This was one of those ideas that made me wonder why I hadn’t thought of it. You have machines to sell aluminum cans of soda and plastic bottles of water, so why not offer the same convenience for recycling your empties and getting any deposit back? Turns out a Norwegian-based company called TOMRA is all […]

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In 1995, a young diver named Chad Pregracke decided to clean up the Mississippi River – armed with just one boat and a boatload of nerve. His organization, Living Lands and Waters, has since grown into a national crusade, with thousands of volunteers picking up millions of pounds of garbage from America’s waterways. Vancouver-based Hemlock […]

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These days, many corporate web sites are fairly bursting with well-intentioned fair trade, certified organic, sustainable supply-chain certification symbols. Looks great, but what does it all mean? Last week I got an e-catalogue from local clothing company Eco Apparel that answered that question. Eco Apparel is a Vancouver-based clothing manufacturer who really puts their sustainability […]

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You copy on both sides of the paper. You don’t print your e-mails. You pour reclaimed rainwater water through old coffee grounds. BUT YOU CAN STILL DO MORE!! Yes, until you consider how many grains of toner you waste on each and every letter you print, you are not worthy. Meet ECO-Font, by Spranq, which […]

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You’ve printed your brochure on 100% post-consumer recycled stock. Your factory buys energy from a renewable supplier. Your fleet runs on biodiesel sourced from oil that was only used to fry organic, locally-grown potatoes. Now it’s time to do your media plan. This is no time to hang up your green values, but where do […]

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Well, Dear Readers, I have managed to parlay my recycled office paper business cards into a coveted Applied Arts Advertising & Design Annual award in the category of best logo usage.  AA is a highly respected magazine profiling the finest design, advertising, photography and new media from across Canada and around the world. My cards, in […]

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It’s a product whose time has come. Overdue, actually, if you consider how many restaurants, foodservice establishments and food packagers are still stuck in the world of plastic and Styrofoam. Vancouver based BSI (Biodegradable Solutions Inc) has been steadily growing in this market since 2002, and they now offer a whole line of 100% biodegradable […]

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It’s a war of words out there, even in the green world. We all know that search engine optimization (or SEO) is a hot topic  these days, with everyone competing to get their sites onto page one of a Google search. So what are people searching for when it comes to all things green and […]

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Thinking about creating a corporate video to post on YouTube? Think ahead and you’ll thank yourself later. In 2007, Unicycle Creative produced a video presentation for Inhance Mutual Funds – a DVD called Return on Responsibility™, that featured Dr. Marc Garneau (Canada’s first main in space) highlighting the beauty and fragility of our earth as […]

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The Sustainable Brands 2008 show was, like the industry it represents, sometimes a contradiction. Here, in no particular order, are my Top-10 observations on both ends of the green scale: 1. Coffee with all the right adjectives. It was nice to see a departure from the ubiquitous generic hotel swill. This selection by Thanksgiving Coffee […]

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