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This is the title of a [report](http://www.hartman-group.com/downloads/Sustainability2009-ExecSummary.pdf) just issued by the [Hartman Group](http://www.hartman-group.com/home). Here is how they describe themselves. > Consumer Insights. The Hartman Group specializes in the analysis and interpretation of consumer lifestyles and how these lifestyles influence the purchase and use of today’s products and services in tomorrow’s marketplace. > > Market Research. The Hartman Group holds to an unwavering belief in the power of the consumer to drive the marketplace. We study consumers in their natural environments – their homes, their stores, their lives. A short summary of the report can be downloaded. The report itself costs… Read More

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[Orion Magazine](http://www.orionmagazine.org/) always comes out with classy articles. [This one](http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4253/), by Randy Olson, about communicating environmental messages struck a chord. I struggle with finding words to capture the attention of general readers and then to get them to accept the seriousness of threats to present state of the world. I don’t feel so bad when real professional communicators complain about the same thing. > “HOW ARE YOU GOING to cut through the green fog?” The radio interviewer was referring to the glut of environmental media these days. And as a filmmaker, I knew what he was getting at; last year,… Read More

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I am off at a workshop on Leading and Learning for Sustainability. I’ll be back in a couple of days.

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This year’s Japan Prize was awarded to Dennis Meadows for his contributions to the 1972 shocker, The Limits to Growth. Shocker, that is, only to those who saw the world through a soda straw. After pointing to other accomplishments, the award statement adds: > Based on the foundations established in “The Limits to Growth” over the past 30 years Dr. Meadows has consistently proposed, through model analyses, efforts aimed at forming a sustainable society. He has continued to exert a large influence on the entire world. This, it is believed, is highly praiseworthy and deserving of the 2009 Japan Prize,… Read More

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I don’t know whether to cheer or cry after reading this [story](http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126921.500-one-last-chance-to-save-mankind.html) about a rather unusual way to combat global warning. At least, it’s not one that shows up among the usual suspects. Instead of burning up charcoal briquettes in our backyard barbecues, we need to turn our grass cuttings, pruning waste, and everything organic to charcoal and bury it. Farmers and foresters are the key players, but here’s a chance for everyone to contribute to the reduction of unsustainability. The photo shows soil with a very high carbon content (terra preta). The article is an interview with James Lovelock… Read More

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I have just come home from a short visit to Ann Arbor to speak at an event sponsored by the Net Impact group at the Ross School of Business. They had asked me to speak at the dinner kicking off their Forum 2009: Next practices to address future challenges. In their own words, “Net Impact is a global network of leaders who are changing the world through business.” I also had some time to spend in a small group with some of the students. Many are in a very special program (Erb Institute) that couples an MBA with a MS… Read More

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This story is from today’s New York Times. I encourage you to read the whole article. But here is the part that woke me up today. Facebook, the very popular social networking program, has spawned some new language–defriending or unfriending. It has become so easy to accumulate a very long list of facebook friends that paring down that list has become a social puzzle. Burger King saw an opportunity to attract business by offering a free Whopper™ to anyone that got rid of 10 friends by deleting them from the list. If Esau sold his birthright for a mess of… Read More

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The NYTimes had a long story in the Sunday Business section about Wal-Mart and their green initiatives. The lede was all about the history behind Wal-Mart’s decision to “go green.” By going green, the company committed itself not only to putting products with lower footprints on the shelf but also to building the shelves themselves (and their stores in general) in a greener manner. While undoubtedly helpful in reducing the environmental load relative to the past, the impact of Wal-Mart and their program is not entirely clear. Responding to advocacy groups, and with the leadership of the then CEO, H.… Read More

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I came across a paper written a couple of years ago that makes very interesting reading. Collapse and Transformation , by D. M. Taylor and G. M Taylor is a not quite apocalyptic, but very close, rendering of the future we face. There are only three possibilities for the future of civilization: (a) Cascading environmental crises will rapidly escalate, producing uncontrollable economic and political crises. At some point these crises will cause the catastrophic collapse of the societal system. This process may produce irreversible damage to social and biophysical systems. (b) Political and business leaders will proactively respond to the… Read More

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I’m away from home for a few days visiting one of the very few business schools committed entirely to creating MBA’s with sustainability as their core learning. Bainbridge Graduate Institute is now in its fifth year. I’ve been working with them from their start with a few years off. But I am back here during one of their weekend intensives. The program is based largely on distance learning plus a set of face-to-face weekends. I am here to talk about sustainability in general and pair with my colleague, Tom Johnson, to teach a couple sessions of their sustainable operations course.… Read More

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