hi ryan and wendy, i'm not up for much leg work, but would be interested in sponsoring a page as a green business and also for writing a short article about "green" foods.
-marlo On May 10, 2008, at 7:06 AM, Wendy Skinner wrote: > Ryan, > > I'm willing to talk about this concept. I have a marketing > background and > I've worked with a number of local green retailers. In > collaboration with > Autumn Newell at Tuff Soul, I've designed materials for the "shop > local/shop > green" campaign (Green Business Crawl) on Black Friday the past two > years. > > I think first talking to a core group of businesses is important, > to gauge > interest, and to compare this idea to others that may be > percolating or > under way. Another preliminary step would be to write up a budget to > determine what each business needs to contribute and how many > businesses are > needed to break even. > > There's a lot of legwork in a project like this, not to mention > upfront > costs. It's not the kind of project that can be easily accomplished > on a > volunteer basis -- although volunteers could be solicited to help with > distribution and sales. Going to firms that already provide this > service to > conventional businesses might save a lot of headaches. Maybe they'd be > willing to create a green coupon book, or at least a section for green > businesses. > > At least one local newspaper will print special sections supported by > advertising. Talking to them about a "green coupon" special insert > is also a > possibility. > > I think for-profit/not-for-profit collaborations are needed to help > green > businesses get a competitive foothold. In the end, however, it has > to be the > businesses that back such a project. They need to see a benefit and be > willing to invest. > > If you hear from others who would at least like to start a > discussion, I'm > game. My particular areas of interest include support for green > fashion > retailers, locally available green products for home and closet, and > consumer education. > > Wendy Skinner > Coordinator, SewGreen > www.sew-green.org > Green PR Services > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 607-277-7611 > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ryan Hottle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" > <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 3:45 PM > Subject: [SustainableTompkins] Local Sustainable Coupon Book Idea > > > Dear Sustainable Tompkins, > > Here is an idea for a "Local and Sustainable Coupon Book" which could > benefit local businesses, non-profit organizations, and Sustainable > Tompkins > as a whole: > > Local economies are central to creating sustainable and largely > self-reliant > communities which are not only desirable because they increase the > economic, > ecological, and human prosperity of a place, but also necessary as > we face > the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. They can also > serve to > create more just and equitable economic systems which do not place > human > healthy and hapiness or ecological destruction outside of our economic > structure. > > We need to search for tools and methods of increasing local and > sustainable > economic activity within Tompkins county. One tool for doing this > is the > creation of a local currency, which has been done through the > Ithaca Hour > currency system. > > Another tool—the one which I am proposing here—is a "Local and > Sustainable > Coupon Book" for Tompkins County. Here's the general idea: > > 1) We ask local and sustainable companies to contribute coupon > offers for > the Coupon Book. The coupons would act both to drive business for the > company as well as to save money for the purchaser of the goods or > supplies. > 2) We collect enough coupons from local companies to generate 100 > to 200 > dollars worth of coupons. > 3) We sell the coupon books for, say, five dollars apiece: two of the > dollars would go to printing and distribution costs as well as any > other > costs associated with the coupon book; the other three would go to > terrific > organizations such as the "Hope Non-Profit CSA" for low-income folks. > 4) The coupon book could also include articles and information such > as a > description of the work being done by Sustainable Tompkins, a resource > directory, and a few articles about the importance of a local > economy/local > food production etc. > 5) Another possibility is to include some local Ithaca Hours in the > coupon > book in order to get local residents acquainted and excited by the > power of > a local currency. (By way of footnote, communities which had local > currencies during the Great Depression tended to fair much better > than those > who did not.) > I have already started a preliminary design of what such a coupon > book would > look like using Microsoft Publisher software. At this time, > however, I am > not able to commit to overseeing and directing the development of this > project by myself (I have just started a new job and am working on > fairly > intense research regarding solutions to climate change). A team of > folks > would need to be assembled who would be willing and excited to work > on such > a project. Someone with publishing and printing experience would be > invaluable. > > I foresee such a coupon book as being a powerful tool which > accomplishes > many things at once—it increases the notoriety and relevance of > Sustainable > Tompkins; it advances the goal of supporting and helping to create > sustainable and local businesses; it increases public awareness > around the > issues of peak oil and climate change and potential community scale > solutions to these problems; it benefits non-profit organizations; it > encourages purchasing from local companies as well as the use of > the Ithaca > Hour; and it creates a healthy synergism between local companies in > the > area. > > I look forward to any and all feedback on this idea. > > Thanks so much, > Ryan D. Hottle > > -- > Ryan Darrell Hottle, > Climate Change Solutions Thinker > > Global Climate Solutions > www.GlobalClimateSolutions.org > (coming soon!) > > Ohio Peak Oil Action (OPOA) > Co-Founder, Director > www.ohiopeakoilaction.org > > 803 Coddington Road, > Ithaca, New York 14850 > > (740) 258 8450 > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org Marlo Capoccia Garden Gate www.gardengatedelivery.com _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
