This image is from the Waterloo SPP

Social enterprise along with social purchasing directories, portals, green directories and other platforms represents  a new consumer psychology and a new way of socially responsible economic thinking. Products and services in these directories cost no more than their average competitor, in fact they are most often a more competitively and attractively priced option! But they have a distinct advantage in that they directly contribute to the economic, environmental and social health of our communities. New research has shown that consumers will even sacrifice luxury or performance in favor of the perceived social status of green products. While some might think this is somewhat shallow, it truly shows that the pendulum has swung in our time. Buying responsible, sustainable products is COOL! And pretty soon it will likely be beyond cool, as it becomes the status quo. To help us fully make this transition we have a growing number of  directories or portals offering us environmentally and socially minded options  Here are some examples:

Australian organization Social Traders is working with numerous partners for a directory of Australian social enterprise while in China a social purchasing directory created by the group Collective Responsibility, provides socially and environmentally responsible choices for citizens and companies there.  Some major cities with large urban economies to themselves have their own directories and portals like London, England’s SEL (Social Enterprise London). Several Canadian cities including Ottawa, Winnipeg and Kitchener-Waterloo also have active portals that they are building and improving upon as well.

In Vancouver, the Social Purchasing Directory hosted by Building Opportunities with Business is the most comprehensive and accessible directory of its kind in our city and possibly Canada. Other guides like Vancouver’s Green Zebra Guide and the Greater Vancouver Green Guide offer comprehensive lists of businesses, buildings, parks and even projects that are environmentally sustainable.

Vancouver inner-city business Eclipse Awards International and social enterprise Tradeworks Training Society, have strong sustainability and social objectives and make top quality products with reclaimed or FSC certified wood

As our urban economy continues to grow, BOB’s directory will be updated and managed to meet the needs of businesses and individual consumers looking for competitively and attractively priced goods and services from innovative,  socially and environmentally responsible companies or social enterprises.

More than ever people have realized that what we purchase has a powerful impact on the environment, on cultures, regions and on ourselves. The new research shows it now has a powerful effect on our identities now as well. I believe the rise of social purchasing directories social purchasing portals and of green directories and guides for those looking f or  sustainable products that benefit our communities demonstrates a real shift in consumer psychology. “We vote with our dollars” is a quote that sums it up nicely as the world we live in is shaped by the leadership we democratically choose and the producers of goods and services we support with our purchases.

Vancouver's Olympic Village is the world's most sustainable community and was built largely with goods procured from businesses on the Social Purchasing Directory hosted by Building Opportunities with Business

We also say what kind of people we are through these actions, and I would wager to say that most people enjoy being seen as good people who support good businesses and want a better world for themselves and for future generations. It took us a while to see the damage that our old products and systems created and some time for producers of better options to reach economies of scale, but now we have a huge selection of quality products and services- healthy and responsible options-at our fingertips.

So next time you’re looking for a socially responsible gift, a sustainably made product, or an environmentally friendly cleaner, look first to social purchasing and green directories available to you in your city.

-Wes-

In increasing numbers, consumers are turning to social enterprises for products and services and because of this, social purchasing directories and online portals are becoming increasingly popular. These social enterprises and social purchasing directories, portals, and other platforms represent not only a new consumer standard but a new way of economic thinking. Products and services in these directories cost no more than their average competitor, in fact they are most often a more competitively and attractively priced option! But they have a distinct advantage in that they directly contribute to the long term economic, environmental and social health of communities, the environment and individuals.

In an urban economy the value of transactions from socially responsible companies operating locally benefit their communities by being more equitably distributed and by being more thoroughly circulated in the urban economy. In short, the money and its potential remains better integrated in these communities than had it gone to a vendor with fewer local ties, hiring fewer local people, with bank accounts held elsewhere, contributing less to the betterment of the community at large.

And if everyone was trying to improve their community, even if only through their purchasing choices,  logic dictates we would live in a constantly improving world. I think it’s safe to assume that this is what most people would prefer.

Because demand for these kinds of directories has been steadily increasing, many countries have similar directories in place or are currently working on them. Australian organization Social Traders is working with numerous partners for a directory of Australian social enterprise, while in China a social purchasing directory created by the group Collective Responsibility provides socially and environmentally responsible choices for citizens and companies there. Some major cities with large urban economies to themselves  have their own directories and portals, like London, England, while several Canadian cities including Ottawa, Winnipeg and Kitchener-Waterloo also have active portals that they are building and improving upon. In Vancouver, the Social Purchasing Directory hosted here on the Building Opportunities with Business site is one of the most comprehensive and accessible directories of its kind in any Canadian city.

While the Social Purchasing Directory hosted by BOB focuses on Vancouver’s DTES and inner-city it fully supports other regional purchasing directories like Access Works,  The Green Zebra Guide and Buy Smart. As our urban economy continues to grow, this directory will be updated and managed to meet the needs of business and private consumers looking for competitively and attractively priced goods and services from socially responsible and innovative companies.

Next time you go shopping, check the social purchasing business directory hosted by BOB. You have the power to change this world for the better. Purchasing power.

How many times will the headline “Vancouver, a tale of two cities” appear in some national or international paper? Nobody knows, but I can assure you it will be more than once…it already has been. And while some would love to write or read another beauty and the beast story about Vancouver, there must be somebody out there who will take the time to sit back and really look at the DTES in a more complete way. How about an article with the title “Vancouver, a tale of two inner-cities”? That sounds good.

It sounded so good I made it the title of this post. (see above…)

In fact, I’ve talked to a few visiting media about the DTES and they’ve been honest about their reluctance to dive into a more critical and thorough assessment of our historic and infamous inner-city. Apparently the public can’t handle anything more than a 2 dimensional story. Three dimensions is too much, minds will explode. So when you look at it that way it’s more about public safety than about selling a sensational story about Vancouver, the cosmopolitan vixen with a dirty secret. Like millionaires who slum it for fun, or a banker with a gambling problem, it’s easier to write about this Vancouver; the most livable city in the world with its dark, drug riddled skid row. So if that’s the kind of story you prefer, read no further for fear of having a mental overload. There is far more going on in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside than drugs, poverty and crime. (I hope no heads accidentally exploded)

In fact, no part of Vancouver offers as complete a tale of this dynamic and fascinating city as its famous Downtown Eastside. The challenges this young city deals with today carry with them a legacy of transformation, tension and renewal that has been condensed into decades not centuries, and that story begins here. This wasn’t always Canada’s poorest postal code and it won’t always remain that.

Within its first few years our historic part of the city burned to the ground in a matter of minutes, only to be rebuilt immediately. This neighbourhood is no stranger to challenges and changes. Challenges and changes are perhaps what define it more than any other part of Vancouver. On the front lines of this change today are the numerous non-profit societies, businesses, community groups, and individuals that have refused to allow this treasured and storied corner of Vancouver to be relegated to the sidelines of this city’s future. The DTES leads, it innovates and it rises to new challenges in new ways. Now the world has an opportunity to see this firsthand, but my concern is that they won’t.

While negative stories about Vancouver and our DTES roll off the press, innovative social enterprise like W2 Culture and Media House, SOLEfood Inner City Farm, Potluck Catering and Tradeworks Training society are empowering residents in the DTES with opportunities for personal and professional development while socially and environmentally responsible companies like The Cleaning Solution, Eclips Awards, Saul Good Gift Co and many others provide opportunities and support to the individuals and other businesses in our community every day. Our Social Purchasing Directory has hundreds of these companies and is steadily adding more as our urban economy grows- sustainably, responsibly, and innovatively.

This is where the pulse of Vancouver’s artistic community is found, where the DTES Artwalk and Eastside Culture Crawl happen. This is where bold individuals and organizations are doing new things in new ways. From the city’s first major community benefits agreement to the first all women’s pharmacy in North America, Vancouver’s inner-city  innovates and creates.

From cutting-edge award winning companies like Biro Creative, Nitobi and Invoke Media to the greenest residential development in North America the edgy neighbourhoods just east of Cambie continue to help make Vancouver an international leader. This is a place where others look for inspiration and ideas, but too often is portrayed as anything but.

The Downtown Eastside isn’t just some dirty secret that a pretty city is trying to hide. That would be a kid’s story, a two dimensional fable relying on a tragic and obvious  irony. The challenges and changes in our historic inner-city make it the most intense and dynamic part of Vancouver and an engine for innovation of every kind. Innovation in economic thinking, social theory, innovation in planning, in the arts, in food and dining, architecture and entrepreneurialism. Look a little closer and anyone would be amazed at what you see here.

If the international community misses out on the opportunity to see this inner-city then they miss out on an opportunity to really know and experience Vancouver. What a shame that would be after coming all this way.