Carrotmobs: Flashmobs of Consumer Power

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

If shops and corporations do not react fast enough on our demand for ethical products and environmental responsibility, we will organize our consumer power to demand it. Well, that's what is really happening, and when we realize what difference that can make, the effect gets much stronger and we can really change things for the better.

Carrotmobs are actions we are going to hear more of. They organize consumers on a certain time and place to buy in a certain way for a special cause, may it be demanding more fair trade products or an energy or waste reduction. In The Netherlands the group Stoerevrouwen, a hip collective of women, is organizing 'shopmobs' to demand fair trade and organic products in the shops. Their shopping army suggests our cause of ethical consume is not less than a warzone.

Actually a few people are enough to get a large mob going. Since my personal experiences with political flashmobs in 'last dictatorship of Europe' Belarus I am convinced of the strong tactical power of flashmobs and other forms of smartmobs where new technologies, grassroots organizing and hipster coolness go side by side. Let's use these tactics to change the products in our stores. Or for whatever good cause. Smartmobs are going to be back, back, back.

Carrotmobs via: Goodtruebeautiful
Image: Stoerevrouwen in action

Organic Jeansbrand NAU Gives Up

With all the good news of growth for fair trade and organic products, and especially with the hype around green fashion, one can hardly believe that such a cool organic jeans brand as NAU has to give up, for financial reasons. The brand had a very fresh and forward approach, creative and stylish. I got the impression the people behind NAU where extremely engaged. Within a short time the company brand built up a strong name and good sales.

It forces to a bit of reflection for all the green living and LOHAS believers: can this movement just grow in times of economical wealth? Are sustainable products and lifestyle a luxury for the good times? How can sustainable products be crisis resistant?

From the statement of NAU:

"In the current highly risk-averse capital market, we simply could not raise the necessary funds to continue to move forward. We believe this is not so much a reflection of the viability of our business, but the result of an unfortunate confluence of events. Just as we could not have predicted the sudden groundswell of environmental consciousness that blossomed at the time we launched our business, we did not foresee the current crisis in the capital markets. At this time, investors are loath to invest in anything; especially, it appears, a company like Nau that has the audacity to challenge conventional paradigms of what a business should be."

"Nau set out to show the world that business can be a force for positive social and environmental change. Although our current financial obstacles have proven to be insurmountable, it does not mean the ideas associated with Nau are unattainable. Nau was merely one attempt to express a larger idea that was around before us and will survive long after. It remains as urgent as ever for businesses to take the lead in creating a sustainable future for humans and the planet. We, as individuals and as members of a grander collective of the change-minded, look forward to continuing that journey."
Well, if you can say that after giving up your company, you must be wise people. Keep up the good spirit!

Via: Victoria Everman

Image through: G Living.tv

500 Godz: Berlin Streetart Shirt Label with Organic Prints

The new Berlin based ecological shirtlabel 500 Godz has a close connection to the street art scene. Their first collection of organic shirts are printed with works by the British graffiti artist AME72.A new collection will include prints of works by the German streetartists WOW and Ame 72.

Organic Screen Printing
The printing on the shirts of 500 Godz is certified organic, printed by the British T Shirt & Sons, with clients such as Katharine Hamnett and Greenpeace. T Shirt and Sons claims to be the only textile printer able to offer certified organic printed garments in Europe to global organic textile standards (GOTS).

Where a lot of screen printers promise some kind of sustainable approach, still most screen printers use polluting methods. In Berlin there has been a boom of small semi-ethical shirt labels using American Apparel or Continental Clothing shirts for their funky prints. I like the movement and the shirts are cool, but I think they could go for a bit higher ecological standards here. If you want to create an ethical shirt label, you better choose organic, and also take care of a sustainable screen printing method. 500 Godz proove it's all possible, also for a small Berliner shirt label.

Biofach bloggers: interview with Grass Routes by Karmakonsum

Christoph and Noel from Karmakonsum interviewed several sustainability bloggers during the bloggers meeting on the BioFach organics fair. All in German, but giving a good insiders view in the bloggers scene.

Also check out the other BioFach Bloggers:

• Alle Infos zum Bloggertreffen
• Andrea Nienhaus - alles was gerecht ist
• Andy Brandl - Blog-Abfertigung
• Christoph Harrach - Karmakonsum
• Det Müller - Lohasblog
• Frans Prins - grass-routes.org
• Fritz Lietsch - Nachhaltig Wirtschaften
• Gerhard Schoolmann - gastronomie blog
• Gerhard Zirkel - Waldbog
• herwig Danzer - Nachhaltigkeitsblog
• Hohannes Korten - Jazzlog
• Horst Klier - Leben ohne Diät
• Isabel Strohschein - Laufsteg Breite Gasse
• Kirstin Walther - Saftblog
• Klaus-Peter Baumgardt - Fressnet
• Manuel Rosenboom - Vitalgenuss
• Matthias Metze - viva-vino biowein
• Michael Wenzl - Farmblogger
• Milo Tesselar - biorama Magazin
• Noel Klein-Reesink - Karmakonsum
• Peter Parwan - Lohas.de
• Ralf Hense - Kleinsthof
• Reto Stauss - Nachhaltigbeobachtet
• Roland Dunzendorfer - Landscaping Blog
• Sandra Trummer - Erleben, Leben und Sein
• Sjörn Plitzko - Konsumguerilla
• Sophie Scholz - fairdo
• Thomas Geiger - Photopoolblog
• Thomas Hölzl - Stoibär

Reports from the BioFach: in search for organic cotton

Everything organic on the BioFach? Maybe for food it mostly was. But visiting all the textile related stands on the BioFach, I had some remarkable encounters. At a stand where they had a good looking offer of organic cotton materials, I asked if they only did organic cotton. Immediately the lady took a large box from under the desk, and presented me proudly all their non-organic cottons. At another stand I was overwhelmed by the large offer of sportswear and caps, but wondering if they were organic, it turned out that about ninety percent was not at all.

Okay, the BioFach is not supposed to be a leading fair on organic textiles, but there shouldn't be sold just conventional textiles either. Especially because there is still a lot of confusion on what organic textiles are. Luckily these were exceptions and I had a lot of good experiences as well, meeting nice people of small ethical brands, producers, and shop owners, representatives from MadeBy, Solidaridad, Pesticide Action Network, etc.

How to label sustainable clothing?
I visited also the discussion forum "Organic cotton - how to label sustainable clothing?". A rather complex question, with no answers yet. Alexandra Perschau from the PAN Germany described the problem of the labeling towards the consumer: there is hardly any recognition with the existing labels, there are too many different ones and the consumer does not have any clue on them. They have more knowledge of brands than on labels.

The central problem around how to label sustainable clothes was described by Jenns Soth from Helvetas. You can have a certified organic fibre, but what about the end problem? There is a legal gap in labeling organic textiles because you can not yet label non food items as organic in
Europe.

One quote from Helvetas sticked to my ears. They claim that in the organic cotton sector the partnerships are stronger than in the conventional, resulting in a higher loyalty and responsibility from the farmers. Logical, because there is more time and energy spent on training the farmers, and often worked with social programs, support of forming collectives, etc. But my conclusion is, that this could mean that actually the organic cotton production model in the end could be a more reliable business model.

Helvetas announced on the forum, they are working on Emission Certificates for textiles. What sounds like a good initiative of reducing carbon acid, also came with a lot of questions: does it reduce the miles a textile is transported? Is it right to give an emission certificate not for the whole chain but only for the production process?

Track & Trace your clothes origin with Made-By
The most interesting in the quest for a good labeling of sustainable textiles was the presentation of the Made-By initiative, who are expanding this year towards the UK, France, Germany and Sweden. According to research, for most companies reputation is most important when it comes to CSR. But for companies investing in CSR it is crucial to understand that CSR should be their business principle, and not only a strategy to produce a better image.

MadeBy offers clothing companies a way to clean up their production process, they give practicle support and monitor the results. Also the brands get a blue botton stating that the piece of clothing is produced under the MadeBy criteria. A very up to date part of the project is a Track & Trace tool, where consumers can check where exactly their clothing are being made, under which circumstances, and even see the people who made their piece of clothing. Just by entering a unique code from your jeans you get all this information, including the locations your jeans have been on google maps.

Hopefully there will come a more clear labeling for organic textiles soon, what will help the consumer a lot in choosing the right product. But meanwhile there are a lot of interesting initiatives, and it stayes, labeling or not, very important is that brands work on their whole chain transparency.

Actually the best experience was to meet our organic cotton deliverers from BoWeevil. They made it possible for us to visit several places along their production chain in Turkey and Uganda, and I find the way they work very sympathetic.

Photo impressions from the BioFach organics fair

A lot of different visitors on the BioFach organics fair: between all the neat suits and organic products one could spot quite some styles and cultures...

Reports from the Biofach: Life elixer from Makava

On the blogger meeting, I met a few Austrian guys who just started their own biological, fair trade lemonade brand called MAKAvA. Being about the same stage with our ethical fashion brand Pamoyo, it is fun to hear the stories of other young, green entrepreneurs.

Based on ‘green gold’ Maté, MAKAvA you to have a good mood and bring a smile in your face, as the makers of the drink promise. The drink is sweetened with Agave and elder blossom. It is made with real spring water and without any adding of carbonic acid. That’s why it tastes different than most other lemonades, less sweet, and quite a subtle taste.

The MAKAvA lemonade will be spread by selling in selected clubs, bars and shops. Soon they will expand to Germany as well. We will hear more of this drink, I hope. Now the Bionade limonade started to sell at MacDonalds in Germany, it's getting time for some new drinks!

Reports from Biofach: De Leckere, one of the best dutch special beers in the world

The international organic fair BioFach has an incredible offer of organic foods. For all I am amazed by all the innovative and luxurious products offered. Finest biological Belgian chocolate, in exciting new tastes, the best Italian pestos, exotic local fruits from Africa, sparkling new lemonades, etc. As a dedicated consumer of organic products one feels like Alice in wonderland.

One of the products presented on the Dutch area of the BioFach (every country has it’s own cultural-commercial trade space) is a special beer brand called De Leckere (“The Tasty One”). This beer brand was once started by some old housemates of mine in our basement. They were some young guys with a passion for beer, experimenting nights long to invent their own beers.

We, the other house mates, were a bit of laboratory rabbits, drinking the results from their experiments. There were always stories and rumors about the ingredients. And off course they tried out making cannabis beer as well. But in the end they developed some really amazing beers that were sold in the shops. After a fast growth and some troubles the beer started to conquer the world. With almost all smaller beer brands being part of larger ones, it is great to see a small, independent beer brand survive so long...

Reports from the Biofach organic fair: bloggers regarded as press

The Biofach is the largest business to business fair on organic products worldwide. While the leading fair is in Germany, other BioFach fairs are hold in USA, China, Japan and Brazil. The BioFach in Germany welcomes about 45.000 professionals in the field of organic products, for all in the food but also in the noon food sector. Among the visitors are about 700 journalists.

This year the BioFach has a new novelty: Bloggers on the topic of sustainability are treated as press, even with an own bloggers press center. A very innovative concept, and in a time where web2.0 and blogs are still in rising importance, an initiative worth for other events and fairs to consider to do as well. In example also in fashion blogs have gotten a great position in inspiring designers by offering ideas from the streets, niches, subcultures and avant garde.

Bloggers meeting at the BioFach
On Friday evening there was a special sustainability bloggers meeting on the BioFach. As bloggers you often know each others blogs and maybe have some contact, and than it`s great fun meeting the faces behind them. The evening went all too fast, but it is a nice community with great diversity, all between activist looks and casual suits.

At the meeting we discussed the possibilities of a common shared online network project, without all too concrete results, but with a good exchange of ideas. Most important is that we as bloggers had the opportunity to get in touch. I met some really nice people and found it all together an inspiring event. Thanks to Geoffrey Glaser from the Nuremberg Messe, Herwig and Christoph , and off course the bloggers. Hope to see you soon again!



More reports on BioFach expected...