Green Entrepreneurship in Action

14-25 November, 2011

Week 1 - The Green Entrepreneur

Week 1 of the course will help participants discover the important qualities of a green entrepreneur, develop the skills you need to inspire, lead and motivate those around you to support your ideas, and provide valuable inspiration, ideas and practice to help make this your future. We’ll also explore some of the key factors that have led this sector to develop more quickly in the UK than other countries.

Week 2 – The Green Enterprise

The UK is at the forefront of social and environmental enterprise, and it is taking the country by storm. This course will help you understand the different kinds of business model found in social enterprise and help you understand how to build your own organisation or project towards a sustainable future. Using the Devon School for Social Entrepreneurs’ action learning methodology and Schumacher College’s deep understanding of environmental issues, this course is aimed at people who are running or about to start a green enterprise, or who run a green community initiative that needs to become more financially sustainable.

Course Fees

Any one week £750

Two weeks £1,200 (£300 fee saving)

All course fees include accommodation; food, field trips and all teaching sessions.

For more information: http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/-building-the-green-enterprise-

Tel: +44 (0)1803 865934

Email: admin@schumachercollege.org.uk

Schumacher College, Dartington is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The Olympics 2012 is in full countdown now, with just 400 days to go. With almost half a million foreigners expected to descend on London for the games, now is the time to start planning your marketing strategy to get your brand out there.

Smartbags founder, Leanne Dal Santo, recently attended a Merton Chamber of Commerce event at The All England Club, Wimbledon, and heard from two Olympic medallists on how to turn personal experience into business opportunity. Giles Long MBE, a former Paralympic swimmer, and Ray Stevens, an Olympic Judo champion, both now run successful ventures.

The Merton Chamber of Commerce event was well attended as the audience were keen to hear about the effect of the Olympics on business and commerce.

Official sponsor or not, make sure you reap the winning rewards from the 2012 Olympics. It is estimated that the retail sector alone will see up to £3bn spend during the games. Check your local Chambers and get involved in activities on how you can benefit as a business from the Games.

Going for Gold

Supporting the Games is great and can be fun with Smartbags’ new super-sturdy, super-fun and super-stylish metallic range of reusable bags.

Available in gold, silver and bronze, the laminated non-woven bags are lightweight, reusable, waterproof and frankly dazzling.

Let your ‘walking’ brand ambassadors do the work for you as you put your feet up and watch the hits to your website tot up.

Smartbags’ range of metallic bags come in all shades of glory.

A simple way to drive more customers to your website is by running a fun competition on the side of the bag. For example, ‘Are you a Gold, Silver or Bronze (insert brand name) shopper? If so, log on to (insert company website address) and take part in our competition to win a gold, silver or bronze watch / bar / necklace etc.’. This is also a good database-generating exercise.

It’s not just a bag…it’s a golden way to gain heaps of exposure.

Notes about the Olympics and Brand Guidelines

Please note that there are strict guidelines on using words and images associated with the Olympics. We are not experts but we would strongly advise that you avoid all obvious references to the 2012 Olympics on branded materials. Please read the official guide below:

- http://www.london2012.com/documents/brand-guidelines/guidelines-for-business-use.pdf

For more information on ordering reusable shopping bags, contact matt@smartabags.co.uk or visit www.smartbags.co.uk.

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Smart Bags is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

One of our main suppliers in India – Freeset Global- has been awarded full membership of the World Fair Trade Organisation.

In 2010 Freeset gained provisional membership of the WFTO and in 2011, full membership has been awarded.

As an established social enterprise Freeset has been committed to fairtrade principles and practice. Not only are fair wages paid but the business deliberately focuses on employment for women who have been trafficked and exploited by prostitution.

When buying Freeset products, you know that fairtrade is at the heart of the business and that the Freeset employees are at the heart of the business.

Well done Freeset!

For Freeset’s custom printed bags visit www.freesetbags.co.uk and for their range of retail bags, visit http://www.globalseesaw.co.uk/ethicalstore/brand/freeset

Freeset is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Helping towards Plan A

Eco Ezee are pleased to announce the successful roll out of an innovative new shoe box designed for  Marks and Spencer. The shoe boxes have been developed using Eco Ezee’s design and pulp manufacturing expertise supporting M&S’s desire to save on its use of raw materials in its product packaging. This is a significant part of its Plan A commitment to make it the world’s most sustainable major retailer.

The new packaging, when completely rolled out, will consume an estimated 1500 tonnes of recycled material every year producing approximately 10 million shoe boxes. Initially 1.5 million boxes will be produced for its womens shoe range autumn 2011.

Eco Ezee are proud and delighted to be a key component in helping Marks and Spencer reach some of its Plan A initiative ambitions of reducing the company’s carbon footprint and reducing waste to landfill,
as well as providing them with huge cost and time savings.

The new shoe box roll out was first announced in the Business Section of the Sunday Times, 24th April 2011, featuring an article about our company MD Natalie Barnwell. The article detailed the rise of the company from its early beginings with the Ezee Paint Tray, through the additions of its professional quality and sustainable Paint Brush and decorating tools range and the development of the packaging for
M&S.

Congratulations Natalie!!

Eco Ezee Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Ordering a resusable bag is easy, but I am often asked how long it will take and the steps involved. Even if it does seem obvious it is easy to forget an important detail.

Organising and planning are essential to help you save time & money. Once you have designed your bag, you will need to contact your chosen supplier and email the details required to get your order ready.

A) ALLOW ENOUGH TIME! I can’t stress this enough. Check your deadline and work backwards. You need to allow up to 6 to 10 weeks for the whole process – art work preparation, approval, production and delivery.
B) Provide the bag spec: dimensions of the bag Height x Width x Depth in centimeters, the style and quantity. If you have a quote it is often easiest to copy and paste those details back in your email.
C) Confirm your choice of handle. Option can include a standard handle, an over the shoulder handle or a bespoke handle which is the exact length and width you desire.
D) Confirm your choice of fabric colour from those available. If you have specific print colours, confirm Pantone colour codes.
E) Advise how many sides of the bag you would like printed – front or back, or both? It is possible to print on the side and bottom panels too.
F) Attach your artwork to the email. Read How should I send my artwork? for details on preparing artwork.
G) Give an accurate description of how you would like the artwork to appear on the bag – centered, bottom right etc. Include artwork size in relation to the bag size (e.g as a percent figure or in H x W cm)
H) Confirm the delivery address for the bulk order as well as your billing address if different. Make sure contact name, phone numbers and email addresses are given.
I) Include a purchase order.
J) Advise of any hard deadlines.
K) Any other special instructions you may have.

A) You will receive a PDF proof of your artwork on a template within a few days. Approve this via return e-mail.
B) Within 10 working days of the PDF proof approval you will receive a pre-production sample. This will either be a photo or the actual physical manufactured sample of the reusable bag you have ordered. Usually approval will be made from a JPEG photo of the bag which will be emailed to you. If however, you prefer to receive the physical sample for approval this can be posted to you. Approval from a physical sample will add an extra week or two onto the process.
C) Approve this sample by return e-mail.
D) The bags will then go into production, which usually takes between two to three weeks.

It normally takes about 30 days for sea shipped delivery. Sea/air can be as short as 10 days and Express Airfreight will be shorter, both will considerably add to the price and require confirmation and quote at time of order.

While it seem like there is a lot to remember the most important thing in my experience is to ALLOW ENOUGH TIME. Each bag is custom made and printed. When you make the effort to design and produce a bespoke bag that portrays your brand you will see by the result it is well and truly worth the time invested.

If you’d like to know more about the ordering process, please contact leanne at Smartbags or visit www.smartbags.co.uk. Or you can add your question here and I’ll get back to you.

Smart Bags is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Our aim is to reduce the vast amounts of waste produced by printers and print finishers by working with local companies to find innovative ways to re-use their waste.  To kick of the campaign, we will be producing 3,000 bespoke boxes for a London-based charity out of waste board, donated to us by a local printer.  The charity will benefit from having their boxes produced for free and we will have diverted a large amount of unwanted paperboard from landfill!

Throughout the week we will be talking to printers, print finishers and frankly, anyone who needs innovative ideas for how to re-use rather than recycle!  Any waste materials given to wewow by the printing sector we will aim to transform into unique, new products for our customers and at the end of the week, we will begin to calculate exactly how much waste we have successfully diverted from landfill!

This is just the beginning for wewow’s WOW campaign as we will continue to promote the message of reuse, reduce, recycle throughout the year, working closely with our local print partners to minimize the waste produced by our joint operations.

wewow Ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

MuLondon – Natural Organic Skincare signs The Compact for Safe Cosmetics and receives full membership status, proving that divinely fragranced and effective skincare products can also be safe and free from toxic ingredients.

The Compact for Safe Cosmetics is part of a campaign that works to improve the safety of cosmetics and personal care products on the market. It is founded by The Environmental Working Group, Breast Cancer Fund and Friends of the Earth, among others. The idea behind The Compact is that by having companies committing to providing better information about their product ingredients, consumers can make informed decisions when they go shopping for cosmetics and skincare products. One of The Compact’s primary goals is to eliminate harmful chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.

Signing The Compact for Safe Cosmetics is a natural step for MuLondon – Natural Organic Skincare, since the whole philosophy behind MuLondon is to make safe, effective and natural moisturisers without any preservatives or toxic ingredients that can harm the body or the world we live in.

All MuLondon products are guaranteed 100 percent natural, vegan, free of preservatives, and, of course, never tested on animals and contain no animal products. They only contain reliable, tested ingredients such as Jojoba oil and Shea butter that are safe to use on a daily basis, and natural fragrances such as Lavender, Rose, and Marigold that won’t irritate even the most sensitive skin. Certified organic ingredients are used whenever possible.

To this date, more than 1,300 companies have signed The Compact for Safe Cosmetics, but only 250 are fully compliant. MuLondon is one of the 250 fully compliant companies and receives zero hazard rating for all its products. That is the safest rating any product can get and means that MuLondon is among the safest skincare choices out on the market.

In other words, the many women and men out there who have grown used to pampering their skin with MuLondon’s moisturisers and can’t imagine giving them up, don’t have to. They can safely continue using them without having to worry for their own health or the well-being of the planet. MuLondon’s products can be used with a clean conscience.

Boris Zatezic, founder of MuLondon says: “I am delighted to be a signer of The Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and proud that we have achieved full membership status and zero hazard rating for all MuLondon products. Having safe and effective skincare has always been the driving force behind MuLondon, and this proves publicly how committed I am to delivering that.”

More information about MuLondon can be found at www.MuLondon.com, where customers can place secure orders on-line 24/7 for worldwide shipping.

Customers can check the SkinDeep database for all MuLondon products, ingredients and ratings here:

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/brand/MuLondon_Natural_Organic_Skincare/

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Established in 2008, MuLondon is based in London, UK, specialising in producing the finest natural and organic products for skin, body and home. MuLondon fine products are made by hand from pure, natural and, where possible, certified organic ingredients. They contain no artificial preservatives, emulsifiers or fragrances. Instead, pure natural essential oils and herbal extracts are used to divinely scent and gently preserve.

All MuLondon products are 100% vegan and are registered by The Vegan Society and PETA. MuLondon never uses any animal ingredients. All suppliers of ingredients to MuLondon are thoroughly vetted and and share the company’s green and ethical ideals: no animal testing, proactive environmental, recycling and fair-trade policies and support for community projects.

MuLondon – Natural Organic Skincare is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

In February 2011 Natracare became the first disposable feminine hygiene range to be approved by the Vegetarian Society. The Natracare range of tampons, sanitary pads, panty liners and wipes already boasts strong ethical values offering an organic and natural alternative to women however this new logo will offer extra reassurance for women buying their monthly products.

Checking labels, asking questions and contacting companies is an everyday part of a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle. It can be an uphill struggle getting information about animal testing from brands and yet vegetarian societies have been around since the early 1900s. The UK based Vegetarian Society takes away the hard work by doing the research behind the labels. Only companies that can prove no animal testing is used in any part of product ingredients are awarded the prestigious green logo to reassure customers that what they are buying conforms to vegan standards.

This new approval will come as a welcome piece of news especially for mums seeking animal-friendly wipes for their children. Notoriously, the cosmetics industry often uses unnecessary ingredients requiring animal testing and baby wipes contain many such chemicals unknown to the everyday shopper. Natracare’s Organic Cotton Baby Wipes and Intimate Wipes are made from certified organic cotton, drenched with gentle, organic essential oils and 100% natural plant-based ingredients to cleanse and moisturise delicate skin. Free from formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, SLS, petrochemicals, alcohol and other skin-irritating ingredients, all ingredients have been carefully chosen to be kind to the skin, to animals and safe to the environment. Natracare also holds the 2010 TIPS Best Organic Baby Wipes award.

In the UK, Natracare is available at Waitrose, independent natural product stores, selected independent pharmacies and now also at OXFAM stores so you can also contribute to a charitable cause each time you buy!

www.natracare.com

Natracare – Bodywise (UK) Ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

There’s a myth in communications. The myth is that you need to make information easy to understand because people are lazy. You might wonder what the problem with this myth is as making information easy to understand is a good thing, right? Well, although there isn’t a problem with making information easy to understand, there is a problem with thinking that it is a cure for ‘lazy’ people. If someone doesn’t interact with your brand there is more at play than just laziness.

Read more

epitype is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Up until now it has been difficult to know what the trends are with brand values within the FTSE 100. For the first time we share our research.

You can read the report here. 

epitype is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more