YW Interview: Rob Grand

Standing on Grass Roots “Ecopreneur” Rob Grand is a leading advocate, spokesperson, and educator on green lifestyle products and issues, and is the founder and owner of Grassroots Environmental Products. He talks to Your Workplace magazine about turning his passion into a living and how we can lead better, more conscientious lives one small step at a time. YW: Tell me a little bit about your company, Grassroots Environmental Products? Where did the idea come from? Grand: I started Grassroots in 1994. Our focus is on environmentally friendly products that will help our customers lead a lower impact lifestyle. We carry a broad range of products from organic mattresses to biodegradable cleaners, and day-to-day household products. The thread that ties everything together is environmentally friendly. We have two brick and mortar stores in Toronto, a web site, and a commercial wholesale business as well. Back in the 1990s I was working with a number of environmental nonprofits. I was looking for green products, whether it was recycled paper, or eco-friendly products, and was having a hard time even finding them, let alone finding them under one roof. I recognized there was a niche in the marketplace, and it made so much sense given the state of the environment. How is Grassroots different from other companies? For 15 years we have closely scrutinized the products we bring in to our store. We aren’t fooled by “Green washing or green marketing”. A lot of times I’ll say to people, if you want to see what the major retailers will be offering in four or five years, come to our store now. We’re the point of entry. It’s bitter-sweet: we educate customers, and then a major retailer adopts it, undercuts it, then we start looking for something else. Our business is not to be carrying what others carry, but to provide innovation, and be the first. A lot of our success is about approach. It’s not about four walls and a front door, come in and buy green products. It’s about how we engage community. We give out “Free biker breakfasts” – organic juice, organic muffins and fair-trade coffee – to those who bike to work in the morning. We also gave discounts to people who buy transit passes to reward them for taking public transit. A lot of businesses say, “Those guys are crazy,” but it engages the consumer, creates dialogue, community, and that’s one of the things we want to create: community around our brand. We’ve approached retail in an unconventional way, but I think the end goal of sustainability is shared among us. Is green living something you are passionate about? My passion is environment and how I can affect change through my work. This is a very empowering and rewarding way to live my life. There will always be challenges – so do something that really makes you feel good at the end of the day and that’s what I’m trying to do. For the most part, I sleep pretty well at night doing what I do. Where does your passion come from? People always ask me if I was raised in a commune. No. I grew up in suburban Toronto. When I was in my last year of university, I read an article by David Suzuki called, “In a sea full of pollution, one can still make waves.” At that point, environmentalism was not on my radar. But I cut out the article and I still have the original. Basically it said that even as an individual, you can make a difference. The article really struck me. It was very empowering. Here I was, a guy who hadn’t made any effort to decrease my ecological footprint and I could do these things. They were easy. I slowly started this evolution. I started riding my bike to campus instead of driving a car; I used less water; changed my light bulbs and put tap aerators on my taps. I started making all of these small changes, then looked at what the other issues were. So, is it about small steps? I went from changing my light bulbs to the point where I was involved with public outreach and education, civil disobedience and protests. One day I would set up a display at a mall, encouraging people to carpool, and the next week I would chain myself to the front gates of a logging company. I started to become really mindful of the decisions I was making every day. I’m by no means, a model citizen. There are always ways to improve. That’s what I tell our customers. Don’t try to change overnight. There are a lot of great things to do, but do them gradually, when the incandescent light runs out, get an efficient one. Look at car-sharing or public transit, or even buying a smaller car. You don’t have to live in a cave starting tomorrow. You don’t have to be dramatic about this. Take your time. Suzuki’s simple 500 word article changed my life. If I can do that through Grassroots for other people, I’m happy. How important is loving or believing in what you do? As an idealist, that should be the most important factor. Really when it comes down to it, there are things that you care about in your life, that you value, that you enjoy doing, and work should be one of those things. For most people, work is 40 hours a week, not including transportation, so you should really enjoy that and care about what you do. Money is great, if you can and make money, then fantastic. I haven’t made a ton of money. It’s not a real driver for me. My passion is environment, helping people and educating people. I think the work you choose is incredibly important. So, is the green movement mutually exclusive with making money? Is there any place for both? We read in the news a lot about what companies and people are trying to do to be more green, like putting solar panels on their roofs. That’s great, but let’s hit the low hanging fruit first like starting a car-sharing program for employees. Going green doesn’t have to cost a fortune. It saves you money when you ride your bike to work instead of driving your car. It’s an economical and environmental win, what I call “Eco-win-win”. I’ve spoken at a couple of events, with major retailers, and they talk about the challenges with getting the right product, in the right place, at the right time, and monitoring conditions offshore. I tell a story about how we look at sourcing products locally. I call it my “Subway supply chain”. We have a soap maker, who uses all fair trade, organic ingredients. She lives five subway stops away. She is able to support herself, work from home, and take care of her child. It’s a good news story from a social and business perspective. I have some control of ingredients she uses. I don’t have to worry about the price of oil or a strike at customs and my product getting stuck at the border. My upfront cost might be more than if I had it manufactured offshore, but costs overall are less. So, what do you think the future holds for the green movement and for you? There is tremendous opportunity in the new environmental economy. What we’re seeing is a shift towards a more mindful, thoughtful, green economy. Instead of relying on oil and gas, we’re relying on wind and the solar industry. Instead of looking at projecting increased energy capacity on our grid, our new green economy is creating jobs and reducing the amount of energy we need. There are tons of jobs tied to that. The new economy is gaining a momentum that I feel will usurp the way we do business. Instead of supply chains that run around the world a few times, I think we’ll see a strong “buy local” market as we currently see with food. But, it’s bigger than that. It’s part of the larger, new green economy.

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