Organic Farming Industry

The Green Hero Project (redux) - revisiting a cultural lens study by The SOAP Group

HEROES

Hero fetishism is alive and well in American Pop Culture and LOHAS.   Hollywood has grasped the formulaic tale of the hero and won’t let go.  The party started in 1978 with Superman.  And more recently, Hollywood has had to go deep into fringe heroes like The Watchmen and Kick-Ass (due out April 16) to satisfy our large appetite.

Even our political system has adopted the mythologies, visuals and narratives of the hero’s tale. Obama was portrayed as an everyman, turned champion.  And even the graffiti artists picked up on it the narrative.  

Look at Al Gore’s personal narrative as it follows the classic hero’s journey (the monomyth) as defined by Joseph Campbell and others.  Here's an over-simplified version:

1.  An everyman is born: the robotic vice president.

2.  The hero goes on a journey: Gore disappears into the forest (of Deep Sustainability) (and returns with a beard no less).

3.  The hero battles evil:  Gore and Bush43 lock horns to battle for the kingdom.

4.  The hero returns to his community and is bestowed with treasure:  Nobel and Oscar.

This narrative pattern, to more rich and complex degrees than I can go into here, is equally prevalent in Star Wars as it is in Harry Potter.  Once you see it, it is everywhere.

Culturally, we love heroes.  Can’t get enough of them in fact.  And LOHAS is no different.  From Hirshberg and Hollander, we look to these heroes for leadership and, perhaps even, salvation.

As has been the case for centuries, heroic icons remain potent social influencers. Often motivated by duty, heroes not only bring positive change to the society in which they reside, but they provide a physical manifestation of hope (sound familiar?) for what is to come.  

THE GREEN HERO PROJECT

In late 2008 SOAP launched the Green Hero Project.  Using the lens of the hero, to better understand and track changes in the perception of sustainability, we set up www.mygreenhero.com to survey self-defined “green consumers.”  Specifically, we wanted to look at five key features of modern green heroes:

1. Authenticity (does a green hero’s authenticity matter?)
2. Influence (do they influence our purchasing patterns?)
3. Trustworthiness (do we trust them?)
4. Aspiration (do we want to be like them?)
5. Impact (are the saving the planet?)

To get to some answers we chose nine influential archetypes and asked site visitors to rank them according to our 5 key features.  Those archetypes where:

1. The Politician 
2. The Celebrity 
3. The Scientist 
4. The Treehugger
5. The Soccer Mom/Dad
6. The Eco-Entrepreneur
7. The Green Socialite
8. The Business Person 
9. The Vegetarian

RESULTS

Here are the “Cliffs Notes” of the results showing the top 3 heroes for each category. (Link to free full report at the end of this post)

Authenticity: Do you think they are authentically green?

1. Treehugger 

2. Scientist 

3. Eco-Entrepreneur 

Influence: How much influence do they have on the issues? 

1. Business Person 

2. Scientist 

3. Politician

Trustworthiness: When they speak do you listen? 

1. Scientist 

2. Eco-Entrepreneur 

3. Business Person

Aspiration: Do you aspire to be like them? 

1. Scientist 

2. Eco-Entrepreneur 

3. Treehugger

Impact: Are they saving the planet? 

1. Scientist 

2. Eco-Entrepreneur 

3. Business Person

We also asked participants to vote for their real-life (in most cases) Green Heroes. Seven different genres were evaluated, providing five names to vote on, as well as a write-in option.   Here’s who people on the brink of 2009 saw as their green heroes.

Businessperson Green Hero 

1. Gary Hirschberg, Stonyfield 35%

2. John Mackey, Whole Foods 16%

3. T. Boone Pickens, Oil/Wind Tycoon 12%

Scientist Green Hero 

1. David Suzuki 23%

2. Bill McKibbin 17%

3. William McDonough 16%

Celebrity Green Hero 

1. Bono 25%

2. Leonardo DiCaprio 19%

3. Woody Harrelson 16%

Political Green Hero 

1. Al Gore 67%

2. Barack Obama 15%

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger 3%

Activist Green Hero 

1. Rachel Carson 31% 

2. Van Jones 11% 

3. Julia Butterfly Hill 7% 

Corporation Green Hero 

1. Patagonia 27% 

2. Whole Foods 21% 

3. My Local Farm 16% 

Media Green Hero 

1. Mother Jones 17% 

2. Grist 13% 

3. The Daily Green 11% 

VILLAINS

Of course Batman is just Bruce Wayne without the Joker and Spiderman is just Peter Parker without Venom.  You can’t look at Heroes without also looking at Villains.  So we launched a companion survey at www.mygreenvillain.com
 

Note:  The full Green Hero Project Report contains a special bonus section on “My Green Villain.”

WHAT’S NEXT

We’re hoping to continue this lens study so that we can track Heroic LOHAS trends over time.  If you have a few minutes, visit the sites at www.mygreenhero.com and  www.mygreenvillain.com to take the surveys.

A copy of the full 2008 report is available for free here.

Up Up and Away, 

Johnny Monomyth

 
John Rooks is the President of The SOAP Group, a consulting firm activating sustainability and social justice through communication projects that create positive cultural dialogue.  www.thesoapgroup.com.

8 PRINCIPLES FOR EFFECTIVE MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Every day, thousands of businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies encounter the challenges and the benefits of working in an increasingly multicultural society. From reaching out to potential customers, clients, donors, and taxpayers to providing critical products and services, every organization in today’s society must make effective communication in a multicultural context a key priority. It is an absolute necessity for organizational success and for building healthy communities.

Taking a multicultural approach to communication increases the relevance and impact by recognizing, respecting, and engaging the cultural backgrounds of all stakeholders and framing communication in ways that invite real participation and dialogue. Effective multicultural communication unlocks new resources and brings additional perspectives and talents to the table to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to our most challenging social, environmental, and economic issues.

An analysis of the raw data highlights the significance and growth of our nation’s increasingly multicultural population. Take ethnicity statistics alone: ethnic and racial groups account for 30 percent of the U.S. population, or more than 90 million people. By 2050, communities of color will make up 49 percent of the U.S. population, or more than 209 million people.

Through our work with leading businesses, nonprofits, and public agencies, we have distilled eight principles for effective multicultural communication. You will see that many of the principles make great sense for communication to all audiences and are built upon well-established communication and social marketing theory.

1) Check Your Assumptions at the Door: Begin With Yourself
Before beginning to work with any group that is culturally, ethnically, or racially different from your own, it is critical to step back and identify any assumptions, preconceived beliefs, or stereotypes that you might hold about that population. Your best intentions may be undermined by old assumptions or isolated experiences that can impact your ability to develop a sound strategy that effectively achieves the behavioral, attitudinal, or systematic change you seek. It is also essential that you not assume a particular group holds the same set of values or beliefs as your own.

2) Understand the Cultural Context(s) of Your Audience: Do Your Homework
The goal of any communication is creating shared understanding. As communicators, when we relay a message (language, symbols, images), it is with the expectation that the receiver can interpret as the sender intended and has the ability to take action accordingly. This is not always the case. Various cultural groups have unique ways of perceiving, organizing, and relating to information. They may have different needs, values, motivators, and behaviors. The norm for one group may not necessarily be relevant or appropriate for another group. The message must fit the cultural context (the norms, ideas, beliefs, and totality of meaning shared by a cultural group) of the audiences you want to reach.

3) Invest Before You Request: Create Community-Centered Partnerships
Historically, there has been a tendency to reach out to organizations serving special populations at the point when businesses, issue advocates, or other organizations need help accessing a community or seek to expand service or products to a community. Too often the first introduction is a request for assistance in conducting outreach, sharing information, facilitating market research, or referring participants to programs. In many cases, communication has been one way and self-centered—what can this person or organization do for us? By investing in the community—learning about organizational needs, attending events and community forums, and participating in community-based efforts—you can build trust and the foundation for long-term engagement. By taking this step first, before you have a specific programmatic request, you invest in building connections that lead to long-term partnerships.

4) Develop Authentic Relationships: Maintain a Long-Term Perspective
Authentic relationships are those that engage community members in idea generation, feedback, and decision making. Such a relationship is patiently developed because there is no need to rush to get to know and understand each other. The relationship is based on a true sense of shared values and shared mission and is focused on ongoing collaboration rather than a specific project. Communication, contribution, and commitment are all two-way.

5) Build Shared Ownership: Engage, Don’t Just Involve
As you seek to engage the community in your work, look for opportunities for the community to become vested in the mission that drives your work and its outcomes. Identify opportunities for leadership roles for members of the community and engage them as decision makers and owners of strategy. Actively seek their guidance and input in evaluating and refining strategies and messages. When there is more than one cultural group that you wish to engage, identify the needs, values, and motivators that the groups have in common and use these to develop messages and strategies that help unify the groups. This approach helps build community, ensure that groups do not feel they are in competition for attention or resources, and also helps to identify and elevate shared community needs and values that help shape ongoing community dialogue.

6) Walk Your Talk: Lead By Example
All of us have had experiences in which the message conveyed by an organization is inconsistent with its actions and behaviors. The classic example is a retail business with a huge welcome sign in the window and a staff that ignores you. This is just a manifestation of the challenges audiences experience when the message doesn’t match the experience. If you say that your programs are flexible, open to all members of the community, and based on community needs, then that must be what your audience experiences. If you commit to collaboration, then you must behave collaboratively. If you are committed to providing services to “everyone” in the community, your organization’s staff, governance, and partnerships need to reflect the community, and your resources need to benefit that community.

7) Relate, Don’t Translate: Place Communication Into Cultural Context
Successful multicultural communication requires more than just translating English-language content. It requires embracing the social nuances of diverse cultural groups and markets and actively engaging them in the creation of relevant communication strategies, tools, and messages that have the best opportunity to achieve the desired action. When existing strategies are deemed effective, the process of adaptation for new audiences is much broader than the words on a page. In fact, more important than deciding which language to use in your materials is ensuring that the content resonates with the culture and identity of your audience.

Effective multicultural communication entails appropriate interpersonal communication dynamics, the right context, and appropriate usage of culturally relevant imagery, vocabulary, vernacular, metaphors, or slang. Translation makes things readable, not necessarily relevant. A better approach is to make a conscious choice between translating existing concepts that work, relating existing concepts into new images and words that convey ideas more effectively, or developing completely new creative (message frame, copy, imagery).

8) Anticipate Change: Be Prepared to Succeed
Bringing new people and new perspectives into your organization, especially those from a cultural group that has not been previously engaged—be they staff, volunteers, clients, customers, members, investors, donors or community partners—will naturally change the dynamics of your organization. It may change how the organization is structured, governed, and staffed. It may impact how consensus is built, how meetings are managed, and how decisions are made. It may impact how a product is reformulated or how a marketing campaign is planned and executed. When conducting multicultural communication, answer the questions: “Are we prepared to succeed?” “Are we ready for change?”

Cases Study Examples:

The YMCA offers many examples of community-centered partnerships.

Issue: The YMCA of the Columbia-Willamette in Portland, Oregon, was interested in connecting with the fast-growing Latino population in the area. It wanted to increase Latino participation in programs and encourage that community to volunteer and become potential donors to the organization.

Strategy: The YMCA’s president was new to the area, recently relocated from Los Angeles, where he had worked extensively with Latino youth and families. He reached out to a local Latino-led community organization that served children and youth through a variety of programs. He offered transportation, access to facilities, and staff to lead nutrition and fitness classes free of charge.

Results and Impact: The pilot program sparked multiple on-site programs and joint fundraising efforts over several years. The Latino organization gained access to quality facilities, expert staff, and curriculum about health, fitness, and nutrition to supplement its educational and workforce development programs. Hundreds of children and teens benefited from year-round health and fitness programming. Over time, this relationship led to new Latino board members, an increase in Latino volunteers, and an increase in the number of Latino youths and families attending YMCA programs and services (the original goal).

New Seasons Market is a good example of investing before requesting.

Issue: New Seasons Market is a chain of Oregon grocery stores committed to building strong communities and supporting a healthy regional food economy and environment. Unlike many stores that carry a wide array of natural and organic foods, New Seasons has opened several stores in underserved neighborhoods that include the established African-American community, a growing Latino population, and many new Southeast Asian and Eastern European immigrants. These stores are in locations that were abandoned by traditional grocers decades ago. New Seasons needed to establish community support to build the stores and a strong customer base in neighborhoods other grocers had considered unprofitable.

Strategy: New Seasons’ CEO and other leaders began attending neighborhood meetings prior to siting new stores. They learned from community members that a major need and priority was bringing a grocery store with healthy food into the neighborhood. They garnered community feedback on store location, product mix, and service needs. They began hiring and recruiting from the neighborhood for jobs in their other stores while new stores were in development. They participated in priority neighborhood projects, from street tree plantings to sponsoring a youth entrepreneurship program at one store. They advocated as an ally of the community for improved transit and other needs.

Results and Impact: New Seasons opened two large stores in neighborhoods without a grocery store and hired staff at all levels that reflected the local community. The diverse customer base from the neighborhoods has made both stores very successful. New Seasons has forged strong community partnerships and relationships, providing it with allies on priority issues of food policy. In turn, New Seasons has been engaged as an ally for community development and economic equity priorities. Further, local communities have pointed to New Seasons as an example of the expectation they have for other companies that benefit from doing business in their neighborhood.

The Lee y serás campaign (an initiative of the National Council of La Raza, Scholastic Inc., and Verizon) is a good example of “relate, don’t translate.”

Issue: Currently, 86 percent of Latino fourth-graders and 91 percent of Latino eighth-graders in the U.S. read at or below basic skill levels. Fewer than 25 percent of Latino 17-year-olds can read at the skill level necessary for success in college and the increasingly high-tech workplace. This achievement gap actually begins before children enter kindergarten. A major goal of this national bilingual early-literacy initiative is to empower parents and childcare providers to play a first teacher role.

Strategy: As the education system has increasingly encouraged learning English, non-English speaking parents do not receive encouragement for and may even be discouraged from reading to their children. Also, the traditional message of “Read to your children so they will be better prepared for school” does not resonate as well in the Latino community due to a belief by some segments of the community that learning begins in school, not at home. Clearly, traditional literacy frames would not work with this audience. New materials and a unique creative approach were needed in Spanish and best developed within a cultural context that the various Latino subpopulations could relate to.

The campaign’s focus group research guided the development of a message framework that centered on succeeding in life, rather than the dominant literacy message frame, “Read to your child so they can succeed in school.” Latino cultural strengths such as storytelling, rhymes, and singing were emphasized. Further, based upon an understanding of the work-life demands (another cultural context factor) of the primary audience, the message frame highlighted how talking, telling stories, and singing to children could be incorporated into parents’ daily activities. 

By recognizing that many parents have multiple jobs and cannot meet the demands of traditional messages that call for a set amount of time spent reading each day, the campaign created a culturally relevant frame that was effective with parents and primary caregivers. Six pilot campaign markets were selected to reflect cultural needs of specific subpopulations such as Chicanos and Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles, Cubans and South Americans in Miami, and Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in New York.

Results and Impact: Initial impact assessments in the six markets show very promising success. Parents involved in the program clearly and enthusiastically articulate and act on their first teacher role and articulate the core messages of the campaign in their own words when describing what is important for their children to succeed. Cultural aspects of the program such as rhymes, stories, and songs have been particularly well received.

Conclusion
Effective multicultural communication is a critical factor in engaging and garnering support from the full spectrum of voters, donors, customers, constituents, and stakeholders that make up the American mosaic. By applying the eight principles, your organization can better advance your goals and help create a stronger and more equitable society. While there are many nuances, approaches, and perspectives to learn and apply, ultimately it all comes down to what we like to call the 3Rs: Relevance, Relationships, and Results.

Metropolitan Group is a full-service social change agency that crafts and integrates strategic communication, resource development, and creative services that empower social-purpose organizations to build a just and sustainable world. More information is available at www.metgroup.com.

When we buy without thinking, motivated perhaps by a super-low price, lust, or naked appetite, we are guilty
of Zombie Consumerism. But the parallels to sustainability and Zombies don’t have to die there. From gorefests (Grindhouse), to classic literature mash-ups (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), to freeway sign hacks (“Warning Zombies Ahead”), it’s clear that Zombies represent something culturally current. And acquiring Zombie culture as a lens provides a deeper look at our relationship with sustainability.

For example, George Romero’s Zombie movie Night of the Living Dead (1968) has been classically read as a commentary on race-relations. The movie’s African American hero is seemingly (and finally) mistaken (by a white redneck) for a member of the undead in the movie’s final scene. In 1978 Romero returned with part two of the ultimate Zombie trilogy with Dawn of the Dead. True to his intent to shoot a Zombie film every decade that would reflect modern culture, in Dawn Romero keeps pace with our ever-changing American psychographics by turning his blade to consumerism. This late seventies flirt with consumerism is a perfect place to begin a Zombie dialogue about sustainability. 



In Dawn, a band of heroes hide out in a mall, gorging themselves on free food as the Zombies pound at the doors. There are scenes of mass consumption as the survivors play with a pastoral sense of American bounty – everything at their fingertips to consume for free.

And the Zombies? They want in on it too. The thinly veiled undercurrent of the move is revealed as two main characters ponder why thousands of Zombies are stumbling around the mall parking lot, looking for ways to get in:

[Fran and Stephen are observing from the roof of the mall] Francine: “What are they doing? Why do they come here?” Stephen: “Some kind of instinct. Memory, of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives.” 



Later, Peter says “They're after the place. They don't know why, they just remember. Remember that they want to be in here.” 



Shopping is in the Zombie’s blood. As in the current sustainability movement, the “mall as hope” is a clear tope in Dawn. Almost gleefully, one survivor yells to others “we’re going to the mall!” as the escape from the undead. 



The visual metaphor of Zombies consuming their way through endless isles of low-priced, but culturally-costly (Save money. Live better at the expense of others.) goods without concern for impact, save their own desire, is not a stretch. Spending time at any low-cost, big box retailer in the pre-dawn hours, and Romero look like a sustainability prophet. (Interesting overlap: you can find 69 different super cheap Zombie-related items for sale at WalMart.com.) 



Romero was pointing out that shopping malls are important cultural spaces. From coming of age films (Clueless, Mallrats) to chase and fight scenes (Blues Brothers, Terminator 2) the mall is an important social space that pushes forward many plots. Compare the malls in the original Dawn (1978) to its remake in 2004, and there is little structural difference, aside from new versions of old brands and anchor stores. The malls, the shoppers, and the Zombies (aside from speed) haven’t changed much in 30 years. But culture change takes time…or apocalypse. Both work, one faster than the other. (A quick side note on Zombie dexterity: It has been argued that the theatrical shift from slow moving Zombies to fleet-footed gymnastic Zombies as in 28 Days Later and the Dawn 2004 remake is a reaction to the digital age and speed of computers, or to continue the analogy, computer viruses).

In the movie, the mall serves cross-purposes – to feed the consumptive hunger of the unthinking Zombie and as a haven for the living. The irony is easily spotted as the survivors go binge looting and consume nearly everything in the mall and must find a new place and new source of food (or become a food source). To the survivors, it is at once the luxury of a shopping spree and a prison. In the original, as men are filling wheelbarrows with appliances, Francine says of the mall, “Stephen, I'm afraid. You're hypnotized by this place. All of you! You don't see that it's not a sanctuary, it's a prison! Let's just take what we need and get out of here!” Inside the mall it is un-conscious consumerism. Outside the mall it is just un-conscious. Consumerism in Dawn’s mall is just a liberating as in today’s shopping escapism – it numbs the pain. And if shopping can be painted as part of the solution to climate crisis, then by all means, keep calm and carry on shopping. It is escapism and delusion (isn’t that a good description of most inauthentic communication too?). All of this of course is wrapped up in the sustainability strategy of “shopping our way out of climate crisis.” 



Ultimately, in Dawn, leaving the mall or not having access to a mall is synonymous with death. (No sprawl. No life. Know sprawl. Know life.) So when Zombies attack, I hope to be a victim of sprawl and have a Wal-Mart within running distance. Of course the point Romero is making is that the difference between the mall-dwelling survivors and the mall-thirsty undead is blurry at best. In Romero’s view, we are them. They are us. But who creates whom? 



Moreover to the comparison, in pop culture (as opposed to authentic Haitian anthropology), most Zombies have a common origin: man’s hubris creates some kind of virus or environmental accident that (1) makes the dead undead; or (2) makes the living undead. Either way, man makes Zombies. As in climate crisis, we are the makers of our own demise. In Bio Zombie (1998), director Wilson Yip’s take on Romero’s Dawn of the Dead set in Hong Kong, the Zombies are created by sodas tainted with Iraqi bio-weapons (Note: the film is from 1998, not 2008). Control of the environment is a familiar theme in Zombie movies as it is in sustainability. Bioengineering, genetically modified food, cloning and now god-like climate engineering and Zombies all seem to stem from the same master. Why inconvenience culture with sustainable actions when you can engineer the science around it?

Even the Zombie taste-buds can be used in this lens. The consumption of brains is an apt metaphor for both the movies and the dumbing down of America through advertising – think about Hulu’s playfull ad campaign owning up to its role in culture. But really, hunger is about appetite. And as in the modern sustainability movement, Zombie Consumerism is about appetite for more. Not better. Just more. 



Zombies reproduce through consumption of the living, which serves as a nearly endless supply of brother and sister Zombies. Consider earth’s current human population explosion as a metaphoric never-ending supply of both brains and new Zombies. As one character in the original Dawn says when warning survivors of the process: "It gets up and kills. The people it kill get up and kill." It’s a never-ending supply of both consumables and consumers (a capitalist dream). But, of course, the perishable items (bread and bullets) in the mall run out. And when they do, survivors need to make very difficult choices. Where’s the next mall? What place do we pillage next? An island, perhaps? 



As today and in the Zombie world, sustainability and survival are interchangeable. When the resources for survival run out and the malls have been picked clean, then we will reach for sustainability as a final solution.

Or we will eat brains. 



John Rooks is the President of The SOAP Group, a consulting firm activating sustainability and social justice through communication projects that create positive cultural dialogue.   www.thesoapgroup.com.

Many of us will send (and receive) flowers for Valentine’s Day (as well as Mother’s Day and/or Easter). However, many of us are unaware the $40 billion floral industry often exploits laborers, and deals in toxic chemicals – Not what you want to associate with a gift of love! Check out these facts from the bestselling book, THE FLOWER CONFIDENTIAL. We have an opportunity to use this holiday to improve our health, as well as minimize our impact on the environment and build community by making better flower choices, including:

 Local Harvest.

Organic Bouquet

California Organic Flowers

I love giving (and receiving) plants instead of flowers. Plants inevitably last longer (even if they don’t last forever), humidify and detoxify our air, all while giving us life-inducing oxygen! Talk about a gift that gives back! The many benefits of common houseplants.

Another traditional gift is chocolate; again, there are now many fair trade, organic and decadently delicious options.

 The why's of eco chocolate are numerous. Here are taste tests for some of the best.

As long as we are going all eco-love out, check out some Eco sexy lingerie and Eco sustainable intimacy products

This year make a more meaningful sentiment by buying and supporting healthier eco options, both for yourself and your home,

Happy Valentines Day!

Personally, I’m going to the Naked Scavenger hunt at the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, because, if you haven’t noticed, I like to do things a little differently! ~ Cheryl Terrace  VITALDESIGNLTD.COM 

Authored by The SOAP Group

Language shapes the way we think and determines what we can think about,” said linguist Benjamin Whorf. Since advertising is the most read text in our culture (we’re hit with between 300 and 3,000 messages each day), the role that advertising’s language plays in shaping thinking about sustainability should not be ignored.

To look at this issue in a bit more depth, we surveyed 100 green print advertisements from both mainstream and
green-minded publications. The ads were for a variety of goods and services, including building products, food and beverages, automobiles, airlines, investing, electronics, detergents, pet food, and cosmetics among others.

Understanding the most commonly used green words of today, reveals insight into the communications trends of tomorrow. As a marketer, understanding ubiquity and saturation is one of the first steps in identifying what’s next. It is then important to recognize that the pulse of modern language provides the market advantage of differentiation.

Emotion vs. Science
The advertising survey bisected operative words (headlines and positioning content in copy) and word families (e.g.,
carbon, CO2, and carbon offset were grouped as one set) into Emotive (“change,” “progress,” “clean”) and Scientific (“carbon,” ”planet,” ”hybrid”) categories. Hyphenated words, like ”eco-friendly,” were considered emotive. We also looked at language intent: Was the phrase intended to be emotional or scientific? For example, in nearly all cases “green” was used emotionally or aspirationally, not scientifically.

At this primary grouping, science-derived words were used 168 times as opposed to emotional words at 116. This
represents marketers’ awareness that prevailing consumers are looking for factual data when making purchases in green contexts. That said, most of the science was fairly vapid, relying more on the language of science than on science itself. This means that science, as a brand differentiator, still has unclaimed potential.

More interesting, however, is the emotive side of the ledger. “Green” was toppled as the leading operative word in its
own category of goods and services. “Less” is today’s operative. “Less” represented the most common linguistic turn
of phrase, showing up 28 times in 100  ads (“green” appeared 23 times). The phrase “go green” is all but abandoned
today. “Green” and its variations are telltales of greenwashing. Still, it seems that it has been relegated to serving as a shortcut to define the category, but doesn’t offer much depth beyond that.

Is “Less” the New “Green”?
Maybe. Green marketing often takes the shape of its current cultural condition. When energy (fuel, etc.) prices were
painfully inflated, marketing language (and solutions) turned to saving money and distance efficiency. Way back in
2008, one could be green and indulge at the same time, as long as they drove a hybrid to get there. Today, energy prices have fallen, but less immediately controllable economic hardships have replaced them. The current condition is one of anti-overindulgence, simplicity (noted eight times, it is a form of “less,” but not classified as such in our survey), and doing more with well...less. This is a cultural condition of the economic turn. “Less” is on the lips of CEOs, school administrators, advertising sales teams, governors, and kitchen-table budgeters. And, apparently, green marketers have picked up on this fact. No surprise there. But, “less” in these ads is a factor of economics, not life philosophy. This was the case with “green” too, where it was arguably more about social status and trend than a
change in values.

It’s odd how a phrase intrinsically linked to anti-consumption can become the most popular word in marketing goods and services. Like “green,” this is the co-opting of the LOHAS language by the mainstream all over again.

But advertising has never been accused of being “accurate” language, so in a sense what’s odd is that we expect authenticity to play a role in it at all. Or at the very least, we should.

Most advertising is based on use of the superlative. “Very” lost its meaning through overuse, so we installed “very, very” into the language set. “Yes” has had to become “absolutely.” “Green” is currently interviewing for hyper-replacements, both in terms of movement and language. This is evolutionary language theory at its quickest. It will be interesting to watch “less” become a superlative. And, of course, we await lesswashing — where the consumption of less is a contrived illusion.

Encouraging consumers to consume less is an emerging marketing strategy. Engineering ways for them to have the same reward consumption offers is a sustainability strategy.

Author Edward Abbey said, “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” In more theoretic terms, according to ecopedagogy, sustainability is not being realized because it represents the antithesis to the political, economic, and cultural status quo of the powerful forces needed to fuel growth. The ‘less’ backlash is a response to this and marks a real milestone along the pathway to culture change and LOHAS ubiquity.

What is a LOHAS Ad?
What’s the difference between a mainstream ad and a LOHAS ad? Maybe a LOHAS ad is a gadfly. A LOHAS ad may be one that challenges the status quo of not just health and sustainability, but of advertising itself. Maybe LOHAS advertising needs to do more than promote and educate. On some level, LOHAS ads have both an opportunity to simultaneously inspire and make a mess.

Shakespeare said, “Past is prologue.” So how can we use these linguistic trends as an opportunity to create more authentic culture change stemming from the LOHAS business community and emerge into the mainstream (as opposed to mainstream marketing to LOHAS)? There are some new frontiers that are ready for marketing to embrace.
• Local as the new niche market (“The 100 Mile Diet” goes mainstream)
• Overwhelming positivity
• Authentic “me” instead of purchased badges of community
• The acquisition of experience over products
• Activist-based marketing (not guerilla, rather marketing that has a purpose beyond marketing)

Advertisements tend to signify cultural trends. They enforce classic structures of economy and politics. But they can also subvert the same. We are advocating for LOHAS marketers to push harder now more than ever to promote their goods and services through the principles and ideals of the LOHAS marketplace, not just the associated signs and signifiers. Move beyond language, go deeper into the trends, and create new levels of business consumer dialogue and engagement.

In 1968, when Garrett Hardin wrote “The Tragedy of the Commons” he was describing a particular dilemma in which individuals acting independently in their own self-interest ultimately destroy a shared resource—even where it’s clear that it is not in anyone’s long-term interest for this to happen. Today’s green ads may be serving the interest in meeting a company’s quarterly bottom line, but few are acting in the interest of communal sustainability.

Unfortunately, advertising shapes American culture; it shapes our image of ourselves. But it is through deconstructing the codes of advertising that we can begin to learn the limits of these codes. And, in turn, improve the odds of sustainability, social equity, and enduring value.

Any of you old enough to remember the classic rock tune "My City Was Gone" by the Pretenders? Like singer Chrissie Hynde, I go back to Ohio, but my city (Akron, aka The Rubber City) is not gone. Can you imagine my surprise to find a great organic restaurant, VegiTERRANEAN, by none other than Chrissie Hynde herself, on my last visit?

While other little girls were into Barbie, I was idolizing Chrissie as the world's coolest rock chick. I think of her as a true pioneer, back in the day when MTV actually played videos. "Back on The Chain Gang" and "Middle of the Road" may have been bigger hits, but the anti-development anthem "My City Was Gone" has a blues rock riff that still inspires me.

My mother told me about VegiTERRANEAN and I was immediately on board. I must admit that despite my green leanings, kicking the meat habit has not been easy. Nevertheless, onward we went for our vegan meal.

Surprisingly, VegiTERRANEAN is not a tribute to Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. There are a select few bits of memorabilia, a guitar on the wall type of thing, but Hard Rock Café it is not. The room is loft-style, swank by most city standards, with concrete floors, curved chain link walls and subdued blue lighting. It is dominated by a long bar serving a great selection of local microbrews and some organic wines. A little bit of SoHo in Akron.

The interior of VegiTERRANEAN.

Intrigued by my outstanding meal of garbanzo beans and tomatoes, I set up an interview with Chrissie. I wanted to get the scope on the little veggie haunt in Akron. She is a real rock star, so I have, well, edited her comments a bit to clean up the language, lots of F-bombs. Hynde is not your typical celebrity turned restauranteur, however. She made it clear: "I am not in this to make money." Her cause celeb is to reduce meat eating and its negative impact on humans and the environment.

"The vastness of American geography and the car culture have made everything less dense, why should you always have to drive to get some groceries? Why don't we eliminate factory farming?" She spreads the word through her music. "It was never supposed to be man vs. nature," she told me by phone from VegiTERRANEAN's bar. "We are meant to be stewards of the environment. A meat eater on a bicycle has a worse impact on the environment than a vegetarian driving a Hummer. Your body is confused as a meat eater."

She may well be right about this. Recent articles in The New York Times and London Times examine the wide-ranging environmental impact of raising cows, slaughtering them and delivering the meat to market. Scary stuff that can convince you to come over to the meatless side. I will admit that since reading The New York Times article, I have sworn off my previously beloved hamburgers and have dramatically reduced my meat intake across the board.

So how was my meal at VegiTERRANEAN? Spiced tomatoes and chick peas with baby arugula, tofu feta and crustini. Fresh tomato and artichoke bisque with fresh dill. For the main course, fresh whole wheat linguini carbonara with smoked "gardein" chicken, asparagus and leeks. "Gardein" is a type of garden grown protein, actually quite tasty and fulfilling in a tofu sort of way for us "gotta have meat" types. Prices are moderate, the food was fabulous -- kudos to executive chef J. Scot Jones -- but the service was on the uneven side at best. Let's just say the kitchen operations could use a tune up.

VegiTERRANEAN is kosher and vegan friendly. Let's hope this type of eatery becomes more common, organic food is a great alternative for lowering the methane emitted during meat processing. To date, Karyn's Raw Foods in Chicago and VegiTERRANEAN in Akron are my two favorites. When I asked Chrissie about plans for expansion - she said "definitely but in a better economy." Two places that could use a VegiTERRANEAN or like concept -- Las Vegas and downtown Los Angeles -- both had appeal to her. She liked the idea of "tricking people into vegetarianism through good food". Through her hard work, dedication to animal rights, and understanding ecological systems -- she is certainly on the path to helping us all eat better.

If you are curious about what she is doing musically these days, check out Chrissie out jamming in Paris in June 2009:

If any of you have favorite organic restaurants in your area, please comment to let others know about them. Thanks for reading!

In Cruel Oil: How Palm Oil Harms Health, Rainforest, & Wildlife,[3] the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reports that production of palm oil also promotes the destruction of rainforests. More than 80 percent of the world's palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia, largely grown on land that was once rainforest. When forests are cleared the habitat for endangered species is destroyed, threatening orangutans and other wildlife.

 CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson, who co-authored the report with wildlife ecologist Ellie Brown said, "We applaud food manufacturers for moving away from trans-fat-laden partially hydrogenated oils, and … switching to such heart-healthy oils as soybean, corn, or canola. Consumers and food processors should realize, though, that palm oil still promotes heart disease and that producing palm oil has a devastating impact on rainforest and endangered wildlife."

Since the early 1990’s the spread of palm oil plantations into forests on Borneo and Sumatra have helped to make Indonesia the world’s third-highest greenhouse gas emitter.[4] Ironically, the quest for eco-friendly biofuels, of which palm oil is a component, is also partly to blame. Deep in the forests of Borneo environmental groups are fighting the onslaught of palm plantations by reaching out to villagers with common sense and education. Founded in 1991, Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Yayorin) is dedicated to saving Indonesia’s forests and the endangered wildlife. Yayorin promotes orangutan conservation through environmental education and outreach, visiting remote villages, local schools and government institutions.

Established in 2007, the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) runs a guerrilla-style campaign in the Indonesian part of Borneo. According to COP the orangutan population is estimated at 50,000 and up to 3,000 orangutans die each year because loggers and palm oil developers are destroying their primary habitat. COP investigates new clearings, issues media alerts and documents environmental wrongdoing through video, photography, and GPS.

The Borneo Orangutan Foundation Survival (BOS) is the largest primate rescue project in the world with nearly 1000 orangutans in its care. BOS rescues wild orangutans from palm oil plantations and rehabilitates orphaned orangutans, displaced as a result of the destruction of their habitat to clear land for palm oil production.

The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS) is a wildlife education organization, dedicated to promoting global conservation with educational and entertaining interactive programs.

TIGERS operates four public exhibits, two in Myrtle beach, SC, one in Miami FL, and one in Boston, MA. Featuring animal ambassadors who serve as living examples of current worldwide environmental issues. TIGERS animal ambassador Suryia the orangutan and Roscoe the dog became best friends upon meeting each other and their amazing video has become a YouTube sensation.

 Marie Oser is a best-selling author, writer/producer and host of VegTV, Follow Marie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vegtv

More often then not I get emails and calls asking if there are any positions available at LOHAS. I also get many emails and meetings over coffee to discuss options with collegues who are between things which is the PC way of saying they too are out of work. The fact that there are more people looking for fewer poistions makes it a competitive arena and intimidating. Plus many don't want to sacrifice their LOHAS values for the sake of food on the table. To aid those in search of a future LOHAS employer we have comprised a list of links that you may find useful to your desired field of work.

GREEN INDUSTRY
Great Green Careers
Great Green Careers lists jobs in renewable energy, the environment and sustainable building.

Idealist.org
A place to find dream job in the nonprofit sector, or find resources to continue growing in career.

Ethical Jobs
Jobs and resumes in ethical fields - Charities, Corporate Social Responsibility, Family & Children and other categories.

Care2.com Job Listing
Care2 is the largest online network for people who want to make a difference.

Greenjobs
"One-stop" site where recruiters and job seekers can interact.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Career Network
Employment opportunities in company gift, charity and fund raising programs.

SpiritList.com (Southern California)
SpiritList is designed for all involved in the fields of holistic health and well-being.

Clean Edge
Your source for Clean Tech jobs.

ENVIRONMENTAL/ ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Green Career Central
Green Career Central is a membership website that provides expert career coaching and advice. There is  a green job board that is open to everyone as source of green job and career openings.

Green Dream Jobs at Sustainablebusiness.com
Offer opportunities that fulfill society's needs while contributing to the well-being of all earth's inhabitants.

Environmental Career Opportunities
500+ Environmental Jobs in conservation, education, policy, science & engineering and more!

EnvironmentalCAREER.com
Assists individuals and employers in matching potential employees with employers.

EcoEmploy.com
Find environmental jobs in government, companies and non-profits. Includes science, natural and green opportunities.

Green Biz Job Listing
Provides a listing of opportunities in various environmentally oriented businesses.

Envirolink
A grassroots online community that unites hundreds of organizations and volunteers.

The UK Green Directory 
Information about the environmental sector in the UK for consumer, professional and business users.

GeographyJobs
GeographyJobs is a job search and job by e-mail service that is focused on bringing together geographers and employers in need of their talents.

WELLNESS/FITNESS
Wellness Jobs
Post Wellness job employment resume or find a Wellness job listing

WellnessCoachCareers.com
Search for Personal Trainer Jobs, Fitness Jobs, and Careers in Corporate Fitness and Wellness.

American Herbal Products Association Job Bank
The AHPA Job Board powered by CPGjobs provides natural health product companies with a specialized tool to assist in the recruitment and hiring of quality candidates.

Yoga Finder
Find yoga jobs and opportunities.

Health and Yoga Community
As the Yoga community grows around the world, Health and Yoga Placements & Recruitments allows Yoga Job Seekers and Yoga Recruiters to find each other.

FitnessJobs.com
FitnessJobs.com is an internet recruitment site/job board that specializes in the health, fitness, recreation and leisure industries.

HEALING ARTS
Healing Schools Job Listing
This listing can help you transition from student to practitioner with a salary. You can also find internships as well.

DIVERSITY/MINORITY
Jobs4.0
The leading source of job opportunities for candidates 40 and over.

Diversity Jobs
Diversity job board and workplace diversity blog with the latest news, articles, opinions and information.

MinorityJobs.net
Free Resume posting & Job listing site, with Career guide, civil rights, legal & government news archive, plus scholarship links.

DiversityWorking.com
The largest diversity job board online, career opportunity and news source resource and job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace.

Women on Hire Job Listing
National career fair and diversity recruitment information as well as career advice for women including: job interview questions, resume example and cover letter.

Women’s Job List
Over 2000 companies and organizations link to this site, providing employers with exclusive access to highly qualified candidates.

OUTDOORS
Outdoor Adventure Professional Network Job Listing
Free job search and posting site for outdoor adventure professionals.

OceanCareers.com
Explore over fifty ocean-related careers.

Wilderdom Job Listing
Current outdoor education jobs and employment opportunities - links to adventure education positions around the world.

NON-LOHAS SITES (but information on LOHAS jobs available)
Juju
Speed up your job search and find better jobs! Juju searches millions of jobs from thousands of sites.

Simply Hired
Search over 5 million job listings and thousands of jobs sites to find a job you love.

Craigslist
craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events.

CareerBuilder.com
Search 1.6 million Jobs on CareerBuilder.com. Find new employment or work. Fresh job listings posted daily.

Indeed
Search millions of jobs from thousands of job boards, newspapers, classifieds and company websites.

If there are any others you wish to add please let me know. There are a ton out there and Id like to know which ones are good and bad. Good luck in your search! 

On a whim, I spent part of the holiday season in Sydney, Australia, one of few major world cities I have never visited. Sydney is a great place to tour, but you better bring lots of money, as prices are very high, more like London or Paris than most U.S. cities. So long as you can afford it, the sightseeing is terrific.

It could be argued that the Sydney Aquarium is among the best in the world, boasting incredible specimens of sting rays, dugongs, giant sea turtles, crocodiles, and many more. The design of the building itself is first rate, great viewing even with big crowds, especially where you walk "through" the huge tanks with giant fish passing over your head - it appears the six inch thick glass is strong enough. The famous Opera House is even more breathtaking in person, and the indoor views are as stunning as the exterior. You can climb to the top of the giant Sydney Harbor Bridge on foot, try that in the States with our lawsuit-happy society. The Art Gallery of New South Wales offers a world class collection spanning the centuries. The champagnes, petit syrah, and shiraz continue to get better and better. The food is generally good, and a growing variety of organic and natural choices are offered. As for the customer service, well, I'll circle back on that in a moment.

To my surprise, I found the folks Down Under are ahead of us in a number of ways when it comes to going green and sustainability management. I stayed in the City Centre area of downtown, which is noticeably clean and tidy. Strange looking "Go Green" passenger-carrying bicycles with full canopies, kind of like the pedi-cabs in Central Park, periodically troll by. A natural gas powered fleet of city buses circulates regularly. Dual-flush toilets are very common in public places. Separate recycling containers are inconsistent but available. Apparently most residential neighborhoods are given three separate bins, for bottles and cans, compost, and regular trash. And unlike many U.S. downtowns, many building lights and signs are turned off at night to conserve power.

What's most impressive are the strict new rules - in an economy at least as compromised as ours - pertaining to energy efficient new construction. All homes must meet stringent energy efficiency standards to receive building permits; each home must also have a rainwater collection system which supplies the toilets. There seemed to be a high level of ecological thinking, awareness and support for these policies, at least among the various citizens I encountered.

Unfortunately, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been unable to pass a national cap and trade or equivalent policy to limit carbon output. Like our Senate, the Australians have failed to push meaningful climate change legislation across the goal line. When discussing this with the local intelligentsia, the feeling is that Australia is behind other nations and is missing out on a chance to rebuild their economy around renewable energy and clean tech. Policies such as scrapping their solar incentive program are inconsistent with Rudd's declaration that "climate change is the greatest moral and economic challenge of our time," according to The Australian on December 30th.

My only complaint is that service is "relaxed" compared to our standard in major cities. Even in the heart of downtown Sydney, the pace and intensity is not the same as America. In many cases we couldn't get waited on at all unless we literally grabbed a waitperson. You sometimes felt like you were intruding by asking for someone to take your order. ]To the good, it feels like there is a higher standard of ethics and integrity among the retail trade: I had several salespeople send me up the street to direct competitors if they didn't have what I was looking for. Cab drivers don't try to rip you off. It seemed that in general, a deal's a deal, no strings. Very refreshing.

Globalization is definitely affecting Sydney. You still see the traditional, burly Crocodile-Dundee type guys on the street, but in general foot traffic reveals a melting pot not unlike London or New York. I think I will have to come back to see the Outback regions and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef.

As always, I'm curious to hear your impressions of how green Australia is, and, whether you agree with me about the service. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading more about energy efficiency upgrades and rainwater catchment systems, please click here. 

I assume that many of you are looking at your personal finances due to a new year and the tax man that will soon be knocking. Many may be asking themselves - "How can I do well while doing good in today's economy?" Well this is what I certainly am doing for my own personal reasons. Not only am I an advocate of sustainability management when it comes to business but also when it applies to personal finance. It certainly seems strange to think about investing as the unemployment rate hangs at 10%, foreclosures continue and penny pinching seems to be all the rage. And I find it so peculiar how we all relate to money. Money is supposed to be a unit of exchange for objects and services. It is not something to be a slave to. But why are we such slaves to it? Where does all the emotional baggage come from that surrounds it? What if we look at it money with different perspective? Would that give us some better ideas, attitudes and insight? This is what I have done and here are some great books I have recently read that I would recommend to anyone to read who is considering a new direction to take for their financial future and outlook on what to value.

The Cure For Money Madness - Spencer Sherman
spence spoke at the 2009 LOHAS Forum about his new process for curing what he termed 'Money Madness'. He had sufferred from it and noticed it in his clients, too: those irrational feelings about money that make otherwise rational adults behave foolishly—buying high, selling low, overspending, lying to their spouses, equating their self-worth with their net worth. Money madness stresses us out, poisons our relationships, and keeps us from making as much money as we can. So Spencer invented the cure. Now, in The Cure for Money Madness, he gives us the tools that have helped thousands of people find greater peace of mind—and make more money.

accorind to Spencer, money madness comes from unproductive messages that we received long ago such as, “It takes money to make money.” or “Paying rent is just throwing money down the drain.” “Don’t talk about money.” When you challenge the messages, you can transform all aspects of your money life: earning, spending, saving, investing, giving, borrowing. More money will flow to you. Your relationships will improve. You’ll enjoy your money more. And you’ll be more generous, too.

In The Cure for Money Madness, you’ll discover:

How much your money madness has been costing you
How wealthy you truly are, by using the revolutionary Actual Net WorthTM statement
How “small and boring” can help you outperform the top investors—without watching the market
How to communicate about money in ways that create deeper connections with your spouse, parents, children, friends, and colleagues
How to know what is truly enough

Money madness keeps us from living as richly as we might and enjoying the wealth we have. In these tough economic times, The Cure for Money Madness transforms fear and stress into prosperity and peace.

I like this book because I can relate to it through the emotions that I have experienced that are attached to money and there are very simple steps to follow that Spencer has put together to get to not only the root of the emotions for reprogramming but also a roadmap to financial freedom.


Slow Money - Woody Tasch

Another presenter at LOHAS, the ultimate green conference. Woody has seen a lot regarding asset management. This book talks about large picture and  presents the path for bringing money back down to earth- philosophically, strategically, and pragmatically- and with an entrepreneurial spirit that is informed by decades of work by the thousands of CEOs, investors, grantmakers, food producers, and consumers who are seeding the restorative economy.

This is the path toward a financial system that serves people and place as much at it serves industry sectors and markets. To discover this path and to begin to walk down it: That is the mission of Slow Money. This mission emerges from Woody Tasch’s decades of work as a venture capitalist, foundation treasurer, and entrepreneur, whose explorations shed new light on a truer, more beautiful, more prudent kind of fiduciary responsibility—a fiduciary responsibility that is not stuck in the industrial concepts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but which reflects the economic, social, and environmental realities of the twenty-first century.

These explorations take us from the jokes of his father to the insights of his son, from the boardrooms of foundations and start-up companies to the farm fields of Vermont, from gopher holes in New Mexico to the possibilities of an alternative stock exchange, from Carlo Petrini to Muhammad Yunus, from Thoreau to Soros.

    * Could there ever be an alternative stock exchange dedicated to slow, small, and local?
    * Could a million American families get their food from CSAs?
    * What if you had to invest 50 percent of your assets within 50 miles of where you live?

Such questions—at the heart of Slow Money—are the first step on our path to a new economy and a new culture. Inquiries into Slow Money is a call to action for designing capital markets built around—not extraction and consumption but—preservation and restoration. Is it a movement or is it an investment strategy? The answer is yes.

I enjoyed this book because it provides clarity and reason behind alternatives that can happen if we look at our current broken financial systems that chase quarterly earnings instead of measuring full wealth beyond dollars. It put me in a very calm and peaceful state of mind and made me appreciate the simple things more. It has started a movement that I am all behind and am hopeful it will lead the path to sustainable green business.




Your Money or Your Life - Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin, Monique Tilford

This is a book I read a while back that really gave me the best roadmap to savings that I had ever had at a time when I really need it. I was in a large debt hole and after reading I was able to have a blueprint of a savings plan and goals that I was able to accomplish. Thier program is a simple yet powerful one that I did successfully. And if I can do it anyone can.

Do you spend more than you earn? Does making a living feel more like making a dying? Do you dislike your job but can't afford to leave it? Is money fragmenting your time, your relationship with family and friends? If so, Your Money or Your Life is for you.

If you are looking for a serious, no-bones-about-it approach to simplicity and financial independence, we recommend that you read and follow the nine-step program outlined in Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin with Monique Tilford.

There is simply no better, step-by-step program available than this. It has helped thousands of people simplify their lifestyle and dramatically change their relationship with money.

Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin took back their lives by gaining control of their money. They both gave up successful — and stressful — careers in order to live more deliberately and meaningfully. Now, in this inspiring and empowering book, they explain their nine-step program that shows you how to:

    * get out of debt and develop savings
    * reorder material priorities and live well for less
    * resolve inner conflicts between values and lifestyles
    * convert problems into opportunities to learn new skills
    * attain a wholeness of livelihood and lifestyle
    * save the planet while saving money
    * and much more

WHY READ THIS BOOK?

Ask yourself these questions:

    * Do you have enough money?
    * Are you spending enough time with your family and friends?
    * Do you come home from your job full of life?
    * Do you have time to participate in things you believe are worthwhile?
    * If you were laid off from your job, would you see it as an opportunity?
    * Are you satisfied with the contribution you have made to the world?
    * Are you at peace with money?
    * Does your job reflect your values?
    * Do you have enough savings to see you through six months of normal living expenses?
    * Is your life whole? Do all the pieces — your job, your expenditures, your relationships, your values — fit together?

If you answered "no" to even one of these questions, this book is for you.





More Than Money; Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer - Mark Albion

I really like this one as it is a quick read with powerful insight for those new grads. Can MBAs, often cast as risk-averse conflicted achievers caught in the MBA trap of "I'll make money now and then...", find their true happiness and achieve their destiny in the midst of societal and peer pressures?

Absolutely--if you recognize that what you thought were your safest career choices actually may be your riskiest. How so? Your safest choices keep you on your destiny path; your riskiest ones take you away from it.

How do you know? More Than Money offers four questions and twelve principles to keep you on your path and tools to help you measure where you are and what you need to do to fulfill your destiny.

I highly recommend this book to MBA students or to those who know new MBA's and give it to them as a gift.

These are a mixed and diverse grouping of books and some may value some more than others. If you have any other books or experiences on personal finance or understanding our societal relationship with money I would love to know about them. Please share.
 

I just entered the new Emerald City. The proprietor here, however, isn't The Wizard of Oz, and this sure ain't Kansas. This is the MGM Grand's City Center, located on the Las Vegas Strip.

You may have heard of it by now. City Center's Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Aria Casino/Hotel, Vdara Hotel and Crystals retail experience just came on stream over the past two weeks. Veer Towers, a modern-day take on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is two condo buildings nearing completion. The Harmon is yet another high rise still under construction. City Center is simply the biggest, best, greenest, edgiest, most beautiful, over the top, spectacular, mind-blowing commercial/retail/residential development I've ever seen.

Yes I said greenest. City Center is the largest LEED project ever, achieving six separate gold certifications. You have to give props to developer/co-owner MGM Grand (Dubai World owns the other 50 percent) for having the vision and deep pockets necessary to design and build the most ambitious sustainable project of its kind in the world.

City Center is located on the Las Vegas Strip, north of Mandalay Bay and Monte Carlo, south of Bellagio. Sixty-seven acres - about 12 square city blocks - 18 million square feet of buildings which are so individually exceptional they should compete with each other, but instead they harmoniously meld into a stunning tour de force of architecture, art, and design. It accomplishes what no one man or woman could do. Names like Helmut Jahn, Daniel Liebeskind, Caesar Pelli, Gensler Design, Adam Tihanyi, David Rockwell, BBMG Design, WET design and Steve Marino, among dozens of other top designers, architects, and visionaries, all worked together to make City Center happen. I wonder how they got all that talent and ego to drive the same bus?

The use of sustainable materials and green building techniques throughout the project is innovative. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) woods found on walls, staircases, trim and sculptures in Aria and Crystals are breathtakingly beautiful. Drip water irrigation takes care of the landscaping meandering the lobbies, driveways and entrances. The feel of this project merges a park-like theme, a big city downtown, and a cultural center into one. City Center has upped the ante worldwide by delivering uber sophistication in a very sustainable package. Walking is the best way to get from building to building; a people-mover tram snakes its way around the facilities. Think of Rockefeller Center, Las Vegas style.

MGM claims that water use is reduced by 60 percent for landscaping and 33 percent for bathrooms and restaurants over conventional buildings. Low flow plumbing fixtures are found everywhere. Most of the lighting in both the public spaces and hotel/condo rooms are LED lights. Almost all demolition and construction waste was re-used. Total estimated energy savings is 30 percent vs. a typical non-LEED structure. Cindy Ortega, MGM Senior Vice President of Environment and Energy, attributed their success in earning the six LEED awards to a process-oriented approach that doggedly pursued each requirement line item by line item.

Efforts to make this $8.5 billion project truly sustainable extend down to details like the fragrances wafting into the air in the hotel lobbies, which are guaranteed to have no harmful VOCs or chemicals, to special blowers in the base of the slot machines to cool the air. One of the project's 40 full time sustainability professionals actually traveled to China, where the scents are manufactured, to ensure that they are indeed sustainable.

One potential problem I noticed is the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system. A great deal of engineering went into the air filtration and ventilation controls to limit toxins and VOCs. Unfortunately, my hotel rooms in both Mandarin Oriental and Vdara were unbearably warm, even when it was in the high 50s outside. Of course I turned the A/C on, but in both cases, the actual room temperature was many degrees warmer than the thermostat setting. This was quite frustrating, and makes me wonder what happens in summer when it's 110 degrees outside? Hopefully, this is a sustainability management teething problem that gets worked out soon.

If it sounds like I love City Center, OK, guilty. Odds are, so will you. The architecture, design and materials, the flagship luxury stores, more great restaurants from foodie celebs like Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina and Eva Longoria, the list goes on. The big question is, can the wounded economy support such an ambitious, upscale, high overhead venture? The whole thing could be a case of great product/bad timing if things don't pick up. At risk of cliché, time will tell.

There is too much to talk about in one column when it comes to the new Emerald City, so, we will continue next time with Part 2. Oh, one more thing: if you're at all curious about seeing this architectural wonder in person, do so now. Introductory prices are in effect so rooms can be had at special rates, at least for awhile. It's a great opportunity to enjoy a "benefit" of the recession, high roller accommodations at reasonable prices. Dining, drinking and shopping, however, are priced to match the luxury surroundings, no deals to put it mildly.

For those of you who have already been to City Center, feel free to comment, I'd love to hear your impressions. Thanks!