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Given that some 350,000,000 cups of coffee are consumed each day in the United States alone, it's not too surprising to see social entrepreneurs tapping into that consumption for charitable good. In August we featured Newhall Coffee's custom blends for nonprofit fundraisers, and just recently we came across Project7, which donates to a different cause when it sells each of its seven blends. Texas-based Project7's coffees are all harvested from small, organic farms that are certified Fair Trade and USDA Organic. Sold through coffee-of-the-month subscriptions, each coffee blend is attached to a specific cause. Its French Roast coffee, for instance, is associated with its “Heal the Sick” project, so that each canister sold translates into medicine provided for one person suffering from malaria. Its Nicaragua Hacienda coffee, on the other hand, is linked with its “Feed the Hungry” project; each canister sale provides seven meals in American communities. Other charitable projects supported by the organization include supplying clean water to those in need, planting fruit trees, housing orphans, educating African children and providing counseling for children of war. Project7's coffee subscriptions are available in increments of three, six or 12 months, with monthly pricing of USD 45, USD 40 and USD 35, respectively. Combining the increasingly ubiquitous subscription model with a heaping helping of corporate generosity, Project7's effort is sure to please countless coffee-loving members of Generation G. Which causes will *your* generous brand link with sales in its own product line...? Website: www.p7coffee.com Spotted by: swissmiss |
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There's nothing like mobile technology to help the crowds take part in monitoring their surroundings. Where French Montre Verte recruits citizens to monitor the air quality of Paris and The Urban Forest Map is tapping the crowds to map the trees of San Francisco, Creek Watch is an iPhone application that will soon enable users to help monitor the health of their local watershed. Coming soon to Apple's App Store, Creek Watch will let citizens have a hand in maintaining the quality of their local waterways. Whenever they pass by one, they'll be able to spend a few seconds using the Creek Watch application to snap a picture and report a few facts about what they see, including how much trash is evident, how much water is there and how fast it's flowing. Creek Watch will aggregate that data and share it with water control boards to help them track pollution, manage water resources and plan environmental programs. A map on the Creek Watch site will display the data that's already been contributed, as will an alternative presentation in table form. Creek Watch is a project developed at IBM Research - Almaden in collaboration with the Living Environments Lab and in consultation with the California State Water Control Board. Creek Watch currently focuses on the Northern California watershed. All you water-related brands out there: how about sponsoring something like this in your neck of the global watershed...? (Related: Free water-saving tool with toilet paper purchase — Device ionizes tap water for anti-bacterial, chemical-free cleaning — Shampoo brand is a reminder to save water — Water-bottle refills at cafés, now with a charitable twist — Buy a bottle of wine and donate clean water.) Website: www.creekwatch.org |
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It's a rare thing today to find a new toy that doesn't involve batteries; rarer still is one that harks back to the pre-computer days of the public library. Both qualities, however, are true of the Little Librarian kit, a toy that lets children turn their own bookshelf into a real lending library. The Little Librarian kit, which started off as a mother and daughter’s toy project, gives children a way to derive hours of new fun from their very own book collection. Included in each kit are all the file folders, book pockets, book cards and library cards a child needs to create a little library, plus reading awards, bookmarks, overdue slips and a reading journal. Kids can practice the important skills of organizing, sharing, borrowing and returning using the kit — all they need do is add their own books to get started. Assembled in the US by individuals with disabilities through Opportunities Inc., Little Librarian was recently a finalist in the Disney FamilyFun contest. It's available at select US retailers as well as on Amazon.com; pricing is USD 19.99. It may be true that most children have a digital footprint before they're two, but that doesn't mean they can't still find all the fun they need offline. Retailers in other countries: one to regionalize for kids in your neck of the woods...? (Related: Monthly mail service turns kids into globe-trotters — Book publisher for kids — Interactive piggy bank teaches kids about money — Mini-franchises for kids.) Website: www.littlelibrarian.net Spotted by: Wisconsin State Journal |
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Distribution is a key to every product's success, but for some it requires a little more creative thinking than others. Take locally grown produce. Rather than expect consumers to seek it out at farm stands and other select venues, we've already seen one effort that brings it to commuters with specially priced USD 5 bags, for example. Delivery by bicycle is another approach, as we've seen in Florida, and recently one of our spotters alerted us to a similar initiative in Minnesota. Minneapolis-based VeloVeggies aims to make it easier for consumers to put farm-fresh fruits and vegetables on the table. Toward that end, it delivers produce and specially assorted boxes of veggies to consumers' door. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) participants can have their shares of produce delivered by VeloVeggies, which will also pick up consumers' compostable waste for delivery to its partner community gardens and vermiculture processor; as with Compost Cab, participants are also entitled to a portion of the resulting soil and worm castings in return. Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is VeloVeggies' VegBox, which features a selection of fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits from the Twin Cities farmers’ markets. During the growing season, VeloVeggies packs its VegBoxes fresh every morning and delivers them by bicycle the same day. This past season, pricing per VegBox began at USD 18, including delivery. The delivery of fresh food has always been fraught with challenges, of course, but it seems to be dovetailing beautifully with the current urban bicycle revolution. Time to start “pedaling” some produce for delivery through the city streets near you...? (Related: Organic soups, delivered weekly by bicycle — Waitrose using bicycles & carts for greener grocery deliveries.) Website: www.veloveggies.com Spotted by: Frank Jaskulke |
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There's nothing like free samples to get consumers to try something new, as countless brands have recognized over the ages. Last year we saw that concept put to work on female patrons at Tokyo's LCAFE, but recently one of our spotters alerted us to an even bolder example, also in Japan: Free Café Harimaya Station, which offers a variety of free drinks and snacks to anyone at any time. Free Café Harimaya Station is the brainchild of Harimaya Honten, maker of traditional Japanese rice crackers. With seven locations already established in major shopping areas nationwide, the Free Cafés serve up freshly roasted and brewed coffee, tea and roasted green tea to their patrons for no charge, along with the traditional rice snacks for which Harimaya Honten is known. The only stipulation, the company says, is that “people treat each other with courtesy and respect each other's views.” The cafés are a way for Harimaya Honten to give back to society, it says, as well as to promote environmental awareness, a favourite cause of company president Sukejiro Harimaya. More to the point from a marketing perspective, however, is that they also help the company increase awareness of its products among consumers under 40, it says. Harimaya Honten opened its first Free Café Harimaya Station in 2008, and it's planning to expand with additional cafés in Paris and New York. Part tryvertising, part free love and part brand butler catering to weary shoppers, Harimaya's cafés may just pack more marketing punch than any other tryvertising initiative we've seen so far. How could *your* brand achieve something similar...? (Related: Pop-up café offers '5 a day' for £5 — High-end beauty samples by curated subscription — Sympvertising & samples help launch new Maxwell House brand in Dubai — Tryvertising store expands in Spain — A tryvertising lab for San Diego — Vending machine dispenses free samples — Heated bus stops offer sympvertising and samples.) Website: www.harimayahonten.co.jp Spotted by: Murray Orange |
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Dating has always been a more or less brutal experience, but its shift into the online world in recent years has brought a whole new set of challenges. New York-based eFlirt Expert is a company that strives to help singles market themselves well online and then successfully navigate the transition into the real world. Recognizing that success in online dating is initially a matter of putting one's best self forward on the web, eFlirt Expert begins by helping clients create the best virtual first impression they can while remaining faithful to their tastes and personality. Online profile creation and makeovers are both available, as are photo editing and help crafting irresistible emails. In addition to online dating profiles, eFlirt Expert can help with every aspect of a client's digital footprint, including also Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Offline, eFlirt Expert offers not just dating and wardrobe advice but even a shadowing service where a coach discreetly follows a client on a date and can offer assistance when the client requests it through a prearranged signal. It also offers a custom VIP service for busy executives. Pricing for eFlirt's “eMix” package--including profile creation or makeover, photo selection, dating site suggestions, six ghostwritten emails per week, wardrobe review and unlimited dating advice by email--costs USD 225 for the first month and USD 110 monthly thereafter. Many services are offered a la carte as well, including shadowing on a two-hour date for USD 99. Much the way consumers increasingly value curation as the choices confronting them grow in number, so too are they likely to appreciate hand-holding and assistance in what's become an overwhelmingly complex dating world. eFlirt's in-person services are currently available only in New York and Boston, however--one to partner with or emulate for lonelyhearts in other parts of the world...? (Related: Photographer offers a profile photo shoot for $79 — Mobile dating app lets singles broadcast their availability — Free makeover & online profile photo from Estée Lauder — Online dating, Facebook-style — Dating site lets women call the shots — Dating profiles in 140 characters or less — Helping tech-timid professionals use LinkedIn and Facebook — Online speed dating — DNA-driven dating service.) Website: www.eflirtexpert.com Spotted by: Casey Brennan
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Through a yearlong pilot program, 300 New York City Department of Transportation employees will share 25 Zipcar vehicles — 23 hybrids and two vans — for daily official business between the hours of 7 am and 6 pm on weekdays. The vehicles will be stored at several private garages in Lower Manhattan so as to reduce the number of City vehicles using on-street parking; participating employees will reserve them online and then retrieve them via Zipcard. Perhaps even more interesting, however, is that outside working hours, the vehicles will be made available to the general public through Zipcar. Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explains: “Car share is an innovative way to do more with less and address the City’s environmental and fleet-reduction goals. This strategy helps meet those goals while opening up curbside parking, and by letting the public use the same cars that we use, it helps stimulate the Lower Manhattan car-share market.” With potential savings of more than USD 500,000 over four years in reduced City costs for vehicle acquisitions, fuel and maintenance, the pilot could be expanded if it's successful — which it's hard to imagine it wouldn't be. Seems like only a matter of time before something like this comes to every thriving metropolis; how about getting involved and helping to make that happen? (Related: Green car-sharing by the hour at Hawaii hotels — More P2P car-sharing, now in London — P2P car-sharing comes to Australia — Person-to-person car-sharing service — Smart use of the Smart brand: car-sharing by Daimler — Zipcar and Zimride join forces on college campuses — Parking operator launches car-sharing service.) Website: www.nyc.gov Spotted by: Raymond Kollau |
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The subscription model seems to be spreading like wildfire! Hardly a week goes by without our spotting at least one new subscription-based business, and this week was no exception. The concept this time around? Artisan lip balm, with a new one sent to the consumer's door each month. UK-based Bonbon sells a wide variety of attractively packaged lip balms made using only natural ingredients such as shea butter and plant oils; where possible, it chooses organic and fair-trade ingredients. What's particularly interesting about the company, however, is that rather than sell its 3.5g lip balms individually online or through brick-and-mortar stores, it has chosen to offer them up by monthly subscription only. For GBP 5 per month, the company will send consumers a new flavoured lip balm 12 times a year; with flavours like caramel and mojito, its current line features limited-edition jar labels created by designer Jack Featherstone. Bonbon currently delivers only within Europe, where shipping is free. One to partner with or emulate for lip balm fans in other parts of the world...? (Related: Limited-edition art by yearly subscription — High-end beauty samples by curated subscription — Luxury women's panties by curated subscription — Subscription service for men's underclothes — Men's skincare by subscription, in two seasonal kits — More baked goods by subscription, now in the UK — Sustainable baked goods by weekly subscription — Handpicked shoes by monthly subscription — Handmade greeting cards by monthly subscription — Razor blades by subscription, delivered to the door.) Website: www.bonbonbalm.com/pages/club-bonbon |
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Crowdsourcing has already proven a highly effective way to innovate new solutions to a variety of problems, as we've seen on numerous occasions. Sustainability, not surprisingly, is an oft-targeted problem among those examples — the Globe Forum, for instance, focuses squarely on that one — and recently we came across another: Myoo Create. Now in beta, UK-based Myoo Create (“Myoo” is short for “me” and “you”) aims to help organizations put the crowds to work solving environmental and social challenges. Organizations begin by signing up with the site and posting a challenge they'd like to see solved; they also offer a specific prize for the best solution. The Myoo Create community then brainstorms and submits solutions to the challenge, which then become available for evaluation, voting and feedback from other participants on the site. The process varies with each contest, but generally there's one prize for the crowd favourite, while the ultimate winner is selected with the input of expert judges. Organizations involved so far include Levi Strauss & Co. and National Geographic. Incubated by Adventure Ecology, Myoo Create is a for-profit enterprise that earns revenue from consulting and by charging a fee from organizations that post challenges. Community participation, on the other hand, is free. Eventually, Myoo aims to allow community members to post challenges as well through a “do-it-yourself” service. Sustainable entrepreneurs: one to try out for your next big project? (Related: 'Elite' crowdsourcing service taps an invitation-only crowd — Crowdsourcing site helps publishers find new authors — Crowdsourced dream cars inspired by destinations — Greeting-card maker pays for top crowdsourced designs — Crowdsourcing economic solutions for Ireland — Crowdsourcing graphic design — Crowdsourcing platform — Crowdsourcing the sales force — Crowdsourcing product improvements.) Website: www.myoocreate.com Spotted by: Chelsea Souter |
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After all the high-end desserts we've covered over the years, it's become mouth-wateringly clear that there's no limit to the heights of beauty masterfully prepared food can achieve. Recently, however, we came across a Chicago 'bakery' that has found a novel way to tap into the cake shop's appeal. Whereas most visually tantalizing confections are desserts, Chicago's Meatloaf Bakery brings beauty to one of America's favourite — and yet perhaps most homely — comfort foods. The innovative store features an assortment of ready-to-go meatloaf “cupcakes,” full-size meatloaf “pastries” and bite-size “Loafies,” all prepared as beautifully as a high-end sweet. Mashed potato is typically the “frosting” used to decorate a meatloaf base, though vegetables and even pasta sometimes stand in instead. A variety of meats underlie the Meatloaf Bakery's many offerings, and there are even salmon, chicken and gluten-free vegetarian versions. Sides and desserts are available too. Pricing on a single-serve meatloaf “cupcake” begins at USD 7.95. Most of Meatloaf Bakery's business is carry-out, it says, but in-store dining and delivery are also possible. If there's any better proof of our “everything can be upgraded” mantra, we sure can't think of it. Meanwhile, the Meatloaf Bakery is working on developing shipping capabilities so it can spread the beauty of meatloaf nationwide. One to partner with toward that end — or beyond..? (Related: Vegetarian butcher serves up lupin-based meat substitutes — Butcher shop installs vending machine for service 24/7 — Bakery focuses on bite-size treats — Mini size me!.) Website: www.themeatloafbakery.com Spotted by: Steven Sester |
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Just as San Francisco-based PlayPlanit offers a curated view of the city's best activities for kids, so Creative Everyone aims to serve up a guide to the best creative events in a variety of disciplines. Now in beta, Creative Everyone relies on an international network of editors to post what they think are the most worthwhile events in their particular areas of interest and region. The UK-based site currently serves Manchester, Glasgow and London along with Boston, New York, LA and San Francisco. People interested in architecture, dance, film or other creative events in those cities can browse by theme, location and type; those who register to become members can also bookmark the ones that catch their eye in a personal diary. Members can post their own event suggestions as well, and if those listings prove to be popular, Creative Everyone may bestow editor status on the suggesting members. Coming soon from Creative Everyone is a way for members to find and follow friends on the site, as well as a way for venue owners to promote their events. Additional cities will be added to the site's coverage as well. There's clearly no end in sight to the need for curation! (Related: At bar/gallery/pizzeria, photographers take turns curating exhibits.) Website: www.creativeeveryone.com Spotted by: Jonathan Kyle |
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Though they're all important parts of sustainability, the 3Rs of waste management — reduce, reuse and recycle — are not equally effective. Rather, they're intended as a hierarchy, with the goal of first reducing waste as much as one can, then reusing as much as possible, and then finally recycling at the end of an item's useful life. Aiming to extend the “reuse” stage for more industrial materials, Houston-based RecycleMatch helps companies with unwanted waste find companies that want to reuse it. Similar in many ways to BoxCycle — which focuses specifically on cardboard boxes — RecycleMatch seeks “to create an industrial ecosystem in which the use of energy and materials are optimized, waste is minimized, and there is an economically viable role for every product of a manufacturing process,” in the site's own words. Toward that end, companies with items to dispose of begin by listing them for free on the site, which will accept almost anything but equipment, trucks, salvage or other capital assets. The listing company's name is kept confidential, but other RecycleMatch participants can see descriptions and photos of the materials in question along with the quantities available and their location. When another company is interested and a match is made, the owner pays RecycleMatch a fee of USD 10 per ton for a period of up to three years plus a one-time match fee of USD 1,500. The buyer, meanwhile, pays a one-time finder's fee of USD 250. Users can also post “wanted” listings on the site for a one-time fee of USD 500. More than 3 million pounds of waste materials have already been diverted from landfills, RecycleMatch says, with obvious benefits for the environment, the companies involved and any zero-waste goals being pursued. Currently, however, RecycleMatch serves only US users. One to partner with or emulate in your part of the sustainable world...? (Related: Online exchange for builders' surplus goods — Community-focused deconstruction & salvage.) Website: www.recyclematch.com Spotted by: Jonathan Kyle |
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