I was going to update about classes and such and haven't successfully been able to do that for some weeks now (I keep trying and never finish or I'm too tired to get past a paragraph!). Instead, I thought I'd talk about some of the companies we've had come into 210 (Business and the Environment) and then I'll touch, briefly, upon what's going on in schooool.
Simple Shoes - An eco-friendly shoe. Seriously. And the best thing? Competitive prices! Their prices are no more than I would find buying my Skechers, which is really cool. They have some really odd designs, but they also have some "standard" ones. It was really interesting to hear about how they developed as a company to being eco-friendly. (BTW, they're owned by Deckers, which also owns Teva and Ugg.) The jist of it was that they're a really small company and Deckers, the parent company, was willing to take a chance on the lead people for Simple Shoes. They all truly want to make a stylish shoe that is eco-friendly in any way they can so they've really had to look at suppliers and materials to use. Pretty amazing, if you ask me.
Ewing - Not as an interesting as Simple Shoes, but Ewing is a privately owned irrigation products company. So they basically are the middle men for irrigation supplies and their main buyers are landscapers. They do have some private home buyers who come in, but it's mostly landscapers. They do some educational programs and try to provide irrigation stuff that helps make you use your water more efficiently. They also talked about how NV is paying people to pull up their lawns, but how water consumption isn't going down at all because people keep watering their low-water plants the same way. So it was generally interesting, but it's still kind of funny because, really, if people stopped using water for lawns, what are you going to do as a company?! They also mentioned how LEED buildings can not have an irrigation system, which was interesting. So I guess all the plants at Bren are hand watered? Or can sustain themselves.
Eco-entrepreneurship company - I don't remember the name of this company (I should), but it's a company that is trying to make foam that is made from organic material. New buildings that are being built are using foam more and more to help lighten the weight of the building and to reduce the use of concrete but, as we all know, foam isn't the best product for the environment (that one with a certain chemical...LoL Brain is dead). Anyway, their foam is made from soy mostly and is just as resilient as the harmful foam is. It was interesting, but we all sat there during the presentation going "but your foam isn't biodegradable! What do you do when the building is torn down?!" I think they struggled with that. At the same time, they're using less harmful foam too and it's denser so it won't constantly float in the ocean or water systems. It'll sink (is that better?). So, it was interesting.
Patagonia - Or, as we like to call it, PataGucci. Man, it's a shame Patagonia is so expensive. They're making completely recyclable clothes and are eco-friendly too. How cool is that?! On the other hand, by all accounts my classmates have told me, Patagonia clothes last 10-15 years, which is amazing. It was interesting hearing how their CEO is the main driving force behind them being so environmentally friendly. They also donate 1% of their sales to different environmental organizations too and encourage other companies to do the same. So they're doing a lot of good too and, at the same time, doing really well as a company. It was funny because our economics/policy analysis prof (this class started last Mon and ends next Wed) said he once ran into the CEO of Patagonia and asked him, "Is your company environmentally focused because it's successful? Or is it successful because it's environmentally focused?" It's an interesting question and I guess the CEO made an excuse and never answered the question. It's a deep question! For them, they are a small company, but their CEO has a big influencing factor which is different from Simple Shoes where it was the employees and a parent company willing to let them try things. I did find a rain jacket in a reasonable price I liked on Patagonia, though! Women's Rain Shadow Jacket Nice thing about that jacket compared to the other one I like is the fact its hood is helmet compatible. So I could bike with a helmet on. On the other hand, you get more for your money with the other jacket I posted too and it does have side slits (so you can sit on a horse without your jacket bunching up). Both good jackets. If only Patagonia wasn't so expensive...
Anyway, the interesting thing about these companies is the fact they're all small, but pretty profitable in what they do (with maybe the exception of the eco-e company - it's just too new). They all have their different issues in being environmental conscious and still maintaining the quality and standard of what their business is known for. Patagonia has a reputation for making good, long lasting sport's gear (CEO was an avid climber). They are a company that is seeking to make a profit. The same with Simple Shoes. At the same time, they've also managed to push themselves creatively to be more eco friendly too. As our professor has told us, being environmentally friendly is not cost saving.
I've also learned, thanks to this class, that you have to be careful about parent companies! My group for a presentation found out that Dagoba Organic Chocolate is actually owned by Hershey's. You would not find this out on Dagoba's webpage anywhere. You can only find it on Hershey's if you look carefully at their environmental pages and, even then, it's just a "Dagoba uses blah" or "Dagoba does blah." Only because it was so curious that Hershey's would mention the "competition" did I go and find the press release saying Hershey's bought Dagoba a few years ago. Hershey's, it seems, doesn't touch anything really to do with Dagoba, though. That way Dagoba can still keep its reputation and standards, but Hershey's can get a piece of the "organic chocolate market."
I also learned Sprint is one of the "greenest" wireless phone companies. Did you know they have an eco-friendly phone? Made out of recycled materials! And they have a disgusting (in the sense it's too cute) webpage on how they're being eco-friendly. It's pretty interesting.
Anyway, outside of the companies, classes are going okay. It's pretty much "the usual" now. I have 3 ecology hw assignments left, a 203 final (still haven't received our midterms back yet), 251 final (that class that started last Monday), 2 more 251 hws, 1 more presentation for 210 (business and the environment), and 1 10-page paper for 210 due at the beginning of the month. I think that's all I have left. To say the least, the end is close! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! It's the homestretch! etc. On the other hand, I feel like I might go nuts too. The 251 class kind of throws you off your rhythm you develop at the beginning of the quarter. The class is taught FOUR days a week and we have a discussion once a week too. So it's kind of intense, but, luckily, the professor is enthusiastic and we have a laugh or two during class. It goes by quickly (thanks to a lot of economic diagrams), which is really nice because on Tues/Thurs it's killer. We have ecology (201) and 203 lectures, lunch (sometimes we have events we have to attend during that hour), and then 251. So I sometimes feel like I just want to put myself out of my misery, but it's okay. It's probably my favorite class this quarter. I was kind of questioning my choice to do the EPE (Economics and the Politics of the Environment) as my specialization, but this class has shown me why I wanted to do it originally. I really enjoy the economics. It's really kind of surprising, but I think it's the combination of normative, positive, and social aspects all combined into one discipline. Less normative than positive, but it's interesting! I mean, I just learned how to incorporate environmental externalities and apply how we can produce goods efficiently by command (government just making you do it), taxes, and subsidies. It was interesting.
Oh, I decided to NOT take the writing class next quarter. I heard from various students that it didn't help them really and I decided it was more important to take a class I would need to graduate than a writing class to be "lazy." There's only 15 people (so far) registered for the class, so it's going to be a shock considering I haven't had that small of a class in a while.
Anyway, I need to work on my 201 reading. It's our only weekly hw we have for any class and we have to read a ton for the assignments. Tonight, though, I am going to go see Anita Diamant speak on campus! She wrote The Red Tent. It's a free event (finally! I missed the Taiko Drummers, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, and someone else because it costs money!) and I hope to get a book signed by her too (there's a book signing after the talk). Should be interesting. I like hearing authors talk and meeting authors because it gives me a personality to who writes the books I like or have heard of before. Of course, working at Borders, the Red Tent came up many times and I've seen her other book (Choosing a Jewish Life) a lot because I shelved in that area. So...I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait till David Sedaris comes in May, though! THAT I will pay money to go and see him talk.
With that...Until next time.
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