Summary: “I think the desire to leave the world better than you find it is as basic a drive as needing to eat, needing shelter, needing a job... I think it’s a basic human need.” - Shel Horowitz The Bucket List Life Podcast Episode #59 - Ethical Marketing Expert Shel Horowitz Shel Horowitz , our next guest on episode #59 of The Bucket List Life Podcast with Kenyon Salo, is a strategist for green and social conscience businesses. Currently he is working to show businesses how to profit by solving hunger, war, poverty, and catastrophic climate change. He has also given a TED Talk on this subject. He is a best-selling primary-author of ‘Guerilla Marketing Goes Green’ and has written seven other books, and he is currently working on his 9th. He has more than 40 years in the green/activist and business world. Let’s listen and find out why Shel is so enthusiastic about the vital work he has chosen to dedicate his life to. Highlights of their podcast conversation: 2:15 One of the most unique experiences in Shel’s life? Having the cover of his book ‘Guerilla Marketing Goes Green’ flashing across one of the 6 story electronic billboards in New York City’s Time Square! He admits the payoff was more in terms of creditability than it is in sales. But how many people are able to say this is something they have accomplished in their lives? 4:15 What exactly does Shel do? “I work on business profitability, especially for green businesses, for social change businesses, and for authors and publishers.” He works with people to look for opportunities to do right by the world and in time make a nice profit. “And it’s really fun to do that” Shel thinks it’s exciting to be doing these type of things at this point in his life. He has been working in the green world and business world and has been able to braid them into something that he hopes will make a difference in the way we function in society. 5:10 Shel shares an example of a company that is doing exactly what he likes to help companies do. d.light makes affordable solar-powered home lighting solutions. The solar-powered lanterns are sold to people in very poor countries that are presently using dangerous, toxic fossil fuel lanterns that have to be refilled monthly, or are using nothing at all. Besides the environmental benefit and money in the family’s pocket by not having to buy fuel every month, they have a better quality light that lasts later into the night. 7:15 Shel tells us why businesses should, and will, be going green in the future. “The costs of going green typically are much lower than the savings of going green.” He also tells us which enormous companies are doing business green. The answer may surprise you. 10:10 Can you guess which iconic 1931 building initiated a “deep green energy retrofit” at a cost of 13 million dollars, of which they get back 4.4 million dollars in savings a year? 12:40 Another area Shel is utterly fascinated with is bio-mimicry – “It is when you watch how nature solves a problem and you think how can humans engineer that?” Can we build something as strong as spider silk? Can we collect water as efficiently as a certain beetle in the African desert can? The possibilities are amazing and his new book will have an intriguing section on bio-mimicry. 28:15 Shel’s green home was built 1743 and it may be the oldest solar house in the country. It has a solar hot water system and a solar electric system. His neighbors also embrace the ‘green home’ life style. He calls his neighborhood an 18th Century Eco Village. 35:20 In the next 6 months Shel plans to finish his next book ‘Guerilla Marketing to Heal the World,’ complete his website ‘Impact with Profit’, push his career to where he can do more of this kind of work and get paid for it by helping companies decide where they can make a difference. “I think the desire to leave the world better than you find it is as basic a drive as needing to eat, needing shelter, needing a job...
