Metaphors and Resources 3: Ecocapitalism

On This Page
EcocapitalistsGo

Marketing Green Go
Getting Personally Involved Go
Saving the Trees Go
More Stuff Go
More Ecocapitalists Go
New Meme: Green Washing Go

On this Site

Teacher Resources

Visit Teachers Pay Teachers to buy/sell lessons.

get worksheets
just for K-6
from teachers at
Worksheet Library

Memes Articles>>Introduction>>Definition>>Green>>Ecocapitalist>>More Articles

New Memes: Ecocapitalists and Green Business

Szaky, Hershberg, and a Paradigm Shift

I first heard of Tom Szaky on the Planet Green tv show G-Word. Szaky started a business that composts lawn, garden and kitchen garbage with earthworms to collect worm excrement.

This he sells in recycled soda bottles as "Terracycle Worm Poop," or as "Terracycle Plant Fertilizer -- All Purpose Plant Food " as sold by Park Seed through Amazon.com He has written a book about how this product has made him a millionaire. His Wikipedia page has him coining the word ecocapitalist. In his blog he asks if the "green bubble is beneficial." He has been interviewed by many for journal, online and video statements.

Others have ridden the "green bubble" to riches. There are many books on the subject. In fact, some say there has been an actual paradigm shift towards an eco-friendly business ethic and practice. In the Reviews on the Amazon page, Hershberg is said to have "... done a masterful job telling the stories of cutting-edge companies that have found a way to increase profits and environmental sustainability at the same time. -- Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerrys, chairman of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities."

Marketing Green

Part of the marketing of ecocapitalists seems to be to claim that the products are "green" and that many of the products are made with a percentage of recycled materials. The percentage seems to be only 10-20%, but I suppose the effort of recycling is itself a process that consumes energy. Unfortunately, currently the recycled products often cost slightly more. Check out the Recycled Products at Office Depot.

Want to sell that scrap iron, aluminum cans, paper, blue jeans or old polyester suits? If you are interested in the current bids on recycled resources, by the ton, check out this site.

You can sell green products, too. Locate wholesalers that allow dropshipping at Worldwide Brands, whose membership kit includes videos and ebooks that will train you in starting a business in both ecommerce and offline sales opportunities. Look for videos and articles that teach you how to list products on Amazon and eBay.

Another way to sell green products online is as an affiliate. Companies that foster sales of green products are to be found in just about all affiliate networks like Linkshare, Google Affiliate Network, and Shareasale:

Have a website? Learn how to make money with LinkShare.

Find a sponsor for your web site. Get paid for your great content. shareasale.com.

Getting Personally Involved

In line with my interest in sustainability and networking, I invite you to join the network on NIng called The Green Life Cafe, where other enthusiasts have started dialogs on numerous green issues and where news widgets keep us up to date on personalities and movements that are going green.

Visit Green Life Cafe

Of course, we all know that recycling is a primary way to go green in our business and personal lives. To assist in recycling HGTV has a section called "Trash to Treasures;" and a magazine, website and blog are all dedicated to recycling old junk at Junk Market. To "Reclaim, Reuse, Recycle" is added "Retask." Even educators get in the act when they sell their old units at sites like Teachers Pay Teachers where teachers buy and sell lessons and created supplies and .

Better energy choices are fundamental to green living. Solar energy has finally come into its own. Prices are now reasonable and systems are easy to pull together with modules small enough to handle. Explore the home and personal products of the solar energy industry from Amazon's listing of Solar Products from Northern Tool and Equipment, where you can view products from portable chargers to full home systems. There are solar lights, hot water heaters, laptop and cell phone chargers, and the new flexible solar cells. Be sure to read about the use of inverters for getting ac current from the solar systems. To get a steady current often requires the use of a storage battery. Read about that, too. (Need batteries? ) At Silicon Solar there are articles on solar energy as an alternative energy source in the Community forum thread Alternative Energy - Everyday Use.

Solar energy use has spawned a host of new products. From do-it-yourself to contracted installers to the purchase of ready-made kits, solar water heaters and solar cells for electricity, prices for solar devices are slowly coming down so solar energy is more accessible. Portable device solar chargers are now inexpensive and extremely useful. Check out these items.

Amazon.com Widgets

At New Egg use the keyword solar for solar calculators, cell phone/bluetooth/mp3 solar charger and more.

Using solar cooking is a theme of the non-profit Solar Cookers International, which trains third world communities to use the sun to cook and to purify water with inexpensive supplies. Solar Cookers in African countries have freed women to spend more time in the home and in their own businesses, reduced the destruction of village forests being cut down for firewood, and provided energy for sanitizing drinking water. Like Heifer International, this organization has enabled the people they help to help themselves to a better, more sustainable future.

The SCI solar cooker designs are easy to make--or you can buy them onsite. Other solar cookers and supplies are available through the VCCTI Solar Cooking astore.

The easiest, greenest way to vacation is from home: someone else's is always fun! And don't forget to use green products to keep it clean.

Another source of green cleaners: industrial strength degreasers and more:

RichCatt Green Solutions | Soy Based Green Products | Biodegradable Grease, Oil and Cleaning Products - RichCatt Green Solutions offer a number of environment friendly products. we sell soybean and plant based vehicle and equipment soygrease, food machinery grease and cleaners, soy hydraulic oils, gear lubes, hand cleaners, equipment cleaners and cleaners for home and shop, paint and graffiti remover, waterproofing sealer, dust suppressants, form release agents, etc. We offer natural alternatives to toxic petroleum.

And that brings us to green architecture, another essay in this series.

Saving the Trees

Recycling paper is one way to save trees. Other ways are keeping a paperless office, reading ebooks, sending correspondence and greeting cards via email, online fax and faxes saved directly to a word processor, and getting the news online. Beyond saving paper and thus saving trees, manufacturing and transport energy is saved with the use of digital text, too. Then there are the paper substitutes that are reusable, like cloth bags and ShamWow. Check out these resources.

Keep reading. There's more.

World Speakers Association

Other Ecocapitalists: Blogs and Sites

Chemically Green a blog that follows new industries and businesses in the chemical and energy sector.
Source Guides a directory of green businesses and industries.
Valerie's Memos my blog where I discuss and post links to sites on green stuff as I come across it.
Valerie's Soapbox ditto, but often more opinionated.
GreenBiz directory of business members, news on green business issues and large corporation green activities, forums, certification workshops, newsletter, policies, guides, jobs, and more. See a sample widget.
Sustainable Business similar but more focused on business and jobs. Has a stock market widget on the main page.
Recycler's World (Recycle.net) International directory of recyclers of varius products, including plastics and electronics. They include a system for buy/sell contacts.
Metaphors and Resources 4: Recycling Recycling information on products of interest to schools and families.
EcobusinessLinks Directory of merchants claiming to sell green products. An online shopping mall and listing of ecoindustries of all sorts.
Aqua Luna Ranch Claims to be a non-profit organization. Sells books on building/installing solar panels and and the associated wiring and home power stations. Sells/consults on other green products; runs workshops; consult on green issues; articles.
Best Green Blogs A directory of blogs on green topics, products, policy and philosophy with a tag for sustainability.
Earth4Cash Sells a video/book instruction kit for with connections to supplies for building your own windmill and solar cells and home connection for "living off the grid." Is also listed as DIY Solar Power and provides articles and websites to affiliates. (Yep, I am one.)
Ecoworld is worth a visit for the diagram on the site. Get the book to learn how to add solar panels and solar heaters to your home. The site has a wonderful diagram that shows the major components of a solar-powered home system.

A New Meme: "Green Washing"

In his blog Chemically Green, Steve Mason, owner of a chemical recycling company, states his intention to "...[review new fuel and other chemical] products and let folks know about which products are green and not so green. Green washing happens in the green chemical area just as it does in other green products."

Yep, you have to be careful when shopping green, too. There is a lot of hype out there. Here's another critique: A caution on using bamboo.

Green washing had led others to conceive of better products, like oil from algae rather than from corn and other foodstock, paints and ribbons of solar cells rather than stiff panels, sonic refrigerators rather than energy star conventional ones, and the list goes on as the green industrialists proliferate. More jobs and new skills are on the horizon.

Books, Media and More on Green Memes

Books on memes are available everywhere. Try these resourcesbelow: ; check out these books and resources at VCCTI Going Green, an astore .

Meme Enthusiasts

Memes are themes in essays on science fiction and poetry, essays, photography and graphics throughout my sites.

Memes as themes can be seen at my Ning networks, CafePress estore, blogs and other sites. There are journals on memes at Zimbio, too. Visit to join in the fun.

What is a Meme?

This page defines the word and links to some journal articles. The More button will also take you there. -- Do you like my visual meme of more to be experienced/read/bought/had?

Place your ad here. Click on the right border to learn more.