Tag Archives: responsible investment

Returns on Trash and Treasure

DaleWannenGailLoosToday on Sea Change Radio we talk with two people working on very different fronts of the environmental movement. Our first guest is Dale Wannen, a Presidio Graduate School alum who runs a sustainable and responsible investment firm. We learn about the latest in sustainable and responsible investing (or SRI), including whether or not the small investor stands a chance in the age of flash trading. He also explains how owning just a small amount of stock allows an investor to influence a corporation’s sustainability practices, creating a return that is both monetary and socially beneficial.

Then, host Alex Wise talks to composting expert Gail Loos. She tells us about the growing trend among municipalities to encourage composting through curbside pick-up programs. She also describes how to get a return on your biodegradable garbage, in the form of nutrient-rich soil, even if your city is not yet composting.

Ceres Conference Preview: Lester Snow and Bennett Freeman

BennettFreemanLesterSnowThe Ceres Conference is an annual gathering where organizations as different as the Sierra Club and Shell come together to discuss ways to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. On the eve of the conference which takes place May 1st and 2nd in San Francisco this year, we thought it would be worthwhile to get a sneak peek at some of the Ceres speakers.

This week on Sea Change Radio, we hear from two Ceres speakers. First, we are joined by Lester Snow, the executive director of the California Water Foundation. He gives us an overview of some compelling water issues concerning the American West. Then, host Alex Wise speaks to Bennett Freeman of Calvert Investments, an investment company that has been on the forefront of the socially responsible investment movement since the 1980s.

The State of Socially Responsible Investing in The States

A couple of months ago here at Sea Change Radio we discussed socially responsible investing, or SRI, from a global perspective with South African financial expert Graham Sinclair. This week, we take a look at the American SRI movement. Host Alex Wise speaks with industry pioneer Jerome Dodson the founder of both Parnassus Investments and Working Assets along with Aaron Winer, a Bay Area investment advisor who specializes in finding his clients socially responsible investment vehicles. We discuss the roots of the SRI industry, some of the innovations taking place today and how the new political reality of American democracy in the Citizens United era is changing how we all should view the companies we invest in and support.

Stewards of Other People’s Money… and The Planet

Socially responsible capitalism – is this an oxymoron? Not according to this week’s guest on Sea Change Radio. Graham Sinclair is a South African sustainable investment consultant and the President of the Africa Sustainable Investment Forum. Money managers like him attract conscientious investors, using the tools of capitalism to pressure corporations to be more socially responsible. Today, Sinclair talks about the past and future of sustainable investing, and what it means for corporations, investors and consumers. Host Alex Wise also discusses with Sinclair the particular importance of socially responsible investment strategies in developing countries.

Socially Responsible Investment Community Reacts to BP Deepwater Disaster

“Man is not imprisoned by habit. Great changes in him can be wrought by crisis — once that crisis can be recognized and understood.” -author Norman Cousins

Sea Change Radio’s Alex Wise and CEO of Sustainability Risk Advisors, Mark Tulay, examine if there is a silver lining to what many are calling the greatest environmental disaster in history unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. Read the show transcript

The Year of Shopping Dangerously

2007 could have been called the Year of Shopping Dangerously. First there was the pet food scare, then toxic toothpaste, then a bevy of poisonous toys being recalled, one after another – containing lead, asbestos and other toxic materials. Many of the toxic products came from manufacturing outsourced to China. Do we have to choose between products that are cheap or products that are safe? Or is our regulatory system broke? With the US and China set to sign agreements soon to try to make Chinese exports meet U.S. standards, our interviewees today probe the deeper issues, and help us understand how much more it will take to end the flood of toxic products.

Melissa BrownCohost Sanford Lewis speaks with Melissa Brown of the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (ASRIA) and Lauren Compere, an investor with Boston Common Asset Management, who discuss the failures of third party audits and the challenges of a multilayered China supply chain, and Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, who says that toxic products are not just a China problem – in fact the United States has some of the weakest product toxicity regulations in the developed world. This episode of CWR produced with support of the Investor Environmental Health Network.

ASRIA

Boston Common Asset Management

Not Just a Pretty Face – Book

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

“Skin Deep” Cosmetics Safety Database

Investor Environmental Health Network

Asian Volatility and Toxic Products; Citizen Investors Democratizing Capitalism

As goes the Chinese stock market, so may go US markets. But what happens when the volatility in China is of a different kind – consumer panic over product toxicity concerns? American companies selling products in Asia can suffer extremely volatile product sales due to “regulation by scandal.”

Melissa_BrownWe speak with Melissa Brown, director of ASRIA — The Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia. Then, we talk with Stephen Davis regarding his book “The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda.” He talks about how citizens, through their retirement savings, are beginning to reshape the agenda of mutual funds and corporations.

Cohosts Sanford Lewis, Bill Baue and Francesca Rheannon

ASrIA – The Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia

Davis Global Advisors

Investor Environmental Health Network

SocialFunds Book Review–The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda