Archive for the ‘History Channel’ Category
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Getting To Know Ecover CEO Philip Malmberg
Ecover has been around for more than three decades, helping us manage our busy homes with powerful and ecological cleaning solutions. Ecover’s success can be attributed to the inventive people behind the products – including our new CEO, Philip Malmberg. It’s true; Ecover has an outstanding history of helping care for our daily living needs while minimizing the impact on our environment, and Philip Malmberg brings new vitality to the task! Ecover’s Mick Bremans is still on the job too, as Chairman of Ecover International he’ll be able to be engaged in a more active role now, at speaking and panel events.
Mr. Malmberg joined Ecover as CEO in May, 2011. He’s an Ecover “alum,” having worked from 1993 to 2000 as our Finance Director before embarking on other business and financial frontiers. Now with his return to Ecover, he brings 20 years of international experience with a great track record in successful delivery of business objectives – and linking strategy development with implementation. In addition, Mr. Malmberg has impressive credentials in managing complex business processes, business integrations, emerging markets start-ups and mergers & acquisitions.
When not moving Ecover forward and advancing its mission, the father of three daughters enjoys a nice round of golf or a game of tennis (when he can find a free minute)! His dedication to Ecover’s growth and guiding principles helps keep us focused on our mission as we move ahead. So wewelcome Mr. Malmberg back to the Ecover family, and look forward to many successful years together!
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At Ecover, Earth Day Still Inspires After All These Years
There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society,
where bigger is not necessarily better,
where slower can be faster,
and where less can be more.Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day
Ecover continues to be a proud champion of the values Gaylord Nelson spoke of more than 40 years ago with the founding of Earth Day. Earth Day is also an opportune moment for us to reflect on the parallel trajectories of the environmental movement and Ecover’s own 31-year history of leading the development of ecological cleaning products. What a journey it has been – both for Ecover and the advancement of the Earth Day recognition!
Earth Day was born after a long struggle by many people, not just Nelson, to bring attention to environmental issues. One breakthrough came in 1962 with the publication of Rachel Carson’s haunting book Silent Spring, which chronicled the dangers of the pesticide DDT. And going back even further, preservationist John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892.
It’s fantastic how the Earth Day celebration has grown since its first commemoration in 1970, when 20 million environmentally minded demonstrators across the United States took part. This year, more than 77 million people around the globe will participate in Earth Day activities, which take place April 22. This year’s theme is organized around “A Billion Acts of Green” — a pledge that recognizes the power of millions of individuals to live and act sustainably. Ecover, of course, will keep doing our part by helping you do your part – with our plant-based cleaners that work effectively in your busy lifestyle!
Ecover is proud of everyone who participates in this year’s Earth Day events. Let’s work together to fulfill Gaylord Nelson’s vision of a world where “less can be more.” A toast to our Mother Earth on Earth Day 2011!
Photo by LaMenta3, via Flickr.com
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Jerry Adelmann’s Vision is Right Up Ecover’s Alley: Preserving Open Space for Future Generations
Photo by swanskalot via Flickr.com
It was way back in the 1960s when Openlands, a mid-western group of environmentalists whose mission was and is to protect the natural and open spaces of Chicago, northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region, was founded. In 1980 (the same year Ecover was founded) Gerald (Jerry) W. Adelmann joined Openlands. In 1988, Adelmann was appointed to the role of Executive Director and soon after launched the 21st Century Open Space Plan, calling for expanded parklands, greenways, and trails.
Jerry’s vision and leadership, along with his many other conservation and preservation accomplishments, have earned him numerous honors and awards. Most recently, he received Chicago Magazine’s 2010 Green Award (along with Sarah Elizabeth Ippel, founder of a green-focused charter school; Terra Brockman, who works with farmers and ecology; Angela Hurlock, director of a sustainable housing group; and Dan McGowan, who is “greening” a restaurant chain). Chicago magazine recognized Jerry for saving “large swaths of the local landscape for future generations.” They even compared him to one of America ’s first great conservationists of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt.
Mr. Adelmann looks outside the typical spaces for green opportunities, not content to just focus on forests and nature preserves. He was quoted by Chicago Magazine as saying, “Cities are not usually thought of as a nature preservation area …Openlands is interested in all the dimensions of green space: urban gardens, prairies, ball fields.”
Ecover would like to add its name to the list of those who recognize and respect Mr. Adelmann’s important work. We thank him for all he’s doing to help in the Midwest and, more significantly, all he is doing to inspire others to preserve land and conserve our natural resources. Way to go, Jerry!
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Ecover Celebrates the Clean Water Act and America’s Ecological Awakening
Nearly 40 years ago, the United States implemented its most significant piece of surface water protectionwith the passing of the Clean Water Act (CWA). At Ecover we view this as a watershed moment in America’s ecological awakening.
Once endangered waterways now provide habitat and recreation thanks to the Clean Water Act.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
In its original form, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 was revolutionary too: but that first major water pollution law turned out to be no match for the impact of the go-go industrial growth and urban sprawl of the 1950s and 60s.
Tumultuous times in the mid ‘60s and early ‘70s brought about many social and political changes, as did the growth of the ecology movement, helping Senator Edmund Muskie to introduce the sweeping changes of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to Congress. In October 1972 it became law, and survived a Presidential veto. (In 1977 there were further amendments and name change to the Clean Water Act.)
CWA Sponsor Edmund Muskie.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
As Ecover was soon poised to do, the country was recognizing the impact of industrial and municipal wastewater. With this regulatory mandate, the EPA and state agencies could investigate and regulate toxic discharges into public waterways. The CWA required uniform, technology-based standards that continued to evolve; urban and agricultural storm water runoff was originally exempted, but science outlined its environmental impact, bringing court challenges and further amendments to the CWA in the 1980s.
Ultimately, the CWA was a serious wake-up call for our nation, as well as a platform for environmentalists to continue broadening their educational reach. Like Ecover’s ongoing research and product development model, clean water standards and have changed the way we live, improving the quality of life we enjoy while leading a generation to a more sustainable existence now – and in the future.
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A Sustainable Lifestyle Continues to Flourish in San Francisco
image via Wikimedia CommonsWhenever we explore people and places on the ecological vanguard, the “city by the bay” always comes to the forefront with its dynamic leadership and standards. San Francisco’s sustainability roots run deep, nurturing a network of private and public activism that Ecover, with our own history of 30 years of innovative ecological efforts, truly appreciates.
Bay area historians trace San Francisco’s sustainable state of mind to the work of naturalist and conservationist John Muir, who co-founded the Sierra Club in 1892. Muir’s writings and tireless campaigning helped steer policies on land management and resource conservation, inspiring countless others including Teddy Roosevelt and the great nature photographer Ansel Adams.
The “Father of our National Parks,” naturalist John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt
at Yosemite National Park (c.1906).Image via Wikimedia Commons
Flash forward 50-some years and we come to what many consider San Francisco’s modern eco-awakening in the youth culture of the 1960s, which helped swayed local sentiment with “Earth first” values. This cultural upheaval inspired many efforts, like those of Chef Alice Waters who pioneered the 1970’s buy-locally-grown movement, and John McConnell’s efforts to recognize a day of ecological education; his intensive lobbying at the 1969 National UNESCO Conference in San Francisco took hold, culminating in the first “Earth Day” observance on April 22, 1970.
In the 21st Century another ecologically sensitive generation continues to fuel progress, from banning plastic bags to mandatory recycling and composting. (The city surpassed an impressive 75% diversion from landfill goal in 2010.) San Francisco also promotes a robust city agency coordination, advancing green building, tourism and business initiatives. It’s easy to see why the city is a green perennial atop most “greenest city” lists.
Not just an icon of the city, the cable car is a low-emission forerunner
to today’s hybrid taxis and incentivized hybrid rental cars.Image via Wikimedia Commons
With their attention to the ecological details and sharing of systems, initiatives and educational programs, you can see why we at Ecover think of San Francisco as a kind of kindred spirit. It is a resource-savvy city, whose people and standards blend commerce with conservation to create an excellent, sustainable lifestyle.
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Ecover Discovers That Atlanta Reconnects and Revitalizes Its Greenspaces
The Atlanta Midtown skyline as seen from Piedmont Park
Image via CNU.org
Masses of new jobs and continuous expansion in housing and workspace development have all provided a collective shot of civic pride during Atlanta’s two-decade growth surge that saw the 20-county metro area balloon to 4 million residents.
But unlike Ecover’s sustainability-balanced business model, Atlanta’s continuous growth showed a serious downside, creating disconnected pockets of development and straining the area’s natural resources. For every acre of tree canopy lost, one acre of impervious surface was added, says the Atlanta Regional Commission.
The City Seal of Atlanta
Image via APG
Fortunately, the City of Atlanta’s phoenix symbol now represents a rising from this unsustainable growth, as private and public stakeholders joined together, developing plans to create, restore and embrace Atlanta’s greenspaces. Atlanta’s Project Greenspace(APG) was created and charged with the “preservation, acquisition and management of open space in Atlanta.” APG’s ecological mandate was included in the city’s economic development plan.
Image via CNU.org
Following public vetting of its plans, APG set to work its business-savvy approach to the green infrastructure of trails and spaces along the Freedom Parkway and Centennial Park, working alongside the high-profile Atlanta Beltline.
Atlanta BeltLine Efforts Photo by Christopher Martin
via Flickr
Atlanta’s Belt Line partnership – a $2.8 billion plan– is adding over 1,200 acres of new parkland space and 33 miles to the City’s multi-use trail system along a 22-mile long BeltLine corridor. The ambitious Belt Line agenda includes cleaner light rail, public art and historic preservation, while featuring sustainable development and set-asides for affordable housing development.
At Ecover, given our ecologically driven mission, we see these environmentally conscious and sustainable community efforts as truly significant. Quality of life depends heavily on our environment and how we interact with it, especially in our large urban spaces. We applaud Atlanta moving forward to a sustainable living agenda that also affords maintaining its hard-fought economic gains.
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Ryan Arnold, Ecover 30 under 30 Grand Prize Winner, Answers Eco Questions Posed by Event Attendees
30 under 30 Grand Prize winner Ryan Arnold with Ecover CEO Mick Bremans
At our eco-fabulous event on November 10th in NYC, we announced our Ecover 30 under 30 grand prize winner, Ryan Arnold. Our guests had some great questions for this green leader, and Ryan answers them below:
Q: In less than 180 characters, tell me your best eco-moment under 30.
R: By far my best eco-moment is being recognized in NYC by ECOVER and participating in a roundtable discussion with great Eco-bloggers.-
Q: How do you use technology in a sustainable way?
R: The main way I use technology for sustainability is twofold: first, I use programs like Google Reader, Twitter, and LinkedIn to stay current on the latest news regarding sustainability issues so that I can use that information in my own work. Second, I use the same technology to redistribute that information to my social networks and blogs so that others can use that information in their daily lives without needing to search for it.-
Q: How you get your creative juices going?
R: The best way I stay creative is by staying current on ideas and broad in scope. I’m a person who tries to understand, read and participate in a little bit of everything, and gaining that broad view helps connect the dots between different trends, events, and ideas. Having those dots laid out is enough motivation to get me going on trying to figure out the connections between them.-
Q: What is one thing anyone can do to be green?
R: Being green is not about one single action in my belief, but it is about understanding how you’re actions impact things beyond you’re direct vicinity. If there was one thing someone can do to be “green,” it is acknowledge that each action or purchase has positive and negative consequences beyond what may be tangible in that moment. Considering and valuing those affects I believe will lead most people towards better, more “green” choices.-
Q: What is your favorite color?
R: Orange.-
Q: What inspires you every morning?
R: My wife Jaime, the amazing people I interact with through my career, and the unknown possibilities that lay ahead.-
Q: What lies in store for you future environmental endeavors?
R: I started this journey in environmental work only a short 3 years ago, and I would have never imagined the wonderful path I’ve taken to get where I am now, so for me it’s hard to guess where I am going. I’ve lived by a few ideas, including being diversified in what I do, keeping myself open to new possibilities, and staying dedicated to following my interests, passions, and morals. Those ideas have led me down an exciting and rewarding path so far, and I have no doubt sticking to it will be no different, where ever that path may lead.-
Q: What does green mean to you?
R: For me it means being conscious of your actions and to take a long term view of how those interactions are positively or negatively affecting yourself, others, and the natural capital which we are all dependent on.-
Q: How are your efforts going beyond green washing to address the dilemmas facing our planet given the disposable culture we live in?
R: Though my work efforts don’t directly deal with the disposable culture we live in and is more about conserving direct-use resources such as energy, I would like to put my 2 cents in about the fight against the disposable culture. One of the things that I see that makes changing the disposable culture hard, and why it as a “culture” is so prevalent in our society, is because it is convenient and inexpensive. While this is pretty common knowledge, the solutions I see out there to change disposable behavior usually only address one of these two issues and address them in the wrong way.You cannot fight against a “disposable culture” because being disposable is not a driving value for consumers, cost and convenience are. If you want to stop disposable, you need to find either a “positive” consumer solution such as an equal alternative that fits the product values for that consumer or a “negative” consumer solution that change the values of the original item through something like a tax, ban, social pressure, availability, or consumer liability. The positive solutions are ideal because it is equal-to or better in the consumers eyes and more likely to be adopted, while a negative consumer solution will be met with resistance, and the message of why disposable is an issue may be lost to the common story of “environmentalist forcing us to change something we don’t want to.”
Think “plastic grocery bags” and “bike don’t drive.” These both find heavy resistance with negative consumer solutions such as bans or car-free zones, and neither issue has found a solution to the convenience part of each of them. Green groups can pass out all the cloth bags they want and bike to work weeks can be organized every day, but the majority will not give up convenience even with a great solution to cost.
If you want to get beyond green washing and start making effective change, I believe you need to start understanding what will actually make change, which will not, and which will be met with resistance and lost message. Decide which you causes you want to fight for, which you can design for, and which don’t have a solution that is yet viable.
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Q: What is the role of young people in leading the environmental movement?
R: I think the role for young people in my generation in the environmental movement, and in general for the success of our generation, is to become more educated and more aware of the world we live in. Environmental issues are difficult and in-depth, and are not something that can be addressed with “101 way” solutions. The problems we face, as a society and a generation are complex, interconnected, and will need more attention than a Tweet or a sound bite, but the information for solutions in a lot of ways is out there already. The key is for us to be smart enough to recognize the information that is important, and have the capabilities to make the right long term decisions for all stakeholders.To hear more from Ryan, join him on Twitter or his blog.
Congrats again Ryan! And thank you to everyone who made the 30 under 30 contest a big success!
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Ecover: 30 Years in the Phosphates-Free Frame Of Mind
Pond Choked with AlgaeImage via Wikimedia Commons
Phosphates are a prime pollutant of streams and lakes, even damaging The Historic Chesapeake Bay. Although phosphorus is an important nutrient found in nature, excessive phosphates in bodies of water spur the growth of algae and aquatic weeds. When algae decompose, toxins are released, using up oxygen available for aquatic life and destroying the health of those lakes and streams. Consumers primarily know phosphates as a traditional ingredient in detergents.
Ecover has known for years that waste from detergents with phosphates turn beautiful clear lakes and rivers green and cloudy making them unfit for swimming and making drinking water more expensive to filter. Excess algal also leads to devastation called Eutrophication, where dead organic matter eventually turns vital water-ways to dry land.
Lake with Excessive Algae Growth Image via treehugger.com
In 2004 legislation was passed in Great Britain to prevent the use of more that 0.5% phosphates in laundry powder; in the USA sixteen states have mandatory regulations regarding phosphates in dishwasher detergents, but both laws are short of an outright phosphates ban, and Ecover knows it’s not good enough. So we continue to lead the way with our range of washing powders, liquid soaps and cleaners––all phosphate-free (as well as chlorine-free).
Of course, elimination of phosphates is only one aspect of Ecover’s mission. Low aquatic toxicity is important, but our products must also compete with the leading brands in terms of effectiveness. We navigate many environmental, social and scientific considerations: selecting the best raw materials to facilities and production excellence and distribution standards––right to the end job, where Ecover products completely degrade.
As one of the world’s best known brands for ecological cleaning products, our strict criteria provides a powerful model as we balance responsibility with efficacy. And no phosphates. It’s how we do business.
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Celebrate World Environment Day with Ecover on June 5th!
Image Via The United Nations Environnemental ProgrammeThere’s something about the turning of the seasons and the return of summer that just makes you want to celebrate the beauty of this planet we live on. The desire to keep the planet clean and healthy is why the United Nations instituted World Environment Day, (WED), on June 5, 1972. WED truly is a global event, with host cities all across planet earth taking part. This year, North America’s Host City is Pittsburgh. WED seeks to help us all be more aware of the environment; individually, socially and politically.
Image Via The United Nations Environnemental ProgrammeThis year’s theme is biodiversity: ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future.’ We now know that phosphates in the water negatively impact the eco-system, growing excessive algae and choking out other life. When Frans Bogaerts founded Ecover in 1980, this issue had not been widely identified as a problem – but it was a challenge that Ecover was about to tackle! When phosphates are reduced, aquatic life can flourish. So for thirty years – almost as long as World Environment Day has been around – Ecover has been helping to support biodiversity.
Image Via The United Nations Environnemental ProgrammeCelebrate World Environment Day with Ecover on June 5th. Check out the Tip Page on the United Nation’s web site to see if there’s just one small change that you can make, that will help make the world a cleaner, healthier place. And, perhaps you have a tip you’d like to submit to the site! (In the meantime – here at Ecover we have a tip for you: Ecover cleaning products – for a healthier you and a healthier planet!)
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Ecover Founder Frans Bogaerts – Envisioning a Phosphate-free Future
Photo Credit: Jean Guyaux“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species – man – acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.”
In Belgium circa 1980, long before words like “sustainability” and “eco-friendly” became part of our daily vocabulary, Frans Bogaerts (pictured above) had a Dream. At the time, fish were dying and rivers were foaming. Frans observed, firsthand, the serious damage that cleaning products were causing the environment. And he imagined a future in which these products no longer contained harmful chemicals. He dreamed of a phosphate-free future.
Why are phosphates such a big deal? When phosphates are released into our water systems, they cause a growth in algae which, in turn, causes Eutrophication or algal bloom. This blocks oxygen and light from the water, without which aquatic life cannot survive.
Pond with Algal Bloom(Image Courtesy of Wikipedia.com)
After much trial and error, the tenacious environmentalist successfully created a Washing Powder and Dishwashing agent that was phosphate-free.
Thirty years later (an anniversary we celebrate with pride!), Ecover is widely known for its superb eco-friendly products, sold worldwide. And Frans Bogaerts’ Dream? It’s alive, well and thriving. It’s Ecover.
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