A Green Printer interview with Carmen Spagnola, entrepreneur and owner of m. 1. What made you want to start m? I started m because I was a frustrated consumer. I decided that if I want to have access to smarter, more beautifully designed, more responsible products and amenities for my home and family, I was going to have to create more demand. Markets are a bit of a chicken-and-egg relationship. Many retailers will tell you that they only provide what…
Earth Day takes place this April 22nd. As a green leader or entrepreneur, the day begs the question, what will you be doing? In a mad public relations world that anchors on events as a tangible “touch point” in lieu of diving into the messier (and harder to track or control) world of ‘awareness’, Earth Day is one of many symbols (i.e. polar bears) we use when speaking to some of the starker and concrete practices of the planet’s ecological…
By Contributing Writer Melissa Chungfat | Part of Green Printer’s ‘Design Goes Green’ dispatch. Thanks to blogs, websites, Facebook, and the ever-growing list of social media tools, people have the ability and power to educate themselves about anything they please. It is harder for companies to get away with lies about their products and misleading messages. People can easily look up “greenwashing” or “what is an organic product?” in a search engine and in a matter of seconds, they have…
By Contributing Writer Melissa Chungfat. Design Goes Green – The first of a series of articles by Green Printer on the cross-section between the environment, business and the creative communications industry. Every day we hear about companies going under and pub meals having more value than bank stocks. At at time when profits are low across the nation, some company executives think that now is not the time to implement environmental initiatives. So why did companies committed to sustainability in…
A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat. Every single word counts when it comes to marketing. How you package your brand with words and images has a strong influence on how people perceive your company. But before I dive into which words can work for your product or service, always keep in mind that your company’s credibility is the first priority. Otherwise, it will affect how receptive people are to your words and any attempts to ‘pull the wool’, so…
A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat. The eco-holiday tips are beginning to pour in everywhere. Al Gore was on Oprah last week discussing the impacts of global warming and giving advice on how people can help the environment and save some cash this holiday. And, Obama is certainly doing his part with his plans to green the White House. If you are an early bird ecopreneurist who wants to distinguish your business this holiday season or are at odds…
A post by contributing guest writer Melissa Chungfat. I’ve been seeing a lot of Thomas Friedman on the tube talking about his book Hot, Flat, and Crowded. The three-time Pulitzer Prize winner is getting a lot of buzz stressing the necessity of a green global industry. Ecopreneurs are key in developing innovative solutions to deal with the tremendous global environmental problems. The book title refers to the convergence of global warming, the rise of the middle class, and the exponential…
Computers crash, memories fail, back-ups are inevitable, your iPhone may not recall your accountant’s email. Now, I am not saying that there is no need for things like eCards or bzCards, but that they cannot unilaterally replace the paper card. In fact, our little ‘paper connectors’ become a craved luxuries in our electronic worlds
It’s no secret: businesses who build durable internal systems breed long term and sustainable profits. In fact, the rule on the street, and this applies to enterprising green businesses who are past their mainstream ‘breaking point’ and are now swimming with the rest of the so-called ‘sharks’, is often ‘automate or perish’. But automation (business speak for “doing it better and faster”) is hardly a Darwinian one-way street – eco-minded companies are benefiting more than just their own bottom line…
