T urning boxes into mushrooms, recycling Starbucks cups and slinging eco-underpants were among the hot topics during the Sustainable Brands Conference at Monterey Conference Center June 7-10.

Local entrepreneur Linda Lannon absorbed the energy like a sponge. She’s the co-founder of People Towels, a Monterey-based company that sells pocket-sized, reusable hand towels made from organic, Fair Trade-certified cotton.

“The conference was a way to expose our product to a wonderful audience of sustainability,” she says. “We’re concentrating on those dark-green consumers, people who get it.”

Lannon traded 850 product samples for a normally $2,300 conference pass. But old habits are hard to break: In the ladies’ room, many women reached right over the free stack of PeopleTowels to the paper dispenser.

One workshop tackled that challenge. Using Russian hygiene as an example, IDEO design consultants explained that a society’s behavior changes in response to new tools (deodorant on store shelves), rules (“lack of odor” as a hiring requirement) and norms (social pressure not to stink). The same drivers can push us from plastic to stainless steel water bottles, gas-guzzlers to compact cars, disposable to reusable grocery bags.

Plastic bags are a deep subject for Doug Woodring of Project Kaisei, who’s seeking solutions for the catastrophic buildup of plastic trash in the sea.

“The problem in the middle of the ocean is the result of 50 years of misuse of product,” he says. “We’re using permanent materials for disposable things. This is where brands have a huge role to play.”

Woodring told the conference crowd about the pervasive plastic mess his team found last summer in the North Pacific Gyre, a swirling vortex of litter spanning thousands of marine miles. His San Francisco-based nonprofit plans a second expedition this summer to test marine debris collection systems. The group also explores ways to convert the salvaged trash into something useful, like fuel.

Woodring hopes his talk at the conference will inspire product designers and corporate leaders to ditch the disposable plastic, and collaborate with his cause.

The indoor air was a little fresher at the “Office of the Future,” a work nook furnished with non-VOC Mohawk carpet, springy Modern Bamboo chairs and a living wall by Petaluma-based Design Ecology.

The vertical garden of pothos, philodendron and native succulents removes indoor air pollutants such as benzene and formaldehyde, improving worker productivity and reducing sick days, according to Design Ecology partner Josiah Cain, formerly of Carmel Valley firm Rana Creek. “Part of sustainably is providing a clean, safe environment for your workers,” he says.

Cain’s company advocates for “authentic ecological branding,” a critical distinction at a conference where Starbucks, Nike and Ford flex their green marketing muscles alongside Earthbound Farms, Scharffen Berger Chocolate and Green Mountain Energy.

“You can’t really fake native plants on the wall,” he says. “It’s not a greenwash—it’s an authentic thing that you’re doing.”

Read more SB10 dispatches at blog.montereycountyweekly.com.