It’s probably fair to say that the past 16 months have changed our lives forever in so many ways. Those of us who were fortunate enough to (so far) survive a global pandemic likely find ourselves with some new perspectives on life and how we live it each day. How do I want to spend my time and with whom? Is my work-life balance sufficient? What do I want to spend my money on? How can I make a positive difference in the world? What should I wear?

Wait. You’re probably wondering about that last one. It seems superficial and shallow, right? Uh…no. Let’s explore what we already know about the garment industry and, more importantly, the one proven way to dig it out of the mud.

The Garment Industry and Mass Pollution

The garment industry is one of the most polluting in the world. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion industry alone uses 93 billion cubic meters of water every year – enough to meet the consumption needs of 5 million people. Further, it dumps 500,000 tons of plastic microfibers into the ocean annually, spreading into the food chain and unable to be extracted. McKinsey & Company revealed that the industry accounts for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, with nearly 70% coming from production processes.

Then there’s the volume. The industry’s “fast fashion” operating model dramatically exacerbates the problem with a constant stream of design, production, and distribution. No longer are the days of four fashion seasons, but instead, many retailers stock their shelves with new lines every week with 52 “micro seasons” per year. In 2000, 50 billion new garments were made; nearly 20 years later, that figure has doubled, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This frenzied pace has also accelerated consumption: the average person today buys 60% more clothing than in 2000.

The Dark Secret of Clothing Production: Worker Exploitation

The volume leads to perhaps the darkest secret of the garment industry. Fast fashion companies are forced to find the cheapest labor available, and worker exploitation is rampant. Garment workers are often required to work 16-hour days, 7 days/week for poverty pay. Child labor is a common practice, and firings occur when worker unions initiate labor rights.

Sending Designer Labels Into Landfills

The final chapter of this linear economy is the endpoint of all those garments – they most often end up in landfills across the globe. A small percentage are donated to various charities, but only 10% find a new home through this pipeline, and the remaining is discarded. And according to ThredUp, 9 billion pounds of clothing are hardly worn or are just sitting idle in the consumers’ closets.

Bottom line: We must rethink how we consume and discard clothing.

Repurposing Clothing: Innovation For Good

One silver lining of the past year is that many people are already rethinking consumption and how they discard clothing. For one, we simply bought less clothing while in quarantine. This article from The New York Times references “Sweatpants Forever” and the unraveling of the fashion industry when meetings and working in offices moved virtual. Many of us also realized that we just don’t need excessive clothing to lead productive, fulfilling lives post-pandemic. Living with less not only supports our planet and society, but it provides more space – physically and mentally – to devote our time, energy, and money to elements that add true value to our lives.

Some of the companies making strides in sustainable materials include Everlane, Reformation, Patagonia, Levi’s, Tentree, and Rothy’s. You don’t have to sacrifice the brand name when purchasing an eco-friendly product.

The Social Responsibility of Discarding Used Clothing

So, we’ve identified progress in garment production. Now let’s discuss (and celebrate) a real solution to responsibly discard garments that made huge strides over the past year – a circular business model known as thrifting, resale, re-commerce, or consignment. While consumers bought significantly less apparel, 33 million consumers bought secondhand apparel for the first time in 2020, and 76% of those plan to increase this practice over the next 5 years – YEA!

Shopping Resale as a Sustainability Initiative

Shopping resale is like giving Mother Earth a huge hug in a beautiful cashmere sweater (a thrifted one, of course). An item bought secondhand displaces 17.4 pounds (7.89 kilograms) of CO² emissions, reducing its carbon footprint by 82% on average. Resale uses fewer than 77 gallons of water (1.2 gal vs. 78.5 gal) and 34 kiloWatts of energy (4.8 kWh vs. 38.8 kWh) compared to new items on average.

Thrifting dramatically reduces the human cost of the clothes on our backs by reducing the demand for fast fashion production. As sustainability advocates, we should also rejoice that it reduces energy consumption, air pollution, prevents landfills from filling with perfectly good clothing, and keeps our oceans cleaner.

Younger generations have already caught on. Compared to Boomers, Gen-Z is 33% more likely to own re-sold clothing. Over 40% of Gen-Z and Millennials have shopped secondhand apparel in the past year. Despite the “old dog, new tricks” saying, we can learn, adapt, and join this movement with our younger communities.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Thrifting is yucky, garments are outdated, and designer labels are hard to find.” Allow me to introduce you to the new world of resale! This isn’t your grandma’s thrift shop.

Whether you’re a designer-brand fashionista, minimalist with an eye for sustainable materials, an offender of the repeated “groutfit” (that’s the “grey outfit” my husband proudly wears 6 or 7 days a week), or just someone who needs a new pair of jeans…there is a re-commerce site or store for you. Tradesy, ThredUp, PoshMark, The RealReal, and Kidizen are just a few online favorites. Brands like Patagonia and Eileen Fisher have their own resale shops, and your local community likely has some hidden brick-and-mortar gems.

And before you ask, returns are accepted and often free. Some resale sites offer free “clean out your closet” kits – just mail in your old duds and get credit to spend. ThredUp offers e-gift cards to favorite sustainable brands with a 15% bonus for all clothes they accept from your closet. You can even find some brand-new items (with tags still attached).

When practicing sustainability, it’s time to think beyond climate change initiatives, alternative energy, recycling, and organic farming. It’s fascinating to think about the positive impact of advocating for thoughtful clothing and garment production, consumption, and disposal. Every one of us can transform our future when making current-day decisions. I challenge you to reconsider how, where, and why you shop for the clothing for your family and try your next shopping trip at a resale store. Upcycle the clothes you don’t currently wear to a resale site. And spread the word. Together, we can make a difference.

The line between privacy and personalization often gets blurred in the vast space of the internet. If you’re not sure how this affects you… then you’re probably not paying close enough attention. Knowledge is power when it comes to how you approach making decisions about your online presence. Get educated to make informed decisions regarding how you choose to conduct business (and personal work) online.

In 2021, Adults (and many kids) = Online Constantly

31% of U.S. adults are ‘almost constantly’ online, according to 2021 research from Pew Research Center. It’s not surprising; it’s so easily accessible. 85% of adults own a smartphone, spanning a wide range of demographic groups. And about ¾ of U.S. adults own a desktop or laptop computer. As remote work has increased during and post-pandemic life, virtual meetings and schooling are the norm, and lockdowns and social distancing have meant more time in front of screens and less time in face-to-face interactions. According to a recent article in Forbes, global online content consumption doubled in 2020 — raising the average daily time spent online for people in the U.S. to 6 hours and 59 minutes. If that’s the average, think how many people are spending more time online than that.

Are You In Control Of What You See Online?

While you might think you’re in total control of what you see while you’re on the internet, nothing could be farther from the truth. ‘Bots’ are watching your every move, tailoring content to what they think you’ll prefer to keep you glued to your screens for longer and longer periods of time. When you’re watching videos, your preferences are tracked so that the next batch of recommendations feels like it was selected just for you. When you’re shopping online, retailers track what stores, styles, and brands you love — so they can sell you more of what you like — and are likely to buy. Have you noticed how that website you looked at last week starts appearing in ads in all of your feeds? It’s no accident. They’re tracking you.

There are two sides to how this tracking-your-every-move may feel for you. Either it’s scary to think that the algorithms know what you’re doing, or it’s beneficial — because you see personalized ads that are relevant to you, not ads for products and services that are meaningless.

The Social Dilemma

If you didn’t realize the extent of personalized content following you around the internet, watch The 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma. This film makes it abundantly clear how powerful what we see on the internet can be. (And it’s pretty frightening, to be honest.)

The Social Dilemma shows prime examples of the evil side of the internet and how tech companies can affect the public. They didn’t intend for their powers to be used how it has, but alas, it’s too late. According to Wikipedia, the film shows how social media can “nurture addictions, manipulate people and governments, and spread conspiracy theories and misinformation.” Interviews with previous executives of Facebook, Google, Twitter, Mozilla, and YouTube shed new light on their platforms’ power and their experiences working for these companies. They explain how unintentionally — then uncontrollably — many social media channels have caused negative and problematic consequences. Many of them share that they won’t allow their own children to use social media. That alone is… shocking.

But, here’s the thing. For marketers who rely on using ads in social media platforms to reach their audience to build their brands and grow their revenue, targeting specific audiences to sell their products and services is nothing short of a godsend. By sending their marketing messages to people who (they believe) actually want to see them, their ad spend is well justified. And it’s lower than it would be if they were blasting ads to anyone and everyone on the internet, not knowing who would see them.

Cookies — What Are They And Why Should You Care?

Cookies are tiny text files that websites you visit place on your browser. When you visit websites, cookies remember your preferences, login details, products you like, etc. even after you leave the site. This data is used to target advertising to you that you “want” to see. And because targeted ads work (people enjoy personalized experiences when they’re browsing), marketers are mostly supportive of Google’s third-party cookies. (Third-party cookie comes from a domain other than the one you’re visiting.) However, the personalized experience teeters on the line of whether or not it’s too invasive of user privacy, so changes are coming down the pike.

Google’s Cookie Ban Is Coming

In an effort to increase privacy, in 2022, Google is planning to significantly — or entirely — reduce the number of third-party cookies to protect internet users from ads they don’t want to see. Known as the backbone of programmatic advertising for over a decade, the loss of third-party cookies will mean that marketers will need to re-think their strategies. Digital advertisers will have a harder time delivering personalized experiences, relevant content, and trusted human connections, according to Litmus.

What Should Marketers Do Next?

Since reliance on third-party cookies will not be an option next year, focusing on other marketing channels should be a top priority. First-party data — cookies created by the host domain — are still considered good. Email marketing is a channel that delivers a stellar ROI. Email is one of the most effective, high-performing channels because you own your email list — once people subscribe to hear from you, they’ve given you permission to land in their inboxes. You can decide what messages to send them and how often to communicate — without the fear that an algorithm or outside force will affect your strategy — because it never will.

Google’s cookie ban won’t be the only change in how to do business we see in the post-pandemic world. So, over the next 12 months, anyone who uses the internet to find, nurture, and acquire business (cue: everyone!) should consider updating their strategies, build resilience, and take advantage of new opportunities, and think outside the box for growth.

If you’ve never dabbled in the world of investing, even the thought of talking about money, financial returns, and building wealth can be intimidating.

For many people, investing is a foreign concept and one that might even bring doubt and uncertainty. From an early age, we’ve been taught to “save money” whenever possible. Unfortunately, all too often, investment strategies weren’t part of the conversation.

What if there were relatively simple solutions to help us ease into the investment world? Let’s start by asking ourselves, “What’s holding me back?”

I don’t know enough about investing. 

The vast majority of us can relate to this. We didn’t study finance or economics in school. We’re not financial advisors, and we’ve never worked with one. Perhaps our parents or partners have always handled the finances, so we’re not in the trenches in our own budgets. Whatever your situation, it’s never too late to empower your inner investor by educating yourself. Start simple, do basic research. There’s a world of information available on the internet; start by mining through well-known and trusted websites. Talk to people you trust who have investment experience. Formulate a list of questions and seek answers. Consult with a professional advisor.

I can’t afford it.

There was a time in history when this might have been true — when only high-net-worth individuals could get into the investment game. This is no longer the case. There are now a variety of investment vehicles available, including crowdfunding and beginner investment websites. The entry point for investments can be as low as a few dollars!

It’s too risky… I’m scared to lose money.

Talking with a financial advisor will greatly benefit anyone new to investing. During this meeting, your trusted partner will talk with you about risk — they will assess your current financial situation including income, assets, age, and also get a feel for how much risk you are willing/want to take. It’s different for everyone, and you can set yourself up for success with the right plan based on your risk assessment. After you complete a professional risk assessment, you’ll have a much better idea of where to invest and how much money you should invest.

Investment options don’t align with my values.

Investment opportunities have changed for the better. We’re no longer limited to funds that support fossil fuels, tobacco, guns, and companies with unfair labor or trade practices. Driven by factors like sustainability and positive societal impact, mission-based investors can select ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) impact investing — which allows everyone to put their money toward causes they care about, while still earning financial returns.

Don’t let any of these hesitations prevent you from taking the leap into the investment world! As you can see, there are options for everyone.

I’ve long believed — and continue to believe — that psychological (aka brand) positioning – the position you own in your target’s mind relative to competitors – is the critical success factor for marketing success.

This is especially true for new and early-stage companies.

Positioning is one of the 6 P’s of Marketing.  Historically, there were 4 P’s of marketing (product, price, place and promotion).  Most marketers believe there are six today.  The fifth P is positioning and the sixth P is public relations.

The fact is, you can’t build a company/brand if you can’t win the battle for the mind.  A company or product has to build a distinct and differentiated brand vs. competitors in the target’s mind.  You have to stand out as unique in some way.  If you’re not standing out relative to customers in the customer’s mind you’re not positioning – at least effectively.  Ideally, your company or product will own a word, phrase or concept in the target’s mind.  That’s what positioning — when done effectively — does.  

Of course, you must translate your word or words into action to fully support the position you’re after.  EVERYTHING a company does must reinforce the position it wants to own or create.  As an example, if your desired position is “The city’s friendliest bank,” then you must not only have friendly tellers and loan officers, but friendly ads and be a friendly corporate citizen in the community, etc.

You can never FAKE a position.  If a brand promise isn’t true, you not only won’t earn a position in the consumer’s mind, you’ll alienate him/her, developing negative brand equity.  For example, if you claim to have the “best service in town!”  You better walk the talk!

Traditionally, advertising has been the communications tool of choice for establishing a position in a prospect’s or customer’s mind.

But there are two significant problems with advertising when it comes to positioning for start-ups and young growth companies:

• Advertising is very expensive.

• Advertising lacks credibility in most consumers’ minds. You can control the message but the fact advertising lacks credibility lessens that advantage.

So, what is a company in its embryonic-stage of growth to do?  Use PR.  Public relations is a powerful positioning tool.  It’s actually preferable to advertising except in the rare instance.  Why?  PR has two important advantages over advertising when it comes to positioning strategy development and execution:

• PR is significantly less expensive than advertising.

• PR provides third-party credibility that advertising can’t.

To get a new company or brand started from scratch, the validity that third-party stories or endorsements can bring are critical in establishing psychological positioning relative to competitors.  That’s why a well-planned and well-executed PR campaign should be a high priority for new and early-stage companies.

And it all starts with a strong positioning strategy.

Until you’ve experienced it, you might not believe that thundersnow exists. When you put these two words together, they sound like a make-believe fairy tale nightmare or a phony phrase created for children’s books.

News flash: Thundersnow is real. And it’s perhaps a cruel metaphor for 2020.

Is it thundersnow, or is it COVID?

During a thundersnow storm, snowfall intensity severely limits visibility, winds atof or above tropical storm force are frequent, frostbite is nearly instant if you’re exposed to the elements, and the positive polarity is associated with greater destructive potential than lightning. So… not only is it something you’d never expect to happen, but you have to stay inside to stay safe. It’s kinda like living through COVID.

If there’s one takeaway from a year that seemed so promising when the ball dropped in Times Square on December 31st, ringing in a decade that we only dreamed about in sci-fi novels — it’s that we are resilient. We harnessed the concept of change agility, learned to be nimble in our (personal and business) goals and actions, and remembered to acknowledge gratitude and hope in a more authentic way than ever before.

Our wish for you

If you’ve experienced personal loss, job loss, illness, or hardship of any kind this year, we’re holding you in our hearts. We wish nothing but strength, healing, and abundance for you in the New Year.

What’s 2021 look like?

Right now, we’re faced with a future that seems to be filled with more questions than answers. We ask ourselves questions like, “Can business really be a force for good?” and “Is it possible to focus on mission-based work and still make a profit?” Challenging the status quo is healthy — after all, our children’s future depends on the decisions we make right now.

Climate change? It’s real. Social inequality? The gap is widening between the rich and the poor. A massive shift in the way companies do business? It’s happening. Goodbye offices, hello Zoom, and welcome to a new trend of outsourcing and utilizing contract work — companies are bringing in experts on a project basis rather than hiring a more robust full-time staff. This strategic move saves businesses money on benefits, training, and supplies. Additionally, it allows for a more flexible work schedule and focuses on areas that a smaller company may need to utilize on an intermittent — or temporary — basis. With the rise of a “gig economy,” or a free market system of employment, this strategy is also appealing and beneficial for contractors based on short-term and temporary contract work.

There are a lot of things that have gone right this year; let’s not forget that. And as we straddle the line of empathy and ambition, we’re here to be the light at the end of the tunnel of 2020. All of the trends we see as this year comes to an end drive our strategic goals for 2021.

We believe in the twinkle of hope that the New Year brings. Onward!

Saturday, Oct. 24, marks the 28th National Make a Difference Day, the largest national day of community service.

Here at CoPeace, it may truly be the reason we exist today. It’s when we individually reached a point in our careers, and focused on a greater cause, and committed to make an impact, that our impact-driven company, CoPeace, was born.

As we sit with our brothers and sisters from around the world in a pandemic these past seven months, we see homelessness, divisiveness, hunger and climate crisis all around us. It’s been the most dire of times for so many of us, I’m not sure if there has ever been a more needed time for community than now.

Making a difference can take many different forms. One can make a difference by checking in on the elderly, or collecting cans for a food pantry, or picking up litter. There are many volunteer opportunities and acts to help mitigate the planet’s bigger issues such as plastic waste, greenhouse gas emissions, and water scarcity.

The local chapters of United Way have done an incredible job within their local communities, mobilizing to different causes.

Even the smallest of efforts can change a community and subsequently the world.

The Aspen Strategy Group is leading an effort to establish a National Service. A non-political program to bring “community” back, front and center, providing jobs and assistance where it’s most needed. A program that could help working parents teach STEM to under-privileged communities and close the opportunity gap.

You may know what I am talking about. That one day, when I was my absolute best as a human being, when I was able to put everything aside, and do something absolutely selfless. Something that afterwards I would literally glow, basking from it. That’s how B.J. was every day.

I think we all know someone like that. Someone that was or is such a special soul that makes everything around them better. We marvel at them and it motivates us to be better versions of ourselves.

Saturday, Oct. 24 is our opportunity to do as B.J. would do. An opportunity to be selfless and be our best versions of ourselves for National Make A Difference Day. Please join me!

I love sports.

I’ve been involved in sports in one way or another my entire life.  I love the competition, the teamwork needed to be successful, the human drama, the camaraderie, the physical fitness aspect, and the lifetime friendships that develop.

But I also love sports because they can bring out the best in humanity.  Sports can positively impact the world in ways well beyond the playing fields, courts and ice rinks.

Nelson Mandela said it perfectly, “Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire and the power to unite people in a way little else can – it is an instrument for change.”

Sport is certainly a powerful cultural institution, and it can be tapped for good.

“The rituals of sport engage more people in a shared experience than any other institution or cultural activity today,” said author and public policy consultant Varda Burstyn.

Through the years, there has been a lot of excellent philanthropic work done through sports.  At CoPeace, we celebrate that fact and encourage it.  However, we think there’s tremendous potential to impact the world via sports well beyond the limitations of pure philanthropy.

That’s why we launched CoPeace Sports, or CoSpo, this week.  CoSpo is a wholly-owned sports impact subsidiary and is part of the CoPeace holding company portfolio.  CoSpo’s mission is to help athletes, coaches and sport organizations maximize their ability to positively impact society.

CoPeace Sports is legally designated as a public benefit LLC (PBLLC).  As such, we can help sports entities of all kinds enhance their positive impact activities through both non-profit and for-profit endeavors and activities.

We have a lot of sports-related experience on the CoPeace team.  We’ve seen how sports can bring people together in pursuit of a common cause, and we want to leverage that uniting aspect of sport for the good of society.

“Sports is just such a powerful thing,” said Ed Tepper, CoPeace’s chief operating officer. “It taps into the emotions, and we have an incredible opportunity here to use that power and direct it in a positive way that goes far beyond anything philanthropy can do—to create self-sustaining opportunities for companies to do good, help others and make money at the same time.”

CoPeace Sports has been created to be a true win-win endeavor and I’m excited to see the positive impact the company will have as it grows.

Some people might say energy conservation is a big problem best handled by government and industry.  While this can certainly a significant part of the solution, there are many things that we can do now as individuals to create positive change by incorporating energy conserving practices in our homes or offices!

Why not celebrate Energy Efficiency Day by taking actions that all of us can do?  You can make a difference today by starting new habits and traditions which are both good for the planet and good for your financial wellbeing.  Here are some suggestions that benefit everyone:

1. Use what you need and unplug the rest! Every electrical item doesn’t need to be always on or plugged in.  Adopt a use when needed approach.
   1. • Turn off lights when not necessary
      • Unplug electrical items that are not used regularly
2.  Run the dishwasher and laundry machines during off-peak hours to reduce your utility bills and take a load off your power grid
3. Install energy conserving devices such as thermostats, LED lights, timers, etc., to match peak and off-peak usage levels
4. Choose Energy Star Appliances and Equipment
5. Take a walk or ride a bike more often and drive less
6. Take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator
7. Consider solar panels for electricity, heat, and hot water to reduce power grid usage.
8. Install water-saving plumbing fixtures, toilets, shower valves, shower heads which ultimately reduces energy consumption.

Energy efficiency is not only good for the world and good business, and it’s great for your wallet too!  Save the world and save money by conserving energy today.  Happy Energy Efficiency Day!

For more energy saving tips please visit the official Energy Efficiency Day website.