Offsetting the Sustainable Brands Conference
Memorable moments abounded at Sustainable Brands 2012 in San Diego about a month ago. The gathering involved more than 1,000 people, many representatives of the companies working most diligently to integrate environmentally and socially mindful practices into their daily business operations.
My favorite was Lyell Clarke. At a conference known for presentations discussing sophisticated brand building, Clarke was simple, direct, and unpretentious. Authentic. He heads up Clarke, a global environmental products and services company that has pioneered safer mosquito control, among other services. His narrative of the work involved in transforming a traditional pest control company to one that has won awards for its innovative chemistry was moving.
In other sessions:
- CocaCola discussed its impressive campaign to protect Arctic regions—Coke’s use of a polar bear goes back well before there was any talk of climate change.
- The founder of OAT shoe in a most entertaining fashion took the audience through the steps he took to develop a shoe that is both completely natural and impregnated with seeds.You can literally plant it at the end of its life. It takes grit to figure out how to build a shoe that ultimately will bloom.
- BMW has a slick new video of its slick new cars—EVs in this case.
- Several NativeEnergy clients took the stage. Maria Davlantes of Interface spoke of the work the company continues to do to remain true to the path of full sustainability laid out by its remarkable founder, Ray Anderson. And Mike Dupee of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters discussed their deepening engagement with Fair Trade in sourcing their coffee.
About NativeEnergy
NativeEnergy is an expert provider of carbon offsets, renewable energy credits, and carbon accounting software. With NativeEnergy’s Help Build™ offsets, businesses and individuals can help finance the construction of wind, biogas, solar, and other carbon reduction projects with strong social and environmental benefits. Since 2000, NativeEnergy’s customers have helped build over 50 projects, reducing more than 2.5 million tons of greenhouse gases, and the company has over 4 million tons under contract. All NativeEnergy carbon offsets undergo third-party validation and verification. Learn more at www.nativeenergy.com.
