Green Business Trends

September 28, 2006

O—The Oprah Magazine Features CABN Members

In another example of the mainstreaming of green, O–The Oprah Magazine, features a number of Co-op America Business Members in its September edition, in an article entitled “The Good Shopper.”

Specifically featuring nine segments of the green ecomony (including sustainably produced furniture, local foods, and organic fabrics), the article counsels readers to “check out ways to improve the world while enjoying its material pleasures.”

The magazine features Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. in its segment on Fair Trade commodities, Organic Bouquet in the organic flowers section, and both Green Karat and Leber Jewelers in the “no dirty gold” section.

“American consumers are one of the most powerful forces for change in the history of mankind,” Paul Rice, TransFair USA CEO tells the magazine. “We are a sleeping giant awakening to our power.”

Paul Rice will be speaking at San Francisco Green Festival about mainstreaming Fair Trade.

New York Times: “It’s Getting Easier to Be Green”

An article in the New York Times identifies numerous green apartment building trends in Manhattan, from increased greener heating and cooling systems, to buildings cleaned with environmentally friendly cleaners.

“We think [green building] is important to do, and we think that other buildings that don’t do this will become obsolete, and our buildings will continue to maintain their value,” Douglas Durst, the builder of a pioneering green office building, told the Times.

The Times story provided feedback from tenants in the city’s green apartment buildings, including renters reporting electric bills half of what they paid in non-green buildings, and others reporting noticeably fresher air and purer water in their buildings.

Several green apartment buildings are currently under construction in Manhattan, with five planned for Battery Park City, and numerous green condo buildings under construction throughout the city.

New Grants for Green Worker Cooperatives

Omar Freilla, director of Green Worker Cooperatives and Green Festival speaker, announced two new grants from the Kendeda Fund and the Rudolf Steiner Foundation. The grants will help Green Worker Cooperatives meet its goals of creating worker-owned business capable of improving environmental conditions in the South Bronx.

Omar will be speaking at the San Francisco Green Festival about their work in bringing green technologies into underserved and minority communities.

Table of Contents

Whole Foods—a tussle over organics

New York Times says "It's Getting Easier to Be Green"

New Grants for Green Worker Cooperatives