117. 1% for the Planet

Welcome to Progressive Pockets! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja. Welcome welcome. Progressive Pockets is a place where you and I can spend a few minutes brainstorming how we can access more of our power. If you’re like me, you are concerned about what’s going on all around us. The rolling back of women’s rights, the exploitation of the earth, the systematic oppression of Black people and other people of color. Income inequality, the list goes on.

And if you’re like me, you vote. Maybe you protest, maybe you write letters to your congressperson. You’re fired up and you’re engaged. Maybe you even have a career serving others. You’re looking for opportunities to stand up and say “Enough. This is not the world I want.” We have power to change things around us that we don’t like. And on this show, I am working hard to explore the power of our wallets.

I’m talking about where we invest our money, where we donate our money, where we bank. And….how we shop.

Shopping sustainably is something that is on a lot of our minds. We live in a time when it has never been more convenient to buy clothes and household items and food and almost anything one can imagine….and have it delivered right away. Sometimes I think about how I would describe our modern world to my grandparents.

Our people and our planet have paid a high price for this convenience. Communities have been exploited in the name of low prices and instant gratification. That’s happening within our country and with people in other countries. The people who manufacture our products, harvest our crops, build our homes. And as it often happens, as people have been exploited, so has our planet. Corporations have been allowed to extract and extract and extract natural resources and to pollute our environment with the byproducts of unsustainable production.

So it makes sense that a lot of us are looking for ways to be more conscious in our consumption. To think twice before we buy, to think twice before we throw it out, and when we do shop, we’re looking to make more sustainable choices.

Naturally, lots of badges have sprung up to stamp a product sustainable or socially responsible or green.  Today I want to talk a little more about 1% for the Planet. This was mentioned super briefly in a previous episode, I believe it was Episode 83 about Warren Buffet’s Giving Pledge. I had made a note that week to come back to this topic, so here we are.

Let’s dig into the 1% for the Planet pledge.

In a nutshell, 1% for the Planet members have committed to donating at least 1% of annual sales directly to environmental organizations. And then the 1% for the Planet organization checks the receipts to make sure they really do it.

It was founded in 2002, by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of a fishing supply store called Blue Ribbon Flies. So it’s just over 20 years old.

There are over 5,000 companies participating including:

• Tazo that’s the tea company
• Boxed Water
• Oxo
• Tandem Coffee Roasters
• Avocado Mattress
• Bee’s Wrap
• Cotopaxi

The member companies are located in over 100 countries, they have certified over $600M in donations to environmental organizations. You know I looove to read an annual report. The most recent one I could find was for 2022, which was their 20th anniversary. In 2022, this 1% pledge resulted in $66 million in donations to environmental organizations.

They had a couple of global meetings for members- in addition to the 5,000 companies that are members, they also have about a thousand individual members. Anyway, there were a couple of global summit meetings in LA and in London. The founders even attended. In reading quotes from the attendees it sounds like a lot of the value is in being around other founders with similar values. If you are leading your own startup, I’d encourage you to surround yourself with other founders with similar values. One of the founders called values “contagious” and that made a lot of sense to me.

In terms of their financials, I did appreciate being able to see at least at a top level, how much money they are bringing in through contributions and grants, membership fees, and then how much they spend in their administrative expenses. For me, I’m rarely pressed about a nonprofit’s admin expenses, what I tend to be more frustrated by is the amount of money that a nonprofit is holding for the future. At some point it starts to look like wealth hoarding and so in this annual report I saw that at the end of the year they were left with just under $5 million. So I will probably keep an eye on that number to see where they go from there. Whenever I research these episodes, I always try to read and interview people who work in these fields and one thing I keep hearing from those in the nonprofit space is that they are always concerned that the money will dry up, donations or grants will dry up and they will have to suddenly shut down operations and not be able to serve the communities that they are dedicated to. And while I can absolutely understand that, we’ve seen how certain causes come in and out of fashion, I am always going to prioritize helping people today. There’s keeping some money on the books to ensure that if a funder is late or times get lean, that you can keep the doors open a little longer, but I believe nonprofits are going to want to stay vigilant that they are not crossing over into wealth hoarding. When it becomes about making sure that the legacy of the nonprofit or foundation is being prioritized over helping people who are drowning today, that’s where I see the problem.

So I am curious about the amount of cash they will keep on hand. Especially given that in 2022, they launched their Planet Impact Fund.

The Planet Impact Fund is designed to accept donations and then invest those donations into innovative environmental solutions. Those investments will generate returns which will then be reinvested back into even more innovative environmental solutions. They are planning to disburse 10% of their money annually.

I struggle a little bit with this because I don’t think money is fundamentally the problem. I don’t think that a lack of money is why our climate is being destroyed. I think it’s unchecked greed.

So I will be keeping an eye on this Planet Impact Fund and you know, just like anyone else, I reserve the right to update my thoughts about it as I learn more and as they begin to really operate, but as of now, at least it doesn’t seem harmful. Famous last words? I hope not!

In the meantime, the 1% for the Planet pledge continues on, next time you see a product and it has the 1% for the Planet badge on it, you will know that 1% of that company’s revenues are being donated to environmental groups. I hope that informs your shopping, with all the badges and certifications that are out there. 

So to recap, here’s what we covered today:

1. 1% for the Planet is a commitment that about 5,000 companies have made to donate 1% of their annual sales to environmental work.
2. It was started by the founders of a couple of outdoorsy gear type of retailers.
3. They also launched the Planet Impact Fund in the past few years which is designed to invest in innovative environmental solutions.
4. Next time you see a product on the shelf with the 1% for the Planet tag on it, you’ll know what it means. And if you want to donate to a fund that is investing in innovative environmental solutions, definitely look up the Planet Impact Fund.

If you have a few more minutes, I want to suggest another episode that you might enjoy. Back on episode 36 there’s a whole discussion of greenwashing and how to look out for it. Greenwashing is when a company is flat out lying about how green a product is, or insinuating that they are making green efforts that either they aren’t actually doing, or they might obfuscate the real harms that their products are creating.

Let’s end with a quote, this one comes from Jane Goodall:

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Alright, that’s it for today. Do you have an idea for a future episode? Drop a note to the podcast anytime, the email is progressive pockets at gmail dot com or you can go to the show’s website progressive pockets dot com to leave a voice note or fill out the comment form. Lots of ways to get your ideas or questions to me. I’d love to work on whatever topic you’re thinking about these days.

Take care, and let’s talk again soon!