Archive for the ‘Green Business Resources’ Category


Save the date—the 2010 Chicago Green Festival is May 22-23 at Navy Pier!

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Mark your calendars and save the date—the 2010 Chicago Green Festival is May 22-23 at Navy Pier!

Mimi’s Organic Exchange - September 12-13

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Local Market Mimi's Organic Exchange

Mimi’s Organic Exchange
and Leeway Room
855 West Blackhawk Street
Chicago, IL 60642 USA

Think globally, Enjoy locally.

Saturday, September 12th 12:00 - 7:00 pm
Sunday, September 13th 12:00 - 6:00 pm

The Local Market of Mimi’s Organic Exchange is the perfect place to shop local, unwind and learn about sustainable living. Items for sale range from essentials to one-of-a-kind. Local artisans will showcase a variety of products, including clothing and accessories, art, jewelry, stationary and home decor. Meet great holistic health and wellness service providers. Enjoy presentations and performances by featured local musicians, all conveniently located at 855 West Blackhawk, in the North Ave shopping corridor between REI on Halsted and Whole Foods on Kingsbury.

We invite you to support your community and learn how local artisans create sustainable living and a greener tomorrow

Mimi’s Organic Exchange is not just an event. It’s an experience. It’s a way of life.

the Local Market of Mimi’s Organic Exchange

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Local Market Mimi's Organic Exchange

LOCAL MARKET
Mimi’s Organic Exchange
and Leeway Room
855 West Blackhawk Street
Chicago, IL 60642 USA

Think globally, enjoy locally
Saturday, August 8th 12pm-7pm
Sunday, August 9th 12pm-6pm

The Local Market of Mimi’s Organic Exchange is the perfect place to shop local, unwind and learn about sustainable living. Items for sale range from essentials to one-of-a-kind. Local artisans will showcase a variety of products, including clothing and accessories, art, jewelry, stationary and home decor. Meet great holistic health and wellness service providers, and enjoy performances by featured local musicians.

Find the Market at the Leeway Room on Blackhawk - 2 blocks between the new REI Store on Halsted and Whole Foods on Kingsbury, off North Ave.

Featured last month in Local First Chicago, we invite you to support your community and learn how local artisans create sustainable living and a greener tomorrow. More markets September 12th-13th and the second weekend of every other month, starting in November.

Vendors, musicians and others interested in the MOE Market may contact Mimi Clayton at mimisorganicexchange@gmail.com or 773.991.3835. 
For updates and scheduling of MOE events, visit www.mimisorganicexchange.com. Held at Leeway Room: www.leetracy.com/space.html

Mimi’s Organic Exchange (MOE) is a business, arts and healing network committed to socially, environmentally and spiritually sustainable products and services. A cornerstone of Mimi’s Organic Exchange is creating community through support of local micro-businesses.

Green America’s latest Editorial Rethinks the GDP

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

The following article is from Green America’s editorial series which examines at the fatal design flaws in our economic system, looking to the green economy to provide insight and better solutions. The article responds to the drastic drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which was reported last month, and examines the effectiveness of using GDP as an evaluative guide in our current economic crunch as opposed to other indicators which give value to environmental preservation, quality, and societal well-being.

Fair Earth

Rethinking the GDP

February 26, 2009

When the Commerce Department announced the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the fourth quarter of 2008 at the end of January, they revealed a historical context for our economic slide – the 3.8% GDP shrinkage at the end of 2008 is the fastest pace for an economic slowdown in a quarter of a century.

Consumer spending, stated the Commerce Department, has fallen sharply, with big-ticket spending plunging even faster, falling off by 22% for the 2008 fourth quarter.

But what if the GDP – measuring the market value of a country’s economic output – isn’t the best indicator of societal well-being?

“GDP growth is mostly a measure of growth in consumption, which is the driving cause of environmental decline,” writes Positive Futures Network chair David Korten in his new book, Agenda for a New Economy. “Human health and well-being depend on a great many things that do have market value: food, housing, transportation, education, health care, and many other essentials of a healthy life. These, however, are means, not ends, and their real value is a function of how they contribute to improving human and natural health and vitality.”

Because the GDP measures quantity of consumption only, rather than quality of that consumption (and its costs to society or the environment), relying on such a measurement suggests an underlying assumption that material growth and wealth accumulation are the greatest goods. In actuality, the GDP remains largely silent on societal well-being.

For example, the GDP counts economic activity that produces horrific pollution alongside the economic activity required to clean up that pollution – as if there were no difference for society between the two.

As Korten points out, a rising GDP can occur alongside simultaneous social upheaval: “[The GDP] can be rising in the face of disintegrating families and a vanishing middle class, increasing prison populations, rising unemployment, the disruption of community, collapsing environmental systems, the hollowing out of domestic manufacturing capabilities, failing schools, growing trade deficits, and costly but senseless foreign wars.”

Instead of relying on the GDP as our primary economic measurement, Korten recommends adding extra-financial indicators to the GDP, as 150 other countries have already done. The Human Development Index (HDI), conceived by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, replaces a country’s GDP with a collection of measurements that examine the overall well-being of its people by looking at statistics on health, education, and standard-of-living.

Shifting from the GDP and its emphasis on growth to something like the HDI and its emphasis on environmental and social well-being would require a vast retooling of the role of business—particularly big business—in our society. Instead of focusing solely on growing their bottom lines to the detriment of our collective social and ecological well-being, companies would have to operate in ways that support the life expectancy and life satisfaction of their workers, customers, and communities. They would have to operate in ecologically efficient ways that restore, rather than destroy, the environment.

And for those companies that do harm instead?

Dr. Neva Goodwin, an economist at Tufts University, suggests we revive the practice of revoking their charters. “In the 19th century, it was understood that a corporate charter was given to allow a group of people to do something that was in the interest of society,” says Dr. Goodwin. “Corporate charters were sometimes given for limited periods of time, and if the producer wasn’t living up to their part of the bargain, the charter could be taken away.”

Another solution is to levy severe taxes on corporations that do harm, such as violating environmental rules, while giving tax breaks and incentives to corporations advancing the greater good, and contributing to an increased HDI.

Finally, regulations to reduce corporate influence in politics could help enact laws that push big business further toward ensuring that they operate in the interest of society rather than in the interest of their bottom lines.

The better path for our society is to turn away from of the GDP-focused model of relentless economic growth—which comes at a steep cost to human health and well-being, and to the environment—and toward a renewed emphasis on real wealth.

–Tracy Fernandez Rysavy

Chicago Green Festival May 17-18

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008


Date
May 17 and 18, 2008

Show Hours
Saturday 10AM- 8PM
Sunday 11AM- 6PM

Venue and Address
Navy Pier
600 E Grand Avenue, Chicago

Come and see the wealth of businesses in Chicago that sell sustainable, ethically produced, and fair trade items! Get motivated and empowered by learning how your actions and decisions can affect the health of our planet.

See the Green Festival website for more information.

Chicago Green Business Conference May 15-16

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Interested in the ins-and-outs of running a Green Business?

Co-op America is hosting a conference May 15-16 at the historic Navy Pier. Connect with like-minded people and hear from some of today’s leaders in running socially-conscious businesses. Speakers include Sarah Snow, Bianca Alexander, Jason Graham-Nye, Sadhu Johnston, Chris Van Dyke, Bryan Welch, and others. CLICK HERE to register.



Press | Contact