Joel Makower
Trellis Group
For more than 30 years, through his writing, speaking and leadership, Joel has helped companies align pressing environmental and social issues with business success.
A former nationally syndicated columnist, Joel is author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including The New Grand Strategy, about a business plan for America, born at the Pentagon, that embeds sustainability as a national strategic imperative. Previous books include Strategies for the Green Economy, Beyond the Bottom Line: Putting Social Responsibility to Work for Your Business and the World, The E-Factor: The Bottom-Line Approach to Environmentally Responsible Business, and The Green Consumer.
In 2012, he was awarded the Hutchens Medal by the American Society for Quality, which cited “his ability to tell compelling stories that both inform and inspire business leaders toward profitable action.” In 2014, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals.
Joel has spoken at hundreds of events and is a frequent keynote speaker at industry and company events around the world. His audiences and venues vary widely — including senior executives, corporate supply chains, customer groups, trade associations, marketing professionals, award ceremonies, and regional economic development bodies — from small roundtable discussions to large and diverse gatherings.
He is also a skilled moderator, called upon by companies and conferences around the world to conduct on-stage or on-camera one-on-one interviews, or to host lively and intelligent panel discussions with executives and thought leaders, for in-person, video, and online events, and has served as the emcee of dozens of events, including multi-day conferences, harnessing his talents as an engaging host, a nimble thinker, and a quick wit to ensure events rise above “conference as usual.”
The Associated Press has called him “The guru of green business practices.”
More about Joel here.
Gary Hirshberg: Changing the Culture and 'Stirring It Up
I've long been an admirer of Gary Hirshberg, the idealistic and iconoclastic "CE-Yo" of organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm, which he co-founded in 1983. Read More
Introducing . . . The Eco-Friendly Cigarette?
What would you say if I introduced you to an environmentally friendly cigarette - one made of organically grown tobacco, with organic cotton filters, rolled in eco-friendly paper, all manufactured with renewable energy, with a portion of proceeds going to environmental charities? Read More
The Six Sins of Greenwashing
Is green marketing just a series of lies? That's one conclusion to be drawn from a new study that examines hundreds of environmental labeling claims and found pretty much all of them wanting, suffering from sins of either omission or commission. Read More
Renouncing the Six Sins of Greenwashing
According to a new report by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, nearly every green product on the market is making claims that are either inaccurate, inappropriate, or unsubstantiated. Is this greenwash or just plain sloppiness? Joel Makower spoke with Scot Case of TerraChoice to find out. Read More
Home Depot's Eco Options, Six Months In
(Episode 9): Ron Jarvis, Home Depot's vice president of Environmental Innovations, sat down with GreenBiz's Joel Makower to discuss the progress made and lessons learned during the first half-year of the retail giant's project to promote eco-friendly products. Read More
What's Behind the Green Consumer Research?
I've seen enough research data on Americans' green buying habits over nearly twenty years that I've become immune to much of it. It's not that I think such research is shoddy; it's just that I've found consumers' credibility on the issue wanting, as I've noted in several . . . previous . . . posts. Read More
A tale of two circles
What's commonly referred to as municipal solid waste is only a small slice of the waste pie. And that could be a problem for companies. Read More
Coke's Message in a Bottle
The Coca-Cola Company's announcement last week that it had set a goal "to recycle or reuse all the plastic bottles we use in the U.S. market," and invest $60 million in a recycling plant, was a bold, even audacious move, one sure to give the company a new green sheen. Sure enough, the announcement got the endorsement of the National Recycling Coalition, the industry-friendly group of recycling advocates. Read More
Green Consumers and the Mushiness Index
The latest study of Americans' green passions is fascinating reading, if you want a glimpse into Americans' green turn-ons and turn-offs, and maddening, if you are trying to figure out how to sell into this unruly market space. Read More
Milton Friedman and the social responsibility of business
The most provocative statement of the past half-century on the role of business in society came in an essay in the New York Times, written by a fellow named Friedman. That's Milton, not Thomas. Read More