Members of the Global Ecolabelling Network learning about each other’s country ecolabels in Tapei last month. Photo credit: EDF Taiwan.
Last month, the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) held its 17th annual general meeting in Taipei, Taiwan—and as the Secretariat Manager of the GEN, TerraChoice was there.
We’ll pause here for a moment for those not familiar with the GEN: it is a non-profit association of 28 Type I ecolabelling organizations around the world, but if you are unfamiliar with ecolabelling, you might be asking yourself what a “Type I” ecolabel really is. Type I ecolabelling programs are voluntary, their standards address multiple environmental criteria across the lifecycle of a product or service and, most importantly, Type I ecolabelling programs are transparent in their standard development process and rely on independent verification of products or services to these standards.
Now let’s return to the GEN week events in Taipei. Learn more →
Source: PAC
There are many ways to embed sustainability into a company, but how often is that sustainability thinking applied to product packaging?
Walmart Canada’s annual Sustainable Packaging Conference brings to light packaging trends and encourages its suppliers to discuss and debate ways to make this product component more sustainable. This is a critical time for many suppliers and manufacturers to begin thinking about and creating solutions that will meet retailer’s specifications and ensure longer term viability of their products. TerraChoice President Scott McDougall was at this year’s June 22 conference in Toronto as a keynote and he shares his views.
Learn more →
Source: Facebook
What makes for healthy and sustainable lifestyles? Individuals have been asking themselves this for many years and, more and more, so have executives from small and medium-sized businesses.
Interested in joining this conversation, TerraChoice’s President Scott McDougall accepted an invitation to speak at this year’s LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) forum that took place from June 22-24, 2011.
For those not familiar with the LOHAS forum, it brings together over 500 like-minded executives from health and sustainability market sectors to network and learn how to best target the LOHAS customer. The LOHAS customer is described as one who purchases goods and services for health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living. The LOHAS market is estimated to be an incredible $290 billion in the U.S., and growing. Learn more →
Ron Shaich, Panera Bread
Source: Facebook
Last week, Lise Beutel, Senior Business Consultant at TerraChoice, attended the Sustainable Brands (SB) 2011 conference in Monterey, California. Upon her arrival back in Ottawa, she used one word to describe the experience: inspiring.The SB conference explored the sustainable brand revolution, with over 120 speakers spanning three full days of rich dialogue. Many topics were explored, including encouraging sustainability in skeptics, managing the stages of sustainability maturity and sharing sustainable marketing ideas. The conference challenged attendees to help realign society and business toward a sustainable future through leadership, innovation and listening.
Among the great speakers Beutel listened to were Jeffery Hollender, co-founder of Seventh Generation, and Ronald Shaich, founder and Executive Chairman of Panera Bread. Their stories, Beutel tells us, are truly amazing. Learn more →
Source: Triple Pundit, http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/certification-consumption-change/third-panel
On May 24, 2011, JustMeans hosted the Certification, Consumption and Change conference in Washington, D.C. and our President, Scott McDougall, was invited to participate as a panelist. The conference brought together a number of thought leaders from social enterprises, leading brands and certifying bodies to encourage discussions regarding the future of certification.
With extensive knowledge about eco-labels and certification, Scott participated in the panel titled, “Great Expectations and the Need for Risk Management”. Fellow panelists included Mark Bradley, Assistant to the Deputy Administrator of the USDA’s National Organic Program, and Robert Rice, the Director of Bird Friendly Certification at the Smithsonian Institute.
Learn more →
