GreenSmith Consulting

10 Ways Geolocation is Changing the World

This post was written by Rob Reed. He is the founder of MomentFeed, a location-based marketing, strategy, and technology firm.

Location technologies are transforming how we experience, navigate, and ultimately better our world. From the global to the local, here are #10Ways geolocation is a positive force for good.

Social media has changed the world. It has revolutionized communications on a global scale, and the transformation continues with every status update, blog post, and video stream. The global citizenry has become a global network.

Since becoming widely adopted just a couple years ago, social media has supercharged social action, cause marketing, and social entrepreneurship. Indeed, the true value hasn't been the technology itself but how we've used it. Today, a second wave of innovation is defining a new era and setting the stage for change over the coming decade.

Mobile technologies will extend the global online network to anyone with a mobile device while enabling countless local networks to form in the real world. We've decentralized media production and distribution. We're doing the same for energy. And we'll continue this trend for social networking, social action, and commerce.

The combined forces of smartphones, mobile broadband, and location-aware applications will connect us in more meaningful ways to the people, organizations, events, information, and companies that matter most to us---namely, those within a physical proximity of where we live and where we are. Can location-based services (LBS) change the world? Here are #10Ways:

GreenSmart Moves Recycled Bottle Based Gear Bar Higher

I've had the pleasure of watching Grass Valley California based GreenSmart make the transition to a green company over the past three years, done with thought and full consideration of the impact of the options they were exploring. With the release of their Bottles 2 Bags messenger bag line, they've truly hit it out the park.

In the video below I'll take you on a little tour or their Baringo bag, and point out some lesser known details that clearly show how a company can effectively balance quality gear while being strongly sustainable. They've clearly hit their stride, and get that it's about meeting people's needs first, then giving them the background of how their purchase is making a difference. Not in a preachy way, but very encouraging and empowering.

The hang tag on the messenger bag says many things - About the contents of the product, how it was made, and the story of the Baringo name (It's the 2nd most endangered Giraffe species, which is why they donate 10% of their profits to the World Wildlife Fund, among others.)  But this sentence says it all: "We're not perfect yet, but we're taking our cues from you."

One thing I left out from the video review: The bag has a sturdy rectangular base, helping keep its shape as you carry your gear around town or on your travels. Youtube seems to have chopped the last 10 seconds, I said, "Go have a look for yourself, I definitely give them my seal of approval. They can be found at greensmart.biz" And ha ha, that screen capture below is something else! No I'm not raging angry, promise.

Readers: What other companies out there have you seen going green in a smart way, with integrity, in a way that consumers beyond the deep green will get? Do you own any GreenSmart gear? What's been your experience?

GreenSmith Sessions #2: Humble European CSR Superstar Fabian Pattberg

Welcome back for the second edition of the GreenSmith Sessions, this time with Fabian Pattberg, a man with a multicultural awareness of business, having lived and worked across Europe and exotic Nashville, Tennessee. The GreenSmith Sessions are an evolving series of dynamic conversations with the key influencers, thinkers and doers in the sustainable business realm, and all the neighboring arenas it touches.

Fabian and I had a far ranging conversation, addressing if and how CSR is and can remain relevant in the days of BP, what the US and EU can learn from each other, who he thinks is doing a good job with their CSR reporting (a shocker, trust me!) and other intriguing nuggets of insight.

You can find Fabian on his influential and resource filled blog and website along with Twitter. As he suggested in our session, searching his name will also show you the expanding range of places he is present online and out in the field, helping companies and their stakeholders effectively meet in the middle. 

What's your take on the current state of CSR? Who's doing it well? Who's falling down on the job, so to speak? What can be done to make CSR reporting and activities more powerful, useful, and effective? 

Download GreenSmith Sessions #2 Fabian Pattberg

Play GreenSmith Sessions #2 Fabian Pattberg

GreenSmith Sessions #1: Joey Shepp of Earthsite

Somewhere amidst the preparation to move my life 12 hours away to Portland, Oregon, an idea took root: Talk to the people that inspire me, and share it with you. My goal is to have brisk freeform conversations with some of the key influencers, thinkers and doers in the sustainable business realm, and all the neighboring arenas it touches. Rather then be a linear Q & A, I want to  see them be a dynamic dialogue that will give you much food for thought.

It's called GreenSmith Sessions.

My first guest is Joey Shepp, who has been involved in the sustainable business realm in some form or another for the better part of a decade, and presenting engagingly about it at innumerable events. Whether it's leading the technology efforts at Green Festival, running web, design, and social media strategy firm EarthSite, Joey has a lot to say on how technology and green meet, and how to do it effectively. 

We had a far ranging conversation, largely anchored in the social media realm, Joey sharing interesting perspectives on privacy, Facebook, how he sees geolocation based businesses being of use to you and I, and more.

So join me please, for GreenSmith Session #1. 

And please, do share your thoughts, on the content, on the overall presentation, on who you think I should be talking to. I'm all ears!

PS: That article I mentioned talking about youth actually being nearly on par with (rather than jaw droppingly open with) their online privacy, is here. 

>>>Download/Listen to GreenSmith Sessions #1 Joey Shepp

Is Portland, Oregon Really the Green Mecca Its Reputed to Be?

I’ve been quiet on this blog for some time. With good reason. Its called moving 12 hours from tiny but mighty Nevada City, California to the Mecca of green that is Portland, Oregon. A huge move made for many reasons and one that, a month in, I’m glad I made.

As you’ve likely heard, Portland is lauded for it’s sustainability, often being cited as the greenest city in America. Does it deserve it? Mostly.

Just look at the Redirect Guide, a source for local green companies, products and services. It’s more than 200 pages long. Go out to eat, and you’ll find that even the fish and chips restaurant makes a point to tout it’s healthier, more sustainable fare. Farmers markets dot the city, more then one happening every day of the week, the biggest drawing 10,000 visitors weekly.

Bicyclists are everywhere, with well marked lanes, respectful motorists (I've even had a trash truck wave me through!) bike only roads, and bike designated streets adjacent to the busier car trafficked ones. Sunday Parkway events sees miles of road closed to automotive traffic, becoming a mass of cyclists, skaters, and walkers.

Well integrated mass transit covers the majority of the city, well, and with the aid of such things as the free PDX Bus iPhone app, is easily used even if you’ve never ridden before, as I can attest. And I’m not alone, as it was recently revealed the bus system’s servers get nearly 100,000 hits a day, just from this app!

Why is Portland the way that it is? A vocal citizenry and a supportive government helps. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen our Mayor Sam Adams directly answering people’s questions and requests on Twitter and Facebook. It’s clear he’s committed to making Portland an increasingly sustainable city, both on an individual and regional level.

Some less obvious factors contribute to Portland’s famous livability: Metro is a prime example. I’m still getting my head around it, but from what I understand it’s a regional government, distinct from the conventional government structure in place. They help make recycling easier, for people to live more sustainably, and know what’s fun to do They even manage to make outdoor activities sexy, with The Intertwine.

And yet, Portland misses the mark in some key ways.

Ponoko + Makerbot = The Next Evolution in the Democratization of Manufacturing

It was bound to happen.

Ponoko, the company that’s created a thriving ecosystem of designers, manufacturers and consumers, where you as a designer can get your product made one at a time via a global network of fabricators that use 3D printers, is now working with Makerbot to give people the ability to make/have made a 3D printer for their own use.

What’s significant about this is that it gives people with the creativity and design ideas the ability to both test out these ideas, and make the final product for customers. Or just for their own enjoyment. While the Makerbot at this point has a fairly small size capability at 4” x 4” x 6”, there is probably a lot that can be made by assembling a number of pieces together.

The question some might have is, why would Ponoko, which until this point has derived much of its income from making and facilitating the making of things for people, now enable people to do it themselves? It’s simple: They’re expanding their market, by being the maker of the pieces people will use to make their own maker. Making sense?

And, in line with the rest of their product fabrication offerings, they can make the parts for the Makerbot in any number of materials that the customer wants, including bamboo.

Likewise, if you’re happy with the Makerbot design as is, Ponoko can create everything needed for a basic version, you supply the tools or even send you a kit with absolutely everything, including the tools to make it.

The design plans for the printer are being made available to the public for free, the only requirement being that, should you modify them, you make them public via the Thingiverse site, so that others can benefit from your design thinking, able to further improve (or make look just plain cool) the Makerbot.

While this does entail a certain level of trust that people will follow through on the license agreement, it does mean that Makerbot and Ponoko have the additional income that comes from making the parts from these modified mini factories. And, in creating a wider and higher profile for DIY manufacturing, it will likely then increase the market for their products, as not everybody will want to design and assemble their own 3D printer.

Is this collaborative, iterative, open source model of doing business the way of the future? One way, to be certain, and one that, in these volatile, interdependent economic times we find ourselves in, is a durable, malleable way to go that many other businesses could do to learn from.

Readers: What's your take on Ponoko & Makerbot's collaborative, open source model? Are there any other businesses or business models you're seeing out there that you think we can learn from? Please share below, in the comments.

Time to Stop Talking About Going Local, and Doing It (pt 3 of 3) Eating and Getting Around

You hear so much about the value of "going local," but perhaps not so much on how to go about doing it effectively. Thanks much to Wayne Maceyka for sharing copious resources to do so, first covering the value of and need for localizing economies, then who's doing it, and now for two of the essentials in our modern life: local food and transportation.

One of the basics of life is nourishment and along with that, moving the foods that provide said nourishment around.  Additionally, we move ourselves and other goods around all over the world as part of the economy.  We currently rely upon inexpensive fossil fuels to keep a national and international supply chain running to do all these things.

Industrial food production is garnering a fair amount of attention for the GHG emissions associated with its production (including transportation) as well as the growing awareness of the health consequences of ingesting it.  We derive industrial fertilizers from petroleum, and the machines that sow seeds, harvest plants, and spread the fertilizer depend upon fossil fuels to operate. 

From a popular culture perspective, Michael Pollan's book Omnivore's Dilemma (here's his recent TED talk),  Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution which premiered March 26 (to name a few) have helped raise the public's awareness about where our food comes from and what that means to our collective health.

An inherent danger in relying upon a far-flung and energy dependent food infrastructure is the price of oil.  It skyrocketed to somewhere north of $140.00/gallon in mid-2008, and what did that do to global food prices and basic access?  For those of limited means; they struggle mightily.  A recent post on a food security e-mail list had an interesting comment about the ongoing need for local & regional food infrastructure.  I highlighted the potential for regional & local food,

"[Senate Bill] S 510 (and even more so, HR 2749) will make it almost impossible to get local, healthy food to local people by dramatically increasing the cost of preparing local, healthy food for sale and distribution.  We need new cooperative packing houses, new processors, new distributors and new retailers or our food will only be available to the affluent at a premium price.  Not only the poor (both working and unemployed) but also the lower middle class will be almost entirely dependent upon industrial agriculture"

Personal Scale Manufacturing is Here: Why it Matters and What it Means to You

I've been watching the evolving trend of personal scale manufacturing with interest for some time, and we're about to see that mythical "tipping point." I want you to know about it, and how it may effect your business and our environment.

 It's happening. Much like the computer went from a monolithic room filling device used only by the military and government, to one that can fit in the palm of your hand, allowing you to do something about your surroundings via a geolocation enabled app, manufacturing is fast becoming something you and I can do, literally. And it has the potential to likewise shift the balance of power and control of what and where things get made, and what products do and do not see the light of day.

How?

It used to be that if you wanted to manufacture something, whether it's an entire product or its components, you had to do so at a large scale. After all, for a third party manufacturer or yourself, it was quite expensive to set up the production line to make each part. Changing aspects frequently required time and retooling. Not something for a small scale production, unless you're talking a prohibitively expensive one of a kind.

Then along came 3D printers.

These devices use a laser to shape a piece of raw material, frequently plastic, into an object, layer by layer. At first largely the province of adventurous tech geeks, last year saw the emergence of Ponoko, a company that has succeeded in creating an ecosystem of people with ideas, tools, and desire to buy what's being created.

Basically, with Ponoko if you have an idea for a product, you can find someone to make it for you. One. Or many. You pay a per minute rate for use of the printer that makes it. If you have a printer, you get business funneled to you via Ponoko. If you are a designer, you have the ability to have your product made, at a reasonable cost, no matter the quantity purchased.

This was a definite step forward, and yet you still had the barrier of cost, someone else being in control of the manufacturing.

Enter Makerbot Industries.

It has recently introduced what is the beginning of truly democratized manfuacturing: The Makerbot. It is a $750 open source 3D printer that can create small objects via ABS plastic. And it can make its own replacement parts! While we're not talking automotive manufacturing here, it is a solid beginning to what I predict will swiftly become an increasingly wide spread, widely useful practice.

What does this mean, in terms of sustainability?

Unless you live next door to the factory of what you purchase, and all components are made in one location, your purchase of a product likely logged a lot of miles getting to you. With something made via a Makerbot, you could either create your own design, or download a design from someone else, and make it right where you are. Then, rather than having to buy a new one if a part wears or breaks, you create the replacements yourself. 

You've now skipped the shipping and reduced disposal waste. While this is happening on a small scale now, imagine the impact if repeated millions, billions of times.

The one sticking point at this stage is that objects made in Makerbots are made with plastic, which being  petroleum based material, has the accompanying ecological footprint and in time, may prove expensive as petroleum becomes a scarcer resource. Can bioplastics be used? Can those be supplied at a reasonable cost? What about aluminum, or a temporary liquid, even some other as yet to be created upcyclable substance be used? Let's hope so. Ponoko currently works with everything from felt to bamboo.

But for now, the Makerbot marks a point in time, where the shift began.

Readers: What's your take on the sustainability of micro scale manufacturing? How else can we cut out links of the supply chain? Right now the offerings are primarily machine parts and decorative objects. What would you design and offer?

The 3 Best Ways to Drastically Reduce your iPhone (Or Any Phone) Bill

Late last year I got my first iPhone (I know I know! Three words : 2 year contract.) With the increase in monthly bill, I was inspired to seek ways to reduce it. And I found them. Many. I thought you'd like to know too.

These days, it seems there's nearly as many ways to save money using your phone as there are types of phones. But they all seem to have a weak spot: Requiring you to do numerical gymnastics, or making your caller i.d. on the other end look like something to avoid.

While those may have monetary benefits, they can reduce your productivity, and make you look less professional. So I was pleased to have made series of discoveries in the past week that put it all together, with minimum effort, maximum results.

Follow these steps and you'll be well on to your way to smarter, cheaper, more connected communications.

Verterra: A Green Company Effectively Reaching Beyond “The Choir”

I have the pleasure of working for all clients that I admire and respect, and while it’s typically my role to help get them written and talked about by other people, I have to make an exception here. That exception is Verterra.

Verterra is a rare find: A green company that goes far beyond the expectations for their product category,  even in ways that aren’t apparent to the end user, while keeping it very affordable, eschewing the “green tax” so many companies presume they can get away with charging the mythical idealized green consumer. It goes like this: They make plates, bowls and platters out of fallen Palm leaves, that would have otherwise been burnt as agricultural waste.

They don’t say it on their site, but that’s roughly 15 tons a month. All of it, even production scraps, gets used.

Another thing left out of the spotlight is their reusing 84% of the factory’s water. And they continue to increase that. In a time where water is going to become an increasingly precious resource, this is not only ecologically considerate, it’s a proactive business move.

And please, don’t take my word for it, here’s what Whole Foods recently said, having used Verterra at an event themselves: “So that’s it. No trees are harvested or cut. No glues or dyes. Just leaves and water. VerTerra truly is an authentic eco-friendly line. And if the environmental benefits aren’t enough to convince you, VerTerra boasts unmatched durability and versatility – use the plates for microwave reheat or short bakes in the oven!”

All fine and good, but what’s in it for the consumer?