Over the past week, Whole Foods has got its share of press and blogosphere coverage on its discontinued practice of offering plastic bags at checkout. Slated to take effect by Earth Day (April 22), the company’s move has received a fair amount of criticism along with acclaim, since plastic bags take less energy to produce than paper bags (to be offered alongside Whole Foods’ reusable bags) and generate less waste.

The New York Times and Treehugger examine these issues and conclude that the announcement is still positive and noteworthy. The reasons cited are the paper bags Whole Foods uses happen to be made of recycled paper and the influence the grocer chain can yield to encourage mega-marts to reconsider the bag issue. Hopefully, it can also encourage more of us to remember to do the shopping version of BYOB.

Now I’ve done a quick summary of the recent buzz, I want to consider another green move Whole Foods has made which seems to have received less fanfare. Upon my recent visit, I noted the Bowery (NYC) location was also using hot foods and salad containers made from compostable materials.

I’m actually not familiar with “fibers of cattails” (not to be confused with “cat tails” since that might not be so animal-friendly) as an eco-friendly material. I am, however, impressed with the refridgerator- and microwave-safe properties of these to-go containers.

The boxes actually remind me of a similar product I was introduced to at the Columbia Social Enterprise Conference in October (2007). The product, VerTerra, is heat-resistant, disposable (but reusable), biodegradable dinnerware made from fallen, dried, organically-grown palm tree leaves. At the conference, I spoke to the founder, Michael Dwork, who at the time was only targeting the catering and event planning market due to the more favorable margins. I have since looked forward to VerTerra’s mass market debut, not only because the dinnerware is environmentally-friendly and healthy (free of bleach, plastic, wax, and chemicals), but because the company is committed to creating fair labor jobs and conditions for its craftspeople in south Asia. VerTerra is truly a triple bottom line company.

I’m not sure where Whole Foods has sourced its takeout containers, but I would be curious to know. I’d also like to know how the cattails’ fiber stacks up against other touted green materials. I’ll save the answers and accompanying research for another post…

Imagine my surprise when I learned Gusto Grilled Organics, the first green- and organic-certified restaurant, had opened its doors nearly two weeks ago in New York. I was shocked because I hadn’t heard one peep about it from my extensive list of blogs and email newsletters that cover foodie destinations, green innovation, city culture, and trendwatching. In fact, I only found out about the new eco-friendly organic eatery because a Google Alert brought this to my attention.

After surprise, came curiosity. I had to check Gusto out. Unfortunately, satisfying my curiosity only led to unsatisfying disappointment.

I was definitely excited about a restaurant boasting 100 percent organic cuisine, environmentally friendly packaging, green certified cleaning products and processes, and a sustainable space using recycled barn-wood furniture and efficient LED lighting. My enthusiasm remained high as I walked through the door and encountered a waste container with separate compartments for food composting and paper/plastic/glass recycling. I became more elated as I perused the menu made with 100% recycled paper and soy ink. I also devoured the companion piece detailing the reasons to consume “organics” and listing the green virtues of the restaurant. Things were looking good.

It was downhill from there. It must have been an awkward time of day; no server clarified whether we should expect counter or table service and patrons appeared to be enjoying both within the same dining area. The owner chastised me for taking photos (which startled me since my friends take food porn shots all the time) and refused to engage in friendly conversation about the restaurant. And though my intentions did not include reviewing the food, I found the oregano-heavy Fugazzetta & Champignons pizza tasty and the Capresse empanada far less inspiring. While I was happy to see yerba mate on the menu and bottles in the takeout fridge, the Mate Latte should have been called “Mate and Latte” since the tea arrived separately from the foamed milk.

Granted, I was so ecstatic about the eco-eatery’s concept, I was completely willing to forgive and forget my negative impressions of the two most important parts of a restaurant experience: food and service. After all, I expect a new restaurant to have some kinks. What I didn’t expect was to find a $4.99 bottle of Windex sitting beneath the restroom’s trough sink. For a restaurant that claims its “cleaning products and processes are green certified and biorenewable,” it makes me question what other Windex-like dirt is being swept under a questionably organic rug.

My criticisms aside, I do appreciate Gusto’s efforts and look forward to emulators of the concept with more, well, gusto.

While nursing a cold at home, I realized today was the day YouTube would begin posting responses from leaders attending the World Economic Forum. Leaders will continue to answer YouTube’s Davos Question through January 27.

If you have some time on your hands (or a cold to kill), you can check out what people like Seventh Generation’s Jeffery Hollender and Hungary’s Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány have to say.

Some blended value news picks of the week:

Green may be the latest shade of Apple, but green isn’t gold for MBAs, a new study finds. Speaking of Apple, after my recent (and virginal) trip to San Francisco, I could definitely see how San Fran had been leading the way to sustainability, but it’s nice to know New York is getting credit too.

On a triple bottom lined note, academics have named a new approach to sustainable business called S²AVE (Shareholder and Social Added Value with Environmental Restoration, emphasizing the importance of incorporating a triple bottom line into a company’s strategy, rather than tangential activities. And for those concerned with their own personal triple bottom lines, there are more socially responsible investment (SRI) mutual funds and products than ever.

Drawing on cause marketing tactics, MSN launched a new portal WhatOnEarthIsGoingOn, tapping into MSN’s existing user base to create an online community where members can learn about and act upon social issues, and receive targeted information from “like-minded brands.” While some cause marketing effort is directed at helping consumers connect to brands, another social marketing site has been created to help consumers evaluate marketer’s eco-friendly claims.

Welcome to another article series I’m testing: Sustainable Brain Candy. This series will bring you tasty thought snippets, gathered from events and other sources of inspiration.

Today’s batch of goodies is the aftertaste of Sustainable Practice Network’s “Green Consumerism as Paradigm Shift” discussion. I’ve included info on the panel’s topic and participants at the end of this article. In the meantime, here are some summaries to savor:

• “Buycotting” instead of “boycotting” to use your money to support what you want to see. [Marisa Guber]
• Advertising hasn’t taken responsibility for the problems resulting from the products the industry helps market. Since advertising and design have the power to exacerbate these problems, they also have the power to ameliorate them through the transmission of knowledge. [Jeff Cooper]
• Move from “citizen activist” to “consumer activist” because government doesn’t move as quickly as the market could. [Wendy Gordon]
• “Titanic Model,” a term coined by the Jamie Cloud of the Sustainability Institute, refers to the attitude that if we’re all going to go down, we might as well go down in style. [Marisa Guber] It’s a concept useful in considering why some individuals choose not to change their consumer behavior in response to climate change science.
• Green choice is becoming the smart choice. People will act because energy prices continue to increase. [Wendy Gordon]
• Consumerism is not in fundamental opposition to sustainability. Some products are simply necessary and are even using cradle-to-cradle design. [Jeff Cooper]
• Consumption varies by, and is reinforced by, culture. Americans use paper towels, whereas many other cultures use cloth towels. Can Americans return to using more sustainable cloth towels?

I hope you enjoyed the tasty tidbits I shared; feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. If you ever want to attend events like these, be sure to check out what’s on return on good’s calendar.

Sustainability Practice Network

Green Consumerism as Paradigm Shift

Overview:

Lately, everything seems to be “going green” - from TV ads touting eco-friendly products to news articles on carbon offsets and magazines that glamorize low-impact living. It is said that 16% of U.S. adults belong to the $208 billion market segment known as LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability). But at the end of the day, are we becoming a truly conscious society, one that will eventually live in harmony with nature? Or are we simply finding a “guilt-free” way to continue our consumerist patterns. Robert Reich, author of Supercapitalism, claims that the problem partly lies in our own modern self-conception as consumers, rather than citizens. Evan and Freda Eisenberg, in their New York Magazine feature “Greener Postures,” describe some eco-chic products that are hilariously useless. Others argue that we’re witnessing a sustained and meaningful change: authors of The Cultural Creatives say there are 50 million people who seek “deep, integral change” in the cultures of industrialized nations. This panel will discuss the role of consumers as “green” - are they an oxymoron, or are they leaders on the path to sustainability? Not only will we list steps individuals can follow to reduce their environmental impact, we’ll also provide skeptics with business and personal reasons to do the same - so, bring along a skeptic!

Moderator: Michael Block

Panelists:

Jeff Cooper, Partner and Creative Director at Groundswell

Wendy Gordon, Founder of National Geographic’s Green Guide

Marisa Guber, Curator/Shop manager, ABC Home & Planet

“I Am Generous,” my friends and I sang out to the waitress. We weren’t professing our own positive traits; we were actually using self-affirmation code to get us to some yummy guac. It was a good thing too, since I decided “I Am Elated” would go well with a side of guacamole. Aside from my enjoying my “elated” enchilada, I was experiencing a quirky approach to a triple bottom line business.

With my first visit to San Francisco this past weekend, my former New Yorker friend from high school recommended we go to Cafe Gratitude–a place that was “so San Francisco.” With at least three-fourths of our table New Yorkers, it was understandable we would squeeze out a few giggles as we ordered California-grown raw and vegan cuisine, chiming menu item phrases we imagined Rhonda Byrnes might concoct.

Though we had fun mocking the menu and our tabletop game (one card asked us to imagine receiving a parking ticket and then being thankful for said ticket), I was truly impressed with the restaurant. I enjoyed my appetizer, entree and dessert; knowing the ingredients were primarily locally-sourced and entirely organic left an even better taste in my mouth. The wait staff seemed genuinely happy to be working there and were exceptionally knowledgeable. Finally, as if the food served wasn’t already enough to reduce the establishment’s carbon footprint, Cafe Gratitude takes green eating a step further with compostable to-go containers (right down to the cornstarch labels!) and with deliveries by bio-diesel trucks.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any food porn while I was there. The beautiful shot here I snagged from the New York Times review, which is also a fun read on the restaurant. It was really quite the experience.

And actually, I do believe gratitude can be a powerful force and an important human expression, so I was fascinated by its dining incarnation. During our visit, we were also asked the question of the day, “What is good in your life?” Admittedly, I did do some reflection and was happy to (internally) report I had a big list.

You’re probably sitting on an unrealized venture right now. Startups.co.uk points us to a report from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) indicating approximately seven out of every 10 people doing so.

Though 80% of folks claim they have had an idea that would have a ‘positive impact on everybody’s lives,’ about 72% of those ideas never come to fruition. The report lists what people state they are missing to fulfill their visions:

• available funding (36%)
• confidence (31%)
• direction (25%)

While I would be interested to review NESTA’s methodology (especially its sample parameters), I don’t think the results are surprising. Though the entrepreneurial excuses are obvious, they are also thought-provoking. The major question in response should be, what can we do to support potential social entrepreneurs?

This scenario reminded me of an innovative project I failed to participate in over the summer. In fact, you could say I fell into the third who were not confident about an entrepreneurial idea. I was excited about the concept of the American Express Membership Project, but for some reason was blocked on expressing my idea at the time.

If you made the American Express Membership Project into a Venn Diagram, it would fall in the center of Facebook, American Idol, and a corporate-sponsored giving circle, leveraging online social networking tools and corporate dollars for democratically-chosen ideas. American Express asked its cardmembers to register online, submit ideas, and vote on entries. For each member who joined, American Express committed a $1 donation (with a minimum $1 million) and a total of up to $5 million. Ultimately, the credit card company dispersed $2 million to a UNICEF project for ““Children’s Safe Drinking Water” and four other organizations.

Reflecting upon the results, the real downside is all five recipients were more established NGOs. I would have liked for a real startup project to have won, given smaller social enterprises have more difficulty finding financial support. Even with NYC Venture Philanthropy Fund, a project near to my heart that funds small social ventures through a democratic giving circle model, is restricted to supporting nonprofits or groups seeking 501(c)(3) status.  Current legal forms and tax structures are a major reason for that.

What is great about NYC-VPF is that it does address all three excuses entrepreneurs make for not realizing a world-changing idea.  While providing funding to the Davids (versus Goliaths) of social enterprise, NYC-VPF supplements grants with technical support to help provide the confidence and direction social entrepreneurs need to get their ventures off the ground.

I believe the American Express Members Project and NYC Venture Philanthropy Fund can be good models for supporting social entrepreneurs.  There are a number of other organizations that fund social entrepreneurs, several of which I mentioned here.  I look forward to hearing about more opportunities for everyday people to pursue extraordinary visions.