Book by Gary Hirshberg - Stirring It Up

Summary

A visionary business leader tells of how he built a successful business while working to save the planet � and how you can, too.

Gary Hirshberg, the CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt. describes how he's done well by doing good: building a $300 million�per-year business based on environmental principles and practices. And he explains how any company can do the same: working to save the planet while succeeding in the marketplace. In fact, Hirshberg makes a persuasive case � drawing on inspiring real-world examples from businesses like Patagonia, Timberland, Whole Foods and Newman's Own � that going green is a smart business strategy in the long run, allowing a company to cut down on trash and packaging, convert waste to energy, and build enduring relationships with suppliers and customers alike.

Stirring It Up is full of practical information and advice and fun anecdotes from Hirshberg's own experience (like how a power outage left them milking cows by hand or how a fire in a dumpster revealed the need for better packaging). It also details numerous hands-on grassroots marketing strategies, such as using the yogurt lids for messages about the environment and giving out samples to thank subway commuters for using public transit, and explains how these approaches play much better with consumers than traditional advertising.

Stirring It Up is an inspiring how-I-did-it and an invaluable how-to guide from a visionary businessman who has proved that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand.

Learn More

Back to top

More on Activism

Activist Links from The Mission Collective
Resources on Transportation, Food, Energy, Health, and more

Idealist.org
A website where activists and organizations can exchange resources and ideas, and locate opportunities and supporters

Care2
The largest online community of people passionate about making a difference

MoveOn
A family of organizations bringing real Americans back into the political process

You can give books on the Progressive Book Club site a "tag", which is like a keyword or category label. Tags help you find books which have something in common. Tags are usually (but do not have to be) single words, and should be descriptive and make sense to you.

A "tag cloud" of all your tags will appear at the bottom of your MyPBC profile, if you choose to create one. A tag cloud is a visual depiction of your tags in which the more important tags (i.e. those with more books are associated with them), appear larger. Tags are hyperlinks that lead to a collection of associated books.

A tag cloud aggregating the tags of ALL PBC members and community members appears at the bottom of all book browsing pages.

Tags (what is this?)

Back to top

Add Tags :
(comma delimited, max length 22 characters - ex: clinton, obama)

Editorial Reviews

Review: Stirring It Up (Tom Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa)

This is a must read for every CEO of every company, big or small, who understands that a profitable company and a sustainable environment are mutually dependent.

Member Reviews

Back to top

Biography

Gary Hirshberg is the president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, the world�s largest manufacturer of organic yogurt. The recipient of five honorary doctorates and numerous awards for his commitment to environmental causes, he lives with his wife and three teenage yogurt eaters in New Hampshire.

Author Interview

Back to top

Interview with Gary Hirshberg (Treehugger.com)

Q. But things have come an incredibly long way and now Stonyfield is big time. And you're rolling with some of the bigwigs in the corporate world, and you go around telling people that �serving humanity pays.� This is obviously a heretical business ethic from the point of view of traditional business circles. Do people still look at you like you're a crazy person in the traditional business world?

A. Well, certainly in the early days everyone thought we were crazy. I always say that we had a wonderful business.

The only problem was that we had no supply and no demand. But organic, obviously, has come of age. Sustainability is now coming into vogue. And as I said at the outset, this isn't because we've suddenly had a tremendous burst of moral rectitude here. It's strictly because of economics. And really economics have obliterated all criticism of us. Stonyfield is now a $325 million company, outgrowing our category dramatically. We're the number three yogurt in the U.S., as well as the largest organic yogurt company in the world.

But also macroeconomics. We have demonstrated, and certainly many of the folks like Yvonne and others in business who you've interviewed have proven this as well, that anytime you can reduce your climate footprint, anytime you can decrease waste, anytime you can get yourself less dependent on fossil fuels, ... continue reading >

Take Action

Get Involved and Take Action on Activism and Protest

Get involved with Campus Progress
College students--get involved in Campus Progress' many campaigns: anti-war, global warming, debt relief, academic freedom and more. Join groups, find out about upcoming actions, get training, and apply for grants to start your own actions.

Shop progressively
Shop with your conscience--check out World Hunger Year's list of programs and businesses involved in poverty and hunger eradication efforts.

Join Truemajority.org and in just two minutes a month, make a real difference for progressive causes
Recent campaigns include ensuring fair distribution of disability benefits to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and a succesful campaign to gain a pay raise for farm workers in Florida.

Check out VolunteerList to see how and where you can get involved in your community today
Search for activist opportunities by subject/cause!

Witness is involved with the most desperate human rights causes... and you can help
Witness needs your skills--donate time and skills in digital media, research, blogging, translation, outreach, data entry and programming--and help end human rights abuses.

Join Human Rights Watch's Red Hand Campaign
Demand that the 2002 ban on enlisting child soldiers is enforced. HRW's goal is to deliver one million "red hand" letters to the UN on Red Hand Day in February, 2009.

Start a Democracy 2.0 Initiative and change your generation!continue reading >

Video

Gary Hirshberg at Google

The author talks at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, CA.

Gary Hirshberg at Google

Browse Books:

Books

Questions?

Get this book for FREE (plus S&H) when you join PBC

Stirring It Up

Summary

Learn More

Tags (what is this?)

Editorial Reviews

Member Reviews

Biography

Author Interview

Take Action

Video

In your cart