Introduction to “The Portland Bottom Line” by yours truly, co-edited by Megan Strand.
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Many tout Portland, Oregon as an authority on sustainability: progressive urbanism and land-use; alternative transportation; environmental policy; livability. But what about business? How do local companies measure up on sustainability? What cutting-edge sustainable practices have proven to work in Portland’s small businesses?
As I delved deeper into my exploration of sustainability and marketing, the questions seemed increasingly pressing. In my search for the best way to explore and publicize the issue, I recalled my experience co-authoring mass-collaboration book projects such as “Connect! Marketing in the Social Media Era” and “Age of Conversation 3: It’s Time to Get Busy”. Could I employ the same crowdsourcing technique of co-creation to produce a collection of essays highlighting answers to those burning questions?
“The Portland Bottom Line: Practices for Your Small Business from America’s Hotbed of Sustainability” was born. I presented the concept on January 21st, 2010, at the second “Beyond 2020 Sustainability Unconference, “a series of events I coordinate with Renee Spears, one of the book’s co-authors. Then it was all a matter of project management and, yes, collaboration. Megan Strand has been a project manager par excellence, and the book wouldn’t be what it is without her.
The purpose of “The Portland Bottom Line” is for the city’s small businesses to share sustainable practices with their entrepreneurial contemporaries around the United States and abroad. Organized into 12 sections along the triple bottom line of People, Planet, and Prosperity, the book explores how small businesses can effectively and efficiently shift toward sustainability and thrive. In their short, 400-word essays, 51 small-business people from the City of Roses share their experiences with sustainability in their companies. “The Portland Bottom Line” demonstrates how small businesses can innovate to put people before profit, help restore the ecosystem, and prosper.
“The Portland Bottom Line” is also a community benefit project. Contributors collectively chose a local community organization, which supports the launch and growth of sustainable ventures, to receive 100% of profit from the sales of the book.
Enjoy “The Portland Bottom Line”!
