Kemp Edwards doesn’t work in a particularly sustainable industry. He’s the International Sales Manager for Arson & Orb, a popular clothing company outfitting the style-conscious outdoor set, and they aren’t exactly using hemp in their manufacturing if you know what I mean. 

But after a steady simmer of environmental interest, Kemp’s awareness hit a personal tipping point and he decided that he wanted to start making a difference outside of his own personal habits. Understanding that he was somewhat limited in immediately affecting the overall practices in the manufacturing and shipping of the clothes he presided over, he decided to start from the inside, leading the environmental charge at Arson & Orb’s head office.  

Kemp started off with the basics including switching all of the light bulbs in the office to energy saver bulbs and mandating that all printing be done on both sides of the sheet as well as using the toner saver setting. With a few more policies in place, it didn’t take long before his coworkers started to buy in. “I have started to notice that people have begun turning off lights in rooms that aren’t in use, the fans are being turned off in the bathrooms rather than left to run all day, people are recycling more than ever, re-using sheets of paper that misprinted, not cranking up the heat and leaving the door open etc. Also, it doesn’t take long to see the cost benefits of a lot of these practices. Printing on both sides of the sheet, for example, basically halves your paper costs.”  

Kemp’s interest soon evolved into a sustainability committee which he now leads and has generated enthusiasm from senior management. What started out as an internal project has now flowed over into the business practices of the company. “We’ve mandated that all of the factories that we work with must use low density polyethylene polybags bags and our preference is for a minimum of 10% post consumer content. We’re also in the process of reducing packaging by half on all clothing shipments from Spring 08 onwards.”

Kemp says that this is just the beginning of sustainable practices for Arson&Orb. “The committee is more than a trend, it’s an avenue to start to drive more environmentally responsible decision making within the company. We understand that sustainability is not just a fad; it’s forward thinking.” 

Kemp’s passion proves that small changes on the office front can lead to bigger ones on the business front. Gil Yaron, Owner of Frogfile.ca, a sustainable office supply retailer has seen his business increase 700% since last year. He attributes a lot of this growth to the individual in the office who champions environmental sustainability. “It just takes that one person who is passionate about making changes. The trickle effect can turn into a tidal wave of change as office policies turn into business practices.” 

Kemp knows Arson & Orb has a long road ahead of them; “We are in no way leading the way in our environmental push, but we are committed to positive change. An unexpected bonus is the boost to staff morale and the overall feeling that we are moving in the right direction.” 

Here’s a full list of Kemp’s office initiatives that you can take to your own:  

1. Switched over all light bulbs in the office to energy saver bulbs
2. Replaced our warehouse lights to something more energy efficient
3. Recycle all paper towel in the bathrooms
4. We have greatly reduced paper consumption by mandating that all printing be done in duplex (both sides of the sheet) in black and white and on the toner saver setting.
5. We have made a commitment to only purchasing environmentally friendly products whenever possible (ie: recycled paper towel, 7^th generation cleaning products etc…)
6. We have organized car pools and bike to work programs for our staff.  
7. Implemented the “Lug-a-Mug” Challenge – a donation is required for every time you arrive to the office with a paper coffee cup. These donations will be used to purchase carbon offset ‘points’ at the end of the fiscal year.

Did you know that Bob Barker taped his last installment of the Price is Right today? 83 year old Barker has been hosting the show for 35 years and for 35 years he’s been signing off with his trademark “help control the pet population; have your pets spayed or neutered.” But little did I know why. Turns out Bob is a vegetarian and at his request the PIR never advertised meat products and stopped giving away fur coats! In the day and age where celebrities are glorified for obscene spending, taking drugs or collecting DUI’s like stamps, it’s encouraging to see guys like Bob with values that influence a little goodness in the crazy world of Hollywood. Nice moves Bob! (And PS - I always wanted to play that game with the mountain goat that yodels.)

It is true - I am a blog geek and an enviro geek to boot. So when I read the 100 Mile Diet and emailed the authors a burning question I was richly rewarded with an answer! Yeah!

I’ve cut and paste the post but you can view the original plus the 100 mile blog here……………..

Mailbag: Distant Soy or 100-Mile Cow’s Milk?

JUNE 4, 2007–Emily wrote in with a tough puzzle, rather like having to figure out who would win a fight: a polar bear, a killer whale, a lion or a black mamba? There are a thousand variables to take into account, and it all depends on your environment. For instance, a killer whale beats a lion in the water, but on land? Not so much. Soy versus milk has its own difficulties.

Emily of Vancouver wrote:

I am a sustainable event planner and my mandate is to be as sustainable as possible but I’m stumped around the ecological footprint of milk vs. non-dairy alternatives. Which has the lesser footprint - local organic milk, or no-cow soymilk? I can’t find any information on whether the popular Canadian soy brands use Canadian soy beans in their manufacturing.

When I researched the possibility of eating soy for the 100-Mile Diet, I called a bunch of Vancouver tofu companies. All got their beans from Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec. I would suspect soy milk to be the same, but you would need to call these companies to find out. It’s unfortunately true that this type of information is not readily available. We’ll have to show them we care so they start to make that information public.

The ecological footprint issue does become tricky - if local, organically raised cows are grazing on natural pastures, in many ways that is a small ecological footprint - though complicated by whether or not that land could have been used to feed more people by growing other vegetable crops for direct human consumption.

Soy shipped from thousands of miles to the east has its own environmental costs - but if you are vegan for animal-rights reasons, that is not a moral stance I would seek to change. So, if you go for soy . . . just make sure it’s organic, and not GM (genetically modified). Canada was the world’s third-largest producer of GM crops in the world (though the main crop here is canola) in 2003, according to a University of Richmond study. As a starting point, Vancouver-based So Nice uses certified organic and non-GM soy.

You could always try growing your own beans! In the Union Square farmers market in New York, we saw soy products made locally from beans grown within 100 miles, and we were intensely jealous. In our region, Saltspring Seeds sells soy seeds, though I don’t know if they would work for milk purposes - I would recommend talking to the knowledgeable staff there. It would be interesting to experiment with seeds from eastern Canada or Japan. We can all be agricultural Robin Hoods - by helping to preserve natural heirloom seeds against the technological onslaught. -ADS