Shiny Green Button

The Green Inc. blog over at The NYTimes notes the results of a recent Gallup poll which reveals, for the first time in 25 years, that more Americans believe that economic growth should be given priority over the environment, even if that means the environment suffers.

Here’s my question–why do these options need to be mutually exclusive? The poll, in effect, reinforces the canard that protecting the environment means sacrificing economic prosperity. I understand why people (mostly Republicans and some Independents, as it turns out) would respond as they did, given the severe recession. But aren’t the underlying causes of this crisis rooted in unsustainable business practices? Long-term economic solutions must come from doing things differently, not perpetuating the false choices that have gotten us into this mess.

My quibble isn’t so much with the respondents, but with the premise of the question. It–and others like it–validates and perpetuates a destructive meme. As long as it sticks around, it will undermine perception of the environment as our best opportunity for sustainable economic investment and growth.

As much as the environment, green technology, sustainable investing and the like have entered the mainstream conversation in recent years, polls like this one demonstrate those issues are still the exception rather than the norm. When Gallup no longer deems the economy vs. environment question to be relevant, it’ll be a clear signal that our public discourse and communications have fundamentally changed.

“Our idea is don’t sell a product that’s less bad. Make it better. Make a shift.”

Xtracycle founder shifts thinking about cycling

photo: J. Maus

Ross Evans traces his love of the bicycle back to when his parents took him to school in a bike trailer. Decades later, he’s made that passion his business, as the founder of Xtracycle, making long-frame bikes and conversion kits for utilitarian cycling. Xtracycles are designed to be comfortable and versatile for everyday use, extending the range of uses for bicycles and offering a viable alternative to other forms of transportation.

Evans got the idea for the Xtracycle while doing service work for the nonprofit Bikes Not Bombs, which promotes bicycle technology as an alternative to war and environmental destruction. He saw firsthand how bikes were used in Senegal and other countries not just for recreation but for work and meeting basic needs. He also envisioned improvements to the basic bicycle design.

According to Evans, “Bike design has been primarily driven by racing. The dual diamond frame is perfected for that. But if you want to do errands and need to carry supplies or other people, you need a different kind of bike. Cars have back seats and trunks. Why not bikes?” Forty percent of all car trips in the United States are less than two miles. Evans sought to create a bike that could reduce our dependence on cars for short trips and errands that required significant gear capacity.

He created his first long bike in 1995. Stanford engineering and business classes, as well as a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance and the Lemelson Foundation, helped him fine tune the design and eventually launch his own company. Xtracycle makes complete bicycles and conversion kits that extend the rear of an ordinary bicycle to accommodate passengers and other gear. At the end of 2008, Xtracycle employed more than eight people and surpassed one million dollars in revenue, tripling sales from 2007.

Evans said he didn’t create this product with a goal of being green, per se: “Our idea is don’t sell a product that’s less bad. Make it better. Make a shift.”

His advice for people who want to start their own sustainable business? “Get in touch with yourself. Get inspired. Then gather a team to make it happen,” says Evans. “Connect what you love to change the world.”

For more information, visit Xtracycle.com.

At the Going Green East conference in Boston this week, CEOs of green technology businesses have been mixing it up with venture capitalists. They’re debating best practices, discussing emerging trends, and looking for the perfect match between innovators and investors. It’s exciting stuff, but three days of bigwigs throwing around big ideas might get a little stuffy, too. Enter our very own Betsy Henning, with 15 minutes of fresh air.

When a technology glitch left her without the slides for her presentation, Communicating Green, Betsy had no trouble winging it. She simply followed her own advice and delivered a memorable, concise, story-rich discussion of how to authentically and effectively communicate a company’s efforts in the green space.

Her first piece of advice for the audience at Going Green: Don’t be green. Instead, be remarkable.

Be the purple cow in the herd of regular old cows (mental image courtesy of marketing guru Seth Godin, who Betsy loves).

Her other purple pearls of wisdom:

Put a value on it. Weave your greenness into your larger story—that means social responsibility, how you treat your employees and the core values that define your company.

Face the facts. Tell real stories about how you can affect real people’s lives.

Finish strong. Discover what’s memorable about your company, cut away the other noise and stay on message. (A good editor is your best friend.)

Don’t take my word for it. Your customers don’t care what you say about your company. They care about what other people say about you. Cultivate a tribe of evangelists and reap the rewards.

Betsy’s 15 minutes were much anticipated and well received. Proof? Just before Betsy spoke, about 65 viewers were following the conference online. When she took the stage, that number spiked to 250+.

Betsy Henning at GoingGreen East 2009

When you hear the words “award ceremony,” the first thing that may come to mind is Hugh Jackman incessantly breaking into song in front of a slew of Hollywood’s best and worst dressed celebrities. That was not the case in New York City this past week, where the stars of the show were actually gadgets, doodads and electronic thingamajigs (sorry Hugh). The Greener Gadgets Design Competition, hosted by Core 77 and Greener Gadgets, recognized the innovative new ideas that will be paving the way for green technologies.

Entrepreneurs, visionaries and eco-designers convened for the Greener Gadgets Conference, where the topic at hand was the future of sustainability for the consumer electronics industry. That future, as it turns out, may be as much about changing behavior as it will be about changing power usage. Out of the 50 design competition entries, only 13 made it through to the competition, where they were judged by a live panel. The top two winning gadgets don’t in themselves save a single nanowatt of power. Instead they communicate with us, educate us and influence us to use less electrical power.

First place winner, the Tweet-a-Watt power meter ingeniously uses the latest in social media to tweet daily Kilowatt usage to the user’s Twitter account.

In second place is the Power-Hog, a way to sensitize your kids to the energy cost associated with running electronics devices.

See a full listing of all the finalists here.