Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Sprint, KFC, Shell, Chase, Ford, Staples, CVS and the long list goes on.  These larger than life brands immediately conjure up images and thoughts of our past experiences that have either helped or hurt these companies perception regarding sustainability.  

Image courtesy of Yum Brands

Of the ten companies above, 100% are doing something around sustainability issues related to their respective industries.  Some are improving energy, some reducing waste, some have take-back programs, some are are even developing products for the eco-conscious consumer. Whatever the companies are doing, a larger issue is hiding just under the surface… trust!  

We have all felt and witnessed corporate green-washing, but is this simply the beginning of the change process, we all have to start somewhere, right?  Corporate sustainability and CSR are poised to be the next evolution of business trends, similar to how IT changed the game. How can we know that these companies are sincere, committed and really able to transform their impact?  Should we care or shop elsewhere?

A tougher issue many of us already know, is that the base product lines of these companies don't exactly help people or the planet. There are health studies, insider videos, user testimonials, advocacy groups and other opposing groups asking us quite directly 'not' to support some of these companies.  Are these  really the opposite of the shop local movement, considering others in our community are employed there? 

So, what's a good socially responsible citizen to do?  More over, what is a newly socially responsible corporation to do, when they have the realities of their industry and various product lines to transform?  

Here is a fast recap of just some of the eco-positive moves BIG companies are undertaking: 
1. CVS is rewarding consumers for bringing reusable bags with their Green Bag Tags 
2. Sprint has a new line of eco-friendly mobile phones with less environmental impact.  
3. Ford is releasing an electric vehicle on the way called the Focus Electric.  
4. Staples is directly crediting shoppers for taking back used ink cartridges.
5. KFC has released the first ever reusable side container in the fast food industry (just don't tell the SF Soup Company) 

Hopefully this corporate sustainability trend will continue and grow until the "S" word is removed and sustainability is just part of doing good business, that serves the triple bottom line. I guess we will have to call this LOHA then?   

If you want to read more about what the world's largest companies are doing please pop over to triplepundit.com and do a search for any company.  Some news is positive, some negative and some down right controversial, but all of it interesting and forces us to question our beliefs.  

Jared Brick is completing his MBA in Sustainable Management at the Presidio Graduate School in SF.  He is working on creating the first ever reusables tracking platform, rewarding consumers everywhere in their retail experiences.  Follow the journey at traxactions.com or on twitter: traxactions
 

Living unreasonably doesn't mean acting without good sense, yet it means living beyond the limits of acceptability or fairness.  However you interpret the meaning of the word… there are those bold dreamers out there attempting to make a real difference for people.  In a time when our future is uncertain and our present is tense, we can rely on courageous and compassionate entrepreneurs to lead us by living a life... Unreasonable!

A breakthrough, entrepreneurial accelerator called The "Unreasonable Institute" in Boulder, CO recently completed its 2012 selections of global entrepreneurs. The candidates are a diverse passionate group, that are out to create disruptive business models for breakthrough change.  This year the institute decided to crowdsource the votes to help company founders compete.  They must fundraise towards a modest goal of $10,000, serving as their entry into the 6 week summer program.  While 25 amazing startups and entrepreneurs have reached the threshold of capital needed for entry, many wonderful projects will unfortunately not make this years list.  The good news is, you can still help these bold ambassadors for change.   

One such project, I was personally inspired by is "The Green Desert," operating in a contentious and dangerous location better known for battles, prejudices and media storms.  The entrepreneur, Mohammed Salem, was a trained pharmacist in Palestine seeking to use the power of change as his medicine.  He has decided to focus his efforts on the forgotten Bedouin tribes of Palestine and East Jerusalem.  Salem represents the new eco-entrepreneur perfectly by focusing on a truly marginalized community of only 2,300 spread over 20 communities.  He is utilizing the power of positive capital investments for good to benefit people in their native environments.  

The Bedouin's need for energy is all too real.  So, by providing life-saving renewable electricity via solar, wind and biogas units it tackles this issue.  His model for The Green Desert, is to use local experts in renewable energy products to install units and train each community group.  The project even has the potential to use recycled materials to build local wind turbines and solar cookers.  Since over two-thirds of these communities are children, accessibility to cooking resources is crucial for their long term health.

The good news is that this project is already a functioning reality. It has made a great impact to over 500 homes being powered by pollution-free renewables, fueling the local communities.  Although Mohammed was unable to raise the initial $10,000 to enter the Unreasonable Institute this summer, you can still help!  You and other investors can provide helpful resources and connections inside your network to grow this worthy venture.  

In an area of our world rife with frequent battles, regular distrust and great instability it inspires me to know that people like Mohammed are out there living a life truly... Unreasonable!  

For more information about The Green Desert please contact founder Mohammed Salem at b_m_g_b@yahoo.com or click this link below:
https://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org/project/green-power

About the author:
Jared Brick is an MBA candidate in Sustainable Management at the Presidio Graduate School in SF, CA.  He is currently developing TraX Actions, a disruptive rewards platform to incentivize consumers and retail businesses to engage in sustainable practices.  Follow him on Twitter @jaredbrick or email him at: jared.brick@presidioedu.org for more details.  

Thanks for sharing!

There is a new phenomenon occurring in our modern culture, known officially as the quantified-self movement.  Whether it be daily calories eaten, steps walked or even hours slept… we are becoming scientists within the "self" universe.
There are new findings about what shifts behavior change and so much of it focuses on the old adage of, what you measure matters.  Plus there are new modern tools to help us track and measure the data from our daily experiences. It allows us to plan, reflect and thus... change.  

 

Health and Fitness
We are beginning to witness the futuristic adoption of wearing body monitors to help us collect information. Products like the FitBit and Nike's new Fuel Band, can even tell you how much you are sleeping at night (due to a lack of movement activity).  The FitBit not only has wireless sync capability, but is now linked to Foursquare the largest mobile "check-in" site in the country.  Consider this, now you can track how many steps you took to walk to your local farmers market, and then share what you bought there with millions of people.  We are becoming data aggregators and sponsoring companies love us for it.  Partner companies can see our patterns to find new ways to incentivize us.  These new devices allow us insight into our own habit patterns and hold the promise of personal evolution.   

Lifestyle Goals
Have you played with your kids today, done yoga, walked your dog or simply felt compassionate today?  Well, Daily Feats, a new startup company based out of NYC (of all places), can help you track it all.  Their website and related mobile app allows you to set specific goals to meet a variety of personal lifestyle activities. Based on your personal preferences you can select hundreds of activities called "Feats" to track your lifestyle goals all in one place.  This model then provides you with a life score from 0-5, with 5 being a perfect superhuman-enlightened being (sadly I am only at 1.6, but just getting starting). With the ability to sign-in to this service via Facebook, Foursquare, email and now SMS text you can even link your "Feats" with friends online.  The SMS option is most powerful since over 97% of people read their texts (only 4% read emails now)… it is a proven new communication tool.

Conscious Living
This new trend gets into us … literally, it tracks what we eating daily and how it relates to our overall health. Start-up's like Dan's Plan use the motto, "Helping you achieve optimal health in a modern world"… with the emphasis on optimal and modern.  This platform allows you to collect data from a variety of new devices for capturing your ideal eating, restorative sleeping and enduring movement goals to reach an ideal.  Since, "our modern world fosters a lifestyle that leads to poor health," we have to take responsibility for it in our daily activities.   Real Mealz (currently in Beta) is another SF startup company that has realized if you simply cook more, you could be healthier. They have collected a spectrum of great organic recipes that help you include existing kitchen items and even take photos of your meals for nutritional analysis later on. All of this promises a life of greater awareness for the changes we seek within ourselves, our families and our greater impact on the world around us.  

Now is the time, as there are few valid excuses not to take action around your personal goals.  With the assistance of mobile apps, tracking websites, wi-fi devices and personalized support structures all around us I ask… so what will you measure?  

About the author: Jared Brick is an MBA business student from the Presidio Graduate School in SF.  He is currently developing a business model to track and incentivize reusables in the retail environment.  To learn more please email him at jared (at) traxactions.com or follow him on twitter: jaredbrick Thanks for sharing this article.

Recently I was asked to present a compelling "business case for sustainability."  It is a common question innovative business students are attempting to answer inside the Presidio MBA program for Sustainable Management.  At first, I thought I would bring up all the great evidence and case studies that already exist for proving why businesses need to move in this direction… then something occurred.   

I started to think about all the grand evidence that exists in the world and how little it actually impacts our decisions.  Consider the overwhelming "evidence" out there on the following topics.  Cigarette smoking, global warming, alcohol abuse, fast food health impacts, obesity, exercise and fossil fuels for energy … the list goes on and on.  There are mountains of data that "prove" the case for or against these societal issues and thus "prove" the case for a better way. Yet in the end, some people simply refuse to believe strong data, clear evidence or compelling arguments and continue their old ways.   

But this post is not about them, it is really celebrating you, the online LOHAS community.  It is about how you should be applauded and hailed as the "embracers" of sustainability and health.  The way you live, shop and support new markets is your achievement, hopefully to be imitated, as it is the highest form of flattery.  

A recent study by MITSloan shows that "embracers" are leading their industry and not waiting for  a core of sustainability to be included sometime in the future … they know the future is now.   This thinking is paying off and the "laggards" or cautious adopters are thus falling even further behind.

There are many others out there that are not working as hard as we are, to find the best sustainable solutions for our modern living and in business.  They can be considered "laggards", the people we feel we have to "prove" that sustainability works and that they should adopt it.   Now I am certainly a believer of sharing best practices, but proving that health and sustainability are important … really?  Mother nature designed us to think and find the best solutions for our own survival, we are in the process of our own evolution now and I am not sure proving our case is the best use of our time and energy.  

Clearly, you are the innovators and early adopters, the people on the front lines of our very evolution, pushing for change, not waiting for it arrive or be handed to us.  You are seeking out solutions every day to the very ills of our way of life and not willing to settle for conventional thinking, standard products or disconnected living.  Each time you spend money, you are considering larger impacts, each time you vote you are planning our collective future, each time you invest you are creating a new markets.  

The best part is that the world is finally listening, societies are paying attention, communities are shifting.  Your innovative thinking and bold actions are getting noticed all the world over.  You are bucking the trends, you are going against the grain and you are the exception to the rules.  Forget having to "prove the case", continue to live your lives your way and let that be your shining evidence to the world.  

The MITSloan report identifies seven best practices that "embracers" share:
    1.    Move early
    2.    Balance long-term vision with short-term impact
    3.    Drive sustainability philosophy from both the top-down and the bottom-up
    4.    Don’t make sustainability a silo
    5.    Measure in whatever way you can
    6.    Remember the intangible benefits
    7.    Communicate your expectations

I congratulate you for listening to your true gut instincts, your breakthrough mind and most importantly your compassionate heart. I look forward to shaking your hand at the June 2012 LOHAS conference in Boulder.   

Jared Brick is a current student at the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. 

You can follow him here:
http://twitter.com/jaredbrick