Talk about a trailblazer: Bon Ami had a green product long before “green” was a product
category. How so? For one thing, it’s been in business for nearly 125 years, surviving
the Great Depression, the chemical revolution and numerous household cleaning fads.
For another thing, the little cleanser with the iconic chick on its label has kept it clean
from the beginning, literally, with products free of phosphates, chlorine and other harsh
chemicals. Recently Bon Ami updated its brand for a new generation of conscientious
consumers, launching six new products and a new website.

We had a great time recently speaking with Carolyn Beaham West, vice president
of brand development for Bon Ami, which is still a family business. Her dad,
Gordon Beaham III, chairman of Faultless Starch/Bon Ami, kept the brand alive
by securing a spot in Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog in the early 1970s.

Here’s a clip from our conversation, in which West describes how Bon Ami worked with
design agency Celery to rethink and redesign its packaging:
Link to clip.

And, after having such a positive experience with Opportunity Green in the past, here’s
what she’s most looking forward to at this year’s event:
Link to clip.

Written by AHA! for Opportunity Green.

On Monday, Opportunity Green had the chance to speak with Naveen Sikka about biofuels and specifically his company, TerViva.

Click here to listen to the full interview.

TerViva has developed an environmentally-responsible biofuel that extracts non-edible oils from the seeds of the Pongamia tree. Using their promising method, the energy output of a gallon of their diesel is significantly more than the energy used to produce that gallon.

1. What stage is TerViva at right now? Have you begun production?

We’ve just begun our first tree plantings in locations across the US Southwest.  These plantings will serve as the basis for further, larger-scale plantings in 2011 and 2012.

2. The global market for biodiesel is poised for explosive growth in the next ten years; how do you see TerViva fitting into the biodiesel market?

We envision TerViva as the provider of the lowest cost and most environmentally-friendly form of biodiesel.  We are excited that many companies are pursuing many different pathways to produce biodiesel – we have much to do as an industry to displace petroleum.  But some of those companies will produce expensive fuels, or fuels of questionable environmental benefit.

3. What’s your next big strategic phase as a company? Will TerViva be consumer facing?

Because of the product that we produce – transportation fuel – the biggest challenge for TerViva (like all biodiesel companies) is scalability. Our goal is to produce millions of gallons of fuel in five years, and to clearly identify our product as ‘best in class’ in terms of economics and the environment.

4. How do you plan on selling your product? Are you raising venture capital funding?

Our goal is to collaborate in the ecosystem in which we exist, thereby creating jobs and spreading the wealth.  So we currently work with local landowners, farmers, and field crews in the regions in which we are planting trees.  We are in the process of identifying existing biodiesel refiners who would like to partner with TerViva.

TerViva has raised seed funding, but needs additional money to plant more trees.   We are in active discussions with venture capitalists, private equity firms and other sources of capital.  It’s not a great time to be raising money, but we’ve had great receptivity so far from investors.

Click here to listen to Naveen’s full interview.

Mark Heaney of Alter Echo on stage at Opportunity Green 2009

In my recent conversation with Mark Heaney of AlterEcho, we discussed his passion for improving human health and the environment through environmental consulting services, and his belief that the marketplace is now ready for the same kind of environmental services that the government has been utilizing for decades. Mark’s firm, TechLaw, has been working with the EPA for years, working on some of the worst environmental messes in cities and waterways created by negligent industrial pollution. AlterEcho launched at the Opportunity Green conference this past weekend.

Listen to our conversation here: