Ecopreneurs - Planters Development Bank

Only six months
into our operation,
the market came
back with positive
reaction. We were a
little overwhelmed.
The media was just
as excited.
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SME COMmunity PHilippines
and whole process learning (seeing the
world as interwoven and connected);
idealism and activism; globalism and
ecology, and the importance of women.
Efforts to unite cultural creatives
gave birth to a consumer demographic
called Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability
or LOHAS, a market segment attracted
to sustainable living and green
alternatives. Composed of a relatively
upscale and well-educated segment of
society, Dr. Ray correctly predicted that
this market will “demand for products
of equal quality that are also virtuous”.
Last year, studies showed that the LO-
HAS market was worth $540-billion
worldwide.
Innerpreneurship
Understandably, these “virtuous products”
do not roll out of a conveyor belt
in a factory or are assembled by minors
in a backdoor sweatshop, nor are sold
by unscrupulous traders concerned
solely with pecuniary gain. The demand
for integrity birthed a new business
model – “innerpreneurship”. Introduced
by small business advocate Ron Rentel,
“innerpreneurs” display the entrepreneurial
characteristics of achievement,
independence, risk-taking, nonconformity
and obsession with opportunity,
but go beyond generating money. Their
primary objective is to generate personal
creative, spiritual and emotional
fulfillment, and to encourage social
change. This embodies the model Bill
Gates called “creative capitalism” at
last year’s World Economic Forum, identifying
it boldly as the solution to the
world’s problems.
Saving Mother Earth and solving
the world’s economic problems are lofty
goals, even for billion-dollar corporations.
However, no matter how small or
modest, the rapidly growing numbers of
social enterprises are like sturdy bricks
that line and pave the road to healing
the planet and its people. Advocating
for lifestyle change, this new breed of
business owners offer alternatives to
our existing modes of living. Without
having to move out of the city or give
up the perks of urban life, the average
metrophile can still be ecologically motivated.
The important thing is to change
one’s consciousness into becoming a
wise consumer.
“We often tell people that we want
everyone to follow our concept, and
echo it over and over again. People
have to purchase products and goods
anyway—why not buy a double gift
where you get something you need and,
at the same time, help a community”
enthuses Jeannie Javelosa, partner and
communications officer of Echo Store, a
new but fast-rising Filipino “innerprise”
that offers products and services for
sustainable living.
The first concept store of its kind in
the Philippines, “Echo” is an acronym
for Environment & Community Hope Organization.
Opened only last September
2008 by kindred spirits Javelosa, Chit
Juan and Reena Francisco, the fledgling
enterprise does more than sell “virtuous
products”; it is also an education center,
a spiritual nook and activity hub for
lectures and workshops that promote
and support their vision. In one place,
you can get everything you need to start
you on your way to living a sustainable
lifestyle, the owners point out.
Baby steps
“We are showing people how we can
help the environment in baby steps,”
says partner Chit Juan. “We know that
this can be done by changing the kind of
food we eat, giving people options about
products that will help them change
their lifestyle… Now where do you go to
buy all these Echo Store is a one-stop
shop. Someone can drop in and say ‘I
need a katsa bag’, or need to buy a gift,
something for me to eat, something for
my face, my body, my house—they’re all
here.”
Life-affirming values comprise the
foundation of Echo Store. “First the store
has a philosophy. It stands on three