1. Call It Quits is for smokers wishing to quit and quitters who could use some added support.  It provides cessation tips, motivations and coaching access to helpline pros. It also enables you, using your phone contacts, to build a trusted support group and then keep that support group with you in the palm of your hand. This ought to be basic software on all smartphones sold in tobacco-loving Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. (Free.)
2. Locavore uses your phone’s GPS to make searching for in-season, local foods a breeze.  It pinpoints the nearest farms and farmer’s markets.  Use it to find that specific local fruit you’ve been craving, or to check out what’s in-season.
3. BirdsEye guides you to your best birding opportunities by sharing the collective wisdom of thousands of birding experts who contribute to eBird,  the enormous, real-time bird observation system run by the bird brains at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Take this when hiking any of Jordan’s six nature reserves. ($19.99)
4. Fooducate from Israel lets you scan the barcodes on packaged items in your grocery store to see each product’s good and bad highlights, allow you to compare with similar products and best of all, select healthier alternatives.  It’s like having a dietician on speed dial. (Free.)
5. The Night Sky enables you to identify stars, planets, galaxies, constellations and even satellites in real time as you see them.  Stand anywhere and hold your smartphone or tablet up to the sky and The Night Sky will display the names of everything you see.  Perfect for camping with the Bedouin beneath Wadi Rum’s pristine night skies. ($0.99)
6. Springredients allows you to select one key ingredient and then spin the dial to view three established flavor combinations. It’s a cool tool that helps you to discover an endless array of flavor combinations.  Less likely to waste food if you see more ways to use random ingredients.($1.99)
7. Seafood Watch was created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium with the aim to promote responsible purchasing of wild and farmed seafood. Shopping sustainably is made easy, as this app ranks seafood items as “Best Choice”, “Good Alternative” or “Avoid” rankings. (Free.)
8. Ease into 5K with a running coach app perfect for those who are new to racing world.  The 8-week regimen guides you through 30 minute sessions, each designed to improve your endurance. I’ll be using this one to prep for April’s Dead Sea fun run. ($2.99)
9. Wild Edibles Full offers a massive compendium of foraging knowledge suitable for beginners and experts alike.  Use this app as a quick home reference, or in the field as a replacement for hefty field guides.  This app takes edible plants to a whole new level of accessibility. ($7.99)
10. Don’t Eat That lets you conduct an instant food “health check” right in the store just by entering its name.  Find out if an ingredient causes allergies or drug interactions, is carcinogenic, banned in other countries, bad for kids or pregnant women, or genetically modified. ($1.99)

As with all apps, you’ll need to do a check on the product websites to ensure these are geared up to work on your specific device, and in your slice of the globe.

Close-up of a smartphone by Shutterstock

The post 10 Smartphone Apps to Green Up 2013 appeared first on Green Prophet.

Regional Etsy shops unite to form old-fashioned collaborative studios, online.

Etsy, the online handmade and vintage shopping platform, has done amazing things to help people buy handmade, eco-friendly and local products.  Artisans who are marketing their own products can easily set up online shops on the site, and on the buying end, Etsy has made it very easy to shop local by looking for products made and sold near you.  Crafting and selling products alone from one’s home or (for the lucky ones) from a studio can be isolating, though, to some artisans.  Which is why it’s great that Etsy Teams have started to develop, creating virtual collaborative studios for craftspeople of particular regions.  Including, of course, the Middle East.

Etsy Teams allow artisans to communicate with each other, learn about other people’s work, promote each other, and even sell together and plan local bazaars.  Local teams of Etsyians have emerged so far in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the UAE – and hopefully more groups will emerge in the future.

Here’s a quick look at these virtual co-ops:

HifromDubai

Hand dyed yarn from Dubai Knits, a HifromDubai member.

Active for almost a year, HifromDubai connects “the amazing Artisans we have in the UAE.”  Team members must make their own items and be located in the UAE in order to join, and have even made efforts to meet outside of the virtual world (like, in person).

Made in Israel

Rocking a whopping 95 members, Made in Israel is “for all Israeli designers and artists who wish to take part in a team that helps and promotes its members.”  Members communicate with each other, share news about their work, and support each other.  (Check out the handmade fabric doll at the top of this post made by Made in Israel member, Timo Handmade.)

Etsian Jordanian Team

Red bamboo coral earrings made by Papercrane Studios, an Etsian Jordanian Team member.

The smallest of the Middle Eastern Etsy teams, the Etsian Jordanian Team is still growing at 4 members.  It hopes to “help small businesses to sell their handmade stuff by creating an event or bazaar” for the team.

Enchanting Egypt

Going strong at 31 members, this team is “a place to help connect Egyptian themed artists with other artisans for inspiration, wonder, and creativity.”  The team is pretty active, with members using it to expand their networks, promote their work, and think together about products to be made in the future.

Read more about Etsy:
Etsy: The Ebay for Handmade Goods
9 Israeli Etsy Shops That Make Online Shopping Greener (and Funner)
Knit Your Own Sustainable ‘Sunnah’ Beard
Dria Peterson’s Handmade Creations, Born From a Genealogy of Vegetarianism and Recycling

The post Etsy “Local” Stores in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Dubai appeared first on Green Prophet.

A starchitect from Japan? As Israel’s oldest and leading arts academy, shouldn’t Bezalel be a locavore when it comes to hiring architects?

The Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, established in Jerusalem in 1906 as an institution that would help form a new visual language for the Jewish people, is now synonymous with Israeli art.  (In the green world it has helped create many eco-minded designers, such as Michael Tsinovsky, the maker of melting pot styled furniture, Galit Begas, the creator of the plastic bag shoe, and ocean debris sculpture maker, Koby Sibony.)  Yet recently, when Bezalel made the progressive decision to move the campus back to Jerusalem’s city center (thereby making it more accessible), it also made the bizarre decision to hire a foreign team of architects for the project.  In other words, it chose not to ‘go local’.

It chose, instead, to hire the Tokyo-based architecture firm Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa and Associates (aka SANAA), who will be collaborating somewhat with Nir-Kutz Architects of Tel Aviv.

The decision has been met by controversy among those who feel that Bezalel should have shopped local, and selected an entirely Israeli architectural team to design this significant building.

(From an environmental perspective, local is almost always the best way to go too.  If one were to make an environmental analogy here, it is as if Bezalel decided to build its campus out of imported Japanese cherries that heavily polluted the atmosphere en route to Israel rather than locally grown cactus fruit.)

“The very act of deliberating between an Israeli firm and a ‘starchitect’ for an institution like Bezalel is almost absurd,” Israeli architect Mayslits Kassif said, “considering the school’s vision of establishing a creative and significant cadre of [local] leaders.”

Kassif is not wrong.  When Professor Boris Shatz established the Bezalel Academy in 1906 he stated that his mission was:

“to train people in Jerusalem in crafts, consolidate original Jewish art and support Jewish artists, and to find visual expression for the much yearned national and spiritual independence that seeks to create a synthesis between European artistic traditions and the Jewish design tradition of Eastern Europe, and to integrate it with the local culture of the Land of Israel.”

Professor Arnon Zuckerman, the current president of Bezalel, rejects these claims and asked, “are we to apologize for picking one of the best firms in the world for a unique project?  This is a complex that gets built once in a century – and as president I must arrange for the best possible solution for Bezalel.”

: Haaretz
: Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design

Read about green architecture in the Middle East::
Tel Aviv’s $60 Million Eco-Office Tower A Go
Syria’s Beehive-Shaped Green Architecture
Sustainable Architecture Conference in Libya is Looking for Participants

Image via: zeevveez

The post Bezalel, Israel’s Art Academy, Shops Imported for Local Architecture appeared first on Green Prophet.

Instead of standard apples and honey, put some creative green thought into your Rosh Hashanah gifts this year.

The Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah 2011  is quickly approaching next week on September 28, and for many Jewish people this is a time of gift-giving in the new Jewish calendar year 5772. Gift giving is hard enough – it is difficult to find that perfect gift to show someone that you love them and understand their tastes. But it can be even more difficult when you’re faced with the task of giving a gift or gift box to someone who is eco-conscious (and who, therefore, may be against commercial gifts that use up various resources).

So here’s a helpful gift guide for some different types of greenies: the Compulsive DIY-er (or DIY Appreciator), the Foodie, the Interior Design Junkie, and the Eco Fashionista. Read on!!!

Compulsive DIY

There are those in our lives, especially of the green persuasion, who just aren’t into regular store-bought items.  They would much rather receive something that is handmade, homemade, or touched solely by human hands (and not a machine).  These people can be a little trickier to shop for since, well, they don’t like shops.

It is a little easier now with the advent of the online handmade shopping site Etsy, which serves as a platform for crafters and artisans to easily sell their handmade goods.  With Etsy you can either shop local, supporting nearby artists and reducing the carbon emissions associated with transporting goods, or from anywhere around the world.  We’ve been eying these very comfy-looking handmade slippers made out of upcycled fabric scraps by Israeli designer Neta Amir (check out her Etsy shop netamir).

If you’re bent on giving something homemade, though, and not just handmade then an edible gift might be a good place to start.  Homemade delicacies are usually very well received, and in the spirit of wishing your loved ones a sweet new year it may be a good idea to give them something sweet.  Like homemade jam.  Try out Green Prophet’s own recipes for strawberry jam or baked apricot jam.

Whatever you decide to gift your DIY-er, you’ll be sure to impress with a homemade upcycled paper gift bow (follow our simple under-2-minute instructions at this link).

Green Foodie

Speaking of edible gifts, you may have some foodie friends out there that you want to give delicious yet sustainable presents to for the new year.  For the ambitious foodies out there, you may consider gifting a cookbook, such as Plenty by Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi which is filled cover to cover with delicious vegetarian recipes such as the mushroom, garlic and shallots with lemon ricotta seen above.  Another cookbook to consider, for foodies more interested in traditional Jewish foods during the holiday season, is Mama Nazima’s Jewish-Iraqi Cuisine by Rivka Golman.

If you want to give the gift of actual food, thankfully there are several companies offering gourmet organic food baskets these days. For those living in Israel there is Nagaya (the company that assembled the delicious looking basket on the left) – a company that tracks down that organic pomegranate syrup, organic goat’s milk pecorino cheese with anise seed and organic onion jam for you.  For those living in the US there is Negev Nectars, a project that supports farms in the Negev by having US customers commit to receiving three shipments a year of organic olive oils, honey, date syrup, preserves and more.  Giving your foodie friend an annual subscription to Negev Nectars would actually be like giving your friend three gifts this year!

Interior Design Junkie

The new year is a time when we like to feel like we’re getting a fresh start, and some people like to achieve this feeling by giving their homes a new look.  Eco-friendly people who feel this way like to give their homes a new look… with objects that aren’t entirely new.  Vintage items, repurposed furnishings, and upcycled designs all have their place in the green interior design junkie’s home.

Recycled and easily recyclable cardboard furniture is all the rage in the eco-friendly interior design world, with many designers participating in the trend.  One Middle Eastern example is the Krooom faux-wood cardboard trunk above, which your loved one can easily recycle come next year if he or she needs a change.  (For a slightly more whimsical cardboard gift, consider gifting a cardboard mounted deer head that is popular among designers these days.)

If you’d like to give something with a slightly more nostalgic look, consider a vintage or upcycled item.  More and more eco interior design studios keep popping up, some of them with some really fun designs.  Check out the upcycled window shade shares above from Tel Aviv’s Junktion Studio.  Or if your friend is a combination Interior Design Junkie/DIY-er, check out your local upcycling studios for ideas (such as modular wooden boxes) and try making something yourself.

Eco Fashionista

Fashion is something that keeps on changing, so you may think that it is inherently not sustainable.  Not true.  Fashion designers all over the world, from Lebanese designer Ziad Ghanem to Egyptian designer Nadia Nour and even DIY fashionistas such as the “New Dress a Day” blogger are finding ways to green their wardrobes.  Sustainable fashion is taking a variety shapes – with either sustainable materials used (such as the EcoGir suits above made out of recycled plastic PET bottles) or modular items that can be used in a multitude of ways (thus eliminating the need for multiple items using multiple resources).  Our favorite modular design item this year has been the Shell 256 shoes that can be worn 256 different ways, but there are many other such designs out there.

If shoes or suits are too personal a gift, though, (and there’s nothing worse that miscalculating someone’s size when giving the gift of clothing) then maybe a fashion accessory is a better route to go for your eco fashionista loved one.  The glasses above are a hot item this year, and belong within an eyewear line made out of human hair (and called, appropriately, Hair Glasses).  Designed by Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves in the UK, this line explores uses for one of the most replenishable and sustainable of materials – hair.

Whatever gift you give this year – whether it is to your favorite DIY-er, Foodie, Interior Design Junkie or Eco Fashionista – make sure it is given with love.  Wishing you all a happy, healthy and sustainable new year ahead.

Read more about Green Rosh Hashanah:
Start the Year Right with a Sustainable Rosh Hashanah
Have a Sweet and Green Rosh Hashanah
Recipes for Simanim (Signs): Rosh Hashanah’s Symbolic Foods

Image of gift box via: procsilas

The post Rosh Hashanah 5772 Green Gift Guide for 2011 appeared first on Green Prophet.

When it comes to consumerism, local is almost always better for the environment and for the local economy.  Local is better when you’re buying produce at the farmer’s market, when you’re supporting local artisans and craftsmen, and when you’re purchasing local design.  But what do you do if you come from a ‘melting pot’ country like Israel, where there are multiple forms of local design?  Industrial designer Michael Tsinovsky’s solution, presented in the ‘asli’ furniture line above, was to combine them all in a hybrid of various techniques, styles, and functions and create a coexistence of local.

The word ‘asli’ means genuine and pure-bred in Arabic, and is used here to signify a return to local aesthetic roots.

In explaining his project further, Tsinovsky explained that his ‘asli’ line was representative of “a young country without a long tradition of arts & crafts and industrial design, that tries to be European in the center of the Middle East.  This study case was designed through a glance at the local making cultures, from Arabic carpets and Arabesques, through the German carpenters that immigrated in the 50s and up to the biggest industry in the country ‘Keter Plast’ – plastic injected furniture, through the cultural mix between the people that gathered from all around the Diaspora and formed the ‘melting pot’ of the Israeli society.”

This idea is perhaps best demonstrated in the chair above, where German carpentry is used to create Arabesque ornament, or in the stool above which has a similar play on techniques.

Tsinovsky’s furniture was recently exhibited at the Thinking Hands exhibition in Milan of work by designers from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, alongside Galit Begas’ plastic bag shoes and Nitsan Debbi’s glass-blown PET plastic bottles.

::Design Milk

Read more about locally-focused designers:
Zolaykha Sherzad Resurrects Traditional Afghan Crafts via Modern Fashion Design
Guy Lougashi Weaves Together Baskets and People with Recycled Paper
Interview with Egyptian Eco-Fashion Designer Nadia Nour

The post Michael Tsinovsky Puts Arabic Into Israel’s Melting Pot appeared first on Green Prophet.

Detoxing your lifestyle of non-green habits doesn’t have to be as dramatic as drug rehab. It can be simple and is a great way to start the new year.

Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish New Year, is only a few days away and as a time of reflection many of us may be thinking of ways that we want to change our lifestyles for the coming year.  If the words “detox” or “rehab” call to mind dramatic associations rehab clinics from the movies, you’re going too far.  Invent your own mellow and green version of rehab – one that leads you to a gentler, kinder way of treating yourself, your resources, and the environment.

Not sure where to start?  Here are some suggestions:

Try to cure yourself of any addictions. Addictions can come in many forms, from little things like craving an extra pinch of salt to needing that cup of coffee in the morning to needing a cigarette.  Whatever the addiction, chances are it’s hurting you and wasting resources (which is bad for both you and Mother Earth).  Instead of being dependent on whatever it is you’re addicted to, try to transform it into something you can savor occasionally – you are sure to enjoy it more.

Try to avoid waste. Waste can come in many forms, from wasting the leftover food on your plate to just using up more than you need to in general.  Again, if you are consuming more than you need to, it’s bad for you, your wallet, and the planet.  Instead of viewing this challenge as an attempt to deprive yourself, look at it as a question to ask what you really need.

Get healthy and stop putting junk in your body. This is a universal new year’s resolution, and for good reason.  Many of us get caught up in the fast pace of our lives and forget to treat our bodies with respect.  Make a conscious attempt to avoid chemically treated or highly processed foods this year (both of which are not only bad for you but terrible for the environment) and focus on eating foods that are natural, local, and as close to their original state as possible.

Integrate low carbon emission and heart-healthy forms of transportation into your routine. Many adults have a hard time working exercise into their schedules, and everyone likes saving a little money.  An easy way to do this is by integrating cardiovascular and low carbon emission forms of transportation into your routine, such as walking or cycling.  Even walking/biking to work or the grocery store once or twice a week would make a difference.

Image via: Dragan Todorovic

Read more about detoxing and simplifying your life::
Detox your life: Take the ‘Buy-Nothing-Ramadan’ Challenge
Detox – Not a Diet, A Way of Life (4 Tips)

The post Rehabilitate and Detox Your Lifestyle in Time for the New Year appeared first on Green Prophet.

Omani handicrafts – such as silver items, woven cloths, and pottery – may have been passed down from generation to generation and faced difficulties such as material shortages or lack of interest among the younger generation in the past.  But now these crafted items face a new challenge: the machine made imitation product.

Cheaper and almost indistinguishable to foreign tourists, imported machine made imitations of Omani handicrafts are quickly becoming more successful than the originals. 

This means that a far less environmentally friendly consumerism is developing in Oman and that, unfortunately, the number of successful traditional craftsmen is dwindling.

Abdalla al Rahma, a silversmith, makes high quality coffee pots, jewelry and daggers that are bought mostly by wealthy families and government offices.  A trader at the Bahla market says that far less expensive versions of Mr. al Rahma’s coffee pots are made in India, the Philippines, and Malaysia.  “Basically, they are a copy of the handmade coffeepots traditionally made in Oman.  You can tell the difference from the workmanship and durability,” he said.

(Check out the beautiful traditional silver Omani jewelry to the left, image via: jordancraftcenter]

Hamoud al Esry, a 66-year-old potter who works in his 200 year old family workshop in the Dakhliya region, said that no electricity or modern technology was necessary in his shop.  His kiln has always been fueled by wood, palm fronds and occasionally coal.  “Machine-made pots and vessels are a poor copy of what we make here in Bahla.  I still have the ones my grandfather made a hundred years ago in this same workshop,” he said.

Mr. al Esry added that “it is up to our children to continue this trading heritage.  Cheap imported products will always be around.  If we have survived it then they will if they have faith in it.”

Buying local, handmade products is always a more environmentally friendly choice than machine made and/or imported products.  The sad story of the Omani handicrafts is yet another reminder to be conscious of our shopping decisions.

::The National

Read more about traditional handicrafts:
Buying Fair Trade from the Hands of Local Craftswomen
Upcoming Giftec Exhibition in Tel Aviv to Feature Local Palestinian Handicrafts
The Bedouin Ladies of Lakia Weave Together Women and Tradition

The post Omani Handicrafts Facing Extinction Versus Machine Made Imitations appeared first on Green Prophet.

At Green Prophet, we often post on organic vegetables and dairy products being grown in Israel; this November two Jewish environmental organizations are offering a heavily subsidized chance to see the farms and produce yourself. Hazon (which runs an annual Food Conference in the USA) and the Heschel Center will lead an Israel Sustainable Food Tour from November 15-19.

Trip highlights  include farms near Modi’in and Emek Hefer, as well as  Palestinian organic farms in Wadi Fuqin. The itenerary also includes Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, Bedouin permaculture sites in the Negev, and Kibbutz Maagan Michael on the Mediterranean coast. In fact, the trip is by happy coincidence a sort of “Greatest Hits of the Green Prophet.”

Hazon’s Web site stresses that the trip is not only about eating, but rather about understanding the complex webs behind Israel’s food delivery system. Some Jewish learning will further round out the itinerary.

The five-day tour is an outrageously cheap $400, although if you are coming from abroad the flight is on you. The application deadline is June 15. Get more information here. (Photo from Hazon.org).

::Hazon website

The post Subsidized Sustainable Food Tour in Israel in November appeared first on Green Prophet.

Local and handmade gifts are one type of environmentally friendly gift because they require fewer carbon emissions than a gift that is machine-made and imported from far away.  If it’s local, that means it didn’t have to get on a plane to get to you.  And if it’s handmade, no heavy machinery had to be used.

Last week we featured AmuletGifts.com, an online story full of  local, handmade jewelry.  And this week, for those who want to give other types of local, handmade gifts – we’re introducing you to Most Original.com.  (The dot com element of these stores also contributes to their “greenness” since it enables them to be open 24 hours a day without operating a store 24 hours a day.)

Emphasis on original.  Check out the “All Nose Ceramic Cup” by Nathan Halpern above, or the blue Baby Pin by Lara Levi to the left.  Other gifts available at the Most Original online store include sculptures, photographs, jewelry, home decor, Judaica, and more.

(But our favorite, by far, is the nose ceramic cup.)

Read more about other local gift ideas:
SAHA’s Fairly Local Trade
Sde Eliyahu’s Organic Gift Package and Tour
Nagaya Organic Gifts: Give the Gift of Sustainability

The post Give Gifts That Are Local, Handmade, and Most Original appeared first on Green Prophet.

Speak to an average person in Israel who cares about protecting the environment, and they will cross their eyes will cross when you start speaking with them about carbon offsetting. While Israel does have a few carbon offset providers (the Good Energy Initiative is one — they powered Earth Hour in Tel Aviv, with their bikes!), and projects underway, only an esoteric group of policy makers, the odd business group, and activists are talking about it.

If the economic crisis in America spills over to Israel and the rest of the Middle East, which it probably will, it might take even longer for companies who are talking about going green (here we are mainly still attacking the concepts of recycling, composting, buying local, carrying fabric bags to the grocer), to take action. But Green Prophet proposes that Middle East companies consider making their businesses carbon neutral.

That is –– making business practices more efficient, and offsetting the rest through purchasing carbon credits. You’ll probably find green practices can also improve the bottom line. Now, over on Carbon Catalog, where I blog, I had the chance to interview spud! (see some of the guys from LA pictured above.)

spud! is a local online ordering and food delivery service in the West Coast US and Canada. I’ve reposted the interview here on Green Prophet as a short and quick guide for small companies on how to green their business. Carbon offsetting is good for PR, good for business and good for the planet.  What are you waiting for? Over the fold for the interview.

You might see their little purple delivery truck zooming around a street near you –– if you live in the Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Vancouver areas. Painted with the word spud! (for Small Potatoes Urban Delivery), the little green grocer on wheels is setting a fine example for small business owners everywhere.

By taking orders for local and organic foods online, not only does spud! help save the environment by reducing transport emissions, it also has a number of philanthropy activities and programs that give back to the earth.

One of spud!’s goals is to be a carbon neutral company by the end of this year. Carbon Catalog speaks with Normal Hill, the procedures coordinator
 of spud! on the nuts and bolts of going carbon neutral.

Some advice your business can glean from our interview: you can pass the cost of offsetting onto consumers –– in spud!’s case that’s 22 cents a delivery; watch out for fluctuating currency exchange rates; and –– says Hill –– one of the biggest challenges any business can face, may be changing the habits of your employees.

Did you feel pressure from your customers to become carbon neutral? No, we made the decision proactively, because we want to become an even more sustainable business, and because we believe that all businesses must do as much as possible to address the climate change crisis.

Did management drive, and were they supportive, of this initiative? Our CEO David Van Seters spearheaded our involvement in the initial workshops in which we learned how to become carbon neutral, and senior management has strongly supported the development and implementation of our Carbon Neutral Program.

How did you go about assessing your company’s carbon footprint? We learned how to measure our carbon footprint through our participation in the ClimateSmart workgroup, which is run by Ecotrust Canada and the Pembina Institute. The process of assessing our footprint was not complicated, but it was time consuming. The hard part was digging up all our records on energy usage and the other things we included in the measurements. After that it was easy: we simply input the numbers into ClimateSmart’s easy-to-use greenhouse gas calculator. The calculator tallied up the results and gave us a detailed analysis of our carbon footprint.

Did you use the services of external environmental consultants? If so, who did you use and how did you choose them? As part of our participation in the ClimateSmart workgroup, we received complementary technical support to help us with any questions, including how to use the greenhouse gas calculator. Staff were incredibly helpful.

What type of activity did you include? Are there any (e.g. employees’ journey to work) which you debated about? We included delivery of all orders to our customers, all energy use of our warehouses and offices, staff business travel (excluding regular commuting), and office paper use. We even included – as best we could estimate – the transportation of goods from their last point of value added to our warehouses.

We debated about the inclusion of transportation of goods to spud!, but in the end we decided that, although this was largely beyond our direct control, we should include it since it is such a significant amount of emissions. We decided against including regular staff commuting since collecting the data would probably be more cumbersome than it would be worth, as many of our staff walk, bike, or take public transit to work.

Nevertheless, we do encourage staff to use public transit through our participation in a public transit subsidy program.

Before beginning this process, what was your organization’s annual carbon emissions? How much did you reduce this? And how much did you offset? In 2007, which is the baseline for our Carbon Neutral Program, our greenhouse gas emissions were 461 metric tonnes. Our goal is to reduce our 2008 emissions by 10% below this level. Our quarterly estimates show that we are on track to meet this target. Early in 2009, when we calculate our actual 2008 emissions, we will buy carbon offsets to compensate for all remaining emissions.

Are you purchasing credits directly from projects, or using a carbon offset provider? Or becoming neutral some other way? For our Canadian operations, we are buying high quality carbon offsets from Planetair (www.planetair.ca). We are currently evaluating carbon offset providers for our U.S. locations, and will make a decision shortly.

Which projects are you funding? And why did you choose those? The offsets for our Canadian operations will be used to support a green wind energy project in Madagascar. We chose this project because renewable energy projects are one of the most credible types of offsets, since they produce an immediate, measurable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Wind energy is also one of the greenest types of energy, with some of the least side effects. All the Planetair offsets are also Gold Standard offsets, which means they meet the most rigorous standards.

What is the overall effect on your company’s financial bottom line? The cost of the offsets themselves should not affect our bottom line, because we are paying for them through a CARBON charge on every customer’s order. This charge is very small – only 22 cents – but it is calculated to be enough to cover the cost of offsets. We have passed this charge on to customers because we believe all of us need to take responsibility for the carbon footprint of our grocery purchases, and to do our part to fight climate change.

Our customers are generally very environmentally conscious and have supported our carbon neutral efforts, so we are confident that in the long term our Carbon Neutral Program will give us a competitive advantage and help grow our bottom line. As each day goes by, people are realizing the magnitude of the climate change crisis, and that we must take immediate steps to address it. spud! offers our customers an easy way to neutralize the carbon emissions of their grocery purchases, and to become more sustainable consumers overall.

What is the most exciting feedback you have received from your customers, partners or the media? We have received a variety of media coverage, including from the Vancouver Sun, The Province, Global TV and various business publications.

Publications for small business are especially interested in our carbon neutral campaign. Many of these companies also want to reduce their carbon footprint and are turning to spud! for information and inspiration.

What sort of effects are you making to publicize your initiatives among the public, and media?
spud! is thrilled to publicize our efforts in our customer communications as well as in the media. This publicity helps to energize others who want to do the same and perhaps challenges other companies to become more sustainable and responsible businesses.

How has the recent financial meltdown in NA affected your company’s policies on offsetting? Have you put any plans on hold? One problem is that the financial crisis has resulted in a huge depreciation of the Canadian dollar. Our carbon offsets are denominated in Euros, which has meant that we are facing a big increase in the cost of our offsets. No one could have predicted this situation close to a year ago when we decided to buy these offsets, but we have to deal with this situation now.

We’re hoping the dollar will strengthen a bit before we make our payment, but if it doesn’t, it will mean less money will be available to help defer the cost of energy-saving initiatives, which is one other thing we had intended to use any surplus CARBON fund money for.

Have any other companies contacted you for advice on offsetting? If so, what kinds of questions are they asking? Since our participation in the ClimateSmart pilot workshop in 2007, I have made several presentations to the ClimateSmart Workshop program. At these workshops, I have answered dozens of questions from other businesses who are learning to become carbon neutral.

The questions have been extremely varied, but one of the most common questions has been about the difficulties of implementing our program. I tell people that one of the most difficult things is to get staff to buy in to changes. Organizational changes, especially deep, across the board changes that are necessary to save energy, do not come easy. People are creatures of habit and they all have strong opinions about how things should be done. We try to involve as many people as possible in the planning process and to be open to other viewpoints, but it’s still not always easy to get everyone on the same page. Of course, we just keep plugging along and making steady improvements, which we think over time will make a real difference.

By the way, the ClimateSmart program is being steadily expanded and its administrators, Ecotrust Canada and the Pembina Institute, hope to broaden it to cover organizations right across B.C.

::spud! website

Thank you, Norman!

For more offsetting advice, head over to Carbon Catalog and read:
Green wind energy in Madagascar
Guide To Greening Your Business Convention
TreeHugger’s John Laumer on Managing Corporate Carbon Legally
Show Your Customers You Know Your GreenHouse Gases

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