27 September 2008

This Week in Numbers

3% increase in CO2 emission last year

15 Algae Biofuel startups to watch

30% reduction in natural gas consumption by converting whey to biomethane, announced by Kraft

91% of California beaches graded of A or B- Los Angeles still came in with the lowest marks (including Malibu's Surfrider beach which received a D)

100s of new species found on Australia's coral reefs

$240 - $750 will get you a new energy-efficient Lenovo monitor using 30-60% less energy 

$634 billion bailout, wait, I mean spending bill just passed by the Senate- includes $25 billion in loans to the auto industry and elimination of ban on off-shore drilling

$700 billion bailout, still in talks

$25,000 could be yours if you have brightest green idea. Enter the XPrice Foundation contest by October 31, 2008.

440,000 permanent jobs could be made if Congress renews the solar tax credits











21 September 2008

A Little Note on Greening your Supply Chain

We all hear about greening supply chains as a popular strategy for companies wanting to save money (and face). But what exactly does greening a supply chain entail?

Andrew Kinder of Industry Week writes that greening your supply chain involves:

Optimizing the physical supply chain, storage and transportation of products across it
Lower energy usage in the manufacturing conversion process
Improving product design and packaging to minimize waste

Kinder says, 

"By moving away from spreadsheet based planning or system that relies on two variables (cost and speed), manufacturers can dynamically plan where and when to make, buy, store, and move goods based on changing fuel costs and transportation modes. The models allow manufactures to immediately see the impact of network changes to the supply chain and the bottom line."

Sounds like nothing one more class with Professor Hahn couldn't teach us. 

17 September 2008

Revolution Through Social Experience

First Year, Bryan Zirkel, talks about his experience at the Revolution Through Social Enterprise Conference last Friday

The Revolution Through Social Enterprise Conference, presented by the law school’s Palmer Center and directed by Pepperdine’s own microfinance professor, Melanie Howard, took place last Friday at the Villa Graziadio Executive Center. The conference, which brought together experts in microfinance, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, and environmental causes, was an inspiring and eye-opening experience for me.

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Bryan Zirkel. I’m a GMBS first-year who joined NetImpact because I – like many of you, I’m sure – want to make a difference in the world while meeting people and making connections along the way. You can’t go a day without reading or hearing or seeing something about corporate social responsibility, or greening, or sustainable business processes. For me the Revolution Conference took those ideas and showed me people who’ve become successes in their business and made it their passion to help others and raise awareness of social issues.

The opening speaker, Alex Counts, is the President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation. Grameen combats global poverty through microfinance efforts around the world, providing capital to the world’s poorest inhabitants to allow them – through their own entrepreneurial efforts – to make a difference in their own lives. Talk about empowerment. Talk about breaking through stereotypes. How often have the world’s poor been considered a byproduct of global development? Some people are able to better themselves, some just don’t care to. Alex Counts, and his Nobel Prize-winning mentor, Muhammad Yunus break through these social norms and proved how many people, given the chance, would take the initiative to work hard to better themselves. His story inspired me so much that when I found out that Grameen’s board is meeting in my hometown of San Diego in a few months, I asked if there was anything I could do to volunteer. We’re currently communicating via email.

Later in the day there was a roundtable discussion with two of the most fascinating people I’d never heard of: Sam Labudde and John Picard. Sam Labudde was one of the key forces in getting fishing boats to stop using drift nets when tuna fishing, which kill thousands of dolphins annually. John Picard is an innovator in the field of sustainable building and one of the most impassioned speakers I’ve ever heard. John and Sam, with the addition of Mariel Hemmingway, made for a lively discussion on everything from how essential each animal in an ecosystem is, to how one can find balance through yoga, to how easily it would be to minimize Pepperdine’s carbon footprint. Hello Campus Greening Initiative! I spoke with John Picard about the work he’s doing with Ohio State University on their own campus greening project and asked him to share any suggestions he might have. Hopefully he’ll volunteer some useful tips that we can take and make our own.

Sam Labudde came, through no volition but hunger, and sat down at my table for lunch. He spoke with us all about his views on where the world is headed (they generally weren’t very promising) but he also encouraged not only to attend conferences like Revolution but to do something with the knowledge gained afterwards.

Furthering the microfinance message of the conference, I listened to Matt Flannery, CEO of Kiva.com, speak. Matt developed Kiva.com in his spare time while working for Tivo and has grown it into the world’s premier person-to-person microlending site. If you’re unfamiliar with the idea, I highly suggest you check it out. Although I’m sure most of us are currently used to being on the receiving-end of the lending spectrum, it’s really amazing what switching to the lending-end and giving as little as $25 can accomplish. I’d really encourage you to check out and signup for Kiva.com.

The conference closed with Jonathan Greenblatt, cofounder of Ethos Water and GOOD Magazine. As someone who has long prescribed to the idea that bottled water is a celebration of excessiveness and waste, I didn’t really expect to have much in common with the former CEO of a bottled water company. However Ethos Water set a goal to donate 50% of their gross profits to causes that provided clean water to children around the world. The company has since been bought out by Starbucks and Jon went on to found GOOD, whose slogan is “For People Who Give a Damn.” Not only is Jon a fascinating case study in social enterprise, he’s a plain ol’ fascinating entrepreneur. Check out http://www.goodmagazine.com/ to read some well-written, insightful articles.

If all this wasn’t enough, I spoke one-on-one with Professor Melanie Howard and she’s awesome! Professor Howard teaches a microfinance course for the law school that will be available for b-school students in the spring, and she sits on the board of Fonkoze (Fawn-koh-zay), the largest microfinance institution in Haiti. As you may or may not know, Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, it was recently devastated by a series of hurricanes and tropical storms, and was subject to food riots earlier this year relating to the cost of staple foods like rice. Fonkoze seeks to give Haitians a chance to participate in the economic development of their country by starting their own businesses, improving the living situation, and educating them on public health and sanitation issues. While speaking with Professor Howard I expressed my interest in participating in the Fonkoze program and she mentioned the possibility of getting involved with the Fonkoze Board.

When I was approached originally to write this article for Pepperdine NetImpact by Erica Lutzker I was a little hesitant. I didn’t know what I was going to write because, as a first year, I wasn’t sure how much I could contribute. What I’ve come to realize though is that hopefully my experience can serve as a platform for others to encourage them to attend a conference or listen to a speaker, to walk up to someone they don’t know and introduce themselves, to get involved outside of class, and to reach beyond what you think you’re capable of doing. You never know where it will lead you.

05 September 2008

This Week in Numbers

3 company-wide greening strategies announced by Tesco

20 -year veteran, David Stangis, is Campbell Soup Company's new VP of CSR

35 % more efficient Coke eKOfresh vending machines = taking 218,000 cars off the road for 2 weeks

54 % of adults want to hear about CSR efforts through news stories, versus only 15% who want to hear about efforts in the stores

75 % of enterprises have green-dedicated budgets, and they're growing

100 % recyclable janitorial supplies now used atPepperdine!

2007 UPS sustainability report released: lots of number down, some up


Company Visit :. QuantumSphere - Registration Open/ Limited Spots


Join us for a company tour with Kevin Maloney, co-founder & CEO (MBA ’02), and Patrick Deane, CFO and COO (MBA ’02) to learn about the latest trends in nanotechnology and how they leveraged their Pepperdine MBA to build a business that is pushing the envelope on clean energy and power generation solutions.

QuantumSphere, Inc. (QSI) is a leading manufacturer of advanced nano catalysts and high performance electrode devices for multiple clean-energy, automotive, and electronics applications. QSI is driven by a mission to reduce dependence on non-renewable energy sources through continuous innovation and refinement of its advanced materials, electrodes, and related technologies. QSI serves leading industry customers with its patented, automated, highly scalable, and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.  Check out their introductory video for more info.

Register Now to:  peppNI@gmail.com

Net Impact members get priority registration until Sept 9. Remaining spots are open to all Graziadio students. 

Registration closes September 12.

Location: 2905 Tech Center Drive, Santa Ana, CA 92705 

* we will organize carpooling from the Malibu and WLA Graduate Campuses

This Week in Numbers

3 company-wide greening strategies announced by Tesco
20 -year veteran, David Stangis, is Campbell Soup Company's new VP of CSR
35 % more efficient Coke eKOfresh vending machines = taking 218,000 cars off the road for 2 weeks
54 % of adults want to hear about CSR efforts through news stories, versus only 15% who want to hear about efforts in the stores
75 % of enterprises have green-dedicated budgets, and they're growing
100 percent recyclable janitorial supplies now used at Pepperdine!
2007 UPS sustainability report released: lots of number down, some up



How to Join Net Impact

Just a reminder:

1)   Become a member at  www.netimpact.org
2)  Go to the Net Impact  member community InCircle:
3)  Click JOIN TODAY to start a profile
4)  After you have a profile, search for me, Lisa Warnock
5) Add me as a friend

03 September 2008

Kick-Off Meeting Recap

Thanks to everyone who came out to today's kick-off meeting. Sorry to those who didn't get pizza, we owe you one!

Just want to recap a couple of main points from today's meeting:

iPod Raffle (how to participate)
1)  Join Net Impact
2)  Start a profile on the membership community
3)  Find me, Lisa Warnock
4)  Add me as friend
Raffle closes September 18th!

***To All Paying Members***
Even if you don't want to join the iPod raffle, in order to be on our list of paying members, please find Lisa Warnock on the member community and add me as a friend. This is the only way for us to know you are a paying member so you'll have access to early registration dates.

Leadership Opportunities
We will be sending out an email shortly on how to apply.
Membership, Events & Marketing Committee 
Corporate Outreach/Finance Committee
Campus Greening Initiative Committee

2008 Conference
1) We will be holding a meeting soon to go over hotel and travel details for those already registered
2) We will be sending out an email, to those who signed up on the list at today's meeting, with the flights some of us will be flying. You can fly at any time, but coordinating flights will cut down on cab fairs!
3) Kristen Strange at Career Services has an extra pass to the conference. Visit her soon if you want a chance at free registration!

Revolution Through Social Enterprise 
To register and find out more about the event happening on our campus on 9.12 (that Prof. Howard shared with us), check out the link under Upcoming Events. 

Company Visit: QuantumSphere
Early registration for paying members will be open sometime early next week. We will send out an email with details shortly. Until then, if you would like to find out more about the company, click the link under the Upcoming Events

Registering on the Pepperdine MGBS site can be done here.
You must register through this link in addition to joining on netimpact.org

Thanks again for spending your lunch with us. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, let us know. We look forward to a great year with all of you.