From left to right: Joe Baratelli (Rubin Postaer and Associates), Debbie Levin (Environmental Media Association), Magali Delmas (UCLA), Steve Boyd (Tern Bicycles), Mark Gold (UCLA).

EMA President Debbie Levin recently participated in a discussion hosted by the UCLA Center for Corporate Environmental Performance to talk about corporate sustainability and the growth of the ‘green consumer’.

Joining the discussion were Magali Delmas, Professor of Management at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Anderson School of Management, Joe Baratelli, Executive Creative Director at Rubin Postaer and Associates, and Steve Boyd, General Manager of North America at Tern Bicycles, a leading manufacturer of folding bicycles.

The speakers discussed several topics such as who are green consumers, what are they buying, and why? According to Magali Delmas in just 20 years, U.S. sales of organic food and beverages have surged from $1 billion (in 1990) to nearly $27 billion (in 2010).

Debbie Levin explained how EMA harnesses the entertainment industry to motivate sustainable lifestyles by sharing the story of how EMA worked with Toyota and the Hollywood community to get celebrities to show up to awards shows in a Prius and how that set the stage for the vehicle became synonymous with “cool,” thereby helping motivate the trend of purchasing the Prius.

Levin added that celebrities want to be smart and passionate about causes, so they love supporting and being affiliated with the environmental movement.

The Corporate Partners Workshop was sponsored by the Institute’s Corporate Partners Program, the UCLA Center for Corporate Environmental Performance, and Net Impact. To read more about the event, click here.

“This is really getting people to change their behaviors and that’s one of the most difficult things to do frequently and we hope people are going to understand that,” says Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle who signed the ban last week.

According to EcoWatch, the ban was not done by the state legislature, but instead by all four County Councils—a great example of local activists and decision makers addressing the serious issue of plastic pollution.

We applaud Hawaii for being the first state to ban plastic bags and hope that their actions will set the stage for other states to follow.

1. Bring your own bags. This is so easy to do. At the same time, it’s just as easy for us to get caught in an unplanned trip to the store and not have any bags. Avoid this scenario by keeping those reusable bags everywhere – in your car, in your bicycle basket, next to your keys, etc.
2. Buy things with little packaging. If you have a choice between two products, one wrapped in plastic and cardboard and more plastic, and one with minimal packaging, choose the one with the minimal packaging. It took less energy to create and will leave less of a carbon footprint. Plus, minimal packaging creates less waste.
3. Shop the perimeter. In food writer, Michael Pollan’s 7 Rules for Eating, he advises that you stay out of the middle of the grocery store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.
4. Buy local and seasonal. Just because your super market might carry watermelons in December doesn’t mean you should buy one (unless you’re in the Southern hemisphere, then go right ahead). It takes energy, gas, and not to mention carbon offsets for fruit and veggies to get from far away places to a shelf at your local market. Plus, the closer it was grown, the fresher the produce is likelier to be.
5. Read the ingredients. Avoid buying foods that contain unnatural sounding substances. A lot of those ingredients are chemicals, which may not necessarily be unsafe, but they do impact the environment. We can pretty much guarantee that something with only a few ingredients is going to be better for you (and the environment) than something like a Twinkie.

As an extra bonus – try not to buy disposable items like paper napkins and paper towels. Instead use dish towels and cloth napkins. You’ll save money and create less waste!

What did we miss? What are some of your tips for ways to be more eco-conscious at the grocery store?

Each afternoon, the previous day’s winner is announced and a fresh batch of five finalist organizations will be ready to compete for votes. Vote once a day because each vote counts and each day brings another new car to another deserving organization.

Vote now for your favorite nonprofit of the day to win a car and then tell your friends to do the same!

In March, Toyota launched their 100 Cars for Good campaign, a national philanthropy program in which the automaker is giving away 100 cars to 100 nonprofits over the course of 100 days. Two of the six models Toyota is giving away are hybrids!

• The Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown, NJ, which can now pick up donations of food that used to be turned away due to a lack of transportation, allowing it to provide meals and food to even more people in need;

• Camp Casey, a program near Detroit that provides horseback riding visits for kids with cancer that is now able to expand its reach to families in other parts of the state; and

• Washington, DC’s Aleethia Foundation, whose new minivan enables it to transport wounded veterans recovering at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to much needed social nights away from the hospital.

As part of the 100 Cars for Good program, Toyota will provide every finalist with a digital video camera, training toolkit and free online advertising credits to help them create or expand their presence in social media and other digital platforms. The nonprofit finalists can use these resources for their 100 Cars campaign and can continue to build on them after the program.

100 Cars for Good applications will be open for two weeks (until Monday, March 26 at 11:59 am PST]), or until 5,000 applications are received.  From this group, 500 finalists will be selected and certified by an independent panel of experts.  Finalists will be notified in April.

To learn more about the campaign and apply, click here.

Flashback to the 20th Annual Environmental Media Awards! Green tips from Blythe Danner, Jason Mraz, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Ed Begley Jr.

Unfortunately, there is very little regulation around products that claim to be green but aren’t. However, there are certain labels, applied by third parties such as nonprofits or government agencies that can help us detect which products are actually sincere in their claims to be sustainable.

According to Triple Pundit, the following eco-labels seem to be the most trustworthy by consumers:

Government: USDA Organic and Energy Star are government issued labels that require adherence to very specific standards, carry hefty fines for misuse, and require certification and testing of operations and products by an accredited certification agent. Other government issued labels include: the Green Vehicle Guide, Design for Environment, and WaterSense programs from the EPA, the USDA BioPreferred program, and the Canadian EcoLogo programs.

Nonprofits and NGOs: Some of the better known NGO labels are GreenSeal, Green America, Fair Trade USA, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, EPEAT, and the US Green Building Council’s LEED certification program. All of these programs have rigorous standards that products and companies must meet prior to earning the use of the seal or label.

For profits: For profit companies all require audits and verification of standards, and also provide advice and consulting services to bring their clients into “compliance” with their standards. Some reputable for-profit companies include UL Environment (ULE) and TerraChoice, a sustainability consulting firm and manager of Canada’s EcoLogo program.

There are plenty of other trustworthy eco-labels out there. The best way to avoid greenwashing is to research the company before you buy their product, and trust your instincts. If it’s too good to be true (or green), it probably isn’t.

How does it work? According to its website, EcoVéa continuously analyzes, sorts and treats water during a shower through an innovative, patented system. Dirty water is drained away while clean water is reused after filtering and antibacterial treatment.

The EcoVéa always guarantees its users water that is clean – sometimes even cleaner than the source water from the supply system.

A 10 minute shower uses approximately 25 gallons of water. The EcoVéa will reduce that number to approximately 8 gallons. At the same time, the use of less water means the use of less energy. The EcoVéa allows savings of up to 80% in energy consumption of a hot shower.

The EcoVéa is also equipped with an electronic pad that eliminates the need for manual faucets. Users can set and store their desired temperature and water flow, and also record water savings provided by the system.

The EcoVéa base is available in a variety of finishes to match existing bathroom decor. It is expected to retail for around $3,000.

Click here to learn more.

The garden is in full bloom with everything from carrots, to peppers, watermelons, roses, basil, cilantro, and everything in between growing beautifully!

Rachelle toured the garden and got her hands dirty by digging in.

The Helen Bernstein High School garden is sponsored by LAcarGUY and Toyota of Hollywood.

Click here to see more photos from Rachelle’s garden visit.

“The all-new RAV4 EV marries the efficiency of an EV with the versatility of a small SUV – in fact, it is the only all-electric SUV on the market” said Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota division.The RAV4 EV is the product of a unique collaboration with Tesla Motors spurred by Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation.

The RAV4 EV will go on sale in late summer 2012 through select dealers, initially in four major California metropolitan markets including Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles/Orange County and San Diego. Sales volume is planned for approximately 2,600 units over the next three years. The battery warranty is 8 years or 100,000 miles.

“We believe that the RAV4 EV will attract sophisticated early technology adopters, much like the first-generation Prius,” said Carter. “It’s designed for consumers who prioritize the environment and appreciate performance. We look forward to seeing how the market responds.”

The MSRP on a fully-equipped new RAV4 EV is $49,800.

Click here to read more about the new RAV4 EV.