"Cradle to Cradle" : A biomimetic approach to the design of products that calls for radical changes for corporations and brands

In Cradle to Cradle, authors McDonough and Braungart argue that the conflict between industry and the environment is not an indictment of commerce but an outgrowth of purely opportunistic design.C2C is a biomimetic approach to the design of systems. It models human industry on nature's processes in which materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. It suggests that industry must protect and enrich ecosystems and nature's biological metabolism while also maintaining safe, productive technical metabolism for the high-quality use and circulation of organic and synthetic materials The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the spirit of the day-and yielded a host of unintended yet tragic consequences. It calls for a radical change in industry: a switch from a cradle-to-grave pattern to a cradle-to-cradle pattern. It suggests that the "reduce reuse recycle" methods perpetuate this cradle-to-grave strategy, and that more changes need to be made. The book discourages down-cycling, but rather encourages the manufacture of products with the goal of up-cycling in mind. This vision of up-cycling is based on a system of "lifecycle development" initiated by Braungart and colleagues at the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency in the 1990s: after products have reached the end of their useful life, they become either "biological nutrients" or "technical nutrients". Biological nutrients are materials that can re-enter the environment. Technical nutrients are materials that remain within closed-loop industrial cycles. The book itself is a physical symbol of the changes to come. It is printed on a synthetic 'paper,' made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers. This 'treeless' book points the way toward the day when synthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality—in cradle to cradle cycles. See also a video with Williams McDonough at TED.

The European Year of Volunteering 2011 : Make a difference

The European Year of Volunteering 2011 is both a celebration and a challenge. It is a celebration of the commitment of millions of people in Europe who work in their communities during their free time without being paid – for example in schools, hospitals, and sports clubs, protecting the environment, providing social services and helping people in other countries. Their efforts and those of the many thousands of volunteering organisations make a huge difference to our lives in countless ways. The world would be much worse off without volunteers! The EYV is also a challenge to the three-quarters of the European population who do not do any volunteering. Learn more how to make a difference here.

Income inequality and the global crisis

Michael Kumhof, Deputy Division Chief, Modeling Unit, Research Department, IMF and Romain Rancière, Associate Professor of Economics at Paris School of Economics are apocalyptic regarding the origins of the financial crisis in a recent article (06/02/2011, VoxEU) and are fully supporting now the ideas and similar findings and forecasts of Costas Kataras as described in his latest book “Nice Capitalism” (2008). The two authors are saying that “ of the many origins of the global crisis, one that has received comparatively little attention is income inequality. This column provides a theoretical framework for understanding the connection between inequality, leverage and financial crises. It shows how rising inequality in a climate of rising consumption can lead poorer households to increase their leverage, thereby making a crisis more likely. The US has experienced two major economic crises during the last century – 1929 and 2008. There is an ongoing debate as to whether both crises share similar origins and features (Eichengreen and O’Rourke 2010). Reinhart and Rogoff (2009) provide and even broader comparison. One issue that has not attracted much attention is the impact of inequality on the likelihood of crises. In recent work (Kumhof and Ranciere 2010) we focus on two remarkable similarities between the two pre-crisis eras. Both were characterised by a sharp increase in income inequality, and by a similarly sharp increase in household debt leverage. We also propose a theoretical explanation for the linkage between income inequality, high and growing debt leverage, financial fragility, and ultimately financial crises”. “Nice Capitalism” is a truly prophetic book . You can now download for free here or to order from Amazon.

A list of the world’s most sustainable companies for 2010

Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based media company, released its seventh-annual list of the world’s most sustainable companies. Corporate Knights worked with a research firm to winnow down its list of publicly traded companies from 3,000 to 300, based on financial performance and other criteria. Then the Corporate Knights research group worked with two different asset management firms to evaluate those 300 companies based on 10 environmental, social and governance performance metrics, including energy productivity, waste productivity and CEO-to-average-worker pay ratio. An eleventh indicator was added for “transparency.” The Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland) placed especially well in the rankings having 7 out of the top 20 companies. The United Kingdom failed to place a company in the Top 20 of the list. A complete list at Forbes .The list's most sustainable company comes from the oil and gas industry--a counterintuitive pick. The Norwegian oil and gas producer Statoil leads the list, thanks in part to improvements in its water productivity. Rounding out the top 10 list are Johnson & Johnson, Danish biotech company Novozymes, Nokia , Belgian tech company Umicore, Intel , AstraZeneca , Credit Agricole, Norwegian financial services company Storebrand, and Danske Bank.

Turn chaos into opportunity

EXPLOITING CHAOS by Jeremy Gutsche is an award-winning, bestselling, magazine-style book about 150 ways to spark innovation during times of change. Disney, CNN, MTV, Hyatt, Microsoft, Apple, Fortune, GE, and Hewlett-Packard. Each of these companies were created during periods of chaos. Their proven strategies will help your company to thrive in chaos, suggests Gutsche .

Great Sites For Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability

‘Must Have’ sites on CSR, the best blogs , websites with excellent resources, links, media, tools, news, people to follow on twitter who will ensure you know everything there is to know about CSR and Sustainability, and much more in this interesting blog

When the Social Media Bubble Burst

The social media bubble is about to burst says Axel Schultze, social media practitioner, author of “Channel Excellence”. People are recognizing already that the endless hours of watching the incoming streams from Twitter and Facebook or all the status updates on LinkedIn are hours wasted. All the paid tweets and people or agencies, who have been hired to tweet are not going to contribute to the bottom line. And the fan pages people build to get "fans, followers, connections" are just hopes that it will do something for the business – but it won't.

Axel seems to have a lot of supporters. "Despite all the excitement surrounding social media, the Internet isn't connecting us as much as we think it is. It's largely home to weak, artificial connections, what I call thin relationships", says Umair Haque, author of The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business, in the Harvard Business Review .During the subprime bubble, banks and brokers sold one another bad debt — debt that couldn't be made good on. Today, "social" media is trading in low-quality connections — linkages that are unlikely to yield meaningful, lasting relationships, says Umair. Further on, Social Media Advertising it seems that is in early infancy, too: represents less than 1% of global industry total, says a recent Deloitte report. Despite the fact that social networks look likely to surge through the 1bn user mark in 2011 and will deliver 2trn advertisements, Deloitte predicts that advertising revenue will remain at a US$5bn, or US$4 per member. It says this represents less than 1pc of the global industry total.“That’s a slow start for the technology sector’s next big thing which has promised greater rewards. The decade-old phenomenon of search advertising and perhaps the billions of stated 'likes' on social networks does not translate into tangible purchases. It is early days for this fast-growing sector which could yet be used as e-commerce spaces or payment platforms while the strong trust element that social networks command amongst users could be harnessed by advertising companies and their clients,” explains the report.

Fashion and Social Conscience: Prestige vs Practices of the Brand.

Most of us have an inherent need to be accepted and will alter the way we present ourselves and our buying habits accordingly, says Yoan Massie in an interesting article about the world of fashion. Over history, the following of fashion and trends has been more about personal validation, self-expression and social acceptance rather than practicality or economy. Today, is this still the case? In the present economic climate, there appears to have been an adjustment of values from the everyday consumer. The onset of the global financial crisis (GFC) has been a driver for shifts in the ‘luxury vs. necessity' boundaries. And Mr Massie continues: “Business guru and author, Costas Kataras points out: "Brands are no longer about products, services or experiences but have risen to a ‘pseudo-status'. There is deep engagement of the human psyche with brands. The consequence of the human encounter with brands by far exceeds the simple transaction at the shop, and affects the future of society and its well-being." In an economy fuelled by uncertainty, cash-strapped consumers are favouring simple pleasures, frugality and conservation over extravagant indulgences. Materialistic culture has been rejected and even people who have the money to spend, appear much more hesitant about showy displays of cash. It seems the latest essential fashion accessory is a social conscience. ‘Eco-chic' is a term that has become increasingly prevalent. Defined as combination of trendiness and environment, being eco-chic is not just a look, but a mentality. Nowadays it seems as though purchase decisions have less to do with the prestige of the brand and more with the practices of the brand. Read the fuel article by Yoan Massie “The Death of the Bling” with clear reference to Costas Kataras’s book and the “The Death of the (Arrogant) Brand” .

Who gets your vote for the 2010 "CSR / Business for Society" Person of the Year?

Which CSR / Business in Society Person had the biggest impact on you and the world, in 2010? Is it going to be an inspired Business Leader, Philosopher, Philanthropist, Academic, Researcher, Author, Journalist, Policy Maker or someone else? Vote now. Simply leave a comment and tell us who and why this person should be.

Top Ten CSR Reports of 2010, according to Blogs

CSR Reports… almost impossible to compare or rank them, despite numerous CSR Report competitions each year. However, some reports did come out on top of the pack , according to expert sources . See here The Top Ten CSR Reports of 2010, according to the CSR Reporting blog.

"Crisis as an opportunity": A speech of hope at the Graduation of the Nottingham Trend University

That was the theme of the speech of Mr. Costas Kataras, key-note speaker at the Graduation 2010 ceremony of the Nottingham Trend University, at the Goulandris Center in Athens,18/06/2010. Mr. Kataras suggested that although we are now living in turbulent times, a new set of opportunities emerge which will force the new graduates to develop new strategies for personal development and advancement that, finally, will lead to a prosperous carrier. A carrier beyond borders and with a cosmopolitan touch , a long tradition and competitive advantage of great business figures in the country. Hippocrates from the ancient times was suggesting that crisis is a prerequisite for the cure and life. In some other languages, the word crisis is the same as the word for opportunity. Of course, both the above ideas involve some element of danger or risk, that graduates must be prepare to embrace. Present at the ceremony were guests, graduates, diplomates and academics, including the Vice-Chancellor of the Nottingham Trend University, Prof Neil T. Gorman.

Action Plan for Corporate Social Responsibility, by the Danish Government

The action plan aims at promoting CSR and helping Danish businesses reap more benefits from being at the global vanguard of CSR. At the same time, the plan aims at strengthening the efforts to ensure that Denmark and Danish businesses are generally associated with responsible growth. The Government has a focus on business-driven CSR and internationally recognized principles - the UN Global Compact and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
The action plan contains a total of 30 initiatives in four key areas. With such initiatives ( from 2008 but still so refreshing ), there is no wonder why the Danish corporations excelle in the world markets. You can find the Action Plan for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) here.

The Scandinavian Paradox: Scandinavian countries lead also in the new BCNF well-being index

An interesting study for better measuring people’s well-being: the BCFN Index from Barilla Center. The BCFN Index takes as its premise that a country’s wellbeing depends on many different variables that cannot solely be attributed to economic aspects. Hence, GDP, which for years has been deemed a partial indicator in portraying the state of economic growth and wealth of a country and its citizens, is no longer sufficient because it does not contemplate a number of elements that contribute to the social wellbeing of people. Hence, the BCFN Index introduces a series of new factors: dietary choices and habits, lifestyle, pathology rates, educational level, access to technology, level of political participation, and welfare system. The rankings, determined on the basis of the BCFN Index parameters, is led by Sweden with 7.23 points (on a 10-point scale), followed by Denmark with 6.88. Japan is in third place with 6.61 points, followed by a trio with similar scores: France (5.90), UK (5.81), and Germany (5.57). Italy is seventh with 4.85 points, just ahead of Spain (4.51). The United States (3.88 points) are in second-to-last place, with only Greece behind them (last with 3.29 points). The complete version of the BCFN Index report is here, while the related press release here.