The nation’s largest natural, organic and healthy products trade show expects more than 45,000 people to attend the industry event in Anaheim, California this week from March 14 - 16. In its 28th year, this year’s Expo will publicly display its commitment to Green. For the first time, Expo West will implement widespread programs to reduce waste, limit carbon footprint, and encourage its attendees to do the same.

Image courtesy: Natural Products Expo West/Supply Expo

The Green Team’s list will include:

• Powering the 930,000 square foot Anaheim Convention Center with wind and solar energy through offsets.
• Providing attendees and exhibitors a green-powered travel option, through the purchase of renewable energy certificates via registration.
• Encouraging “car” pooling through a regional bus service or participating in the shuttle service provided by Natural Products Expo West to the official host hotels.
• Using sustainable building materials for show structures and exhibits that will be reused over a 3-year period, including, but not limited to plyboo, Woodstock, muslin drape, 100% recyclable aluminum extrusion and low-VOC paints provided by Freeman.
• Using biodegradable flatware at Natural Products Expo West events and feature areas.
• Outfitting Expo staff with organic t-shirts with vegetable dye ink
• Offering attendees green educational seminars.
• Collecting and donating unused samples and products to local Anaheim charities and food banks.
• Providing local, free-range, natural and organic products at concessions and events in partnership with Aramark.
• Printing show promotional materials on 30-100% post consumer recycled paper.
• Purchasing show premiums and gifts made of recycled materials.
• Biodegradable table liners in all exhibit booths.
• Providing the exhibitor service kit online only, eliminating paper and CD production.
• Offering environmentally friendly exhibit packages through Freeman, including recycled carpet, 100% recyclable aluminum extrusion, plyboo panels and low-VOC paints.

The green policy reflects the show’s producer, New Hope Media’s own greening efforts, and we applaud the move.

Root Concepts will be there to hear New York Times Magazine best-selling author, Michael Pollan, winner of the James Beard Award for best food writing, for The Omnivore’s Dilemma, deliver the keynote address on March 15. We’ll be checking out eco fashions when thinkproducts bring together eco-fashion icons at the thinkVitality Fashion Show to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Komen For The Cure is the largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors, and the largest nonprofit fund dedicated to fighting breast cancer in the world.

Be on the lookout for a RootCast derived from our travels.

Image: Courtesy of Indigenous Designs

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A recent purchase in the product world has created quite the buzz. Last week The Clorox Company announced that they have bought the beloved Burt’s Bees for $925 million in cash.

Burt’s Bees, which began in 1984 as cofounder Burt Shavitz peddling honey out the back of his pick-up, has an ever-growing following for it natural products over the past years. Now in a situation similar to Colgate’s purchasing of Tom’s of Maine, or Ben & Jerry’s buyout to Unilever, brand-loyal consumers have been sent into a tailspin.

According to Clorox, the natural personal care market already accounts for over $6 billion in sales each year, and sales are climbing at an annual rate of 9%. The purchase of the natural products company is intended to prep Clorox for the release of Green Works, their new environmentally friendly cleaning line.
“The Burt’s Bees brand is well-anchored in sustainability and health and wellness, and we believe it will benefit from natural and ‘green’ tailwinds,” said Clorox Chief Executive Donald R. Knauss. “It’s in an economically attractive category with a margin structure that will be highly accretive to Clorox.”
Plans are in place for Burt’s to conduct a distribution test with Wal-Mart Stores by the end of the year. Clorox, coincidentally, obtains 26% of its sales from Wal-Mart.
The purchased Google search results link to www.burtsbees.com currently opens up to the “Our Values” page, featuring “The Greater Good Business Model,” instead of the usual homepage. Among other hypocritical highlights, the site includes “animals rights” and “fair trade” in it’s web of consciousness; a compelling contrast to Clorox’s animal testing practices and Burt’s branching out to Wal-Mart.
The site also features a response to the recent purchase via “A Letter to Our Loyal Customers,” which states that Burt’s still plans to stick to their ‘green’ guns, and that the purchase is “a great opportunity to help us better deliver against our mission of making truly natural personal products available to everyone, everywhere.” The company may now be able to make the most of their mission, but what about those values?
On the brighter side, the Burt’s business will not be joining The Clorox Company headquarters in Oakland, CA, but remain nestled in North Carolina. Perhaps the cross country distance between the bleach and the beeswax will be enough to convince consumers.

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