At MG, we consume a lot of traditional mainstream media, always keeping an eye out for green coverage. A few of our regular sources include The Economist, Vanity Fair, Business Week, Wired, Fast Company, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and The Wall Street Journal. Here’s the week in review through the MG lens:
In addition to the cover story on the global food shortage, there is Lukewarm: The “toxic Texan” discovers a belated resolve on global warming
But his proposals are impossibly woolly and fall far short of the goals that all rich countries except America have already accepted under the United Nations’ treaty on climate change, the Kyoto protocol. They also fall short of the cuts in emissions envisaged by all three presidential candidates. No wonder, then, that many countries feel there is little point discussing the issue with America until a new administration takes office.
Hide the Doritos! Here Comes HR: With an eye on soaring health-care costs, companies are getting pushy about employees’ eating habits.
That’s why some companies are getting to employees’ stomachs through their wallets. After Caterpillar offered garden burgers in its cafeteria for a buck last year, sales soared fivefold, to 2,500 a month. At mortgage giant Freddie Mac (FRE), workers who order six healthy meals in the cafeteria get the seventh free. Florida Power & Light, Dow Corning, and Sprint Nextel (S) all charge more for unhealthy food (the so-called calorie tax) and less for healthier fare. At Pitney Bowes (PBI), they moved the desserts away from the cash register to curb impulse buys.
Peak Water: Aquifers are drying up. Reservoirs are shrinking. Rivers are parched. The decline of freshwater is no longer restricted to poor countries. A WIRED special report from three regions facing the next great global crisis–and how technology could help avert disaster. (Only in print at the moment)
Compounding the problem, the hydrologic cycle is growing less predictable as climate change alters established temperature patterns around the globe.
All in a Day’s Work: The answer to greening business just might be working less
Companies can take the first step by reinventing the workweek. Then it’s up to us to devote our increased leisure hours to activities with low environmental impact — and not to driving around gas-guzzling cars or booting up power-hungry electronics. Then we could enjoy both continued wealth and improved planetary health.
Industrial Revolution Take Two: Why can’t building be as eco-friendly as a tree? What if the concept of waste didn’t exist? Having collaborated with such giants as Google, NASA, Ford, and Wal-Mart with his “Cradle to Cradle” philosophy, architect William McDonough wants to usher in a new Industrial Revolution. No sacrifices necessary, just smart design.
“If we understand that design leads to the manifestation of human intention, and if what we make with our hands is to be sacred and honor the earth that gives us life,” McDonough said that day, “then the things we make must not only rise from the ground but return to it, soil to soil, water to water, so everything that is received from the earth can be freely given back without causing harm to any living system. This is ecology. This is good design. It is of this we must now speak.”
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