That was the summer that was

I hope you enjoyed the sunshine yesterday after a summer of rain. Actually it cleared for both the innocent summer fete and the notting hill carnival, which was good scheduling. I've spent most of August NOT reading the news, endless blogs and newsfeeds. it's really interesting taking an information holiday (we didnt actually go away anywhere. just switched the mobile off etc.) I was reassured when I met the ecologist last week to be told if anything the pace is picking up and they have been frantic over the summer. I'd sort of got the idea myself because i was really out of all the torrent of green marketing news that it might have trailed off. Anyway nothing of the sort, it all just carried on without me and its good that it did. After a couple of weeks of getting my various consulting projects underway I am going to be slowly catching up with the news i've missed and if i see anything interesting i'll link to it here.

One piece of news it that my book is out in just over a month. The pic is the final cover design too. I hope you like it (John Dodds will note that the type is now 'right way up') but if you dont there's not much that could be changed at this stage! The book is going to be printed on the plain card (no cloth or paper dust jacket), the orange spine is the wibalin thats needed to bind the book together. Over the summer a nice foreword has come in from Joanthan Porritt and the endorsements (below) which will appear on the back cover. I am waiting for one more meanwhile the book proofs are checked and its just about to be printed. More news on the book of course. There will be a party (sorry, erm a very professional book launch) and more details to follow as there will be an open invite to greenormal readers to pop in, provided you resvp first.

{a]splendidly provocative and incredibly timely book we need things conserved, shared, reused, recycled, slowed down and treasured at an ever deeper level.And thats what this manifesto is all about!
from the foreword by Jonathan Porritt, co-founderForum for the Future and Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission

If green is to become truly mainstream, we'll need companies of all sizes and sectors to find their way through the subtleties and complexities of the green marketplace, and John Grant's Green Marketing Manifesto provides an excellent roadmap. It makes a clear and compelling case that green marketing isn't an end unto itself, but rather a potent engine for creating business value through innovation, while fomenting genuine societal change.
- Joel Makower, Founder and Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com, and author of "Two Steps Forward" blog

"This book is essential reading for the growing numbers who are realising that good business can be good business (and that it comes from being good, not looking good)."
- Jamie Mitchell, managing director, innocent smoothies

John Grant has been a great help over the years in thinking about how to position and market the Ecologist magazine. He's one of the few people I have met who understands both green issues and marketing and is able to fuse the two creatively and effectively.
- Zac Goldsmith, director of The Ecologist, co-chairman of The Quality of Life Group