Every month all over the globe, people interested in the environment and sustainability get together for "Green Drinks" to schmooze and network. Today on CWR, hosts Bill Baue and Francesca Rheannon go to their local Green Drinks gathering at the Northampton Brewery in Northampton, Massachusetts. There, they talk with John Meyercak of the Center for Ecological Technology, based in Northampton, about CET projects like ReStore, which sells second-hand building materials. Then Chris Landry of the Sustainability Institute in Hartland, Vermont talks about balancing the need to support small farmers in developing nations with fair trade while also fostering living local economies in developed nations. We also hear about the Sustainability Institute's "Climate Bathtub".

Also, Francesca Rheannon talks with award-winning business journalist for the New York Times, Louis Uchitelle about his book The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences. It was published in 2006, but with the US facing what could be a long recession, followed by what some experts think might be a "jobless recovery", The Disposable American is as relevant today as it was when it was published. We talk about how layoffs devastate workers and communities -- and also how they hurt businesses.

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Green Drinks

Center for Ecological Technology

ReStore

Sustainability Institute

Climate Bathtub Simulator

The Disposable American

Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding delivered the opening address at the launching of the Marlboro College Graduate Center MBA in Managing for Sustainability program in Vermont where CWR co-host Bill Baue teaches. The talk was entitled, "Sustainability and State Finance: Strategic Decision-Making and 'Win-Win' Strategies." Spaulding discussed a number of different ways the state uses its investment assets to leverage corporate sustainability and responsibility, from aggressively voting its proxies to filing shareholder resolutions addressing issues such as Sudan and climate change to participating in the Investor Network on Climate Risk, a group of institutional investors launched by Ceres in 2003 to promote sustainable business practices. He also explains the complexities of implementing green investing through board-run state pension funds.

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Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding

"Vermont State Treasurer to Speak at Marlboro College Graduate Center"

Marlboro College Graduate Center MBA in Managing for Sustainability

October 8, 2007 SocialFunds article: "Investors, States, and Activists Petition Securities and Exchange Commission To Mandate Climate Risk Disclosure"

September 21, 2006 SocialFunds article: "Pennsylvania Treasurer Keys into Clean Tech Investing and Green Screens"

April 14, 2005 SocialFunds article: "Vermont Issues Call to Investment Managers for Environmentally Sustainable Portfolio"

March 25, 2005 SocialFunds article: "Shareowner Activists on Sustainability Take Baby Steps Into Sustainability Screening"

Investor Network on Climate Risk

Ceres

CWR co-hosts Bill Baue and Francesca Rheannon talk with GreenBiz.com founder and executive editor Joel Makower about the first annual report on The State of Green Business, which GreenBiz.com released today on January 30, 2008. The report identifies the top ten green business news stories of 2007, and also introduces the GreenBiz Index, a collection of 20 indicators ranking the progress of green business practice as "swimming," "treading," or "sinking."

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SocialFunds.com article transcribing highlights of this interview

GreenBiz.com

State of Green Business 2008

Joel Makower's Blog: Two Steps Forward

"The Six Sins of Greenwashing"

"The Six Sins of Greenmuting"

The Idea of the Corporation is one of the most powerful forces in our world – both constructive, efficiently moving money and goods, and destructive, polluting our environment and disempowering workers and citizens. Author Francis Moore Lappe' shares her ideas for reframing the the corporation, the citizen and the economy from her new book, Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad.

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Book website: Getting a Grip

Europe is leaping far ahead of the US in regulating toxic chemicals in products. According to today’s guest, the successes of America’s business community fighting against regulation on the home front may be its downfall in the global economy.  Francesaca Rheannon interviews author Mark Schapiro, author of Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power.

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Book website: Exposed

Mark Schapiro's "Toxic Toys" article in The Nation 

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