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Dovetail Commentary Adding Value & Getting Your Coconuts Jeff Howe, March 2005 Getting a customer to buy a product is a complicated business. First, you must make them aware of your product; then you must get them interested in your product; then they must have the ability or financial means to purchase your product; then you must motivate them to act; and finally, they must make the purchase. This chain of events must all occur with the right product at the right place at the right time. It seems like a miracle that it ever occurs. Luckily, in America we have a vast system of middlemen whose role it is to make transactions occur. Truly, middlemen are the basis of our economy. What is a middleman? Imagine you are on a desert island, living in a grass hut and sustaining yourself on bananas and coconuts. If you want a banana, you pick it - simple enough and no middleman needed. But, the coconuts are a bit higher up and more of a challenge. Suppose you get tired of falling out of trees trying to pick coconuts. Luckily, along comes a monkey who offers to get those coconuts for you in exchange for a few bananas. You agree, and everyone lives happily ever after. Behold, the middleman (or in this case, the middle monkey) is born. To read the commentary, click here. Dovetail Reports All reports are available online at: http://www.dovetailinc.org/publications.html Bamboo Flooring: Environmental Silver Bullet or Faux Savior? Dr. Jim Bowyer The world market for bamboo is large and growing. Recent estimates place the global market for bamboo at about $12 billion; market growth to $20 billion or more is foreseen by the year 2015. Some environmental aspects of bamboo production are clearly positive. Wide distribution, rapid growth and renewability, a source of useful products and income for millions of traditionally low income people – all of these factors point to the environmentally and socially desirable material described in promotional materials for bamboo products. However, increasingly bamboo products are coming from intensively managed plantations that do not deliver the same benefits as natural bamboo forests. In an era in which the environmental attributes of materials are increasingly questioned, and production details increasingly available, it is remarkable that a product such as bamboo flooring is being embraced by the green movement without vigorous attempts to determine the source of the raw materials and what impacts result from bamboo's production and use. Investigation reveals many environmental concerns associated with growing, harvesting, and converting bamboo to useful products. Clearly, the green status currently accorded bamboo products needs serious re-evaluation. To read the introduction online and access the full report, click here. To order any of the Dovetail Reports , please contact us at 651-762-4007 or info@dovetailinc.org “The Outlook” is the monthly e-newsletter of Dovetail Partners Inc , a 501c3 non profit corporation. Dovetail Partners is a highly skilled team that collaborates to develop unique concepts, systems, programs and models to foster sustainable forestry and catalyze responsible trade and consumption.
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