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In this Issue:
1. SBC's First Annual Sustainability Awards
2. SBC Activities:
- Committee for the Built Environment
- Community Food Assessment Project
- Conference Planning
- Missoula Greenhouse Gas/Energy Conservation Team
- Other SBC Board Activities
- New Members
3. The SBC Web Site: A Tool for You
4. Member Profile: Meadowsweet Herbs
5. September's Sustainability Lecture: A Harvest of Knowledge
6. SBC Calendar of Events
7. Web Site of Interest
8. Member News Briefs
9. Member to Member Discounts
10. SBC Wish List
11. About the SBC
1. First Annual SBC SustainabilityAwards
At our May meeting, we presented our First Annual Sustainability Awards. While we realize no organization is completely sustainable at present, we wanted to recognize those organizations that have made significant progress toward sustainability.
We received nominations for several deserving organizations and individuals, making the selection process difficult. Due to the great pool of candidates, we increased the number of awards given from the three originally planned to five.
The final selection was based on criteria in each of the three areas of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic impacts and contributions. Organizations and individuals chosen had to show significant efforts to be sustainable or promote sustainability in each of the three areas. The following organizations and individuals were selected to receive this year's honors.
Sustainable Business of the Year
Meadowsweet Herbs (See page 4 for details.)
Sustainable Nonprofit of the Year
Home Resource, a used building materials recycling center that works to educate the public about recycling and employs handicap individuals when possible
Sustainable New Venture of the Year
The Fireplace, an organic pizzeria that uses recycled paper products, conserves energy, recycles, and empowers employees.
Sustainability Advocate of the Year
Rebecca Ritcher, Director of Missoula Urban Demonstration Project and Organizer of MINTS (Missoula Nonprofits for Sustainability), which is designed to foster collaboration between organizations addressing various aspects of sustainability
SBC Volunteer of the Year
Chuck Irestone, SBC Board Member and Web Master
Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners!
2. SBC Activities:
Committee for the Built Environment
The Committee has been meeting every other month to discuss green building techniques and projects that are underway or planned around town. The group co-sponsored the homeWORD Green Building Tour during July by providing a cash donation and provided a detailed list of web site links on green building and related resources for inclusion on the SBC web site. They have agreed to plan the January SBC Sustainability Lecture and have arranged for Kelly Karmel of Design Balance speak at that meeting. Additionally, the Committee continues to discuss the possibility of participating in a "building" project.
The Committee's next meeting will be held on October 13 at noon at The Fireplace Pizza, 241 West Main, Missoula. Participation is open to the public.
Community Food Assessment Project
As a continuation of our involvement with the advisory board for the Community Food Assessment Project, SBC Board member Jeannette Whitney-Williams applied for and was chosen as a member of the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition. The Coalition began meeting this summer and have set up working groups to address education and outreach; farmland protection and economic viability; food security, access, and consumption. They are pursuing projects in each of those areas. As part of their education and outreach campaign, they are planning a Harvest Festival for October 22 at Caras Park, noon to 4 p.m. The festival will include food, presentations, demonstrations, and music.
Conference Planning
The SBC Board is currently planning a conference on sustainability and the new economy of the West for next fall. The planning group meets monthly. Anyone interested in helping with planning, please call Susan Anderson at 543-5323 or email
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MissoulaGreenhouse Gas/Energy Conservation Team
The Missoula Greenhouse Gas/Energy Conservation Team has written and distributed a letter/article supporting the bio-diesel and is in the final stages of developing a fact sheet on recycling for the construction industry. The SBC as a co-facilitator of the Team has been providing research and administrative support for the Team.
The Team's next meeting will be held October 12 at noon in the Mayor's Conference room. To read the Missoula Greenhouse Gas-Energy Efficiency Plan or follow the activities of the Team visit: www.ci.missoula.mt.us/mayor/Greenhouse-energy.htm
Other SBC Board News
Three new members joined the board over the course of the spring and summer. They are Mike Kustudia, Kent Watson, and Jeff Mascornick. The new energy and ideas they bring to the Board are tremendous.
Board members have been helping with Missoula Nonprofits for Sustainability projects including production of a green map, a TV show on sustainability, and a calendar of sustainability events.
New Members in 2004-05
MMW Architects, Serenity Day Spa & Salon, Timeless Timber, Crazy Daisy Clothing Exchange, The Javaman, Flying Monkey Creative, Hands-on Therapy, MT Junior Cycling Foundation, Kent Watson & Associates, Open Road Bicycles and Nordic, Patagonia Outlet, Missoula Food Co-op, Authentic Creations, Kettlehouse Brewing, Zephyr Graphic Design, Bernice's Bakery, Boyce Lumber, Alpine Start Coffee and Tea House, Stensrud Building Event Center, Soft & Knotty, Bitterroot Herbarium, Rockin Rudy's, Missoula-in-Motion
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3. The SBC Web Site: A Tool for You
The SBC would like to highlight a few of the many benefits that our web site offers to members and encourage members to take full advantage of this great resource to help you get as much as possible from your membership.
Some Facts
The SBC web site gets an average of nearly 100 visits per day! The business member page receiving the most visits directly from the SBC web directory (The Good Food Store) averaged 200 visits per month.* Several other SBC members received between 40 – 80 visits per month.
For some, the SBC site provides an easy way to gain a presence on the web and is their only on-line presence (as is the case with The Good Food Store). Others use the SBC site as a gateway to their own web sites. About sixty percent of SBC members have links to their own websites.
The SBC site provides exposure for your business or organization, offers networking opportunities, provides advertising to a targeted audience (others in the community who value sustainable business practices and are looking to support businesses that share these values), and many other services for members and the Missoula community in general. The SBC provides these services, which could amount to hundreds of dollars a year in savings in web site expenses (web hosting, domain registration, etc), maintenance cost, and web design to all its business and organizational members.
What can members do to get the most benefit from this resource?
- Update information on your business or organization – this can be done via email
(
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) or by completing a member survey. EPI, Customer Carpets and Floors, Tipu’s, and other members have excellent listings that can be used as reference.
- Provide us with a link to your web site if you have one.
- Provide us with a logo to put on your business or organization’s SBC page.
- Let others (customers, members, or anyone) know about the web site.
Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to know more.
What is the SBC doing to help improve this resource?
We will begin to contact members to assist in improving member’s pages as well as the web site in general. We will be making an effort to increase our member base, which will benefit the organization itself as well as individual members. We will continue to promote the web site in our literature, public events, and presentations. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact us. The SBC values your support and we are dedicated to promoting sustainable business practices in the Missoula area.
* Note: Web site “visits” are not the same as web site “hits.” A “hit” is counted for each time an individual item is uploaded – so, if you have 10 pictures on a site a “hit” will be counted for each picture, etc. A “visit” is counted each time the site is fully uploaded.
Tip for the month:
In a recent on-line survey that included 15,000 consumers, 42% of U.S. respondents said they would pay more for organic, environmentally friendly, or fair-trade products. Those in the age group from 18-29 were the most likely to pay more with 50% responding that they would. For more on this survey go to http://www.gmi-mr.com/gmipoll/press_room_wppk_pr_09192005.phtml.
4. Member Profile: Meadowsweet Herbs, 2005 Sustainable Business of the Year
Meadowsweet Herbs is a herbalist operated and family owned company with its roots in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Their mission is to create and provide the purest natural products, promote health, and share knowledge about the healing power of plants. Meadowsweet Herbs, which opened in July 1996, is a company with a conscience. They are committed to quality, ethics, and sustainability in every aspect of their business including production, sourcing, customer education, and employee relations.
Meadowsweet Herbs is located next to the Clark Fork River at 180 South 3rd St West in historic downtown Missoula. They specialize in the creation of top quality handcrafted herbal medicines. They manufacture their own line of products in their on-site herbal manufacturing facility and herbal apothecary and sell them both retail and wholesale.
Meadowsweet Herbs is committed to organics in order to help support small organic farmers, to foster plant biodiversity, and to ensure the health of customers and the planet. They use certified organic alcohol for their extracts and certified organic and ethically wild harvested herbs that are not fumigated, irradiated or sprayed and are non-GMO.
Meadowsweet Herbs is also committed to the preservation of plant species. Several plants such as goldenseal, echinacea, American ginseng, false unicorn, and lady slipper are threatened in the wild due to over-harvesting and loss of habitat. All threatened species Meadowsweet Herbs carries are cultivated. When appropriate, they recommend ethical herbal substitutes, some from our own area.
Meadowsweet Herbs also sells many other high quality products at their retail store including vitamins and supplements, bulk and prepackaged therapeutic grade essential oils, aromatherapy tools, natural bath and body care products, an extensive selection of books, flower essences, medicine making supplies, homeopathic remedies, premium quality bulk herbs, candles and gifts. They carefully research and source these products to ensure to they purchase environmentally sound products and packaging and offer only cruelty-free products. They also reuse bottles, compost, and recycle.
Meadowsweet Herbs believes the age-old tradition of passing on herbal knowledge promotes the gift of health and self-empowerment. Classes and private consultations are offered throughout the year given by their trained herbalists and Doulas (labor and childbirth support).
Meadowsweet Herbs feels that their commitment to their employees and a good work environment is where good medicine and a healthy lifestyle begin. They work hard to maintain a productive, healthy working environment with cooperation and respect at its core. Together with their production, sourcing, and purchasing, this promotes the quality, ethics, and sustainability they desire.
This Fall Meadowsweet Herbs is offering Herbal Medicine Making, a 7 week series on Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. The cost per class is $15.00. Please register early as class space is limited. Call 728-0543 or visit www.herbsmt.com for details.
Classes include: Gardening and Herb Growing - October 19, Salves and Oils - October 26, Lip Balms - November 2, Cough Syrups and Tinctures - November 9, Medicinal Tea Gardens - November 16, Liniments and Vinegars - November 30, Natural Body Care - December 7
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5. A Harvest of Knowledge: September's Sustainability Lecture
To celebrate harvest season, we invited Mark LoParco, Director of UM Dining Services, and Crissie McMullan, Grow Montana Project Coordinator, to speak at our September Sustainability Lecture and Meeting. There presentation entitled "The UM Farm to College Program and Grow Montana: Promoting Local Food Systems and Economic Development" was packed with information about how the Farm to College Program and Grow Montana support local food systems.
Crissie kicked off the presentation by noting that food systems have far reaching, often negative, impacts on the environment, workers, consumers, and economies. For example, the average food product changes hands 33 times and travels 1500 miles from farm to table, in the process using scarce energy resources, producing greenhouse gas and other emissions, and reducing the freshness and nutrition of the product.
The goal of Grow Montana, a coalition of public and private organizations and individuals, is to recreate a more sustainable local food system. In addition the environmental and nutritional benefits, stimulating local food systems has several economic benefits. It is estimated that of the $3 billion annually that Montanans spend on food only 15%-20% is produced locally (as compared to 70% in 1950). Increasing this figure to 30% would add about $400 million to the local economy annually.
Grow Montana is conducting a study of issues related to and means of promoting local food systems and a case study of social, economic, and environmental implications of the UM Farm to College Program. These studies will inform others and help identify state and local policies that Grow Montana will work to implement.
Marc shared the history, successes, and future of the UM Farm to College Program. The mission of the program is to support agricultural development through the purchase of local and regional food and to be a model for other institutions. In 2002, Farm to College activities began with a small event in 2002 called Montana Mornings. A survey during that event revealed substantial interest, so an on-going program was established. UM Dinning Services purchased 7.2% ($214,590) of its food from local sources in 2003-04 and 13.6% ($425,544) of food in 2004-05. Average food cost as a percentage of revenue did not increase, an important factor since UM Dining Services is not subsidized and operates like a business.
The Farm to College Program's goal is to purchase $1 million per year locally. To achieve this, UM Dining Services plans to further develop its local purchasing paradigm, expand the program to other UM campuses, encourage policy changes, and foster entrepreneurial development. An increase in producer cooperatives, value-added producers, and meat packing facilities would help UM met its goal.
For more information about or to join Grow Montana, contact Crissie McMullan at
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or 721-1664. For more information about UM Farm to College Program including how to become a vendor, contact Meredith Printz at 243-5134 or
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6. Sustainable Business Council 2005-2006 Calendar of Events
Sustainability Lecture Series - All events in this series begin with a social time at 5:30 p.m. The presentation begins at 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 10 The Bio-Economy Paul Miller, Sustainable Systems,
MCAT 500 North Higgins
Thursday, January 12 What's New in Green Building? Kelly Karmel, Design Balance
MCAT 500 North Higgins
Thursday, March 9 Sustainable Transportation Melissa Gordon, Missoula in Motion, and Bob Giordano, MIST
MCAT 500 North Higgins
Thursday, May 11 Marketing Sustainable Products Peter Stark, North Slope Sustainable Woods
To be announced
* Join us for our next Sustainability Lecture on November 10 when Paul Miller of Sustainable Systems will present "The Bio-Based Economy." Sustainable Systems produces and distributes bio-diesel and other bio-products. Paul, as founder and chief scientist, will give us his perspective on the transition from fossil fuels and the potential of bio-based products.
Sustainable Business Council Board Meetings - Board Meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of most months (the third Tuesday in December and March) between August and May in the small conference room of the Missoula Public Library from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Board Meetings for this year will be held on September 27, October 25, November 22, December 20, January 24, February 28, March 21, April 25, and May 23. Members and the public are welcome to attend.
City of Missoula Greenhouse Gas-Energy Conservation Team - Meetings are held from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday every other month. The Team's next meeting will be held October 12 at noon in the Mayor's Conference room. SBC co-facilitates this Team.
SBC Committee For the Built Environment - Meetings are held from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. on the second Thursday every other month at varying locations. The Committee's next meeting will be held on October 13 at noon at The Fireplace Pizza, 241 West Main in Missoula. Participation in the Committee is open to the public. Check the SBC web site for dates and locations of future meetings.
* Don't miss our January Sustainability Lecture which is being organized the Committee for the Built Environment. Kelly Karmel, a LEED certified design consultant, will show some examples of new projects and discuss the trends in green design and construction, which is moving into the mainstream nationally and in Missoula.
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7. Web Site of Interest
The Department of Energy provides a site to assist with cost comparisons between hybrid vehicles and conventional vehicles, including fleet calculations, at www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev/cost_calc.html.
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8. Member News Briefs
Susan Anderson, SBC Board Member and co-owner of BalanceTech LLC, will be escorting a group of Girl Scouts to Thailand in March to assist a Thai Girl Guide Troop with tsunami relief work on a school library in the Krabi province. If you would like to help sponsor their Thai relief effort, call Susan Anderson at 543-5323.
Home Resource donated all sales for Friday September 2nd, which totaled $906.50, to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief. They encourage you to consider making similar donations. Home Resource also recently received a EPA grant to further develop their Cedar Saver siding shingle, which are made from scrap lumber.
In July, the American Institute of Architects recognized homeWORD with an award for Excellence in Design for Affordable Green housing. This is a new award created to raise awareness regarding the importance of innovative design for affordable housing. homeWORD, now in its tenth year, provides a model for other communities to emulate as this award demonstrates.
Kent Watson of Kent Watson and Associates recently appeared before the Economic Affairs Interim Committee in Helena to provide suggestions about the future of the state Board of Landscape Architects, which is having financial problems. Several options are being considered.
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9. Member to Member Discounts
The following SBC members have agreed to provide discounts or benefits to other members. Just mention you are an SBC member when ordering.
Treecycle - 5% off on all paper products
Obvious Ads - First month of advertising free
Missoula Valley Recycling - First month free of new service
Customer Carpets and Flooring - 10% off on all environmentally friendly products
Home Resource - 5% off on all products (except timber from Heritage Timber)
Historic Montana Publishing - 20% off on purchase of books directly from the publisher
Authentic Creations - 10% off all purchases
Zephyr Graphics - 15% off first design project, 10% of first print or sign order
Boyce Lumber - discounts to all members, call for details
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10. SBC Wish List
The SBC is currently run solely by volunteers and is funded solely by the comparatively low membership dues we charge. In order to serve you better, the SBC is asking members if they have the following items that they could donate or exchange for membership.
- Office Space - a single room where volunteers could work, preferably in the downtown area.
- A desk, file cabinet, and phone.
- Design and/or construction of table top information display stands to distribute newsletters and pocket guides, preferably made of sustainable materials such as scrap wood.
- Design and/or construction of a new lighter weight display board for meetings and tabling at events.
- Time to help with administrative work, publications, web site maintenance, and research.
11. About the SBC
The Sustainable Business Council – Missoula Area is a network of individuals, organizations, and businesses working toward a sustainable economy. Its purpose is to promote the economic benefits of a clean and healthful environment; to educate businesses, organizations, and individuals about efficient resource use; and to facilitate the adoption of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable business practices.
The Council offers Missoula-area businesses, organizations and individuals:
• Educational presentations and workshops;
• Networking with other environmentally and socially concerned businesses, organizations and individuals;
• Resources including a newsletter, publications, and a web site;
• Promotional opportunities for their business;
• And discounts from participating members (see #9 for a complete list of discounts offered by members to other members).
Membership in the Council is open to businesses, organizations, and individuals.
Membership dues are:
$25 for individual supporters,
$50 for businesses or organizations with one to four employees and owners
$75 for businesses or organizations with five or more employees and owners
$250 or larger donations for sponsoring businesses or organizations.
Sponsoring Members Include: BalanceTech, LLC, Boyce Lumber, Livesey Freight Systems, Missoula Independent
Susan Anderson at BalanceTech, LLC, has edited this newsletter. For
submissions or questions about the SBC, contact Susan at 543-5323 or
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