As much as I love exhibiting at the San Francisco Green Festival and educating people on how to green their personal care routine, after four consecutive years, I guess I was feeling a little burnt out. So last year and this year I opted instead to go to the Festival and just enjoy it from the perspective of a green consumer eager to learn about new products and services that are making a difference.

While I enjoy shopping for sustainable clothing, gifts, food, and home accessories, my main focus is on products I can use that have an impact on my efforts to live a sustainable lifestyle. This year I found two products that captured my attention and both have to do with water!

The first product is AirQua – Pure Atmospheric Water. This is a water filtration unit (or system as they call it) that pulls moisture from the air, runs it through a bunch of different filters and converts it into drinking water. Wow! What a concept! Talk about a new alternative to bottled water … What I love about this product is that it doesn’t require or use any tap water, but rather it “taps” the water that’s already in the air you breathe. For those of us who live in relatively humid climates, this unit can make up to 2 gallons of drinking water a day. And like standard commercial water filtration units, you can use it to make cold or hot water. Another plus is its Energy Star rated, which means the energy it uses to do it’s thing doesn’t cancel out the benefit.

At approximately $2,500, this is not an inexpensive product. The filters run about $200 and need to be changed once a year. It struck me as the perfect unit for an office or commercial space wanting to be greener with its water consumption.

The second product is SodaStream. This is a table-top unit (or several different styles of units) that allows you to use regular tap or filtered water to create your own carbonated water. It’s like the 21st century version of a soda king, but instead of using a lot of small whippets (which creates a lot of waste), it uses one large whippet that can make between 60 to 180 liters of soda water (that’s somewhere between 15 and 45 gallons of the stuff!) depending on how fizzy you like your water.

Basically you fill one of the two re-usable carbonating bottles that come with it, place the bottle in the unit and start manually pumping the water with the button at the top. Once it makes a loud beeping noise then you’ve achieved the first level of carbonation (which the owners describe as the equivalent of Pelligrino). If you want it fizzier than that, you hit the pump one more time which takes it to level 2 (Perrier) or hit it one last time to get to level 3 (club soda). I tried both Level 1 and Level 3 and found them both very effervescent.

As someone who drinks carbonated water fairly often, I was tempted to get this unit as I pondered how much energy would be saved from making and recycling the plastic bottles I currently consume by, not to mention the potential toxins leaching out of the plastic during and after their useful life. At a price tag of between approximately $120 and $180 I decided to wait and see if I could get one on sale at one of the retail outlets he mentioned which includes Williams Sonoma and Macys –or possibly somewhere online.

Every year, members of Green America’s Business Network are asked to nominate other businesses in the network for the Green Business Leadership Award. Conference attendees then vote and decide on the winner who is announced at the closing banquet for the conference.

This award recognizes the extraordinary leadership efforts of one business that has used its position in the marketplace to organize consumers and businesses together to build a more socially just and ecologically sustainable economy.

This year’s nominees were: Dharma Merchant Services (a certified green provider of payment processing accounts for small and medium sized businesses), Ecowood Retail Displays (pioneers in the reclaimed lumber industry who use reclaimed wood to create point of purchase, retail, and trade show displays), Salazar Packaging (a distributor of eco friendly packaging and shipping supplies), and Vital Hemptations (a producer of ethical and sustainable hemp clothing). And the winner is Dharma Merchant Services who happens to be our merchant services supplier!

Dharma Merchant Services was founded by father and daughter Jeff and Alexia Marcous. Their intention was to use a business service that most companies need, the ability to accept credit cards, to channel money back into the non-profit community. DMS does this by donating 10% of its profits to charity. It is a certified Bay Area Green Business and certified B Corporation and has taken the steps to find sustainable partners in every part of its supply chain. Their motto is “Commerce with Compassion.”

This year’s award was presented at the closing banquet by the winner of last year’s award: Karl Wald, the founder of Mr. Ellie Pooh, a company that makes paper products from Elephant Poo (another creative way to upcycle waste!).

Congratulations to Jeff and Alexia!

For me, the most interesting and thought provoking presentations at this year’s conference were ones that centered on how to influence or alter the behavior of investors and the flow of investment capital into more sustainable business (and especially agribusiness) models. Most past conference presentations have been focused more on influencing the behavior of consumers, but in the current economic environment, that is no longer enough to grow the Green economy.

The presenters that inspired me most at this year’s conference were Woody Tasch, President and Chairman of Slow Money and Ted Levinson of RSF Social Finance. Tasch, a venture capitalist and investor talked about how we need to transition from a capital investment market place that is driven by the short-term nature of venture capitalism to one that is guided by “nurture” capitalism. In order to address the structural problems in our financial markets and our economy we need markets that promote preservation and restoration rather than extraction and consumption. He believes (as do I) that there’s potential for a revolutionary shift in consciousness around what it means to invest and that we need groups of investors who are motivated and guided by principles. Tasch suggested one goal of getting one million investors to put 1% of their assets into local food growing and production systems as a starting point. For more information on this visit http://www.slowmoneyalliance.org/principles.html.

Ted Levinson, a senior lending manager at RSF gave a run down of what his company does. They are three components to what they do: 1) Giving (they manage $38 million in Donor-Advised Funds representing 117 donors); 2) Investing (they invest the portion of Donor-Advised funds that have not yet been granted); 3) Lending (they lend money to mission-driven social venture enterprises –both non-profit and for profit—that have a deep social impact). He noted that while they are still actively lending to the tune of $15 million a year, there is a direct correlation between the number of investors in their Social Investment Funds and the amount they can lend from that pool. They have several different funds that people can invest in if they want to support these businesses including one that has a minimum investment of one thousand dollars. I guess you could call it principled investing for the general public!

Last but not least, someone who is always inspiring, Priya Haj, CEO and cofounder of World of Good gave a overview of her triple bottom line social venture company’s business model and a summary of how her relatively young company has shifted it’s marketing strategy to stay true to its principles during these tough times. World of Good was founded in 2004 to create sustainable, market-based solutions to address global poverty. Through a series of strategic relationships with online and offline retail partners, they create opportunities for thousands of marginalized artisans around the world to gain access to a rapidly growing segment of consumers who are looking to make informed, educated, and socially-responsible decisions when they shop. Haj noted that World of Good has recently partnered with Disney, Hallmark, Starbucks, and Target to bring it’s products into the mainstream market. At the same time, the WorldofGood.com online marketplace has enabled them to increase their total number or producers/artisans to 150 from more than 34 countries around the world –helping them to obtain a fair wage for their goods and earn a sustainable living!

After a brief respite, I finally had a chance to sit down and review my notes and thoughts about this year’s San Francisco Green Business Conference. This was my third time attending in the last 5 years and this year, for the first time, Dropwise Essentials had the added honor of being a sponsor of this event.

I go to this 2-day conference (which draws somewhere between 200 and 350 attendees) mainly to expand my network and to be inspired by the bigger picture of what’s possible in terms of transforming the way we do business to serve and support something far greater than our own individual needs. The conference usually begins with an overview of the current state of the Green marketplace and topics typically cover the gamut of issues from leadership challenges, marketing and branding, operational challenges of getting to scale, creating true social venture enterprises, and financing your business. And there’s always a good dose of anecdotal wisdom from businesses that have enjoyed major success and brand equity in this sector.

What inspires me most is hearing the success stories of businesses who are true pioneers or innovators in the sense that they are either creating products or running their businesses in ways that have both an immediate and profound impact on some of the major environmental or sustainability challenges we face. Other inspiring companies are those who may not have a ground breaking product but have reached a level of success that allows them to have mainstream impact and hence the ability to influence large existing corporations from within.

Two companies that immediately come to mind are TerraCycle and Honest Tea – both presenters at last year’s conference. TerraCycle founder Tom Szaky recounted how as a college student, he helped develop and successfully market a fertilizer made from worm poop that was packaged in used plastic soda bottles! When he recognized the economic value of garbage, he became obsessed with how to take America’s #1 export and create a market for it –a concept he calls “upcycling.” TerraCycle also pioneered a new concept that Szaky calls “branded waste.” They now manufacture over 100 products from waste —from worm poop in soda bottles to messenger bags made from Capri Sun/Honest Tea juice pouches collected through a nationwide program that raises money for the schools who collect them. Pretty innovative and ground breaking stuff!

Honest Tea (which is one of my favorite iced tea beverages) founder Seth Goldberg started with a simple vision of making delicious, truly healthy, organic beverages using organic and fair trade tea sources that would revolutionize organic and bring it to the masses. Over the past ten years his company has enjoyed a phenomenal 66% annual compound growth rate! A past conference presenter, in 2008 Seth came back to talk to us about the trials and tribulations of being partly owned by a major beverage company (earlier in the year Coca Cola made a 40% investment in Honest Tea) and staying true to his vision. He saw the partnership with Coca Cola as an opportunity to truly bring their product and organics to the mainstream. He also believes that it offers a rare opportunity to influence a giant corporation by setting a great example from within.

What all of these businesses have in common is they’re having a significant impact in the marketplace –one that is changing the behavior of consumers in a positive way that supports long-term health and sustainability.

But that was then and this is now! This year’s conference was a little more somber in tone with a little more emphasis on how to survive in tough and challenging economic times. In spite of the growing interest in and demand for Green products and services, Green businesses have not been immune to the effects of the economic downturn. Everyone is feeling the pinch.

In fact one of the prevalent questions that kept coming up is how to address the structural problems in our economy that have led us to where we are, and forge a new and clear path back to economic sustainability.

It’s hard to believe, but we’re half way through November already which means the holiday season and the count down to the year’s end have officially begun. In my world, November is that time of year for giving thanks AND to celebrate being Green and sustainable –both as a Green business and as a Green consumer. That’s because the first half of the month is the San Francisco Green Business Conference, followed by the San Francisco Green Festival.

For many years I exhibited at the Green Festival –an exhilarating, sometimes overwhelming, and yes, exhausting experience. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being in a space with over 30,000 excited and eager people for 3 days straight. I would say it’s similar to some of my past experiences at Grateful Dead concerts –a cornucopia of sights, sound, and smells filling the senses, and a pervading sense of unity and common purpose. I think for many people the Green Festival is the ultimate symbol of the Green movement in the U.S. It represents hope for a sustainable future and a place where kindred spirits can connect and rejoice in the discovery of some really cool products and the cool companies who make them.

It’s also a place to hear from industry leaders and innovators about trends, and the ongoing challenges of building a sustainable future from the perspective of both consumers and business. After all, building the Green economy is a collective effort that requires the insight, courage, strength, ongoing commitment and participation of both to succeed in the long run.

The Green Festival is primarily focused on educating consumers about alternatives and encouraging their participation in this endeavor by introducing them to resources, and Green businesses whose products and services support and promote the principles of sustainability: environmental conservation and stewardship, energy efficiency, fair trade and social responsibility, waste reduction, food and product safety, and truth and transparency in their operations.

The Green Business Conference on the other hand, is focused on supporting Green businesses by facilitating partnerships and access to funding, increasing marketing opportunities, problem-solving, and for me anyway, providing inspiration and affirmation that what we are doing in our businesses does make a difference in the world.

Both events provide a sort of litmus test –a Green “State of the Union,” so to speak–where we are, how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. It’s a powerful reminder that no matter how sustainable we think we are, there’s always room to go deeper and have a bigger impact.

The thing I love most about these two events is they provide an opportunity to connect with real people in right action. These are not people who are blowing a lot of hot air on the subject. Nor are they hippie-dippie types who are caught up in idealism and dreaming. These are hard-working folks who through their vision, courage and determination are taking action every single day to make the planet a better place for all of us, one community at a time, one step at a time. Through their individual successes they are demonstrating that you can be sustainable AND profitable.

In the 60s there was a popular saying “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” As we move into the second half of November and the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to give thanks to Green America (formerly Co-op America) and Seven Star Events for putting on these two events both here in San Francisco and in other cities around the U.S. (See greenfestivals.org for more information on Green Festivals in cities near you). I also want to give thanks for belonging to this amazing community of people who make it possible for me and countless others to be part of the solution!

If you’re not part of the solution but would like to be then visit Green America Today and learn how you can join the Green revolution too.