Join your SBA friends, well-known and brand new, for a picnic in North Berkeley's nature jewel, Tilden Park! We invite you to bring your loved ones to our second annual event SBA picnic -- friends and family members are most welcome! (Dogs are too, though park rules mandate they be on a leash while in the picnic area.) Even though this event is free, please register so we know how many people to expect.

Place: Tilden Park's Fern picnic site, Berkeley

Date & Time: August 1st from 1 to 5 pm

We have reserved an ideal picnic spot with trees, grass, picnic tables, a drinking fountain, and a large group BBQ which you're welcome to cook on.

POTLUCK PLAN
Please bring a potluck item to feed about 10 people, as well as drinks for your and your family. Feel free to bring any of the following to share: appetizers, desserts, entrees (especially encouraged!), salads and side dishes. We especially appreciate healthful, nutritious, and delicious food that's sustainably grown (e.g., local, pesticide-free, organic), prepared, and packaged!

If you'd like to cook your contribution at the picnic (corn, squash, sweet peppers, anyone?), please bring lump charcoal & matches (just say no to briquettes & lighter fluid). If you or any of the people you bring have restricted diets, please bring food they can eat to ensure that they'll have adequate fare - thank you!

OTHER SUGGESTED ITEMS TO BRING

• your own utensils, plate, cup, and non-disposable napkin if you're able; we'll provide recyclable plates, napkins, cups, and cutlery for those who aren't
• yummy food and refreshing drinks
• musical instruments
• outdoor toys, play equipment
• your fun-loving spirit!

TALENT SHOW/CABARET
If there is interest, we will have a talent show/cabaret at a time when there is critical mass at the event. Fun, fun, fun!

REGISTRATION
The event is free and open to non-members, but please RSVP ASAP so that we can get a sense of the number of attendees. Thank you!

VOLUNTEERS
We need several volunteers for prep, set up, helping with the BBQ, planning/leading activities, and clean up.

CONTACT
If you'd like to volunteer, perform in the talent show/cabaret, or have a question about the event, please contact Ann McGinnis: ann@wildheart-enterprises.com

LOCATION & TRANSPORTATION
We'll be gathering at the Fern picnic site on the north side of Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills, within 100 yards of the carousel and less than a mile from the Environmental Education Center & Little Farm. You can find it on Google Maps.

The Fern site is easily accessible by bus and, for some hardy souls, by bike! Or get to know your green colleagues better by carpooling if possible.

Bus Info: The site is located right on the #67 bus route. On the weekends and holidays, the #67 bus leaves from downtown Berkeley and takes about 20 minutes to arrive at Fern.

Directions from Highway 80: Exit Hwy 80 in Berkeley on to University Ave. Left on Oxford, by UC Berkeley's eastern border. Right on Rose. Left on Spruce to the top of the hill. Cross a wide intersection, and immediately make a sharp left down Canon Drive. The Fern picnic site is on the left a few hundred yards down Canon Drive. There's ample parking at our site.

Hope to see you at our annual picnic on August 1!

Join your SBA friends, well-known and brand new, for a picnic in North Berkeley's nature jewel, Tilden Park!  We invite you to bring your loved ones to our second annual event SBA picnic -- friends and family members are most welcome! (Dogs are too, though park rules mandate they be on a leash while in the picnic area.)

Place: Tilden Park's Fern picnic site, Berkeley

Date & Time: August 1st from 1 to 5 pm

We have reserved an ideal picnic spot with trees, grass, picnic tables, a drinking fountain, and a large group BBQ which you're welcome to cook on.

POTLUCK PLAN
Please bring a potluck item to feed about 10 people, as well as drinks for your and your family. Feel free to bring any of the following to share: appetizers, desserts, entrees (especially encouraged!), salads and side dishes.  We especially appreciate healthful, nutritious, and delicious food that's sustainably grown (e.g., local, pesticide-free, organic), prepared, and packaged!

If you'd like to cook your contribution at the picnic (corn, squash, sweet peppers, anyone?), please bring lump charcoal & matches (just say no to briquettes & lighter fluid).  If you or any of the people you bring have restricted diets, please bring food they can eat to ensure that they'll have adequate fare - thank you!

OTHER SUGGESTED ITEMS TO BRING

• your own utensils, plate, cup, and non-disposable napkin if you're able; we'll provide recyclable plates, napkins, cups, and cutlery for those who aren't
• yummy food and refreshing drinks
• musical instruments
• outdoor toys, play equipment
• your fun-loving spirit!

TALENT SHOW/CABARET
If there is interest, we will have a talent show/cabaret at a time when there is critical mass at the event. Fun, fun, fun!

REGISTRATION
The event is free and open to non-members, but please RSVP ASAP so that we can get a sense of the number of attendees. Thank you!

VOLUNTEERS
We need several volunteers for prep, set up, helping with the BBQ, planning/leading activities, and clean up.

CONTACT
If you'd like to volunteer, perform in the talent show/cabaret, or have a question about the event, please contact Ann McGinnis: ann@wildheart-enterprises.com

LOCATION & TRANSPORTATION
We'll be gathering at the Fern picnic site on the north side of Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills, within 100 yards of the carousel and less than a mile from the Environmental Education Center & Little Farm. You can find it on Google Maps.

The Fern site is easily accessible by bus and, for some hardy souls, by bike! Or get to know your green colleagues better by carpooling if possible.

Bus Info: The site is located right on the #67 bus route. On the weekends and holidays, the #67 bus leaves from downtown Berkeley and takes about 20 minutes to arrive at Fern.

Directions from Highway 80: Exit Hwy 80 in Berkeley on to University Ave. Left on Oxford, by UC Berkeley's eastern border. Right on Rose. Left on Spruce to the top of the hill. Cross a wide intersection, and immediately make a sharp left down Canon Drive. The Fern picnic site is on the left a few hundred yards down Canon Drive. There's ample parking at our site.

Hope to see you at our annual picnic on August 1!

A celebration of good community, good work and good spirits! Mark you calendar!

Sponsored by:

Sustainable Business Alliance
East Bay Green Drinks
Green Chamber of Commerce

No door charge + Cash bar

Luka's Tap Room

2221 Broadway (3 blocks north of the 19th Street Bart station)

Many thanks to our event sponsor StopWaste.Org Complimentary appetizers from 5:30-6pm provided by StopWaste.Org!

Take a look at this video from last year's event:

A celebration of good community, good work and good spirits! Mark you calendar!

Sponsored by:

Sustainable Business Alliance
East Bay Green Drinks
Green Chamber of Commerce

No door charge + Cash bar

Luka's Tap Room

2221 Broadway (3 blocks north of the 19th Street Bart station)

Many thanks to our event sponsor StopWaste.Org Complimentary appetizers from 5:30-6pm provided by StopWaste.Org!

Dear Sustainable Business Alliance Members, Fans, and Community,

The Sustainable Business Alliance (SBA) is bringing 2009 to a close with a flurry of enthusiastic and energetic growth.

1. SBA has a brand new website and website address!! Check it out at www.sustainablebusinessalliance.org. We have two of our Board members - Mike Paunovich and Sue Kearney - to thank for the new site. Their diligent and generous contributions of time and talent are greatly appreciated and we are delighted by the results - and know you will be too!

2. Gil Friend, who was SBA Board President since the founding of SBA in 1996, has resigned from that position and is deeply immersed in further growing of his highly successful company, Natural Logic. Thank you, again, Gil for your service!

3. Leila Khatapoush, who has served on the Board for the two years, was unanimously elected by the board members as Board President. Any of you who know her through her work for Alameda County Green Business Program; for her own company, Breathing Room; or through her burgeoning career as a singer/songwriter, will know that she is blessed with the energy, effectiveness and sense of humor (very desirable attributes for this demanding position) of any three normal mortals.

4. SBA has just become one of a dozen sustainability-oriented business associations who are members of an important new political advocacy organization, American Sustainable Business Council, which is currently being led by David Brodwin, a specialist in "messaging" for Triple Bottom Line nonprofits. Our members will derive benefits such as opportunities to engage in political activism as well as benefiting from the impact of a united voice championing an agenda for sustainable businesses in Washington D.C.

5. Pamela Evans, who has been SBA Events Committee Chair for the past three years, is now turning this position over to SBA Board Member Beth Gelfand, who has been serving on that committee for the past two years. Beth is looking forward to producing SBA Networking Lunches on the first Friday of each month; SBA Speaker Events on the second Tuesday of each month; and co-producing the SBA Annual Party. See note #1 at the bottom. 

6. Justin Martello, Board Treasurer and Certified Financial Planner with Effective Assets, is spearheading a dynamic Membership Committee which has committed to doubling the SBA membership over the next twelve months, helping us to achieve our mission of increasing awareness and growing the green economy in the East Bay. Find out more about SBA membership.

In short, we are looking forward to a great year for our wonderful SBA, and hope to have you join us as we move forward into 2010!

Mark McLeod
Executive Director

NOTES

1. Our annual party will be held on Wed., Jan. 20, 2010, 5:30 pm, at Luka's Taproom, 2221 Broadway, in Oakland. The Green Chamber of Commerce and East Bay Green Drinks are co-sponsors of this event.

The Sustainable Business Alliance is moving to a new domain! We are moving from sustainablebiz.org to sustainablebusinessalliance.org. In order to ensure you will continue to receive our emails, please add our new address to your email client's white list:

Please ensure your spam filter will allow mail from sustainablebusinessalliance.org

To make sure you keep receiving emails from SBA, set your spam filters to allow email from sustainablebusinessalliance.org. For help with this, please select your email service: Apple, Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, Yahoo.

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SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS ALLIANCE

presents

Researching & Selecting Green Products

Potentially hazardous chemicals are ubiquitous in the products we use daily, from your couch to your toilet bowl cleaner. Calls for chemicals policy reform and more sustainable products increase as the high cost to our health and the environment becomes clear. In this Sustainable Business Alliance speaker event Environmental & Public Health consultant Ann Blake will share insights on researching and selecting environmentally friendly products. Come find out about green product vetting tools such as GoodGuide.com, and other efforts to move us to a more sustainable economy.

Ann Blake, Ph.D., Environmental & Public Health Consulting

Date: Tuesday, December 8th
Time: 5:30-7:30 pm
Location: Tilden Room, Martin Luther King Student Union, UC Berkeley

Register Here

$15 Members (Join Now!)
$20 Non Members

Green Cleaning for a Better Planet

by Terry Mandel

Since my North Berkeley Hills Homestay is an eco-friendly inn, and I have chemically-sensitive guests who feel fine here, I frankly thought I didn't have much to learn about green cleaning at the August SBA program I produced on “Choosing & Using Green Cleaners at Home & Work.” The evening turned out to be wonderfully informative even for those who thought they knew it all!

Leila Khatapoush, a sustainability consultant with Alameda and San Francisco counties and the city of Berkeley, shared not only her vast expertise, but that of two respected colleagues, Robin Burns and Deb Goldberg. A solo proprietor, Robin does business as Elbow Grease Cleaning. Deb is general manager of Natural Home Cleaning, a worker cooperative of Bay Area Latina housekeepers who are building successful green businesses.

We learned a lot from this powerhouse panel, including some things that might surprise you:

• Green cleaning involves more than just using non-toxic products; the processes we use can be more or less sustainable, as well!

• 95-97% of germs are removed by cleaning (with a microfiber cloth, for example); no hot water & soap are even needed!

• Anti-bacterial soaps & cleaners contain triclosan, an endocrine disrupter, which is bad for humans as well as other living systems.

• Disinfectants, which make sense only in high-use, high-traffic, areas, are effective only if left on a surface for 10-30 minutes!

• Most waterless hand cleaners do not clean thoroughly and dump alcohol into your body; try Clean Well All-Natural Sanitizer (with ingenium) instead.

• Microfiber cloths are great for all cleaning. Launder separately from other items and don't put in the dryer to maximum their useful life. The cheap ones at Costco are just as good as the pricey ones at Pastime Hardware. Different textures seem to work best for different jobs.

• Recommended products/companies include: Bon-Ami, Seventh Generation Dishwashing Liquid, Bio-Kleen All-Purpose Cleaner, Vaska (local), Dish Drops Scrub Buds, Melaleuca, Ecover

• Specialty products include: Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds (degreaser), hydrogen peroxide (whitening & laundry disinfectant), Oxo-Brite (porcelain whitener), tea tree oil & baking soda (multiple uses)

If you're seeking green cleaning professionals for your home or office, contact Robin or Deb. Robin also offers one-time consultations for those who'd like to learn how to clean their own places more sustainably. Leila welcomes referrals for speaking and consulting engagements for municipalities, large employers, and professional associations.

For more information, contact:

Robin Burns, Elbow Grease Cleaning, 510.409.8885, antidust1@cs.com

Deb Goldberg, Natural Home Cleaning, 510.532.6645, manager@naturalhomecleaning.com

Leila Khatapoush, Breathing Room Organizing, 510.520.1103, leila.khatapoush@gmail.com

Terry Mandel, North Berkeley Hills Homestay, 510.910.0086, innkeeper@hillshomestay.com

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS ALLIANCE

presents

How California Environmental Legislation & Policy Changes Affect Your Business

Mr. Gary Lucks JD, CPEA will discuss the environmental policy initiatives which emerged from the last California legislative session, many of which became effective on January 1, 2009. Gary will discuss notable developments in the areas of:

• Climate Change
• Energy
• Air Quality
• Water Quality
• Green Chemistry
• Green Building and Green Jobs
• Solid Waste and Recycling
• Hazardous Materials/Hazardous Waste

His legislative and regulatory update will cover new state and federal environmental legislation and relevant regulatory developments, revealing important compliance implications for commercial and industrial organizations, state and local government entities.  

Mr. Lucks, a principal environmental attorney and scientist with Beyond Compliance LLC, has over 25 years of experience as a regulatory compliance and sustainability specialist, advising clients on environmental audits, environmental permitting, training, regulatory analysis, and multimedia environmental management systems (EMS). Beyond Compliance LLC bridges EH&S compliance counseling with sustainability principles, and is specifically designed to help industry transition from a regulatory compliance model to one of sustainability where pollution prevention and concepts of sustainability improve performance and reduce the costs of doing business, while exceeding command and control environmental compliance standards. Mr. Lucks has published numerous articles and newsletters addressing environmental legislation and policy, authored the environmental auditing chapter for the California Environmental Law and Land Use Practice treatise, and co-authored of a California Environmental Law and Policy: A Practical Guide. He currently serves on the California State Bar Environmental Legislation Committee.

THURSDAY, October 6TH, 2009
5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Hotel Shattuck Plaza - Crystal Ballroom
2086 Allston Way, Berkeley
Near Downtown Berkeley BART Station

$15 pre-registered members
$20 non members
$25 at the door

Register here

Leila Khatapoush has posted photos from the SBA summertime picnic in Tilden Park. View the entire set here.

We are excited to announce our Summer Membership promotion. New members who join the SBA between July 29th and August 31st can attend their next SBA networking lunch or speaker event for free (a $15 value). You may join the SBA by clicking here or at either of our two August events. With the SBA, there really is such a thing as a free lunch! Please contact the Membership Committee at sbamembership@gmail.com with any questions.

August SBA events:

Networking Lunch at Swans Cohousing in Oakland

Choosing & Using Green Cleaners at Home & Work

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS ALLIANCE

presents

Choosing & Using Green Cleaners at Home & Work

Household cleaners cause more than twice the problems posed by pesticides! In 2007, household cleaning products were among the top three most frequent causes of toxic exposure reported to one of the Poison Control Centers in the United States. More than 50% of these exposures were to children five years or younger. About 6% of professional janitors are injured each year by the chemicals they use at their jobs.

Many common products used at home and work contain neurotoxins, solvents, and nasal/ocular irritants that can be carcinogenic, lead to liver, lung, and nerve damage, cause reproductive, endocrine, and immune system disorders, and bring about or exacerbate breathing problems, low blood pressure, low levels of hemoglobin, acidic blood, and blood in the urine. People, plants, and animals can be poisoned at the source through ingestion, inhalation, and absorption … not to mention downstream.

According to green company Seventh Generation, the domestic market for natural household cleaning products has grown to $100 million annually. Although that represents only one percent of the total household cleaners market, it's been growing by 18-25 percent each year for the last five years! Join us for a presentation and interactive discussion about how to clean your office and home using environmentally-preferable products and practices. Please bring any products from home as well as any questions you may have.

Speaker Leila Khatapoush is a Bay Area Green Certified sustainability consultant and professional organizer. She currently works with local government agencies to help them reach their environmental goals. Recently, she has assisted the City of San Francisco with their toxics reduction goals by conducting trainings for City custodial staff in the proper use of environmentally-preferable cleaning products. Additionally, she works with the City of Berkeley as a commercial food waste and recycling specialist and with the Alameda County Green Business Certification Program assisting businesses with their greening efforts and verifying practices for Green Business Certification.

Date:                         Tuesday, August 11
Time:                         5:30-7:30 pm
Location:                   East Bay Cohousing Clubhouse 2105 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley

Register Here

Attend this event for free by signing up for SBA membership in August! Details here.

Co-sponsored by Alameda County Green Business Program, Daily Californian, Downtown Berkeley Association, East Bay Express, Planning for Sustainable Communities

After six months of working our buns off since the legendary SBA Inauguration Party, we're ready for a change of pace! You, too? Then you'll want to join your SBA friends, well-known and new, for a picnic in Tilden Park (North Berkeley)! We found a great picnic spot with trees, grass, and a gigantic BBQ, so we can commune with each other and with nature at the same time. It's easily accessible by bus and, for some hardy souls, by bike! Or get to know your green colleagues better by carpooling. Bring your loved ones, yummy food, refreshing drinks, musical instruments, play equipment for a hilly site, and your life-sustaining, fun-loving spirit!

July 26th 2009
12pm-5pm
Tilden Park, Berkeley

Register Here

POTLUCK ASSIGNMENTS
We invite you to bring the following potluck to share according to your last name; trades welcome:

A-D Appetizers
E-H Desserts
I-K Beverages
L-O Entrees
P-T Salads & Side Dishes
U-Z Beverages

We especially encourage healthy, nutritious, and delicious food that's sustainably grown (e.g., local, pesticide-free, organic), prepared, and packaged! Bring your own utensils, plate, cup, and non-disposable napkin if you're able; we'll provide recyclable plates, napkins, cups, and cutlery for those who aren't.

If you'd like to cook your contribution at the picnic (corn, squash, sweet peppers, anyone?), please bring lump charcoal & matches (just say no to briquettes & lighter fluid) and consider coming early to fire up the extra large BBQ!

ANOTHER FOOD OPTION
If you'd rather just show up and eat, we'll offer that option, too! Let us know if you prefer a vegetarian or non-vegetarian entrée.

REGISTRATION
Please register a week in advance, if at all possible. The cost is $2 each for SBA members/partners/kids (under 16 free) if you're bringing potluck and $10 each if you'd like us to feed you. Non-members, add $5.

LOCATION & TRANSPORTATION
We're gathering at the Fern picnic site on the north side of Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills, less than a mile from the Environmental Education Center & Little Farm. You can find it on Google Maps.

While there's ample parking at our site, it's also right on the #67 bus route. On the weekends and holidays, it leaves downtown Berkeley every hour from 7:50 am - 6:50 pm and takes about 20 mins to arrive at Fern, on the right side of Central Park Drive, 0.4 miles from the shuttered pony rides and before the Carousel and Lake Anza. Here's a link to the schedule.

RAFFLE
What cool experience/service/thing will you offer to raffle? What will you win? Please ponder these vitally important questions as picnic day approaches.

VOLUNTEERS
We need several volunteers for prep, set up, BBQing, planning/leading activities, and clean up! Taking part ensures maximum fun!

CONTACT
If you'd like to volunteer, offer raffle prizes, or have questions, please contact terry@terrymandel.com.

After six months of working our buns off since the legendary SBA Inauguration Party, we're ready for a change of pace! You, too? Then you'll want to join your SBA friends, well-known and new, for a picnic in Tilden Park (North Berkeley)! We found a great picnic spot with trees, grass, and a gigantic BBQ, so we can commune with each other and with nature at the same time. It's easily accessible by bus and, for some hardy souls, by bike! Or get to know your green colleagues better by carpooling. Bring your loved ones, yummy food, refreshing drinks, musical instruments, play equipment for a hilly site, and your life-sustaining, fun-loving spirit!

July 26th 2009
12pm-5pm
Tilden Park, Berkeley

Register Here

POTLUCK ASSIGNMENTS
We invite you to bring the following potluck to share according to your last name; trades welcome:

A-D Appetizers
E-H Desserts
I-K Beverages
L-O Entrees
P-T Salads & Side Dishes
U-Z Beverages

We especially encourage healthy, nutritious, and delicious food that's sustainably grown (e.g., local, pesticide-free, organic), prepared, and packaged! Bring your own utensils, plate, cup, and non-disposable napkin if you're able; we'll provide recyclable plates, napkins, cups, and cutlery for those who aren't.

If you'd like to cook your contribution at the picnic (corn, squash, sweet peppers, anyone?), please bring lump charcoal & matches (just say no to briquettes & lighter fluid) and consider coming early to fire up the extra large BBQ!

ANOTHER FOOD OPTION
If you'd rather just show up and eat, we'll offer that option, too! Let us know if you prefer a vegetarian or non-vegetarian entrée.

REGISTRATION
Please register a week in advance, if at all possible. The cost is $2 each for SBA members/partners/kids (under 16 free) if you're bringing potluck and $10 each if you'd like us to feed you. Non-members, add $5.

LOCATION & TRANSPORTATION
We're gathering at the Fern picnic site on the north side of Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills, less than a mile from the Environmental Education Center & Little Farm. You can find it on Google Maps.

While there's ample parking at our site, it's also right on the #67 bus route. On the weekends and holidays, it leaves downtown Berkeley every hour from 7:50 am - 6:50 pm and takes about 20 mins to arrive at Fern, on the right side of Central Park Drive, 0.4 miles from the shuttered pony rides and before the Carousel and Lake Anza. Here's a link to the schedule.

RAFFLE
What cool experience/service/thing will you offer to raffle? What will you win? Please ponder these vitally important questions as picnic day approaches.

VOLUNTEERS
We need several volunteers for prep, set up, BBQing, planning/leading activities, and clean up! Taking part ensures maximum fun!

CONTACT
If you'd like to volunteer, offer raffle prizes, or have questions, please contact terry@terrymandel.com.

Join us at Mandarin Garden in Berkeley for business networking and lunch with sustainability-minded entrepreneurs. Lunch is from noon to 1:30PM.

NEW LOCATION THIS MONTH! Mandarin Garden is a 30 year old restaurant which offers a delectable combination of Peking, Hunan and Szechuan styles of Chinese cooking. It is conveniently located near the downtown Berkeley BART station, and offers a large private room where we will gather for our lunch.

Open to non-members. To get the pre-registration rate, sign up by 6 pm on Thursday, June 4th! Help us out by pre-registering so we know how much food to get.

Mandarin Garden Restaurant
2025 Shattuck Ave, Downtown Berkeley near BART
Register Here

Please note we are using a new registration system that ties directly into our membership database. Members will need to log in to our new system to get the member discount. Please contact us if you have problems logging in.

Cost:
$12 pre-registered SBA Members (join here)
$15 non members
$18 at door

Please prepay using our secure Pay-Pal, with one form for each person attending.

You can help in our membership campaign by inviting friends and businesses so that the SBA can grow and be a more viable force in the region!

Remember your business cards, and if you are a member, also feel free to bring literature about your work for our display table.

Please email Beth Gelfand and Marissa LaMagna (bethsgelfand@comcast.net and marissa@ebgt.org) -- if you are an SBA member with a door prive to offer. Please see our new door prize guidelines.

This week we are hosting two events in Oakland. Thursday will be a special SBA Speaker Event: Operating Lean & Green in a Mean Economy, featuring a panel of local businesses sharing their insites on how to stay competitive in this challenging economy. And Friday we will be gathering at Swans Co-Housing Market for our monthly networking luncheon. Our events are open to the public, so please join us this week.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS ALLIANCE

presents

Operating LEAN & GREEN in a MEAN Economy!

A speaker panel moderated by Joel Makower of Greener World Media, joined by local Green Business Leaders:

James Duffy, Alonzo Printing Company
Ina Pockrass, Transcendentist, Inc.
Heidi Crouch, Mechanics Bank
Mike Hannigan, Give Something Back

How are green businesses doing in this economy? The economic downturn challenges us to work smarter and more efficiently.

Our panelists are using effective strategies not only to stay in business, but to develop a marketing edge and emerge stronger as the economy improves!

Panelists will share ideas and resources to help you operate leaner and greener!
AND
Green Business Program recognizes newly certified businesses in Alameda County!

THURSDAY, APRIL 30TH, 2009
5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Bort Metro Building Auditorium
101 8th Street, 1st Floor, Oakland
at Oak Street, near the Lake Merritt BART Station

$15 pre-registered SBA & Green Chamber Members
$20 non members
$22 at the door

SPACE IS LIMITED!
Pre-registration ends April 29th at 6PM
Register here

Co-Sponsors: Alameda County Green Business Program,
The East Bay Express, The Green Chamber of Commerce, Stop Waste, Oakland Recycles, Association of Bay Area Governments

Can we truly shape our society?

Yes we can!

Join the Indie Revolution and receive a monthly journal (new theme each month) as well as special offers and invitations. The theme for this month is Local, Sustainable, & Socially-Responsible Finance:

For the month of March, we explore local, sustainable, and socially-responsible finance. Most of our 2009 Indie Revolution involves conscious, community-building ways to spend your money, but this month, sandwiched between a stimulus package and tax day, surrounded by economic news, we talk about other ways your money impacts the local community. And we take a bit of a break from spending.

The Indie Revolution is sponsored by East Bay Express, Buy Local Berkeley, Oakland Grown, and Sustainable Business Alliance.

To celebrate the inauguration of President Oabama, we're offering you a 10% membership discount through January 31 to make joining the Sustainable Business Alliance an even wiser investment right now. Members enjoy a growing list of benefits, including:

• Listing in the SBA online directory
• Participation in SBA's new LinkedIn group
• Member rates at all SBA events
• Opportunity to showcase your business on the SBA website, at events, and through media contacts
• Notices about events of interest to our members
• Active participation in a community that represents one of the few vibrant parts of our current economy!

While most of us are feeling the pinch right now, the majority of active SBA members are highly optimistic about how sustainable businesses will fare as our new administration turns this economy in a greener direction and puts it on a more stable foundation. Together we can build a more helpful and hopeful world, for ourselves and for each other.

This week marks the Chinese New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choy! We begin the Year of the Earth Ox, which is characterized by prosperity born of fortitude and hard work done intelligently. The most intelligent way we know of to get through hard times is by linking together. We hope that you choose to toast our new administration and start this new lunar year by joining SBA today.

Grow the Green Economy! Plant yourself in our vibrant network of Green Businesses.

Save 10% on SBA membership. Choose your membership level:

This offer expired January 31st

Online registration has ended. You may purchase admission at the door.

Celebrate A New Year and A New President!

The Sustainable Business Alliance, the Green Chamber of Commerce and East Bay Green Drinks invite you to our annual Post Holiday Party on January 20th at The Washington Inn in downtown Oakland.

Connect with eco conscious entrepreneurs and mingle with local business owners who are building the Bay Area's green economy. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres and help craft a letter to our new President. Gil Friend, SBA Board President and CEO of Natural Logic, will close the evening with a special toast.

Gather around the grand piano for music provided by:

Dan Stern (an SBA member): Dan will be playing piano chords and melodies with whimsy and heart. Slow, soothing passages will be interspersed with faster funkier rhythms.

Dana DeLong (Dharma Devi): Dana will join Dan, bringing her divine gifts as a pianist, flutist and harmonium player. She plays more than 20 different varieties of the flute, and her band, Dharma Rose, has been described as "transformational" and "heaven-sent."

The Washington Inn
495 10th St
(near 12th St. BART)

Tuesday, January 20th 2009
5:30PM - 7:30PM

$20 members
$25 non-members
$30 at the door

Register here

Preregistration ends January 18th

This event is brought to you by:

Event Contributors: East Bay Eco Metro Guide, Emeryville Chamber of Commerce

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

The Sustainable Business Alliance

A letter from Mark McLeod, the Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Alliance:

Dear SBA Members Present and Future,

As we bring the year to a close, I want to take a few moments to celebrate what the Sustainable Business Alliance has accomplished over the last twelve months, and to anticipate what we hope to accomplish over the next twelve.