SEED - Background
How Did SEED Start?
Some of Future 500's biggest successes have come through leveraging the market influence of major corporations and of grassroots activist groups. The California beverage container recycling law would not have passed without the support of retailers, who used their "shelf power" to convince leading beverage brands to drop their opposition and come aboard. The Mitsubishi / Rainforest Action Network and Weyerhaeuser / Greenpeace agreements worked in large part because they leveraged the purchasing power of the involved companies.
SEED was conceived in 2003, when Future 500's Cate Gable and Bill Shireman and zero waste expert Ed Boisson outlined a Supply Chain Initiative that would harness the market power of major corporate buyers to drive technologies that were on the verge of market acceptance. Two projects with Future 500 members General Motors and NatureWorks on hydrogen and bioplastics, respectively, complemented the initial Supply Chain Initiative. Now, we are broadening SEED into one of our three core program areas.
Funding and Support
Future 500's influence is founded on its ability to unify the interests of corporations, government and NGO stakeholders. We have funded SEED through a combination of foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and NGO and governmental support.
To date, we have received corporate support from NatureWorks, Nestle Waters North America, Coca Cola and Clean Source Power. We have also received a sizeable grant from the California Department of Conservation and a small challenge grant from the the Castle Rock foundation. We also received a small grant from a foundation that requests anonymity to support NGO involvement in our bioplastics initiative. We continue to pursue additional foundation, government, and corporate funding sources.
As with all Future 500 initiatives, our SEED project work is collaborative, drawing together companies and government with a stake in sustainable technologies, and NGOs who will help shape the development of those technologies to continuously improve their social and environmental impacts.
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