Per this article, a study by YouGov determined that

• 75% of consumers prioritize sustainability over brand name

Think about that the next time you spend money to advertise your company.

You and your competitors are all talking about how great your brands are; and the consumers are yawning.

One of you is going to become certified sustainable…..and will immediately turn the heads of 75% of those consumers currently tuning you out.

Per this study, Intermittent Hypoxia-Hyperoxia Therapy (IHHT), also known as Contrast Oxygen, and one of the modalities at Gym for the Brain, improves functional capacity, health-related quality of life and objective and subjective symptomatic status of people suffering from Long COVID.

If you know someone with Long COVID, have them read the research, investigate Contrast Oxygen, and contact Gym for the Brain with questions.

Per this master class, there are 8 components of a sustainability program that will be successful and make you happy:

• It MUST include Employee Performance / Health
  • Sustainability is not just about energy savings or ‘Greening Up’, it is about people
  • For most businesses, the employees are one of the biggest costs, one of the biggest risks (mistakes, insurance, law suits) and one of the biggest opportunities (new ideas, collaboration, product knowledge)
  • Every organization suffers from the Big 5 – insomnia, stress, anxiety, physical pain, mental acuity
  • You are losing 5% of your corporate profit/year to the Big 5
  • It takes a lot of LEDs to make up for one worker comp or workplace violence case
  • Make sure your program has a ‘people piece’ that addresses employee performance, health and happiness

• It MUST certify the business not the box
  • People care about things that involve people
  • Most building (ie, ‘Box’) certifications only care about building energy
  • Building certifications are expensive and hard to market (poor ROI)
  • You want to say, “Buy more of my product because we are a certified sustainable business”
  • You do not get much value from, “Buy more of my product because we are in an energy efficient building”
  • You want the certification on your business, not the building your business is in

• It MUST have a 3^rd party audit component
  • Oversight delivers credibility and trust
  • From passing your driving test, to getting your college diploma, to passing a bar exam, we use 3^rd parties to ensure compliance
  • There are many sustainability programs that deliver a certification based on your ‘word’…..and your payment
  • Don’t do it!
  • Make sure the program you choose uses a 3^rd party to validate your work

• It MUST follow a respected and integrated global standard
  • The sustainability industry is maturing and coalescing around few standards
  • The UN has created its SDGs (17 sustainability development goals)
  • 50% of the world’s economies require sustainability reporting
  • Greenwashing lawsuits are growing
  • Don’t pick a program that is not globally respected by, and integrated with, the world leadership groups; and that does not have the ability to integrate the other three legs of the stool – carbon neutrality, ESG and net zero
  • No reason to spend the time and money, then find you are not following the same programs and protocols that the leadership groups have adopted

• It MUST include promotion of the certification
  • Historically, sustainability has been a cost-side play
  • Most programs and providers have been 100% trained and focused on cost-side measures – energy reduction, carbon reduction, waste reduction, water reduction, travel reduction (ie, engineering)
  • But we know consumers are searching for certified sustainable companies
  • If you don’t talk about being certified sustainable they will never know you are (ie, marketing)
  • You want a program provider that is built to do the cost-side work AND the revenue-side work; and helps you promote your certification

• It MUST pursue continual improvement
  • Sustainability is not finite. It requires long-term commitment
  • But…change is hard for all of us
  • If the bar is set too high, we can get frustrated and give up
  • You want a program that lets you come as you are and allows you to continually improve
  • This will keep everyone happy and committed year after year

• It MUST require annual updates
  • Current = credible
  • Sustainability is not finite; we need to continually improve
  • You don’t want a program that does not have a date attached to its certification
  • You want to continually improve, see your success, and annually update your certification to show you are current and credible in your actions

• It MUST be at a price you can afford and produce a positive ROI
  • We could have started with cost but you need the above seven components at a price you can afford
  • It needs to show a positive and rapid ROI
  • The cost includes both money and time and covers everything – the certification, the 3^rd party audit and your work to become certified

We deliver all eight components mentioned above to our clients.

We enjoy a 100% client renewal rate – every year, every client has a decision to make and every year, every client has renewed.

If you use a program that delivers all of the above, you will probably be happy too.

Seagull Business Consulting LLC, a Stuart, FL-based consulting services company, has become environmentally certified sustainable under the Edenark Group ISO 14001 environmental sustainability program.

The Edenark Group ISO 14001 is the world’s premier environmental sustainability certification program and allows SMEs (small to mid-sized enterprises) the ability to validate their environmental / sustainability / green / eco-friendly actions via a program designed and priced specifically for them.

The program, which allows companies to progressively improve at a pace that works for their needs, helps the organization define how it interacts internally, externally, and with the environment.  It incorporates energy/waste/water, employee health and performance enhancement, community involvement, procurement and suppliers, compliance and regulations, emergency/security, and stakeholder engagement.  Benefits include creating a culture of continual improvement, stakeholder engagement, lower costs, higher revenues and profits, improved employee performance, and…… doing the right thing for the environment and current and future generations.

“Seagull Business Consulting supports sustainable operations and becoming environmentally certified sustainable not only helps us internally but also allows us to be a leader for other organizations that may wish to follow our path,” said Jonathan Knaus, President of Seagull Business Consulting LLC.

“When an organization pursues, and attains, the Edenark Group ISO 14001 sustainability certification, they are not just doing it to see their costs go down and revenues and profits go up.  They are setting a higher bar for their organization and sending a message to all those around them that may be claiming to be environmentally supportive, but do not validate their actions with a globally-respected,  3^rd party validated, certification,” says David Goodman, CEO of Edenark Group.  “Organizations that hold this certification are agreeing to adhere to the world’s Gold standard for sustainability certification; are allowing their actions to be reviewed; are choosing to be a leader and part of the solution, not the problem; and are joining an elite fraternity of over 300,000 organizations, in over 150 countries, that have committed to continually improving in every way.”

Seagull Business Consulting LLC can be reached at +1 561.603.8303

Edenark Group can be reached at +1 561.512.2257

On 23 July 2025 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion in response to a UN General Assembly request.

• It confirms that international law provides a sufficiently robust framework to assess climate-related state responsibility.
• It reaffirms the Paris goals as legally binding: 1.5°C is the “primary agreed-upon legally binding target” under the Paris Agreement.
• Failure of a state to take “appropriate measures to prevent foreseeable harm” (e.g. by subsidizing fossil fuels or licensing new fossil fuel projects) can itself constitute an internationally wrongful act.
• In other words, states must act proactively, by enhancing and enforcing climate regulations or risk attribution of fault.
• Countries have a due diligence obligation to reduce emissions. Any fossil fuel extraction or subsidy may breach international law.
• Countries are responsible for the conduct of actors within their jurisdiction.
• Wealthier states bear extra responsibility to help finance adaptation in poorer countries.
• Legal remedies include cessation and full restoration compensation to the harmed party.

The ICJ’s opinion is non-binding but it speaks with the authority of the UN’s highest court.  More importantly, this opinion, in combination with existing laws and treaties already in place, will influence litigation and policy in courts that have binding authority.

This will be the foundation for activists and even states to file suit in traditional courts against other states.

Climate inaction has become a crime.

Think about how this will filter down to your company and its actions.

For many years, athletes have known that if they train at altitude it improves their performance.  But they did not know why.

In the 1990’s scientists discovered that when cells are put into hypoxia (decreased oxygen), they increase the production of protein, form new blood vessels, produce more red blood cells and reprogram themselves to burn glucose rather than oxygen for fuel.

Then, after approximately two decades of further study, three scientists won the Nobel prize in 2019 for their discovery of how cells sense and react to hypoxia (reduced oxygen).

These studies have helped us better understand how Intermittent Hypoxia-Hyperoxia Therapy (IHHT), also known as Contrast Oxygen, and one of the modalities we use at Gym for the Brain, helps:

• Improve Endurance
• Enhance Capillary Density
• Improve Muscle Efficiency
• Reduce Inflammation
• Fight Cancer
• Reduce Anemia (ie, improve the flow of oxygen to cells)
• Reduce Heart Disease/Failure
• Reduce Kidney Disease/Failure
• And, of course, improved cognition (due to more oxygen to the brain)

If you want to improve performance, delay aging, or recover from an ailment, investigate the program at Gym for the Brain.  People drive and fly in from around the world to benefit from our program.

We are often asked why the Edenark Group ISO 14001 environmental sustainability program has a ‘people piece’ – A Better World Starts With Me, Center For Brain Training, Gym For The Brain, Best You Can Be – and the answer includes the following:

• Every organization in the world suffers from the impact of the Big 5 (insomnia, stress, anxiety, physical pain and mental acuity) on its people. The average loss from the Big 5 is 5% of your corporate GNP (ie, profit) per year, every year.  That’s a big number.  If we can help your team become happier, healthier and more productive, that number goes down and profit goes up.

• For most companies, their biggest cost, risk, time-consumer and opportunity area, is their people. If an organization helps them become ‘greener’ but does not help their people become healthier, happier and more productive, are they really providing a complete sustainability service?  We do not believe a sustainability program is complete if it does not address the people.

• People in pain are typically inwardly-focused and do not have the energy or interest to help others; while people that are happy and healthy are typically outwardly-focused, wanting to help others. If we can help people feel better, they will want to do more for others, and the planet.

• Finally, as this article states, besides the physical impacts of global warming, we are seeing psychological impact (stress, anxiety, even death) from climate change. The hotter it gets, the more we stress about it, leading to mental and physical damage.  We believe mental illness will continue to increase as global warming increases.  As such, we repeat our first point – a sustainability program that does not have a people-piece is not a complete sustainability program.

If the above makes sense to you, review the organizations in the above links, watch this master class, and contact us.  The planet will be healthier and happier, your team will be healthier and happier, and your company will be financially better for it.

Due to studies, the #1 issue on the minds of people around the world is the environment (ie, we are using our resources faster than Mother Earth can replenish and we are accelerating our carbon-emissions-driven global warming).  The world we are passing to our children will be far hotter and angrier than the world we were given.  This is a bigger concern to the people of the planet than war, economy, politics, et cetera.

Turning this sentiment to the market place, consumers are more interested in a company’s ability to prove its sustainability commitment than they are in its brand names.  7 out of 10 of them will change brands if they find a certified sustainable company that offers a similar product.  They will even spend more for a certified sustainable product.

Driven by the above demand, certified sustainable companies are growing up to 20x faster than their non-certified peers – the market is rewarding companies that are able to prove they are sustainable (via certification/validation).

The Edenark Group ISO 14001 environmental sustainability certification program is the premier program of its kind in the world – You get to help the planet and differentiate and grow faster than your peers.

We have a 100% client renewal rate – every client we have ever certified has renewed, every year.

We get most of our new clients from referrals from existing clients.

However, we also get a good number of clients from referral partners who like what we do and introduce us to organizations they feel would benefit from our services.

This defines what we believe a sustainability program should contain. 

This master class explains why a company would want to do this.

We are looking for organizations that 1) care about the environment; 2) want to be part of the solution; and 3) want to be an example that other organizations can follow.

If you agree with our mission and our definition of what a sustainability program should be; and if you know some organizations that meet the above requirements; you might want to consider becoming a referral partner.

Send us a note and we can discuss.  

This is one of the best articles I have seen regarding misconceptions around sustainability.

Per the article, here are five of the most common myths about sustainability:

• ESG is sustainability – People regularly use them interchangeably, yet they are opposite each other. ESG is a framework for assessing outside-in risk. It asks: What environmental, social, or governance issues could impact our financial performance? In other words, what could go wrong that might hurt the company’s economic value? It’s not a moral stance – it’s business hygiene. As a due diligence tool for investors, it’s critical but narrow. Sustainability, by contrast, is inside-out value creation. It starts from a different question: Where do we leave our biggest mark on people and planet? And how can we turn that into long-term value? It’s broader, opportunity-driven, and anchored in strategy, innovation, and purpose. It’s not about avoiding risk – it’s about creating value.

Bottom line: ESG is like getting your cholesterol checked, essential for spotting early warning signs that could threaten the company’s health. Sustainability is the balanced diet, exercise, and good sleep that keeps the whole system performing over the long term. You need both, but we shouldn’t confuse them.

• Sustainability = climate – Climate is critical, but it is only one of the nine parts of sustainability. Further, six of those nine are in trouble.  So, yes, we need to look at climate change.  But we cannot exclusively focus on it, as biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows, ocean acidification, stratospheric ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol loading and the introduction of novel entities, all need attention.

Bottom line:  We have a lot of work to do!

• Sustainability = cost – Most SMEs resist even talking about sustainability as they are convinced it will ‘cost too much.’ Those that are willing to have a conversation always ask, “What is it going to cost me?”  However, all our clients, who renew every year, have enjoyed a positive ROI since they started.  Why is there such a disconnect between myth and reality on this point?  From what we have seen, most SMEs put sustainability solely on the cost side of their P&L, while our clients see that, if done right, it sits on both the cost AND the revenue side.  When you become certified sustainable, you are going to have some projects that have expected investment breakevens, but you are also going to have the ability to use your certification as a revenue-side brand builder.

Bottom line:  Stop thinking that sustainability is just a cost-side play.  It can be the smartest, most strategic and profitable play you will make.

• Sustainable companies/products do not sell – We hear company leaders regularly say, “My clients never ask me if I am sustainable. This is not something they want.”  If that were true, why is there so much greenwashing and why are there hundreds of studies that show that sustainable companies and products are outselling their non-sustainable peers?

Bottom line:  Certified sustainable companies are lapping the field.

• It’s Game Over for sustainability – Some people are followers. If a loud voice yells that sustainability is dead, they are happy to swallow the hype.  But that does not change the reality that we are consuming 1.8 Earths every year.  The need is greater today than it was yesterday and it will be greater tomorrow than it is today.

Bottom line:  The need and demand for sustainability is not going away.  The decision is simply over being a leader or being a follower.

If the above resonates and you decide you want to be a leader, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.

As we all know, companies that prioritize sustainability are growing faster than their peers.

Per a Forbes survey, the highest growth companies – those that reported at least 15% YoY growth – also happen to be those that prioritize sustainability:

• 41% list sustainability as their #1 corporate priority
• They are 25% more likely to cut their emissions in half by 2030

What do these companies do, that you do not do?

• They back sustainability with financial investment
• They embed sustainability into their corporate culture
• They engage all stakeholders, including suppliers, clients and community

The vast majority of people say, “We should do more” yet their words have no follow up. 

The top performing companies walk the talk; and it pays off.

If you decide to walk the talk, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.