Report on January's gathering at Mitra's
Hi everyone,
We had another interesting gathering of the Byron Sustainable Ventures Network this week, back at my house for the first time in over a year. There were fourteen of us, and we welcomed newcomers Chari Larsson from Hampton & Larsson; Martin Ernegg from Zelfo; and Elvina Munir from Elfen Energy Chimes.
Food was provided by Ali, who has been wwwoofing with me.
As usual both the informal networking over dinner and the gathering together were animated.
I (Mitra Ardron) brought up a few ideas from my recent trip to the US, which covered the Gaia University board meeting; SVN; Bioneers; and Green Festival.
In particular there is a lot more money moving into the field of sustainability, as investors are starting to see the returns, not just the ethics of investing in this field. Their appears to be more money than good deals, and money is looking for deals not just in the US, and in fields that include energy, water and materials. However most deals are at a level of US$5m or above so it doesn't really impact most of our businesses. There was discussion of how this expansion in finance impacts SME's like ourselves. The Green Building field for example has expanded rapidly, and some small green suppliers have lost out, as it has been easier for bigger suppliers to green themselves than for unprepared smaller suppliers to scale up.
Ken and Rachel brought up an idea they had about starting to define what makes a sustainable business, they are concerned that essentially anyone can claim to be sustainable, and setting some kind of standard would allow both to distinguish companies making a real difference, and also raise the bar on what is expected. There was a lot of interesting discussion around this, people were in general supportive, and there were some concerns to address. Nobody wants a process which in itself is a burden to a small business, and also we have to figure out how to handle both absolute standards - this business does great by any measure and relative standards - this business may not be great, but its better than its competitors so deserves support. A small group will continue this, with interest from Rachel, Ken, Phil and Mitra.
Another topic that I noticed in the US, was the emergence of all kinds of business models evolving that are hybrids between non-profit and for-profit. For example companies based on Paul Newman's model where all profits are donated, or others that donate returns above a certain level, or companies mixing for-profit and pro-bono work. It seems a very positive trend, with companies like this doing well as they attract talented people with social consciousness. We noted that in Australia both the for-profit and non-profit world seem to be allergic to any kind of mix between them, and is lagging the trends in this case.
Newcomer Chari Larsson told us a bit about her business, started by her grandparents which she and her partner Scott took over a year or so ago from her father. They have worked their way through the complex certification process to become the first Forest Stewardship Council certified joinery manufacturer. She described the work they are doing to source wood from sustainably managed, village owned resources in PNG and the Solomons. This led to a discussion of how smart NGO's have moved from a blocking tactic, to a facilitation tactic where for example they've helped facilitate the links between Hampton and Larsson and the villages.
The other project we discussed were the links between BSVN and the NCCAG (North Coast Climate Action Group). Mitra has been meeting with Gayle Russell and Garth Luke to discuss how we can support their work. Mitra has been working on an idea for a Community Carbon Bank which would hold donations from local businesses and match them with local projects. The current state of the idea was to make these donations via credits in a local currency which the business would then accept, this would have the added advantage of providing a multiplier effect as the currency circulates before being redeemed at one of the participating businesses. A draft paper is available on this from him (email mitra@mitra.biz;) At the meeting the idea was raised by Chari of also matching donations in volunteer hours, as they are developing a scheme where staff get to spend some paid time working on volunteer projects in the community.
We were also reminded via phone call to Danielle, that BSVN participant, Simeon Michaels is currently paddling from Sydney to Hobart to raise funds and awareness of the issue of Tasmanian forests. Simeon is looking for sponsors - $50/km, several of us have already chipped in, and there is more information on his site. www.paddlewithsim.com.
- Mitra
Attending: (14) Mitra Ardron (Natural Innovation & Zelfo); Phil Sedgman (Flowforms); Ken McLeod (Creative Edge Facilitators); Wadzy (The Generator); Rachel Bending (Slingfings & Bird Textile); Anne Celest McCoy (ReGenesis); Urs Furter (Apex Air); Elvina (Chimes); Paul Benhaim and Martin Ernegg (Zelfo); Keri Honor (Honor Home Loans); Chari Larsson (Hampton & Larsson); Melissa Hirsch (Fiberart); Arion Ocean
Posted by mitra at January 14, 2007 5:14 PM