Press Release

Renown Designer William Mcdonough To Keynote Greener By Design 2009

Leading green-product conference to be held May 19-20, 2009, in San Francisco

OAKLAND, Calif., October, 2008 — Greener World Media and Global Executive have announced that renown designer and architect William McDonough will keynote Greener by Design 2009, the premier conference on strategies, tools, and markets for product innovation.

McDonough, whose Cradle to Cradle™ design protocol and certification are helping companies assess the materials used in products and production processes, will kick off the two-day conference, to be held May 19-20, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Calif. McDonough is also co-author with Michael Braungart of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, a manifesto on radical re-thinking of ecological design.

The theme for Greener by Design 2009 — “Greener Products for Leaner Times” — reflects that challenges companies are facing as they encounter the twin forces of growing customer demand for environmentally preferable products with the realities of the economic downturn. Sessions will cover how companies are rethinking product forumlations and delivery systems to reduce costs and improve quality; the new generation of products and packaging based on “green chemistry”; how companies are radically reducing packaging; and marketing approaches companies are using to gain the trust of often-skeptical consumers.

“Bill McDonough is one of the most inventive thinkers about green product design today,” says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com® and conference program chair. “Forward-thinking companies — and even entire countries — have adopted Cradle to Cradle as the basis for designing everything from cars to carpets, and computers to chairs. Bill brings a fresh look at design that has helped Steelcase, Shaw Industries, and the U.S. Postal Service, and many others find affordable solutions to their products environmental impacts.”

Returning to Greener by Design 2009 are Systemic Inventive Thinking, the groundbreaking team that helps people and organizations to become more innovative. Their hands-on experiential sessions won raves from participants at Greener by Design 2008. Another returning innovation is Green Gurus at Play, small consultative sessions with conference presenters and other leading lights in green product design, which will be expanded to allow more such opportunities for conference delegates.

Greener by Design 2009 will also include short pitches by designers and entrepreneurs from both large and small companies, featuring their innovative new products, packaging, and materials. Each of these innovators will be available at the Innovation Expo to meet individually with potential customers and other interested parties.

“Even before the onset of a recessionary economy, big-box retailers and others have been seeking to bring green products to the mainstream, not just for well-heeled individuals that can afford them,” says Pete May, president and publisher of Greener World Media. “Greener by Design 2009 will showcase what leading companies are doing to make ‘green’ affordable for mainstream markets.”