"...during recessions, discretionary products suffer while discount products and companies thrive, which is why Wal-Mart has been doing well. But at Toyota, hybrids have been doing well. In March, a month in which total sales fell 3.4 percent from March 2007, Toyota sold 31,552 hybrids, up 19 percent from the year before. Sales of Lexus light trucks rose slightly, powered by rising sales of hybrid SUVs, even as sales of Lexis sedans plummeted. In this down market, sales of high-end vehicles that convey only status are slumping, while sales of slightly less high-end vehicles that convey status and promise gas savings are booming..." [more]
Showing posts with label Sustainability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sustainability. Show all posts
Navigating The Recession Sustainably
Slate's Daniel Gross opines on the rise of the hybrid in tough auto-markets and it brings to mind my own business model. How can I provide strategies that focus small business people on conservation and opportunity?
New Money
New investors are changing the definition of good business and it includes conservation. Of course many of us already look at conservation as the heart of good practices, but the money people didn't always think this way.
Traditionally, economists thought consumption pushed trade forward. So the more people consumed the more value (wealth) would be created Globally. But what if transactions weren't pegged to consumption? Perhaps trading creates wealth and what people do with the goods afterwards should be tracked in terms of environmental impact instead of economic impact? What if we just keep on trading services and low-impact resources?
From this view, conservation is no longer the boogey-man of good business practices.
Traditionally, economists thought consumption pushed trade forward. So the more people consumed the more value (wealth) would be created Globally. But what if transactions weren't pegged to consumption? Perhaps trading creates wealth and what people do with the goods afterwards should be tracked in terms of environmental impact instead of economic impact? What if we just keep on trading services and low-impact resources?
From this view, conservation is no longer the boogey-man of good business practices.
Money flowing into investments on route distant from Wall Street by ZDNet's Harry Fuller -- One Silicon Valley venture capital firm announced they’ll put a quarter-billion dollars into green tech. Runs counter to the frenzied state of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve where they think a bunch of bankers missing their annual bonuses is somehow a really important economic problem. Meanwhile, energy prices continue to rise and [...]
Collaborate & Create for Peace - Jan 26th 3pm
An awesome way to spend a rainy day. Come hang out in a SOMA loft on Saturday afternoon making Art for Peace. Bring a pal who likes Peace, Art, and hanging out in gorgeous lofts on rainy days.
Where:
81 Langton suite 13, San Francisco, CA [map]
When:
Saturday, January 26, 3:00pm
Contact:
createpeaceproject@gmail.com
www.createpeaceproject.org
415-385-4065
Come participate in an afternoon of artistic exploration as we collaborate in the creation of magical art.
As a first C.P.P. event of the year, we are asking for a small contribution at the door. Support the development of projects and the continued growth of this organization with $20.
A bit about C&C:
Collaborate & Create is one collabroative arts expereince being offered by the C.P.P. It is an opportunity for a group of people to share in the creative experience of making art together. One of the themes is to create beauty out of a recycled or otherwise value-less "canvas". I invite you to bring an item to share with the group.
things that work well include funky pieces of wood, ply, cool doors, platters or trays, old art canvas....look around, notice what's on the streets, see what you might find in the closet, and grab it!
***
There will be food. Please communicate with me if you are interested in contributing something.
art supplies will be provided, though contributions are certainly welcome. (NO OIL PIANT, please)
there is no requirement to bring anything, just bring your loving self and your willingness to step into the unknown.
**dress accordingly
* please come and express your self
12 Design principles For Permaculture
David Holmgren has developed 12 design principles for permaculture:
- observe and interact
- catch and store energy
- obtain a yield
- apply self-regulation and accept feedback
- use and value renewable resources and services
- produce no waste
- design from patterns to details
- integrate rather than segregate
- use small and slow solutions
- use and value diversity
- use edges and value the marginal
- creatively use and respond to change
Will Market Forces Stop Global Warming?
Jim Heskett, from Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge website opened up a conversation about Global Warming from a business & markets perspective. Some respondents proposed a mix of forces from government and private interests would be required to get things moving. Others claimed that we will keep on our current path until we burn off the last low-hanging hydrocarbon.
"...Green Is the New Red, White, and Blue. Whether or not you believe that humans are causing global warming or that it is occurring at all is beside the point..." [more]
"...Green Is the New Red, White, and Blue. Whether or not you believe that humans are causing global warming or that it is occurring at all is beside the point..." [more]
Defining Sustainable
The Montague Institute has a list of tools for triple bottom reporting. It's dense reading, as taxonomy tends to be, but developing truly effective tracking methods is at the heart of corporate oversight practices. Since biology doesn't fudge the number, neither can we...
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