This is the season of plastic bags stuck in trees. Stray shopping bags–many of them white, with handles, perhaps from a deli or a fruit-and-vegetable store originally–roll along the streets, fill with air, levitate like disembodied undershirts, fly, snag by their handles in the branches. Trees wave them in the breeze. They luff an whirr like spinnakers and twist into knots. Daniel, a guy who works at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, was removing a plastic bag from a Japanese flowering cherry tree at the eastern Parkway entrance with a leaf rake as I walked by. He held the rake above him at arm’s length and snatched at the bag with the tines. It took him a while; finally, he pulled the bag down and squashed it into a ball in his hand. I asked if I could see it. Its blue logo read, “MARTIN PAINT…’It Ain’t Just Paint.’ “

-Ian Frazier, “Stuck in Trees”

I came across Ian Frazier’s now iconic New Yorker essay the other day, in a May, 24, 1993 issue of the magazine I’d found, jumbled amongst late-80s Gourmet’s and 70s Good Housekeeping’s, in the consignment store down the street from my apartment. In a nation of people largely apathetic to plastic bags, Frazier stands out. Not content with mere grumbling, Frazier and two of his friends, Tim and Bill McClelland, formed a “Bag Snagger” society and started spending their Saturdays patrolling the sidewalks and parks of the five boroughs, using an improvised elongated rake to snag the bags from their treeside perches. Eventually the men had their snagging device patented, and started what is now, in Frazier’s estimation, a “multi-hundred dollar” company, Bag Snaggers Inc.

The Bag Snatchers garnered a fair amount of success, earning Parks and Rec volunteer cards, an order from Bette Midler for the clean-up crew she sponsors, a free lunch from an elderly woman on the UES, a $1 bill, trips to the banks of the Mississippi and Los Angeles Rivers on snagging missions, and a standing invitation to remove the mylar balloons that dot the starry green sky of Grand Central’s dome. Frazier wrote two follow-up pieces for the New Yorker, “Bags in Trees II,” and “Bags in Trees: A Retrospective,” appeared as himself in the film Blue in the Face, talking about bags.

In their heyday,the Bag Snaggers removed hundreds of bags a week, upwards of ten thousand a year. That leaves approximately 999,990,000 bags floating down our streets, clogging up our landfills, strangling marine life, and, yes, hunkering down in our trees. The easiest way to decrease that number is, of course, to put a ban on the production and dispersal of plastic bags, as California attempted to do with AB 1998, a measure put forth by Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica).

Among the bill’s stipulations:

• After July 2011, stores are forbidden to provide customers with plastic bags.
• Stores must either make reusable bags available for purchase or, for a .$25 fee, provide paper bags.
• The paper bag fees go straight to a Paper Bag Pollution Cleanup Fund, administered by the state treasury.
• The treasury must deliver a report on the bill’s effectiveness, along with suggestions about further implementation of resuable bags, to the state legislature on or before January 2015.

AB 1998 is a very straightforward measure, but from its introduction this past February, the bill has been the subject of heavy controversy. Among the ayes were the California Grocers Association, environmental groups, municipal legislatures, and state governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The nays included  many Republican and some Democrat senators, who worried that the loss of jobs caused by the bill would override and environmental benefits, and the American Chemistry Council, which oversees the plants that produce plastic bags, and ran radio and television attack ads along with an extremely forceful and well-funded lobbying campaign.

Because Belgrave Trust is a green company, we’re often asked for our opinions on environmental issues, and while it’s hard not to go with our personal gut feelings, doing the research to validate or rescind them is worth the extra legwork. In the case of AB 1998, the facts, from a carbon-cutting perspective, are not decisive: on the one hand, plastic bags are made from polyethylene, a petroleum byproduct, they are not fully–nor cheaply–recyclable, not biodegradable, and emit dioxins and heavy metals when burned. On the other hand, to make paper bags, you need to kill trees, nature’s carbon capture devices, and you need to use 4 times the amount of energy you do in producing plastic bags. Add in paper’s 12% share of landfill methane (compared to plastic’s 4%), and the fact that, while some people do recycle their paper bags, most end up as cardboard, ie the demand for the bags doesn’t lower, and you’ve got yourself a pretty even battle.

The fact is, if you want to help the environment, you need to go the reusable bag route, which AB 1998 encourages but doesn’t mandate. Yes, plastic bags are horrid, and they certainly supply a very visceral reminder of how a seemingly trivial habit can damage the planet, but from an ecological and environmental perspective, paper bags aren’t much better—and in some cases, they’re worse (click here for a detailed visual breakdown on paper vs plastic).

So while, symbolically, the ratification of AB 1998 would have represented a huge step forward in the “Americans DO care about the environment” movement,” those in favor of it should take its rejection as a cause to create a more comprehensive, and more environmentally beneficial, plan of action.

Unfortunately, we found that some—though not all—of these establishments might not be as green or as palatable as they first seemed. Carbon-neutral restaurants are a possibility and they may exist in the future, but it is important to keep in mind that being carbon neutral is not as easy as it appears.

Earlier this year, Otarian opened its doors in Manhattan’s Midtown and Greenwich Village. Its motto: Save the world, “one Otarian meal at a time.” All the items on the menu are listed with a carbon-loaded equivalent and the amount of CO2e reduced by ordering Otarian’s version. Example: By ordering Otarian’s “Indian Chutney Burger” (1.32kg CO2e) instead of a standard Tex-Mex burger (2.28kg CO2e), you reduce CO2e worldwide by .96kg.

The concept is unique and appealing, however after perusing dozens of reviews on various websites, the general impression leaves little to be desired. Many people were simply unhappy with the food. Several reviewers on Yelp said the food “was very small microwave meals with a very huge price tag,” “overpriced airplane food,” and “nothing seems fresh and there is a ton of fried food.” Others wrote that the food was okay, but not worth the “exhorbitant” prices. Many, including the Village Voice, found discrepancies between the restaurant’s ethos and its heavy use of packaging (albeit compostable packaging), bottled water, and Coca-Cola sodas—which have quite a high carbon footprint. To top it all off, gimmicky lines like “How do you want to save carbon today?” and “It’s what the planet would order,” irritated reviewers—back in May, Esquire observed, ”This is a low-carbon restaurant, and they force it down your throat.”

Otarian’s legitimacy aside, it’s a fact that many restaurants are trying to make a positive difference. The most attainable—and delicious—way to green a restaurant? Go local-organic, install water and energy efficient equipment, turn to alternate power sources whenever possible, and reduce waste. Founded in 1990, the Green Restaurant Association is a non-profit organization that provides a convenient and cost-effective way for restaurants, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers to become more environmentally responsible. The association helps companies become more sustainable and earn green certification rankings. The organization uses a point system to rate restaurants based on several factors like:

1. Water Efficiency
2. Waste Reduction and Recycling
3. Sustainable Furnishings and Building Materials
4. Sustainable Food
5. Energy
6. Disposables
7. Chemical and Pollution Reduction

Green diners can also go on their website to look up certified restaurants in their area. Right now, the website provides listings for New York City, Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

Here are a handful of “3-star Green Restaurants” in NYC:

• Gustorganics: It claims to be the NYC’s first certified organic restaurant and bar. The restaurant only uses 100% organic ingredients and that includes its drinks too.
• Rogue Tomate : The restaurant offers modern American cuisine heavily relying on locally grown produce. Rouge Tomate reduces its carbon imprint by choosing ecological materials made from recycled or recyclable elements; using Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood for floor and furniture, employing energy-efficient equipment  ovens, refrigerators and lighting systems; separating waste and composting all food items and appropriate materials; giving preference to local and seasonal products; buying meats and poultry from farmers who feed animals with local plants; and featuring wines by viticulturists who follow organic and biodynamic principles.
• Candle 79: The all-vegan, seasonal menu is composed of entirely organic and plant-based ingredients. The restaurant uses recyclable materials and emphasizes waste reduction.

To see more of NYC’s green certified restaurants, click here

Other notable green restaurants around the country:

• Uncommon Ground: Forget produce grown 100-300 miles away– this restaurant in Chicago grows most of its produce in a certified organic garden on its own roof! The restaurant’s water is solar-powered, and its furnishings are made from reclaimed and reused materials.
• Taranta: This Peruvian-Southern Italian fusion restaurant in Boston is on the verge of becoming a 3 Star Green Restaurant, thanks to green practices including swapping out chemical cleaners for iodized water, recycling and composting leftover food, and using super efficient spray valves that consume .65 gallons per minute, 60% lower than the legal limit of 1.6 gallons per minute.
• Cups: Cups is an Organic Cupcake Lounge in the heart of La Jolla, San Diego’s world-famous shopping district, the Village. Currently, it is the only restaurant and bakery in the city that has earned the 3 Star Green Restaurant certification.

[Image Credit: Iateapie.net]

Here is a quick snapshot of just a few of the many people that have influenced the climate change movement:

• Jean Jouzel: He started his career studying hailstones, not knowing that one day he would become one of the leading specialists on climatic shifts. A climatologist and glaciologist renowned for his work in Antarctica and Greenland, Jean Jouzel is considered a pioneer in the reconstruction of climate history. He is the director of the CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique) and received the highest French scientific award, the CNRS Gold Medal with Claude Lorius for archiving glacial shifts. Constantly faced with the heated debate surrounding climate change, his research has been published in more than 350 articles within various international journals. In an interview published in The Global Journal, he discussed the challenges the globe faces in reducing greenhouse gas emissions without countries that are willing to make commitments to reach a specific goal. In his closing comments, he wanted to note that “April 2010 was the warmest month ever recorded on the planet.”

• Andy Revkin: Currently the senior fellow at Pace University’s Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies and the award-winning blogger of the New York Times‘ Dot Earth blog, Revkin is perhaps best known for exposing the impact of climate change on the North Pole. The Arctic Rush, a Discovery-Times channel documentary about climate change at the North Pole he shot and co-produced with Craig Duff, won the National Association of Science Writers’ “Science-in-Society” award; his “The Big Melt” series on NYTimes.com offers extensive multi-media coverage of Arctic melting. Along with stints as the senior editor of Discover and senior writer at Science Digest, Revkin is the author of three benchmark books on the Amazon rainforest, global warming, and the North Pole.

• Wangari Maathai: Known as the “tree woman,” Wangari Maathai founded The Green Belt Movement in Kenya in 1977 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in  2004. The movement has since planted more than 10 million trees to prevent soil erosion and provide firewood for cooking fires. Poor women in the villages of Kenya mostly planted the trees, restoring their environment and providing paid work. Maathai gained worldwide attention in 1998 by helping to defeat plans by Kenya’s president to clear hundreds of acres of forest for luxury housing. Jailed several times by previous administrations, she was elected to parliament in 2002 and is now the country’s environment minister. Today, The Green Belt Movement aims to plant one billion trees around the world, as well as supporting other efforts to create a healthier environment.

• Al Gore: His documentary An Inconvenient Truth shook up the planet and created an awareness for global warming that was unprecedented. In October of 2007, Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were awarded the Nobel Prize.The film won an Oscar award as well as many other film awards related to inspiring a positive social movement. Al Gore has put global warming solidly on the American political agenda.

• James Hansen: According to Discover Magazine : Al Gore won a Nobel Prize for explaining global warming to the world, but James Hansen was the one who explained climate change to Al Gore. Hansen, a NASA climatologist, started voicing that climate change would accelerate more quickly than originally calculated in 1981. By the end of the decade, his computer models showed that humans were heating the planet and as a result, serious problems would occur. The impact of Hansen’s research and outspoken laments against wasteful consumerism helped fuel the green movement.

1) The Daily Green

Pitched as the consumer’s guide to the green revolution, this website has everything and anything you need to know about green news, cuisine, products, tips and tricks.  Senior editor Dan Shapley learned about the environment by growing up in the upstate New York with a family that reduced, reused and recycled as a way of life. Born and founded on Earth Day 2007, the quirky website includes interesting headings like “Weird Weather Watch” and a blog called, “The Green Cheapskate.” The stories are clear and concise without being bogged down in too much technical jargon.

2) Grist :  A Beacon in the Smog

Add Grist.org to your Google Reader for its unique green perspective on news and technology stories.  Reporting on green newssince 1999, Grist started focusing on climate change long before the green revolution. The website is another great resource for entertaining stories with punchy headlines. Grist has a fun discussion section called “Ask Umbra” where readers can get green advice on everything from “where to buy slime free hamburger meat?” to “hair dye that won’t kill you or the planet.”  Also, join Umbra’s book club for the latest published green works.

3) Ecorazzi: The Latest in Green Gossip

Are you missing your People magazine? You can turn to this site to catch up on the the green or not-so-green lives of the rich and famous. With celebrities like Meg Ryan, Leonardo Dicaprio and Cameron Diaz speaking out on environmental issues, people of all ages are inspired to join their causes. Who the latest celebrity to join PETA’s cause? Is the Dalai Lama the ultimate freegan? This is website to find out.

4) Jetson Green

Jetson Green is a fascinating blog about green innovation and residential building. The blog was founded by Preston Koerner, a LEED AP, as a MBA student to chronicle latest building trends. The website is updated daily and on the pulse of the newest and greenest technology on the planet. The website is a preview of our future homes in five to ten years. Full resources, it is bursting with informative articles, cool pictures, videos and links.

5) Mother Nature Network

Mother Nature’s Network has one goal: to help you improve the world. MNN organizes its site with eight different channels, each providing in-depth news and information updated throughout the day: Earth Matters, Lifestyle, Green Tech, Eco-Biz, Transportation, Your Home, Food, and Family. MNN  also has a special section called “Translating Uncle Sam,” a guide to issues on governmental websites translated in simpler, more understandable terms.  Simplicity is what they advocate and in turn, their website is simply designed and very user-friendly. Whether you are green novice or expert, MNN is the perfect resource for a green living.

BELGRAVE TRUST ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIPS WITH KAVOO AND ARTHAMPTONS, PREMIER BRANDS IN PRIVATE AVIATION AND ART

Through Carbon Offsetting Companies Will Incentivize Emission Reductions While Raising Environmental Awareness Among Their Guests

New York – July 6, 2010 – Belgrave Trust today announced partnerships with Kavoo aviation service and highlight of the Hamptons summer season, ArtHamptons (and sister event ArtAspen), making all three entities carbon neutral for the first time. Known for providing their clientele with a world class experience and service, these quality brands are now taking a sustainable approach to their business operations. A social enterprise, Belgrave Trust leverages innovation and markets to help companies and individuals live carbon neutral.

“Kavoo and ArtHamptons are among the absolute best at what they do,” said Belgrave Trust Founding Member Nicholas Baily, “and we’re honored to partner with companies that not only share a vision for sustainable business operations, but also set the bar for high quality and service.”

Belgrave Trust has worked closely with each partner to identify their sources of emissions, evaluate quantities, and offset them using its diversified portfolio of carbon reduction projects. Projects in Belgrave Trust’s actively managed portfolio are selected after close and careful evaluation. Through diligence and diversification, risk is minimized while resources are channeled to innovative climate change solutions, from clean energy development to demand reduction. Belgrave Trust is committed to high quality delivery on product, service, and outcomes.

Providing private air service to over 500 airports in the northeast, Kavoo makes business and personal air travel pleasurable and efficient. By enabling business travelers to more easily access smaller cities that major airlines don’t directly connect to and providing greater scheduling flexibility, customers save time and emissions that would be spent on multiple connections and hotel stays otherwise. The company’s Cirrus SR22 planes also require significantly less fuel than turbine powered flights, with no sacrifice in convenience. Belgrave Trust will offset emissions from Kavoo’s fleet and business operations going forward on a monthly basis.

Anticipated summer season highlights in their respective communities, ArtHamptons and ArtAspen annually give more than 20,000 art enthusiasts a museum quality experience, featuring art from a renowned lineup of international galleries. This year’s event will feature the work of 600 respected artists from 7 countries. Belgrave Trust will measure and offset emissions resulting directly from the events including facilities, hospitality, transport, and on-site energy usage.

Tapping the power of global markets via an actively managed offset portfolio, Belgrave Trust helps members and partners spur game changing innovation, increase demand for clean energy solutions, and drive positive change. Founded on the principles of ease through simplicity, innovation via markets, and strength from diversification, Belgrave Trust is a single point choice, and the most efficient and effective approach for businesses and individuals to live carbon neutral.

To comprehensively measure your carbon footprint in minutes (no commitment necessary) and become a member visit Belgrave Trust at http://www.BelgraveTrust.com.

Not literally, of course! But yes, the East End’s most prestigious art fair is now environmentally friendly. I went to the inaugural ArtHamptons, back in 2008, and I remember, distinctly, three things:

• The quality, and quantity, of the art was fantastic, ranging from old school cubists (Picasso) and realists (Andrew Wyeth) to new school splatterers (Pollack), printmakers (Jasper Johns), and pop-artists (Lichtenstein, Warhol).
• The tents—I think at that time there were four—were enormous. We’re talking big-top level, possibly bigger. Also, they were freezing; the tennis ladies were rocking major goosebumps.
• Yellow heirloom tomato Bloody Marys are delightful, especially when they’re free.

Two years later, ArtHamptons is bigger than ever: 93 galleries are coming this year, up from 2008’s 60. Erasing the carbon footprint of an event this large ain’t no greenwashing, folks, and we were thrilled and impressed when the ArtHamptons team asked us to do it.

To figure out the grand total, our team examined the number of galleries, where they were coming from and by which means of transportation. We examined the size of the tents and their energy requirements. We examined the number of meals served, the number of staff on hand, and the shipping of materials. We examined, we calculated, and once we’d arrived at a number, we allocated the proportionate amount of offset credits for retirement. End result: a carbon neutral ArtHamptons.

To me, this partnership is so important because it unites intent with action, and proves that, yes, you can throw a massive and lavish event for 15,000 people and still make it eco-conscious. Here’s to another successful ArtHamptons; here’s to carbon-cutting solutions; here’s to us. Oh, and here’s to flying in on a Kavoo charter plane! Hope to see you there—we’ll be the good-looking ones with full glasses.

Cheers,

Some background: I’m a hot-off-the-press NYU grad—Go Violets (or Bobcats, depending on the day and sporting event)! My background is mostly in the editorial side of the web—I’ve worked for several sites, and started a few of my own. I was born in New Hampshire, grew up in Boston, moved to New York four years ago, and have been blinded by the bright lights of this big city ever since.
Here at Belgrave, in addition to revamping the blog and handling some of the social media, I’ll be working on ways to help Belgrave Trust bring our message of sustainability and direct action to stop climate change to the world, our readers, members, fans. — and you! I want you to enjoy coming to our main site, blog, facebook page, and twitter. It’s you out there that makes real change possible, so I’d like to make your experience with us as pleasant as possible. If you have suggestions on improvements to any of our existing platforms, or think we should be exploring new ones, please let me know!
Over and out,

• Preparation – Jason and the team explain what to expect, and what’s worked and what hasn’t for other presenters. It’s clear that it’s not a sports type event, they truly want everyone to succeed, every time. No arrogance or intimidation, and this trickles down to the attendee attitudes too; it’s a collaborative culture.
• Focus – There’s a laser-like concentration on the product. The format is all about show us what you’ve done, don’t tell us what you think you’re going to do. Everyone presenting had either a working demo or was fully launched, some with major traction already. Less hot air, more seeing cool ideas in action
• Speed – As a presenter I can’t lie, I wouldn’t have minded 15 or 20 minutes instead of a strict 5 and 5 minute present and Q&A format. But that’s selfish, because it works. Angels are busy; get to the point. Given the intimate size of the crowd, save the elaboration for one-on-ones later.
• Credibility – It’s not an auditorium, but every one of the Angels in the room has funded start-ups regularly and recently. It’s hard to overstate how important that is, it makes for less vapor and hype on both sides of the table. (note: Mark Suster ref. intentional)
• Novelty – The presenters were all working outside of the same well-trodden normal channels. We were in from New York (not ideal, but our travel was offset of course)  and so was the great kid’s book app/site MeeGenius. Many of the others from SoCal were first time founders. And in one case, KidzMet, the founder was giving her first pitch to a potential investor ever. She’d managed to build a great service already though. Making new connections, that’s a real value-add.

So how did it go for the Belgrave Trust? Can’t say we’re objective, but pretty damn well as far as I’m concerned. Met some great people, were tipped to some great intros to come, heard a few brilliant ideas for how to make our service better (scribbled down furiously) as well as some constructive advice and the objective feedback and snap impressions of some really smart people being introduced to us for the first time. Couldn’t recommend it more highly. As I appropriately posted on Twitter late, late, late last night fueled by post-event buzz: “Hey entrepreneurs don’t sleep on this one.” Apply for the next Open Angel Forum, and kill it if you get a callback as a finalist, it’s worth your while.

And so on.

All well and good I guess. Nothing wrong with advertising to convince people to do something that’s worth doing. No reason not to grab people’s attention instead of boring them to death, right? Fair enough, but is there anything more than talk to all this? Well, as it turns out there was, when it got into specifics there were several “tactics” but one that I remember clearly:

“Use creative humor…. For example, you could create a weekly comic strip with yourselves as the characters, and your office as the background. What more memorable way to tell your story and make people laugh while you’re at it. Some call this a PR or communications business comic…”

It goes without saying that if you’re committed to solving major environmental problems you should always keep an open mind. But, I mean really? Really? For some reason this one stuck with me, I’ve heard some absurd marketing/corporate-speak but this one resonates. What on earth would a “Business Comic” even look like?

So I couldn’t resist: behold Belgrave Trust’s co-founders Jeff Stewart and Nick Baily (that’s me) in our first “Business Comic”

To actually see/read this click on the image above for a full sized version

Note to self: Ignore marketing gurus, hell ignore “marketing” altogether unless it’s genuine. This issue is way too important. There’s a lot of people coming into green these days hawking all sorts of things. For those that have cared about this for many years frankly this is a great thing, the more attention, help and resources the better.

But there won’t be any gurus or quick fixes. How about we all spread the word about climate change, and the need we all share to be a part of the solution?

Personally, we think Belgrave Trust is the most efficient and effective way to offset your footprint, drive innovation, and get us closer to a solution. If you’d like to live carbon neutral today there’s a big button up and to your right, and we hope you’ll join our community, as mentioned, today. There’s no reason to wait, our members are sending resources right this second to people actively working on real solutions.

But if you don’t, then please do something. Find a way to reduce your emissions, to live a more sustainable life. Be knowledgeable and informed. Convince a friend. Act.

Change the world by changing whatever corner of the world you inhabit. Look around. Think locally in order to act globally.

So if that’s “marketing” then we’re for that. Let’s all do it, please help us spread the word. Subscribe to the Belgrave Trust Twitter feed covering all things climate change, carbon, and green, and send us ideas, or use our ideas. Join our rapidly growing community on Facebook’s Belgrave Trust sub-page and interact. Take out advertising, write op-eds. Even create online games, viral programs, iPhone or Facebook apps. There’s nothing wrong with “marketing” at all, as long as it’s just an honest way to engage people in something that matters.

So, fine, let’s take the best of Madison Avenue if that’s what’s needed to gain attention, but I think this might be the first and last installment of our in-house office comic series.

Sorry guys.