I’m Ryan, the bloke here at Clif Bar & Company whose job it is to shepherd our environmental efforts in the world. Good to see you! I’m here with big news today as we’ve just finished up an extended period of time installing some new components (nay, a new drive train?) on one of our favorite efforts around here at Clif Bar HQ, the 2 Mile Challenge.

For those of you who have participated with us in the past, you know that it’s in our DNA at Clif to help protect those places where we love to play. The 2 Mile Challenge is a game we created to fight climate change by challenging yourself and your friends to ride your bike instead of the car for those quick trips within 2 miles from home. We’re super excited to announce that this year the 2 Mile Challenge is sinking some deeper roots into the world of bicycle advocacy and the fight against climate change. We’re pairing the 2 Mile Challenge with an effort to award $100,000 in grants to three nonprofit organizations that YOU can help us decide how to spend. Introducing the 2 Mile Challenge Red, Gold and Blue Teams!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to register, join one of the 2MC teams and start pedaling your bike to earn points for yourself and your nonprofit organization.

Read More…

Let’s face it—we’re all busy. We here at Clif Bar & Company understand that everyone doesn’t always have the time to flip through the newest book on the food system and sustainability. But thankfully, there are some amazing films out there that do the job wonderfully, summing these interesting topics up in a visual package. To celebrate the end of earth month, here are some great, informative films out there that are a wealth of information.

The Real Food Challenge - Check out this wonderful video from a student-run grassroots organization that is changing campus food service across the nation. The real food challenge is to drive an increase of real food, with a goal of reaching 20% real food on college and university campuses by 2020.

The Meatrix - Understand factory farming and you begin to understand our broken food system. The Meatrix uses a series of animated videos to expose the problems with factory farming while making the world safe for sustainable family farms.

Read More…

These days, hosting a entirely green event is easier than you think. But even if it’s not within your means to go entirely green, every little bit helps. Here are 12 handy tips (and plenty of resources) to put green well within your reach.

Embrace Zero Waste: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost

• 1. Recycle. Provide marked recycling containers throughout your venue. Compost too! Earth911 provides a handy search tool for locating recycling centers in your area, as well as providing other up-to-date recycling/composting news.
• 2. Use recycled paper. And go paperless whenever possible. San Francisco-based Conservatree offers small- and large-scale paper buying options, as well as a handy manual for recycling best practices.
• 3. Use biodegradable materials (bioplastic and paper) instead of plastics, and use materials with recycled content. You’ve used those biodegradable forks at the Whole Foods salad bar, right? Well, here’s a great resource for ordering compostable utensils, cups and more.

Support Sustainable Transportation

• 4. Promote transportation alternatives. Encourage the use of public transportation, ride-sharing, fuel-efficient vehicles, cycling and walking. RideshareOnline has lots of great resources to ditch the car and carpool, along with other resources. Also, you can calculate the REAL cost of your car commute with a nifty commute calculator.

Read More…

Yes, Earth Day 2010 has come and gone, but we’re continuing the Earth Day spirit—in pug form! And so we came across this hilarious video from The Daily Puglet. Here’s the gist—if a pug can recycle, so can you. And not only that, this pug sorts paper and plastic, rides the bus, conserves water and more.

This is definitely a must-see heading into your post-Earth Day weekend. Hope you enjoy it!

Read More…

We’re hardly bashful here about digging into food. Anyone who’s been to Clif Bar knows that we love good food and a good time. But we’re also conscious about the bigger food picture and the importance of understanding where our food comes—including the social and environmental impacts of agriculture. For many farm workers, bringing food to our tables is no picnic. We’d like to see that change—and one way we’re doing that is by lending our support to grassroots organizations committed to creating a more healthy, just and sustainable food system through the Clif Bar Family Foundation. Our staff ecologist,…

Read More…