Paul Smith, Author at Ecopreneurist

Paul Smith

Paul Smith is a sustainable business innovator, the founder of GreenSmith Consulting, and has an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio School of Management in San Francisco. He creates interest in, conversations around, and business for green (and greening) companies, via social media. Who he has and wants to work with includes consumer, media, clean tech, NGOs, social ventures, and museums.

How Do You Really Know Web Conferencing Saves Resources?

September 18, 2008

by Paul Smith

It’s been said many a time that one way to reduce a company’s footprint is by using web conferencing tools rather than flying everybody to meet in person. Noble, efficient and potentially cost saving as that is, there’s one problem: There’s been no way to quantify just how much of a difference it’s actually making. Sure, saved costs of flight, transport, accommodations are easy to calculate. But how about reduced emissions? And even if you were to know that, how…

Making greening your restaurant easy, rewarding, and free.

September 11, 2008

by Paul Smith

There are many ways for restaurants to go green, and nearly as many for them to be certified as a green restaurant. Which way to go? What’s the most useful? Which is valid? Between the numerous regional and national options out there, it can be overwhelming. What if there was a program that made it simple, was free, modeled after and qualifying you for LEED credits, rewarded you for progress made along the way, and had all the equipment and…

Bringing Truly Green Office Supplies to the Masses

September 4, 2008

by Paul Smith

Think for a moment, if you wanted to make the maximum impact in greening one product area, what would it be? Cars may come to mind first, but that requires a significant commitment and investment by the buyer. While it can and will make a positive impact, there’s an area that’s much more ubiquitous and may not even register on the radar for some – office supplies. Think about how much you use. Think about how much a company of…

EcoZone – Advertising that Greens More than the Message

August 28, 2008

by Paul Smith

Advertising. It’s a part of the scenery, just about anywhere you go these days. Like it or lump it, it’s here to stay. But what if it could do something more, or different then sell you things, end of story? What if it educated about the environment, and eco friendly behaviors? What if it went further than that and 50% of proceeds from advertising went to local community greening efforts, the use of which was advised by diverse, knowledgeable green…

How to Recycle the Unrecyclable – Terracycle shows the way

August 21, 2008

by Paul Smith

It’s encouraging to see the increasingly wide assortment and availability of products made from recycled materials, but there’s a problem on the other end: A lot of things aren’t accepted for recycling by curbside collection services, at least not in the US. As this recent article in Fast Company details, it’s not currently profitable for recyclers to take much beyond the most common, high volume items, like aluminum, paper, and a select few types of plastic. You can forget about…

How to Make Green Fashion an Everyday Choice

August 14, 2008

by Paul Smith

What do you do if you’re a marine biologist with an entrepreneurial streak who wants to indulge it by opening a business, but you want it to be part of the solution, rather than adding to the problem? Open an online eco fashion site, of course. That’s what Adrian Desbarats, up in Prince Edward Island, on the far east edge of Canada, decided to do. Far from being yet another boutique green fashion site in an obscure location, Desbarats is…

A Truly Sustainable Alternative to Dairy Based Ice Cream

August 7, 2008

by Paul Smith

This is a story that will likely make you hungry, inspired, and hopefully thinking a little broader than you started. This is a story of passion and mystery, with a twist at the end. This is about an ice cream that uses no dairy, yet tastes as good as, if not better than its milk based counterparts. And you won’t want to choose it because you can’t have dairy, you’ll just like it because it’s good. Or so that’s what…

Locally Grown… Styrofoam?!

July 31, 2008

by Paul Smith

Every once in a while you come across an idea that just lights you up. Styrofoam has long been one of the unmoveables when it came to recycling (too bulky, not much money in it) and there wasn’t a viable replacement for it. Easy to make, lots of it, hard to sustainably dispose of, what are you going to do? Reducing the amount of it in packaging is one path, but is only less bad. What about an option that…

Are Green Collar Jobs Affected by the Shaky Economy?

July 24, 2008

by Paul Smith

It seems no matter where you look these days, there’s bad news about the US economy. Does that extend to the budding green collar jobs market as well? Yes and no. I spoke to Nick Ellis, Managing Partner at Bright Green Talent, a US/UK based recruiting agency with a focus on green jobs, and a commitment to walking the talk within their own company as well. Ellis was frank, encouraging, and insightful. Well then, what does the green collar jobs…