, as well as the Get a Better Bank map, offered by Green America, a nonprofit where she began her career in sustainable and socially responsible investing. All the banks and credit unions included meet at least one of various criteria, such as being a certified community development financial institution (CDFI for short—more on that later) or identified by the FDIC as a Minority Depository Institution.

Bank for Good and Bank Local also let you search for alternatives to big banks, says Patrick Costello of climate defending nonprofits Fossil Free California and 350Marin, who’s also a certified financial planner.

If nothing else, go with a community-based institution

If you don’t have the time or energy to identify a bank committed specifically to sustainability, Panek recommends at least moving your money to a certified CDFI, which will likely be too small to lend money to a huge fossil fuel company. As part of their certification by the U.S. Treasury, these banks or credit unions need to show that the majority of their operations go toward loans in the community where they’re located, like mortgages and small business loans, she explains. (Banks are for-profit, while credit unions are non-profit and member-owned. You can read more about the differences between the two here.)

Look for B Corp certification

Finding a sustainable financial institution is “a little bit more nuanced and more difficult,” Panek says. While green certifications might seem like a handy shortcut, they aren’t necessarily reliable, according to Costello. “Some of these certifications are created for the purpose, I believe, of greenwashing, so you want to actually be careful about that,” he tells Mic.

Both he and Panek agree that you can trust a B Corporation certified financial institution, though. For C corporations — the typical designation for corporations — “the return to the shareholder is by far the priority of the operation,” Costello says. B Corporations, on the other hand, regard other values as equally important. B Corp certification basically says that a company has undergone an evaluation process to confirm that its operations go toward supporting people and the planet, in addition to profit, Panek explains.

Research the financial institution’s lending activity

Costello suggests doing some digging into the enterprises the financial institutions you’re considering loan to. Try searching for this information on their website or contacting their customer service departments. Depending on their privacy policies, they might not be able to supply the names of the companies they’re loaning to, “but they should be able to certainly provide categories,” he says. Or, visit Mighty Deposits, a website where you can compare different types of investments across banks and credit unions.

Consider what else is important to you, besides sustainability

This can help you further narrow down your options. If the ability to access a physical branch is important to you, Panek says, an online-only bank might not be the ideal choice. If you want to support the local economy, “going with a green bank that’s all the way across the country might make [you] feel better in some ways but not in others.” She suggests using a resource like Green America’s Get a Better Bank map to “mix and match what works better for you in terms of what is most important to you.”

How to make the switch as painless as possible

Once you find a bank you feel good about, open an account with them, Costello says, and start using their checks and/or debit card. Panek suggests sitting down with last month’s bank statement, listing every recurring transaction, and updating your payment information on every app and system where you've set up autopay.

A flyer created by 350Marin, where Costello is a member of the steering committee also recommends leaving enough money on your old account to cover any automatic payments that have yet to be made or checks that haven’t cleared. Once a full round of recurring transactions has been made on your new account, transfer the leftover funds to it, close the old one, and get written confirmation that it's been closed. Last but not least, tell your old bank why you decided to part ways with them.

Real talk, though: For many people, this last step takes the most work. “I wouldn’t say it’s hard,” Costello says. “It’s just time-consuming…. There’s a lot of little details involved.” He tells Mic that it took him a year to transition from Bank of America to Beneficial State Bank, a community development bank based in Oakland, California. But as much of a pain in the ass combing through your bank statement can be, in the grand scheme of things, it’s still worth the opportunity to help stave off climate catastrophe.

While most of the labor of building the computers, phones, and other devices that make our digital lives possible happens far from the headquarters of the name on the box, down an often long and opaque supply chain, industry leaders can have enormous impact on working conditions in distant facilities.

Today, Green America’s Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN) is pleased to announce the Toward Zero Exposure program, which has been developed with noted sustainability and social responsibility leaders Apple, Dell Technologies and HP Inc. as Founding Signatories.

These companies have pledged to accelerate existing efforts in chemical safety and boost awareness of the need to improve chemical management practices across the global electronics manufacturing industry to eliminate workers’ exposure to hazardous chemicals. 

These Founding Signatories invite companies throughout the electronics supply chain to join their commitment to:  
 

• Prioritize the elimination or substitution of priority chemicals with safer alternatives and continue to protect workers until that is achieved 
   
• Collect data on the process chemicals used in manufacturing electronic products  
   
• Advance worker engagement and participation as an essential element of a best-in-class safety culture for managing process chemicals 
   
• Reach deeper into the overlapping and complex electronics supply chain to reduce worker exposure to hazardous chemicals   
   
• Verify and report to ensure progress toward implementing the commitments to strengthen accountability to workers, the public and other stakeholders 

“These signatories’ commitment represents groundbreaking progress in the protection of workers from hazardous chemicals in the electronics supply chain,” said Alisa Gravitz, CEO of Green America. “The Toward Zero Exposure program’s unique development through CEPN’s multi-stakeholder consensus process creates an exceptional platform to leverage the enormous effort individual organizations have already put into protecting workers.” 

Learn more about our program here.

The energy use in your office building, apartment, or home may be less efficient than you are aware. Energy efficiency means that less energy is used to perform the same task.  

Many New Yorkers are discovering this after the passage of Local Law 95, a law requiring building owners to post the energy efficiency of New York City buildings 25,000 square feet or larger. The law has resulted in raising public awareness on energy efficiency as buildings have had to post their ratings. Many states and countries calculate these ratings but not every building owner may fully understand methods to improve their efficiency and thus their score. Improving this efficiency could not only reduce the emission of global greenhouse gases but can also save money on energy bills for owners and renters as utility costs go down.  

So, what exactly makes a building energy efficient? 

How ratings are calculated  

Standards for energy efficiency can vary by state. However, Energy Star, which works under the U.S. Department of Energy, is a federal baseline for assessing buildings and appliances. Some states, including New York State, base their standards off Energy Star. With these ratings, buildings are compared to others of a similar size and shape. If a building is significantly less energy efficient that other similarly structured buildings, it receives a lower grade. If it is more energy efficient than these other buildings, than it receives a higher grade. Grades are usually on a zero to one-hundred scale with an A to F rating. New York now issues fines for those large building owners who do not post these scores. 

via The City of New York: Buildings  

How can you improve your energy efficiency and usage? 

1. Audit Your Home or Office Space  

One way to precisely find out how much energy you might be wasting is to receive an audit on the energy efficiency of your home or office. Professionals in your area can find out exactly where your home is efficient and where it uses excess energy. This allows you to know the exact steps needed to improve any energy inefficiency in your own home or office. The U.S. Department of Energy has advice on finding energy auditors here. Furthermore, Green Business Network (GBN) members such as GreenEcoSavers and Positive Energy provide energy auditing products and services.  

2. Check Your Insulation and Sealing 

Proper building insulation ensures that you do not use more heating or air conditioning than needed. It prevents the heating or AC from leaking out so that you only use the exact amount of energy needed for the building. Sealing off attics and garages, insulating air ducts, and caulking or weatherstripping air leaks in windows are just some of the ways that individuals can stop the leakage of air. In fact, it would only take half of existing buildings to install thicker insulation in order to avoid 8.3 gigatons of emissions. Maryland Installation Services (GBN) works on sealing involved in window and door replacement and installation. 

3. Monitor Your Temperature 

After you’ve checked your insulation, it is important to monitor the temperature of your home or office. When you’re not present, setting the temperature to a higher number such as 78 degrees in the summer or 68 degrees in the winter can save up to ten percent on heating and cooling. The goal is to set the internal building temperature to be as similar to the outdoor temperature as possible. 

However, note that certain heating systems require different solutions. For example, if the temperature is monitored through a heat pump, it may actually be better to keep a consistent temperature in your home. You can also purchase programmable thermostats that help regulate the temperature and save energy. Positive Energy (GBN) sells a couple of programmable thermostats that can help homes or offices improve their energy efficiency.  

4. Upgrade Your Lighting 

Roughly 5-percent of the average household’s energy bill is used on lighting. This is especially relevant for marginalized and under-served communities, who tend to face higher energy burdens. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are the most efficient options when buying light bulbs. CFLs use a third of the energy of a halogen incandescent bulb and LEDs use around 25 to 30 percent less than incandescent bulbs. 

In addition, you can save energy by minimizing your lighting usage. When you’re not at home or in the office, remember to turn off your lights. You can also take advantage of natural light during the day. 

5. Check Your Equipment and Appliances 

Energy efficiency also depends on the type of equipment that the building uses. In a home, this includes appliances such as washers, dryers, and fridges. In an office, this may include computers and printers. Organizations such as Energy Star create certifications that promote energy efficient products with a website full of appliance suggestions. Paitson Bros (GBN) is an example of a heating and cooling company that uses Energy Star qualified equipment.  

Furthermore, be sure to activate sleep settings on any printers, copiers, fax machines, etc., and turn off all machinery when not in use.  

Refrigerants used in cooling equipment also have significant climate impacts. The most common refrigerants are potent greenhouse gases that often leak out of cooling appliances. You can take action with Green America’s Cool it for the Climate campaign which works to eliminate the use of unsustainable refrigerants and improve cooling efficiency of supermarkets. The U.S. supermarket sector currently emits roughly 45 million metric tons of greenhouse gases every year just through refrigerant leaks.  

Several members of the Green Business Network work on energy efficiency and green energy. Check out members such as GreenEcoSavers, Positive Energy, Ecoinstallations, the Sustainability Guys, Paitson Bros, Maryland Installation Services, and more. 

We're in business to produce the cleanest sleep and play wear for your little person.    

After working in the clothing manufacturing industry for many years, Maureen Smithey dreamt of creating garments that would reflect her values of respect for people and our environment. A line of unique, ethically made organic pajamas and clothing for babies, toddlers and children that is designed with comfort and movement in mind. A line that is well made and uses only the highest quality, made in the USA organic cotton knit fabrics.

Since 2008, we at Castleware Baby have stayed true to that vision by manufacturing a complete line of organic cotton sleepers, sleeping bags and pajamas for babies and children to size 8. We remain committed to using the finest fabrics, manufacturing from start to finish in the USA and designing for real families, well built pajamas  and sleepers that hold up to the test of time. We focus on classic designs in high-quality fabrics that feel good next to the skin. We combine functionality with comfort. We believe that pajamas should last long enough to be passed down to a little brother or sister. Our customers agree!

At Castleware Baby, we are dedicated to keeping children safe, warm and comfortable at night so that the entire family sleeps better.

One might almost be desensitized to extreme weather conditions, especially in the West Coast, where water usage warnings and wildfires have become the norm. However, the issue is far from normal. According to the US Drought Monitor, 93% of land the West Coast are in drought conditions, which is more than ever before, and make water-saving crucial. 

As a green business leader, you can do your part to help! Here are six water-saving steps for your small business (and your home). 

1. Install low-flow aerators in your faucets 

An aerator is an attachment on your faucet spout that slows down the flow of water by adding air to the water stream. They are inexpensive, come in many different sizes, and have different flow rates to suit your needs. The best part? It’s quick and easy to install an aerator; simply screw off the old aerator (you may need pliers or a wrench) and put on a new one. 

2. Stick a bottle in your toilet tank 

This easy trick will reduce the amount of water used per flush without buying anything. Simply fill a plastic bottle with weights, like pebbles or rocks, and water. Put the bottle in your toilet tank, making sure that the bottle doesn’t interfere with the tank’s mechanics, and watch your water bill go down! 

3. Hang up encouraging “Save Water” posters in restrooms

Water consumption is a team effort. Free, printable water-saving reminders can be found online to remind your guests and employees that every drop counts. 

4. Check for leaks 

Did you know that it only takes 10 minutes to check if your toilet has a leak? Put food coloring in the tank (where your newly-placed plastic bottle is!) and check for color in the toilet bowl toilet after 10 minutes. If there is, you most likely have a leak and should consider replacing your toilet flapper. Refer to the EPA’s checklist for more leak detection tips. 

5. Ditch the garbage disposal 

Food scraps that are tossed in garbage disposals must be moved through pipes and processed at water treatment centers, which can be water intensive—not to mention the water used when running the disposal itself. Instead, composting these scraps reduces food waste and water consumption.  

6. Research local incentives  

Your district may have might have programs to pay you to for saving water! For example, The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California provides rebates for commercial turf replacement, plumbing fixtures, recycled water projects, and more. For more details, click here. 

Bonus tip: Rethink your sink 

Next time you are rinsing off dishes or produce, stick a dishpan or large bowl in the sink to catch the water for your garden. Be sure to collect water if you are cleaning fish, it is a fantastic organic fertilizer! 

Along with helping you live green, for over 40 years, Green America has been working for safe food, a healthy climate, fair labor, responsible finance, and social justice. 

Contact Love and Carrots: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter 

Anyone who has tasted a home-grown tomato can attest that it is worlds apart from one that was bought at a grocery store, which likely traveled thousands of miles before landing on your plate. 
 
While the idea of “farm-to-table” is enticing, many people have never quite mastered the “farm” part. 

That is where Love and Carrots hops in. 

For the past decade, the garden installation company has brought farm- to- table even closer to home. The team of 17 has kept itself busy— currently managing over 140 gardens, in addition to having installed 1,000 gardens and counting in the Washington, DC, metro area. 

Meredith Sheperd, founder of Love and Carrots and previous member of Green America’s Board of Directors, has developed quite the green thumb through her years of experience. Sheperd has been in the green industry since the start of her career as a landscaper during her high school and college summers. Later, she worked at the World Conservation Union and did wetland delineation at an environmental engineering firm. 

“I started thinking about the food movement's impact on the environment,” recounts Sheperd. “My roommate was involved in that sort of thing and taught me more about it. I decided I wanted to be a farmer.” 

Following her passion for outdoor work and conservation, Sheperd worked in various farms in her area. Eventually, she became a farm manager on a small organic farm. From there, Sheperd’s inspiration for her business sprouted. “For me, it was environmental,” she explains. “I think where food comes from and how it is grown has a big impact on our planet.” 

Now, Love and Carrots provides garden design, installation, maintenance, and even beekeeping services to schools, businesses, and homes. Sticking close to her early career roots, Sheperd describes her business as a combination of “growing food, beauty, and landscaping into one project.” 

“Growing your own food is a gateway to making people appreciate where their food comes from,” Sheperd says. Our connection to food became especially relevant during the pandemic because gardens provided food security amid the weaknesses within the food system. 

Sheperd recounts, “We got more business. More people that were stuck at home, working from home, and nervous about food security for the first time. So, they thought it would be a good idea to learn how to grow their own food. A new wave of people who, under normal circumstances, would not learn how to grow their own food did!” 

Lastly, the gardening maestro’s face lit up as she provided sage wisdom for the home gardener (or hopeless horticulturalist) to consider.  

1. Hours of Sunlight—The Most Important! 

Sheperd advises, “You want an absolute minimum of 5 hours of direct sun, anything more is great 8 hours is considered full sun. So, before you put a garden in, check out your sunlight!”  

2. High Quality Soil 

“If you are growing in the ground, you’re probably going to need amend heavily with compost. If you are growing in containers, you want to think about the volume of containers- the bigger the better. A good rule of thumb is to be at least the size of a 5-gallon bucket… Pot ‘em up!” 

3. Irrigation 

“If you are growing outside, it is easy and totally worth the effort to set up a simple, automated drip irrigation system. You can buy kits online that works like Legos,” she adds. 

4. Crop type 

Sheperd suggests herbs, peppers, salad greens, and eggplants as easy crops to start with.  

To learn more about the impact your favorite bites have on the environment, check out these food carbon emission calculators.

When our Hang Up on Fossil Fuels campaign began in 2017, a small fraction of Verizon's massive network was powered by clean energy. But since then, there's been major progress thanks to the thousands of people across the US who have signed our petitions, contacted Verizon directly on social media or by phone, and pressured the telecom giant to rapidly switch to renewables.

Verizon has issued its second $1 billion green bond, to use in part to acquire new contracts for clean energy. At the end of 2020, Verizon reported entering into several new power purchase agreements totaling nearly 1.7 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity. The company reports that this will reduce the carbon emissions equivalent of removing more than 630,000 passenger vehicles from the road a year. Green America will continue tracking actual progress as these new projects come on-line and we'll keep pressuring Verizon to build on this and reach 100% clean energy by 2025. 

In the meantime, take action by telling Verizon and AT&T to Hang Up on Fossil Fuels.

Hours: Full-time (4-days, 32 hours/week)
Salary: $60,000 - $65,000
Benefits: Generous medical, dental, disability, vacation, holidays, sick days
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 for Sustainability Solutions builds on Green America’s work over the years, where we have 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 multi-stakeholder working groups with the objective of making significant, industry-wide system change.

The Center currently houses three active Innovation Networks, each led by its Network Director:

• Soil & Climate Alliance
• Clean Electronics Production Network
• Climate Safe Lending

The Operations and Special Projects Manager will provide support to the CEO, who is currently serving as the Interim Director of the Center, and manage overall operations of the Center for Sustainability Solutions, including budget and operating plan management, grant finance management, personnel and hiring, managing relationships with contractors, website administration, and special projects for the CEO/Interim Center Director.

As all three Networks are virtual, this position may be housed in Washington, DC at the Green America offices, but may also be filled remotely.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Operations

• With CEO, coordinate planning and management for the Center
• Observe, review, and analyze processes to identify inefficiencies and areas where improvements can be made
• Facilitate cross-channel feedback from stakeholders and employees to Center leadership team
• Participate in long-term initiative planning to advance the overall goals of the Center
• Collaborate with CEO/Interim Center Director and Network Directors to set departmental goals
• Develop new ways to improve operations of the Center including software management tools, communications, and business processes
• Perform website administration for the various websites related to the Center
• Collaborate with networks to coordinate communications efforts
• Organize Center Leadership Team meetings  

Finance & Budget Management

• Work with the Interim Center Director, Network Directors, and Development Team to track grant funding, assist with grant reporting and, where appropriate, ensure that grant funds are applied and administered appropriately
• Assist in forming and executing the annual Operating Plan for the department, including supporting Network Directors in developing their annual Operating Plans as well as participating in organization-wide staff meetings to set organizational priorities
• Assist in determining and managing the budget for the Center

Contract Administration and Personnel and Hiring Management

• Support Network Directors in creating, maintaining and execution of contracts  with external contractors to advance the work of the Center and keep projects on track
• Assist in hiring and overseeing the work of Center staff (Program Managers and Project Coordinators) and contract researchers and facilitators as needed

Special Projects for the CEO/Interim Center Director

• Quick turnaround research
• Conduct key stakeholder follow-ups on behalf of the CEO/Interim Center Director
• Represent the CEO/Interim Center Director in meetings
• Support creation of informational materials and presentations

Other duties as assigned:

• Participate in Green America staff meetings and processes and other duties as required
• Participate in Green America Cross Departmental Teams: The success of our organizational work includes the voluntary participation of staff members from all levels of the organization in cross-departmental teams addressing a range of issues to strengthen our impact and planning, as time and other work commitments allow

Qualified Candidates should have the following skills and qualities:

• 5+ years of management and/or operations experience, as well as project management experience, with demonstrated results managing multiple projects simultaneously
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving, and multi-tasking skills and the ability to quickly shift between priorities
• "Big picture" thinking skills to address top-level concerns and find the best path forward from all available data
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to develop trusting relationships with senior executives and high-level leaders across a range of sectors
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong interest in the subject areas
• Prior experience in communications, website administration, and asset creation desired
• Bachelor’s degree required.

To Apply: Email your resume and cover letter to centerstaffing@greenamerica.org

**********************************************************************************

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.

By Kristen Bahler

By the end of the summer, I’ll go from living the charmed life of a 30-something who has never, not once, changed a diaper, to someone who’s very existence revolves around the activity. And like many soon-to-be moms with a stack of parenting paperbacks and an embarrassingly long baby registry, I’m starting to feel pretty smug about the whole thing.

Case in point: I’ve decided to give cloth diapers a try.

My reasoning is the same as most parents seeking eco-friendly alternatives to disposable diapers: I compost, I recycle, and I try to use sustainable substitutes for my replenishable household products (paper towels, coffee filters, plastic bags). Cloth diapering just sort of … makes sense.

Plus, it could save me a lot of money.

A 2018 deep dive by the Tampa Bay Times found that the cost of disposable diapers hovers around $1,000 a year per child — a prohibitively expensive price tag for many families that is only going up. The fact that many communities have suffered widespread diaper shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic added fuel to an already heated debate about the advantages of switching to cloth.

The thing about cloth diapering is it can introduce a sh*tload (pun intended) of extra work to a new parent’s routine — work that’s unpleasant, and involves getting a lot closer to your baby’s bowel movements than you would otherwise have to.

I’ll admit: I’m not psyched to experience this first-hand. No matter how valiant my efforts, there’s a lingering possibility that after a few months (or … days) of keeping a paycheck-sucking poop machine as clean, fed and un-agitated as is within my capacity, cloth diapers will start to feel less like a doable alternative to landfill-crowding ‘sposies and more like a curse.

Will it all be worth it? Or am I in over my head? How much money can I reasonably expect to save, anyway?

To help sort through the muck, I turned to the best experts in the biz: moms who have tried cloth diapers themselves, and agreed to be brutally honest about their experiences. Here’s what they told me.

Cloth diapers for beginners

If you’re new to cloth diapering, know that the options are vast — and a bit overwhelming.

Every parent has his or her own preference when it comes to fabric, brand and closure type (the velcro vs. snap vs. pin debate is an eyeroll of its own accord), so it’s wise to experiment with a few different types before committing to a specific one.

Style-wise, cloth diapers come in four different constructions. Here’s a breakdown of each, and why some parents gravitate toward one over the others.

All-in-one (AIO) diapers

All-in-ones mimic the simplicity of disposable diapers. After every diaper change, you throw one of these bad boys — which are made of several layers of highly-absorbent material like microfleece and sewn into a waterproof cover — into your dirty diaper pile to be laundered (not thrown away). Then you slap on a clean one.

This is the easiest way to cloth diaper, and often the most expensive — AIOs can run upwards of $30 a diaper. But since many designs are stitched with closure settings meant to re-size as your baby grows, you should get a lot of use out of each one. Grovia’s O.N.E. diaper, a $23 to $28 option recommended to me by multiple moms, can last from birth all the way to potty training. Some popular AIO brands, like Thirsties and Bambino Mio, sell diaper bundles at a discounted rate.

“Even before having a baby, I never felt I had enough time, and feared I wouldn’t stick with more complicated types, so I was drawn to the AIOs,” says Jennifer Kelley, a mom to a baby girl in Albany, Oregon. “Many styles are as easy to put on as a disposable.”

Pocket diapers

Pockets are another simple cloth diapering method that requires a little more busy work than AIOs. They’re also made with waterproof covers, but the insides are less bulky (and less absorbent) and have a stitched-in pouch where a washable, maxi pad-like insert slips in.

Kristina Todini, mom to a 1-year-old in Sacramento, California, tells me she favors pocket diapers over the other styles.

Todini runs the green living blog Fork in the Road, and says she was “on a mission” to reduce her consumption of single-use items before she got pregnant.

Some of the crunchiest parents learn to sew their own diapers from old t-shirts and nursing blankets, but Todini didn’t want to overload herself with chores while “learning how to care for a baby and become a mother,” she says. So she and her husband used disposables for the first month of their daughter’s life, and then transitioned to pockets.

On Amazon, you can get a six-pack set of AlvaBaby pockets (and 12 inserts) for $30. Nora’s Nursery, one of the top-rated cloth diaper stores on Amazon, sells four-packs of pocket diapers with four bamboo inserts for $38, and seven-packs with seven bamboo inserts for $65.

Fitted diapers

Fitteds, another two-step system, come as two distinct parts: a cloth diaper and a waterproof cover. That means two separate items to buy (and wash) — though the covers can be worn through multiple diaper changes, so you don’t need an equal amount of each.

Using a diaper encased in a waterproof shell means that, if the fit is right, you’ll get the same absorbancy as a disposable diaper. And since that shell comes off before it gets tossed in the laundry, the inner layer tends to dry pretty quickly.

Cloth-eez sells a popular line of organic fitted diapers, which will run you about $12 a piece on the Green Mountain Diapers website (covers, sold separately, cost about $10).

Stephanie Miller, mom of one, uses a mix of different types of cloth diapers, but says Grovia’s “hybrid” fitteds are her favorite (currently available in a 12-pack on Amazon for $194). She lives in humid Houston, Texas, where air drying certain materials is next to impossible. With fitteds, she can dry the inners in her machine dryer while she hangs the covers outside.

Flats and prefold diapers

As the name implies, these come as a flat sheet that you fold onto your baby in the shape of a diaper. It’s the cheapest, and most complicated, way to cloth diaper, but lots of parents swear by it.

“You can Google how to do it,” says Shay Boudreaux, mom to two sons, a 5-year-old and a toddler, in Louisiana. “It probably takes 10 extra seconds.”

Pre-folds still require a waterproof cover, but like fitteds, you’ll need far more diapers than covers. Another bonus: If the whole cloth diapering thing doesn’t work out, you can use them as burp cloths instead.

As of this writing, you can buy a 12 pack of pre-folds on sites like Green Mountain Diapers and Amazon for $22 to $30 — or a bundle of 36 (with four covers included) for $94.

How many cloth diapers do I need?

Before you stock your nursery, think about how much you can reasonably spend — and how much extra laundry you’re comfortable taking on.

Most baby blogs and cloth diaper social media groups suggest starting out with at least 24 diapers, plus about 6 covers (if you’re not using AIOs), which should tide you over laundry-wise for two to three days. Older babies don’t go through as many diapers, so you can get away with buying less of each if you’re past the newborn stage. Same goes for parents who want to try out cloth diapers before giving up on disposables entirely.

Keep in mind that, depending on the type of cloth diapers you choose, and how they end up fitting your kid, you might have to size up as they grow. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, there are lots of “try it” kits you can buy (or register for!) from brands like OsoCozy, Esembly Baby and Green Mountain Diapers. Also, if you’re on a super tight budget, you can buy pre-owned diapers on Facebook groups and online communities like Diaper Junction. Or you can hit up one of the myriad nonprofit organizations that give free cloth diapers to low-income families.

Since cloth diapers can be used on multiple children, the savings compound over time. And if you take good care of them, the resale value is close to, and in some cases over, 100%.

To save money, Kelley bought some of her cloth diaper stock from diaper co-ops and resale sites like eBay, Mercari and Craigslist. She and her husband used disposable diapers for the first week of their daughter’s life, and though they “planned to use them even longer, because we anticipated being much more overwhelmed,” the transition to cloth ended up being a breeze, she says.

“It is truly not as scary as it sounds,” Kelley tells me. “You just have a couple extra loads of laundry each week.”

How to clean cloth diapers

Every parent I spoke to agreed that the most complicated part about learning how to use cloth diapers is figuring out how to wash them.

Depending on the material your diapers are made of, you might have to “prep,” or pre-wash them — sometimes multiple times — before using them for the first time.

You’ll also need to do some research on how your laundry machine will handle the slightly unorthodox task at hand (specifications for top-loading and front-loading machines vary), as well as what kind of laundry detergent to use. Experienced cloth diapering parents usually recommend a detergent with the least amount of ingredients possible. Tide’s “Ultra Power Original” detergent powder (not liquid) is a cult favorite on diapering message boards. Some cloth diapers companies, like Esemby Baby, sell their own detergent.

Pro tip: You’ll probably want to get a couple of “wet bags” to tote around your used cloth diapers when you’re out of the house, too.

“Wet bags are a crucial part of a successful clothing journey,” Miller says.

As far as drying goes, most people recommend hanging your diapers on a laundry line or drying rack whenever possible, since the heat in machine dryers will wear down any elastic and hike your energy use — which doesn’t exactly jive with many parents’ “green” intentions.

Now comes the most polarizing detail of every cloth diapering discussion: What To Do With All That Poo.

The good news is, breastfed babies have water-soluble waste, so you just throw their cloth diapers into a pile, and then into the laundry, and be done with them. But that’s not the case if you formula feed, or if your baby is old enough to eat solid food, or the thought of chucking number twos into your washing machine is just … a bridge too far.

For some parents, the solution is biodegradable, flushable liners. Others just dunk each diaper into the toilet before it hits the laundry pile. You can also buy a hose that attaches to your toilet and power washes each diaper to hell and back before tossing it in the wash. If you go this route, Jennifer Kelley in Albany, Oregon, advises investing in a hose that comes with a spray shield, or buying one separately, to protect your bathroom (and body) from splatter. (“Spraying diapers without a shield is a pain, messy, and made me seriously consider whether I wanted to keep doing it,” she says.)

Still with me? It’s worth mentioning that every mom I spoke to was unanimous on another point: This isn’t as gross as it sounds.

Todini summed it up nicely.

“Let’s face it, babyhood involves a lot of poop,” she says. “What’s dealing with cleaning the diaper over a toilet in the grand scheme of things?”

Cloth diapers vs. disposable

There’s still a lot of debate about the health benefits of cloth diapering — like whether it leads to less diaper rashes, and quicker potty training, as advocates say it does. There’s even some naysayers who question if all that extra laundry makes the practice as eco-friendly as it seems. (Much of that skepticism, though, was sown by disposable diaper companies, according to the nonprofit group Green America.)

There are also lots of parents who tried cloth diapers and gave up a few months in. Dealing with cloth can be time-consuming, after all, and a lot more trouble than it’s worth if the fit isn’t quite right, or your washing machine happens to be on the fritz.

Still, there’s no doubt that if you stick with it, cloth diapering can save you money, and the moms I spoke with have the receipts to prove it.

Boudreaux says her family spent about $220 on cloth diapers, which they used exclusively on their oldest son for the two-some years before he was potty trained. They used those same diapers on their second son before he started going to a daycare this spring that doesn’t allow cloth diapers — and over the course of three months, Boudreaux says, she and her husband have already spent $200 on disposables, even though they still use cloth diapers at night and on weekends.

Todini, for her part, did a cloth vs. disposable cost comparison for long-term diapering while she was pregnant, and says that cloth was the clear winner from the get-go. Her family spent $60 total on cloth diapers and inserts she says, plus an extra $15 to $20 a month on laundry detergent, water and electricity.

Cloth diapering isn’t for everyone, Miller tells me, but it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing.

“Disposables … provided us some time and flexibility when we needed it,” Miller says. “ I like to think of the sustainable analogy of using cloth towels over paper towels, or cloth napkins over paper napkins. We would simply do what we could when we could and try our best to keep things out of landfills.”

Sometimes, she adds, “the benefits of ease and disposability” made disposables the better choice when her family was on vacation, or her baby was in daycare. But like every mom I spoke with, she found cloth diapers to be pretty easy too.

“I will always advocate for cloth over disposables,” she says. “It’s extremely affordable and not as difficult as a lot of people seem to make it.”

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This Plastic Free July, ask your elected officials to support the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act!

Green America is proud to be one of over 400 advocacy groups supporting this ground-breaking legislation, introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA).

This legislation tackles the serious social and environmental impacts of plastics from their production to disposal. The bill contains a suite of provisions that would: 

• Force companies to take responsibility for their wasteful products, 
• Strengthen regulations on plastic facilities to protect communities, 
• Prohibit the use of toxic chemicals in covered products,
• Push to increase reusables and refillables,
• Improve recycling programs, and much more. 

Plastic production and incineration emit toxic air pollutants and millions of tons of greenhouse gases. Oil and gas industries want to ramp up plastic production in the coming decade to keep a demand in place for fossil fuels and line their pockets with more profits. 

More plastic production will fuel the climate crisis and increase pollution that severely threatens the health of fenceline communities, disproportionately impacting Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities.

The Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act seeks to tackle these problems by bringing many solutions that have helped curb waste at state and local levels to a national scale.

Contact Congress Now
 

What Would the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act Do? 

Tackles pollution in environmental justice communities

The bill focuses on environmental justice communities that have been harmed and burdened by pollution from petrochemical plants and incinerators. It would place a three-year moratorium on permits for new petrochemical plants while the health and environmental impacts of existing facilities are investigated by the EPA, and regulations on facilities are developed or strengthened. The bill requires the EPA to conduct a comprehensive study on the public health impacts of incinerators and plastic chemical "recycling" facilities. The legislation would ban the export of plastic waste to developing nations that lack waste management infrastructure and prohibits an expanded list of toxic chemicals from being used in covered products.

Holds companies accountable for their waste

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a major facet of the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act. The bill calls for a nationwide EPR program for certain items (including packaging) and requires companies to invest in domestic recycling and composting infrastructure, cover costs of clean-up, and promote measures to reduce waste.

Tasks federal agencies to develop solutions 

The bill would task relevant federal agencies to study effects of fishing gear polluting the environment as well as microfiber pollution and will require filtration standards for clothes washers to reduce microplastics. The EPA would be charged with developing standardized recycling and composting labels to prevent contamination. The bill tasks the EPA to establish funding for reuse and refill pilot projects to create more reusable packaging options.

Bans numerous non-recyclable plastic items 

Common single-use plastic products that pollute ecosystems, can’t be recycled, and have available alternatives will be reduced and phased out. The bill will reduce waste from items such as plastic bags, Styrofoam food and drinkware, plastic utensils, and more. The bill protects the ability of state and local governments to enact more stringent standards, requirements, and additional product bans.

Develops a nationwide container deposit system

Beverage containers of any material type could be returned to redeem a 10-cent deposit that is paid up front in the cost of the container. There are ten states with “bottle bills,” where customers redeem deposits at the point of purchase or at redemption centers. States with deposit programs such as Oregon report recycling rates of containers that surpass 80%, which is 16 times the national average.

How to Take Action 

• Tell your Senators and Representative to co-sponsor the bill through our email action. Then share with your networks!
• Call the congressional switchboard to connect to your elected officials’ offices and use the sample script below.  

Switchboard number: (202) 224-3121 

Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act – Senate Bill #984 and House Bill #2238

Script: Hello, I am a constituent of [Senator/Representative Name] and am calling to urge them to support and cosponsor the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act [S.984 in the Senate/H.R. 2238 in the House]. I care greatly about the environment and the communities affected by plastic pollution and this bill works to reduce plastic waste and improve recovery of recyclable materials. This bill works to end the health threats of pollution from petrochemical plants on communities and tasks federal agencies to develop comprehensive plans to address plastic pollution in our waterways. This is a historic effort that will spur innovation and investments in the United States’ domestic recycling and composting infrastructure. Please support this bill for people and the planet!

Tell Congress: Break Free from Plastic Pollution