Eclipse Awards

It's no surprise that Eclipse Awards is leading the space in green sustainable recognition items and awards. Their values for community and the environment ring true through all my interactions with them, not only as my landlord but also as compatriots. Building a community of progressive and innovative businesses that see an opportunity to create social and environmental value, while making money, in the Strathcona Green Zone. This line of awards has been in the works for months and we got a sneak peak into these great items the other week at our open house and green roof mojito party.

In the spring I accompanied Eclipse staff to Las Vegas for the annual Awards and Recognition Association (ARA) trade show and was blown away by all the crappy things people give out to recognize people, their relationships and achievements. We knew there was a better way, not only to give things that look nice but also to do so using recycled and reclaimed materials. The products emerged from there and we talked with the awards suppliers about using recycled materials. Working with local woodshops that salvage wind fall trees in the Fraser Valley, finding Walnut, Maple and Fir trees and turning them into beautiful pieces of art, desk top and wall mounted awards, plaques, picture frames, and business card holders. Some of the woodwork is being done by Tradeworks Custom Products, a social enterprise that trains women in carpentry working to improve their lives in Vancouver's downtown eastside. Adding reclaimed glass from local industry off cuts, sand blasting, etching and laser engraving, Eclipse is producing best in class recognition items that tell a story and share values.

Acting as a sales rep for Eclipse we're happy to be able to offer this great line of green awards through Saul Good.

Cooperation once again triumphs. Last week Saul Good along with Eclipse Awards hosted an open house and green roof mojito party for our clients, associates and friends down at our green office space in the Strathcona Green Zone in Vancouver, BC. We wanted the opportunity to show our clients what we've been up to this past year, developing corporate gifts, recognition items and promotional products that say more than 'thank you', using sustainable materials and fair labour practices to create memorable and meaningful gifts that tell a story. Over the last couple years my strategy in this space was to throw a local, organic, wine cheese and chocolate tasting party for my clients to let them have a taste of what we have to offer in terms of our gourmet gift baskets, hosting the party in the fall leading up to holidays, giving ideas for corporate Christmas and holiday gifts. We reincarnated, made fresh mojitos, added a green roof and an amazing space and the 1st annual green roof mojito party was born.

One Planet Catering, Vancouver's leading socially and environmentally responsible catering company, provided an amazing array of things to eat and treat through the day. From hand made cinnamon buns and muffins in the morning to croissants with pear and brie to a spread of cheese and fruit into the afternoon and evening. Amazing artisan crisps from Gone Crackers paired with artisan cheeses and a selection of organic wines from Lotusland Vineyards, a local organic vineyard near Abbotsford, BC. We were also happy to showcase new artisan specialty nuts from Cocoa Nymph, a Vancouver based chocolatier, featuring espresso and cocoa covered local Agassiz hazelnuts, great items that are easy to share and enjoy for hosting or to send to your clients. Once again we were also happy to feature fair trade organic chocolate bars from Zazubean and the new single origin fair trade organic coffees from Salt Spring Island Coffee.

I felt really good getting to spend time with my clients, new and old, and meeting some of the companies that have been working with Eclipse over their 11 years in business. It was something that really pulled our team together both at Saul Good, Eclipse and how we both work as teams individually and collectively. We can't take all the credit, we had great help, insight and planning from Corwin at Red Wagon Management, whose work and experience made the event a smooth success. Did I forget to mention the party? Had a great time playing dj with Unkl' Funkl', one of my friends from BGI, mixing tunes well into the night. Thanks to all our friends and associates for coming out, contributing, good times and conversations. We're in it together and its really just begun.

After looking at the reclaimed parallam beams in our warehouse for the last 7 months I finally got around to following through on the reclaimed wood work bench I envisioned when Saul Good moved into share space with Eclipse Awards. Parallam is a recycled wood building product that Eclipse used to reinforce the ceiling to add strength for the green roof top deck on top of the building. It looks really cool, layers upon layers of in line wood grains, now playing the role of table top in our production space. It was just last week when I dropped into see our friends at Propellor Design, a local Strathcona Green Zone business that designs and builds rad lighting fixtures and furniture using eco materials, when I mentioned this project and they kicked down a super simple design that we bagan to work with. Besides scoring a design we also got a few boxes of reclaimed bamboo and nice hardwoods for our hand turned pens by Tradeworks Custom Products.

Building capacity & walking the talk

I hired Shane, one of the Eclipse production staff, to help turn the plan into action and after a day's work our new table is sorted! We're using it as our new and improved assembly benchy for our sustainable corporate gift and gift basket business. Not only does this new additon keep in line with our other green building and warehousing initiatives but also adds capacity to help meet growing demand for sustainable corporate gifts in Vancouver, BC. The new work bench has a lower shelf which we're using for our recycled gift boxes which frees up a bunch of space in our shelving for more the local organic gourmet food products we use in our gifts. With added production capacity we're gearing up for the Christmas and holiday gift season.

Although competition plays a role in challenging ourselves to improve, cooperation is key to progress in a major way. By working together, people and companies are finding amazing ways to contribute value to each other and our organizations.  While working on my MBA I was introduced to Elisabet Sahtouris, an evolutionary biologist giving us a lecture on how we can learn from nature to improve business & society. Over the past while I've noticed a few things that merge together in this space.

Co-Marketing - got clients? so do we!

This past week Saul Good launched a co-marketing campaign with Frogfile Office Essentials, a local green office supply company here in the Strathcona Green Zone. It's a refer a business program giving a Saul Good gift box to every client that refers a new business account at Frogfile. With the newsletter announcement this morning I quickly landed a new client and seeing it emerge on twitter to boot. The web 2.0, digital space and social networking have opened up great opportunities for co-marketing, helping consumers and companies connect with each other based on common interests, markets, and expertise. When two companies offer various value propositions an opportunity emerges to share sales leads as everyone is helping each other to improve their businesses.

Co-Location - it's easier to get help than be on your own

After Sustainability 1.0, a green business expo hosted by the Strathcona Business Improvement Association (SBIA), Toby Barazzuol and I really started talking about our vision for a sustainable business community in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Quickly, various emerging opportunities started to present themselves as Toby's business, Eclipse Awards International, and mine, Saul Good Gift Co., found ways to work together to innovate and do business together. We collaborated with the SBIA and others on Sustainability 2.0, a more progressive expo focused on collaboration as key to sustainable community economic development (For more info on this please read a great article by Emily Jubenvill). One partnership that developed was in the Green Awards space, as we realized that both of our clients would benefit and see value in high quality, locally produced, recognition awards made from recycled, reclaimed and socially responsible labour. On January 1st of this year Saul Good moved into share the office and warehouse space at Eclipse. Having now been in here for 5 months, besides enjoying working in a beautifully designed green renovated building, we've found ways to help each other which include sharing production staff and shipping/receiving logistics, sharing sales leads and clients, collaborating on the development of new business opportunities through creativity and brainstorming sessions, and the development of shared PR contacts interested in the innovative business development happening in Strathcona. This is only the beginning. Co-location has really helped us to learn more about each other and our businesses to find ways we can help each other, after all, it's easier to get help then to be on your own.

Creating value from waste saves cash

For years it's been my passion to be involved with businesses that take useless waste products and turn them into objects of beauty and value. This is the field of industrial ecology, where no energy or resources are wasted but utilized through the development of partnerships where companies use each other's by-products (water, heat, materials) or share resources (buildings, services, employees). Just last week the SBIA hosted a waste exchange workshop that brought neighbourhood businesses together to learn about such opportunities and network in this space. I found value in the workshop as I connected with new people at Strathcona area businesses and with a tour tomorrow at Sunrise Soya I'll see how it all develops. It's amazing to see other businesses interested in cooperation for the development of a sustainable business community and even more thrilling to hear about new companies locating here for this strategic reason.

All business is about relationships, I'm sticking with that, and it's definitely all good to look and develop cooperative models for working together as businesses. It's what we need to do to evolve given the economic and environmental terms of our day. It's also our job.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a leading international organization that's developed comprehensive standards for sustainable forestry.  They work with the entire supply chain in the forest products industry, from wood lots to product manufacturers, to ensure chain of custody assurance that the wood and fibre used in products came from a sustainabily managed forest.

Working with Ecotrust Canada - FSC group

Over the last year I've been working with Orrin Quinn at Ecotrust Canada, helping Tradeworks Custom Products, a social enterprise that trains women in carpentry living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, attain FSC chain of custody certification.  The Ecotrust program helps organizations get FSC certified, providing assistance with the process and contacts to source FSC lumber.  Orrin has been great to work with and I recommended him to various furniture manufacturers that are looking at going FSC.  The price of FSC lumber is more expensive but the value is in assurance of environmental responsibility and the story that comes with it.  The first FSC certified product that Tradeworks produced was in partnership with Saul Good and Eclipse Awards, making red cedar picture frames for BC Hyrdo Power Smart.  The wood came from Iisaak Forest Resources, a First Nation's owned forestry company in Ucluelet, BC.  It's been really exciting to work with all these companies and social enterprises, making sure that everyone get's what they need and finding ways to communicate the values and story behind these amazing products.

Custom FSC certified product manufacturing

Saul Good is an official distributor for Tradeworks and we're happy to help companies develop custom FSC wood products.  FSC products are a great way to support sustainable forestry, a much needed framework to protect our natural resources and work with communities for a long term solution to natural resource use in the forestry sector.  I know Orrin is keen to work with more companies as well so if you're interested in getting your business certified please let me know and I'll be happy to put you in touch.

When given the opportunity to move my business and share space with Eclipse Awards, a leading crystal and glass awards business in Vancouver, BC, I jumped at the chance.  Eclipse has been active working on the Strathcona Green Zone, a hub of sustainable business in the Downtown Eastside, by building green roofs and doing green renos in one of Canada's poorest postal codes.  It definately was a step up, having been running Saul Good out of my house for the last 2 years, and an exciting opportunity to not only scale up our operation but also create a culture for collaboration between businesses, finding ways to work together for mutual benefit.  As I moved in and started to set up shop I was faced with some purchasing decisions.  Did I go green or go home?

Green shelving

I scored some leftover LEED green shelving from Arpac, Vesta particle board shelves made from 100% recycled and reclaimed wood without any added formaldehyde.  Apparently these were leftover from a recent job doing shelving for MEC, membership in the co-op has it's privilages!

Reclaimed wood table & work bench

The next item on the list is a work bench, used to assemble gifts and store empty gift boxes.  Using materials leftover from the Eclipse green reno I'm working with Tradeworks Custom Products to custom manufacture a work bench made from reclaimed parallam beams, originally used to reinforce the ceiling for the green roof.