We here at Coop.org feel that Earth Day is part of the embodiment of what we stand for.   Cooperation and collaboration can help the world in tremendous ways.  Simply connecting with others, communicating and increasing your knowledge is a great start!  Beyond that, joining in the festivities and making even more meaningful contributions can also make a very positive impact.  As EarthDay.org states…

“Over one billion people in 192 countries are participating from London to Sao Paolo, Seoul to Babylon City, New Delhi to New York, Rome to Cairo; people everywhere are taking action in their communities…”

Be a part of your world now and in the future.  Join our Facebook discussion to share what you are doing to help the world today, tomorrow and the whole year.

https://www.facebook.com/coop.org

Enjoy the earth.

~ The Cooperators at Coop.org

Continued here -

Minister: Iran Keen to Boost Judicial Cooperation with Sri Lanka

Ukraine Budget Depends on Cooperation with IMF

The funding of the national budget of Ukraine for 2013 adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on November 6 carries significant risks and depends on the country’s cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), experts polled by Interfax-Ukraine have said.See all stories on this topic »Kyiv Post

Source:

Funding of budget 2013 depends on Ukraine’s cooperation with IMF, say experts

Community Supported Agriculture

Our CSA program is cooperative. Which means that we collaborate with other local organic farmers in our food shed, pair their weekly harvest with our weekly harvests to make you a CSA box of the best local organic food in the Northwest. We are an organic farm with a cooperative CSA program, located in the Columbia River Gorge about an hour from Portland, OR. We have evolved into a cooperative of small local organic farmers. We grow mushrooms indoors in an old lumber mill on the Hood River. We also grow 5 acres of mixed vegetables, and 7 acres of mixed fruit; pears, apples, cherries, blueberries, peaches and nectarines. This keeps us busy and makes for great seasonal food shares! Our CSA program is cooperative. Which means that we collaborate with other local organic farmers in our food shed, pair their weekly harvest with our weekly harvests to make you a CSA box of the freshest, localest, organic food in the Northwest. Being a member of our farm means that you will be supporting a network of a dozen local farmers and producers in Oregon and Washington. You can have home delivery of our organic local foods all year long by becoming a member of our Farm.
If you are interested you can Contact Brian Shaw of Hood River Organic. 503.354.2111

in.gredients

Personally, the idea of a zero waste grocery store is very exciting! Perhaps I am a plastic recycling crazy person, but what In.gredients.com is doing, is nothing short of heroic.  They are looking to blaze a new path in grocery conduct and I tip my hat to that. In.gredients is located in Austin Texas, one of the hubs for cutting edge, ethically minded, cooperative businesses, looking to make a positive impact on the world. In.gredients.com has selected to be a Triple Bottom Line business. I don’t know about you, but I was not too familiar with the ins and outs of this designation.

According to the Indiana Business Review, Triple Bottom Line or TBL was created by John Elkingston a world authority on corporate responsiblity and sustainable development. TBC is an accounting framework that incorporates three dimensions of performance: social, environmental and financial. This differs from traditional reporting frameworks as it includes environmental and social measures that can be difficult to assign appropriate means of measurement. The 3Ps do not have a common unit of measurement. Profits are measured in dollars. What is social capital measured in? What about environmental health? Finding a common unit of measurement is a challenge.

Interest in triple bottom line accounting has been growing in popularity with for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors. Many businesses and nonprofit organizations have adopted the TBL sustainability framework to evaluate their performance.’

Here is more about TBL from Indiana Business Review if you are interested.

Brian said the idea is to open micro community grocery stores in size from 2,000-4,000 square feet. They are also looking at having seating for customers to drink beer, wine, and eat food.

I asked him about how they came up with the in.gredients name?  He said, As you would guess, ingredients.com is no longer available to register, so they decided to create their brand using a subdomain, and a bit of creativity, which they felt would also better reinforce their message of being linked (in) with community, food, and the environment.

Being from the Portland, Oregon area, Austin, Texas seems to be kindred spirits when it comes to radical, community driven ideas and businesses such as in.gredients. I asked Brian if he thought they would ever make it to Portland, Oregon, so I could enjoy a “taste”of in.gredients! He said, once they get to the point of considering expansion, it would first happen in Austin Texas, but assured me, if they look outside of Texas, they would keep Portland in mind.

The reality is, it is only time until something like this is created in PDX, as I might have already seen a Portlandia episode about exacty this. That’s not actually true, as I have only seen the first eight episodes, and can confirm their was no Zero Waste grocery stores, but it’s only a matter of time.

So when will In.gredients be Opening?

They are not sure of the exact date, but are shooting for this summer. You can keep up to date, and connect with them at in.gredients.com. I enjoyed cathing up with Brian, and I look forward to seeing their progress.

Submitted by Kenny Bavoso of Coop.org