The PodMob is Upon Us

I hit the streets on Friday afternoon with the goal to convince
sushi restaurants in the West End to become more environmentally
friendly. I was hoping they’d adopt some menu labeling and items from
Seafood Watch’s new sustainable sushi
guide, and make some operational changes to “green” their business.
Obviously, you can’t walk into a business and demand changes like this,
and expect to be taken seriously. I had a plan that I was sure would
work, and it’s called the Podmob.

Podmob = everyday people’s consumer power organized to do good things.

Easy-peasy, right?

Picture this. Friday afternoon, pouring rain, crowded sushi
restaurant, random-soaking-wet girl walks in and asks to talk to the
manager. Although friendly and obviously excitable, she is rambling on
about “sustainable sushi, Oceanwise certification, Podmobs, people, the
restaurant, more customers, more money, environmentally friendly,
changes, composting!” WTF.

I was actually more composed then the picture I just painted, but I
suppose me and my Podmob idea came out of no where, and most of the
managers of these sushi restaurants brushed the idea off and told me
that they’d talk to the owners about it. I managed to stop in at 15 of
the 20 sushi restaurants that are in easy walking distance from my
apartment. About 5 of them showed a genuine interest, but all of them
asked for more information. Customers that overheard me talking about
the Podmob stopped me on my way out. “What were you talking about? It sounds really interesting!” They were all totally into it, and added their names to the list of supporters.

My favorite stop was my last that afternoon. It was a sushi spot I’d
never even noticed before! I spoke with the head chef for a few
minutes, and then he invited me to sit down with him and explain more.
We sipped tea, and had an interesting conversation.

He asked me why I was doing the Podmob.

I told him that I want to help businesses become environmentally
friendly, and show consumers that they can create positive change in
businesses.

He asked me what I would consider “sustainable sushi” .

I gave the example of farmed salmon versus wild salmon.

He threw his hands up in exasperation! WHY?! Why do people care if it is farmed or wild?!

Ummm…. salmon farms are evil  - that has been ingrained into the
minds of most West Coasters - although, not an appropriate answer to
his question. Out came my facts about the impact of sea lice on wild
salmon, use of antibiotics and chemicals in fish farms, the difference
between Pacific and Atlantic species, and why it was bad to bring a new
species to our coast.

He nodded… Ahhhh, now I understand.

That was good enough for me. I could have stopped the whole project
right then and there. I was able to explain why I care about where my
salmon comes from, and convince him to care too. *Sigh*

A handfull of restaurants “interested” is great, but it’s not enough
to make this really succesfull. I went back to the drawing board to
come up with a clear way to describe the concept and benefits of the
Podmob.

Click here for Podmob Youtube video

This is an entry from my blog.