BURLINGAME, Calif. - May 26, 2009 "“ Sustainable Brands '09 today announced the nine semi-finalists of the SB’09 New Venture Exchange pitch contest, taking place the night of June 1st, the first full day of Sustainable Brands 09 (Monterey, May 31 "“ June 4). Nine companies, profiled below, will pitch an audience of green/social investors, executives from leading companies, top sustainability and brand consultants and peers. Each participating company receives an opportunity to win a custom-developed mobile application that extends their brand and to present to the 500+ conference attendees as a whole. Applications were reviewed by a panel of judges, who then selected the nine semi-finalists based on the companies' commitment to sustainability, team quality, and potential for scalability and positive stakeholder impact.

The SB New Venture Exchange, sponsored by Renewal2 Investment Fund, 3rdWhale Media and Sustainable Life Media, is focused on identifying and promoting innovative new consumer brands and ventures that support existing corporations in achieving their sustainable branding goals. As a new opportunity attached to the nearly sold out SB’09 event, the Exchange allows the SB’09 event producer, Sustainable Life Media, to advance its organizational goal to drive sustainable innovation in business.

"New Venture Exchange allow us to reach out and support the next generation of sustainable business and bring public awareness to some hot new businesses and new ideas," said Sustainable Life Media President and CEO, KoAnn Skrzyniarz. "We selected those top innovation companies because we felt they were representative of a new breed of emerging consumer brands and business solutions that extend their value proposition beyond just clean tech "“ an arena that has received much well deserved attention in the past couple of years. While there is no doubt climate change will continue to drive business opportunity, our goal is to highlight the fact that innovation for sustainability can apply everywhere."

One of the nine companies will win a strategic analysis on how to extend their brand on a mobile platform, and a complete iPhone application (valued at $30,000), developed by 3rdWhale Media. The top two companies will be given an opportunity to pitch their ideas to the entire SB’09 conference delegation of 500+ during a plenary session on Wednesday, June 3.

The nine SB’09 New Venture Exchange finalists companies are:

Build2Sustain "“ Sustainable Commercial Space Retrofits
Build2Sustain (www.build2sustain.com) develops and distributes best practices and real-world business cases for retrofitting small-medium sizes commercial office spaces to make them more cost-effective, more energy-efficient and more sustainable. With its unique Return On Renovationâ„¢ model, Build2Sustain partners with leading architects, designers, contractors and vendors to custom retrofit commercial spaces with more efficient, more sustainable design and materials. Each project is entirely documented and broadcast via the Build2Sustain website and social networking outlets to create transparency into this usually closed process, to invite scrutiny and collaboration, and to create an evolving set of best practices and ROI data that will serve as the platform for sustainable business now and tomorrow. Ultimately, Build2Sustain endeavors to make sustainable design and sustainable business more efficient, more profitable and more pervasive, one successful renovation at a time.
Contact: James Bedell, New York, NY, james.bedell@build2sustain.com

Climate Earth, Inc. - Enterprise Carbon Accounting Service
Climate Earth (www.ClimateEarth.com) provides a turnkey solution for carbon accounting. In just 30 days you'll receive a comprehensive, detailed statement and intuitive analytics to better manage your business. Our subscription service accounts for all your greenhouse gas emissions-direct, indirect and across your supply chain. Regular updates allow you to easily track progress and report to stakeholders. And, Climate Earth experts are always on call to assist and advise. Our cost-effective approach will transform your carbon footprint into a valuable performance indicator.
Contact: Frankie Ridolfi, San Francisco, CA, frankie@climateearth.com

Climate Path "“ Transparent Carbon Footprinting and Offsetting Services
For progressive consumer brands of all sizes, ClimatePath (www.climatepath.org) provides a turnkey set of services to calculate, reduce, and offset the carbon footprint of their products and services, independent third party verification, tools to let the public view and comment on both offset projects and footprint methodology, and the means to create larger impact by advocating further reduction and offsetting action by concerned consumers. ClimatePath's vision is to bring transparency and trust to voluntary offsetting, while promoting mission-based carbon offset projects which provide additional social and ecological benefits. In addition to offering lifecycle based carbon footprint measurement, ClimatePath offers a web based offset marketplace built on fair trade principles: Even the smallest of offsetters can calculate and reduce their footprint by directly connecting with and donating to the projects of their choice. Offset retirement via a nonprofit, adherence to third party standards, and a strong emphasis on conservation makes ClimatePath.org a leading portal for both consumers and businesses to become more active in the fight against climate change.
Contact: Dave Rochlin, CEO, Moraga, CA, 925.265.1710, dave@ClimatePath.org

Earth Aid Enterprises "“ Consumer Carbon Credit Solution
Earth Aid (http://www.earthaid.net) is currently testing the public beta of a new, patent-pending platform that empowers households to create verifiable carbon credits and that creates an exciting new way for businesses to connect and partner with households to tell their corporate sustainability story while purchasing households’ carbon credits. Earth Aid's platform is free for consumers, offering households the opportunity to automatically link and view their electric, gas, and water utility accounts in one place - helping to highlight opportunities for saving and providing a community comparative perspective on consumption using actual, verified usage data. Earth Aid is able to assemble custom aggregate credits from its member households’ reductions, making it possible for businesses of any scale to turn their carbon offsetting purchases into micro-targeted direct marketing opportunities.
Contact: Ben Bixby, Washington, D.C., 202.607.8193, bbixby@earthaidenterprises.com

Localicious - Fresh, delicious, locally sourced meals for people on the go
Localicious provides local and delicious food to busy people on the go. Born out of the shared passion and values of its founders, Localicious seeks to educate and connect people to the source of their food, infuse money into the local economy and build vibrant regional food systems by sourcing solely from local, sustainable, independent farms. The venture model employs central hub kitchens and a fleet of ‘taco trucks’ to make healthy, sustainable meals accessible on the go. Each Localicious dish is made with seven ingredients or less, with each ingredient farm source-identified through a labeling system, providing true transparency for customers. With fresh and delightful fare that highlights the bounty and variety of seasonal offerings, Localicious intends to change the way people eat and think about food.
Contact: Maggie Vashel, Oakland, CA, maggie.vashel@presidiomba.org

Mod Green Pod "“ Organic Cotton Textiles and Wallpaper
Mod Green Pod (www.ModGreenPod.com) was founded by mothers who refused to choose between high design and sustainability. Mod Green Pod creates and manufactures organic cotton textiles that appeal to the fashionable and the environmentally responsible alike. The company’s organic cotton home textiles and nonvinyl wallpaper, all completely sourced and manufactured in the United States, are competitively priced and sold through e-commerce and an international network of retailers and distributors. Breaking from traditional textile practices and adhering to Global Organic Textile Standards, MGP has pioneered several supply chains in the United States in order to adhere to these high standards. Starting with organically grown Texas cotton and ending with chemical-free finishing in the South, MGP has refused to cut corners in production, yet its pricing is on par with mid-range conventional home textiles.
Contact: Nancy Mims, Austin, TX, nancym@modgreenpod.com

Moxy Efficiency "“ The Moxy Strip
Moxy Efficiency provides residential customers with artfully designed, energy saving products that are fun to use and aesthetically pleasing. Moxy Efficiency reduces power bills, makes homes more comfortable, life more convenient and builds positive behavior by making energy use visible and intuitive. The company's business model is to sell home efficiency products that we produce ourselves, and source from third parties, through an online store and directly to retailers. Our seminal offering is the Moxy Strip, a fashionable power strip intended to be displayed prominently rather than hidden. The Moxy Strip conceals cords and has on/off switches for each outlet. In addition to solving these problems, the Moxy Strip also reduces home energy costs and strengthens environmental commitments. A customer will save 13 metric tons of C02 and almost $2000 over the 6 year lifetime of the product. The purchase will pay for itself through energy savings in just 3 months.
Contact: Sudha Reddy, San Francisco, CA, moxyefficiency@gmail.com

PineeIR "“ Pine Oil Insect Repellent
A year ago I got the call, "Dad, I’m really sick." My beautiful 25 year old daughter, recently returned from India and Asia, was crying her eyes out, "I have dengue fever." Dengue fever is a mosquito- borne illness nicknamed "bone breaking disease." Her trip to the emergency room began a 3-month ordeal and about $50,000 in medical expenses. I decided then I needed to help find a solution for mosquito- borne illnesses. PineeIR will be an all natural insect repellent that works better than DEET with none of the side effects. Unlike DEET, PineeIR will be safe and effective for all users and can be used together with sun block. We will license a patent to produce the active ingredient which is derived from pine oil. PineeIR will be positioned as a premium product available through natural products retailers and drugstore chains. A value version of PineeIR will be added later for distribution via grocery stores and mass merchants.
Contact: Dennis Tracz, Harrisonburg, VA, dtracz@gmail.com

PuraVita "“ Eco-Sustainable Yoga Mats
After nearly a year of product design, prototypes and testing, Pura Vita has developed a patent pending eco-sustainable yoga mat that generates instant buzz in the yoga studio and lists of eager buyers with no formal promotions or advertising. Its environmentally sustainable yoga mat reclaims used bicycle inner tubes and weaves them together with polyester thread (PET in the future) to create a high-end mat with features desired by most yoga students and instructors. Pura Vita is committed to Triple Bottom Line operations by creating a product that will conservatively generate 50% contribution margin enabling creation of local jobs and contribution to the tax base, upcycling bicycle inner tubes into a product with a long life span and potential for continued recycling, and creating jobs and a fair wage for U.S. based artisan weavers while promoting the longevity of their craft.
Contact: Ivo Grossi, Seattle, WA, ivo@puravitayoga.com

To find out more about each company, watch them present and meet the founders, attend SB'09, May 31-June 4, Monterey, CA. For more information, or to register: http://www.sustainablebrands09.com

About Sustainable Brands '09
Widely reputed to be the most compelling sustainability conference of the year, Sustainable Brands ‘09 will convene business strategists, along with sustainability, design and brand leaders from a cross section of organizations such as Adobe, Adidas, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dell, Clorox, Interbrand, Johnson & Johnson, Kohler, Mohawk, Nestle/Purina, SC Johnson, Steelcase, Waste Management, and an unprecedented list of others.

In addition to a newly expanded Solutions Showcase Expo and Sponsored Sessions series, an extended "Un-conference" where participants create the conversations, a plethora of evening networking activities over the four days of the event, and a dozen hands-on workshops taking place as part of a post-conference deep dive day of learning are planned along side this year’s conference. These provide interactive exploration of topics such as: Practical Strategies for Green Marketing & Eco-Innovation with Jacquelyn Ottman, Imagining a Future for Sustainable Brands with Global Business Network, the leading international scenario firm, Understanding Your Ecological Footprint with Global Footprint Network and Social Impact Metrics with the Center for Sustainable Innovation and much more.

Details on the conference are unfolding daily at: http://www.sustainablebrands09.com

About Sustainable Life Media
A business-to-business online community, e-newsletter and event company located in Burlingame, CA, Sustainable Life Media (SLM) is home for business professionals looking to build new value and competitive advantage by innovating more sustainable strategies, practices and products. SLM delivers top news stories related to the what, who and how of environmental and social innovation, and helps community members connect with thought leaders, peers, partners and solutions providers that can help them quickly reach their goals. For more information, please visit: http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/about

To subscribe to SLM Newsletters, free, please visit http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/newsletters.

Sustainable Life Media, Inc.

Sustainable Life Media, Inc.

Sustainable Life Media is an integrated media company that delivers information, produces events and cultivates communities of interest to facilitate the shift to a flourishing and sustainable economy. Our mission is to inspire and enable forward-thinking individuals and organizations to innovate and implement ideas that contribute to individual and collective health and prosperity that can be sustained.

We bring together optimistic, visionary and courageous individuals from around the world who share a passion for purpose and a desire to create change. Leaders from around the globe are intrigued by Sustainable Life Media's ability to convene diverse stakeholder groups that create an atmosphere for open and transparent conversations that lead us towards a future of innovation and imaginative ideas that support a flourishing and sustainable economy.

Sustainable Brands – our flagship learning, collaboration and commerce community, draws together sustainability, brand and design/innovation professionals to share success stories and emerging best practices and to push the envelope of social and environmental brand innovation. Our goal in serving the Sustainable Brands community is to paint a clear picture of what is driving change in today's business landscape, uncover leading-edge sustainable brand strategies and tools, and facilitate community collaboration for shared benefit – all with the goal of helping more brands prosper by leading the way to a better world. To learn more, visit www.SustainableBrands.com.

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