Start Good Blog

The documentary The Corporation, with its discussions of ways corporations end up hurting society, aided in my move towards becoming more socially and environmentally aware.  In it was a man I remember fondly and came across in the New York Times recently, Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, a carpet tile company.  He spoke from the heart about discovering how destructive his company was to the environment and how he has steered his company to sustainability with a pledge to be completely sustainable by 2020.  With $1.1 billion in annual sales or 38% of global market share, this is no small feat and is almost an experiment in our time of if the green of the environment and the green of profits can coexist.  There have been a lot of gains by big business moving towards being more socially and environmentally friendly, however being completely sustainable, meaning having no net impact on the environment in every aspect, is far from what they are trying to achieve.  So far Interface has been successful with their green approach, so much so that it spawned a consulting branch to help other companies switch to sustainable practices.To this end, Ray Anderson is onto something much bigger than growing the profits of his own company, he is showing corporate America what is possible with sustainability.  Being green is quickly becoming the popular method to help a company, not just be good but also, do better business.  Over time there has many methods that has changed business, everything from the Henry Ford’s assembly line to Japan’s quality philosophy.  I see sustainable business as the next marker in history for business.  A trend that makes sense economically and just so happens does the world some good.

Bringing this down a level, how can you make your office a little more green?  Although the focus is usually on making your home green, it makes just as much sense to carry that into the workplace.  If you can save your boss some money through making a green choice, then not only did you save the business some cash, but you just made yourself look better too.  So follow Ray’s lead by going green at home and at the office and encourage companies you interact with, either professionally or as a consumer, to follow the (green) leader too.  Even if someone does not care about the environment, they usually do care about the bottom line and so use that to your advantage… in a good way.

Inside the Monkeysphere
An interesting look into how we, as humans, think and view the world and others. The site uses monkeys to make learning about the limitations of human understanding a little more fun. Although it is “fun”, the implications of what is being said is enormous. Unfortunately, we are predisposed to being closed-minded and it takes conscious effort to not succumb to that.

Timebucks
Timebucks is a unique business that hopes to capitalize on people’s skills and services they need by providing a way to trade services. Using “time-bucks” as funds, people earn “time-bucks” by either purchasing them or by providing services to others. “Time-bucks” can also be bought for $1 a unit, with a standardized pricing of 15 “time-bucks” for all services. So why is this good? Because the motivation is to help others, instead of profit from them. Think social capital instead of monetary capital. Also the “time-bucks” can be donated to non-profit organizations and a small amount is used to keep themselves sustained.

Step It Up
April 14th is going to be a big day for climate change as many prepare to rally in various communities. The message this year is “Step it up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050!” The site helps individuals to organize and plan their own events and has sign-ups for others to join in. I expect a pretty big showing this year across the country since the build-up over climate change has been rising dramatically, especially with Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth getting so much media coverage.