From breakfast briefings to happy hours, the enthusiasm for climate action was palpable at last week’s Expo East. In the midst of the bustling trade show floor, we witnessed a passionate, fast-growing community of natural products manufacturers, retailers, distributors and brokers coming together to act on climate.

 I love Expo East. It is smaller than its West coast counterpart, which allows for more time to connect with an inspiring group of amazing natural products leaders. Erin Callahan, our new Climate Collaborative Director, and I had a great time on the show floor meeting with many of the dozens of companies who were proudly displaying their commitments to climate action (check out our pictures on Facebook). 

Read more on our site.

All the best,

Lara Dickinson
OSC2 Executive Director
Climate Collaborative Co-founder

Click here for a complete list of the companies that have made commitments to date.

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New video: INFRA and Climate Collaborative Briefing at Expo East - We were thrilled to provide committed companies and donors with a special briefing at Expo East, co-convened with Climate Collaborative supporter INFRA. Erin Callahan, Director of the Climate Collaborative, and co-Founder Lara Dickinson reported on the progress of the Collaborative; we heard remarks and announcements from Corinne Shindelar of INFRA; Dolores Anderson of Sunflower Natural Foods Market, our newest committed company; Rebecca Hamilton of Badger Balm; and Amy Kirtland of KeHE, the Collaborative's newest donor. If you missed the briefing you can watch a recording here.

New webinar: Right Side Up: The Lowdown on Packaging Lifecycle Climate Impacts and Opportunities - If you missed our recent webinar on reducing the climate impacts of your packaging, you can catch a recording of it here. Nancy Hirshberg of Hirshberg Strategic joined to brief attendees on the climate impact of packaging across its lifecycle, and identify strategies to address the impacts through practical steps.

The Role of Organic Farming in Climate Change Mitigation

September 29, 1 PM ET, Online
Dr. Tracy Misiewicz, an author of a new study from The Organic Center and The National Soil Project at Northeastern University, will join to present information related to discoveries of the new study and organic’s general relationship to carbon sequestration. She will review how – and which – organic farming practices have been shown to mitigate climate change more than general conventional farming practices and dig into the study methodology and results. Attendees will walk away with a toolbox of information they can use to communicate organic’s benefits to their customers and forward their own agricultural projects related to climate mitigation.

Interested in attending? Please register here to attend or email SFTA Associate Director Lisa Spicka at [email protected]. 

OSC2 Packaging Collaborative Webinar: Where does our packaging go?

October 3, 10 AM PT, Online
Join us for an engaging webinar, which will highlight current composting infrastructure and how it poses barriers and opportunities for environmentally friendly packaging. This panel will showcase some of the significant limitations to the recovery of compostable packaging today, including lack of residential access and waste handlers not wanting to accept this new form of packaging. We will, however, also discuss some of the criteria for required to overcome these hurdles. OSC2 companies can play a pivotal role in shaping programs for collection and processing but need to first understand the current issues. How do Organic agriculture rules impact what a composter can accept, and what can natural foods companies do to help change this? What types of packaging applications make sense for composting, and how can the value proposition be improved? Find out more and register.

60 Minutes with Paul Hawken

October 4, 1:15 PM ET in Boulder, CO
Project Drawdown is facilitating a broad coalition of researchers, scientists, graduate students, PhDs, post-docs, policymakers, business leaders and activists to assemble and present the best available information on climate solutions in order to describe their beneficial financial, social and environmental impact over the next thirty years. The book, Drawdown, reports on this research to map, measure, model, and describe the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming. It is the first detailed plan to reverse global warming. Join Security and Sustainability Forum Managing Director, Edward Saltzberg, and American Renewable Energy Institute  Chairman and CEO, Chip Comins, in a 60-minute webinar and conversation with Drawdown Editor and Project Drawdown Executive Director, Paul Hawken. Find out more and register here.

Rooted Community Session 2: Cool Farm Tool Training 

October 12
During the second session of the Rooted Community Action Group meeting, Sustainable Food Lab will provide a training on how to use the Cool Farm Tool. To find out more and join the session, email Lisa Spicka at [email protected].

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Send us any blog or social media posts your company publishes about your experience reducing your impact on the climate and we’ll spread the word!

If you haven't already made a commitment to Climate Action please visit the Climate Collaborative website and check out the nine areas in which your company can make a commitment to bold climate action.