May 10 2009
Rosie was the Best Dog
No dog will ever compare with Rosie. I can only hope to bring as much joy into people’s hearts as she did. Check out some very cute shots of her on the photos page.
Dec 08 2008
Garrison Keillor’s comments on Obama’s election
Be happy, dear hearts, and allow yourselves a few more weeks of quiet exultation. It isn’t gloating, it’s satisfaction at a job well done. He was a superb candidate, serious, professorial but with a flashing grin and a buoyancy that comes from working out in the gym every morning. He spoke in a genuine voice, not senatorial at all. He relished campaigning. He accepted adulation gracefully. He brandished his sword against his opponents without mocking or belittling them. He was elegant, unaffected, utterly American, and now (Wow) suddenly America is cool. Chicago is cool. Chicago!!!
We threw the dice and we won the jackpot and elected a black guy with a Harvard degree, the middle name Hussein and a sense of humor he said, “I’ve got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I’ve got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher.” The French junior minister for human rights said, “On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes.” When was the last time you heard someone from France say they wanted to be American and take a bite of something of ours? Ponder that for a moment.
Nov 18 2008
Story of Stuff
This is a great video giving a non-technical and entertaining explanation on how our “materials economy” is incomplete and based on unsustainable principles:
Nov 15 2008
GreenBiz Feed
IBM, Stanford Breakthrough Promises New Life for Recycled Plastics
A new development by IBM Research and Stanford University could lead to plastics that can be recycled multiple times - and at lower temperatures - and a new form of biodegradable plastics.
A Tale of Two Countries: Japan, China, and the Low-Carbon Economy
Japan's business leaders are focused on cutting emissions, though they have about the same level of a roadmap as Americans; their neighbor to the southwest, however, has quickly moved into the spotlight as a challenger, and potentially an economic threat.
Office Depot Kicks Off Small Business 'Green Office Makeover' Contest
Companies in the greater Miami area can win a $4,000 greening package as part of an effort to raise awareness about green office practices among small and medium businesses.
P&G Reformulating Herbal Essences to Limit Toxins
Procter & Gamble is reformulating its Herbal Essences shampoos to reduce the amount of a carcinogenic chemical in them.
Water-Saving 'No-Mix Toilets' Get Rave Reviews in Europe
An innovative new toilet system that helps to reduce pollution and save water has gotten widespread support in seven European countries, according to a new study.
Nike's Sustainability Journey: 15 Years and Going Strong
When Nike first began incorporating sustainability into its business practices, the risks and opportunities we grappled with seemed distant indeed, even non-existent to most businesses. Fifteen years later, the risks and opportunities that businesses face from environmental and social challenges are more obvious than ever.
The Olympic Gold Rush Has Only Just Begun
In the days during and after the Vancouver Olympics, many are wondering whether the massive investment was money well spent, especially for the green endeavors at the Games. But the most promising metric is just how many green business opportunities the Olympics unleashed.
Getting a Green Brand on the Customer's Radar
New products aspiring to be labeled green should be preoccupied with passing muster with the arbiters of what's green, be they NGOs, consumers, or ratings agencies. The reality, though, is that many green brands wish they had the problem of being scrutinized, at least by consumers.
Richard Branson Aims to Rock the Boat for Green Shipping
The billionaire's new NGO, Carbon War Room, puts the global shipping industry's massive carbon footprint under the spotlight, and spread the word about simple ways to shrink its impact.
Unilever Cleans Up Soap With Algae Oil
After a year of testing algae-based oils in soaps and other products, Unilever has decided to expand its research on the petrochemical replacement.
Big Oil's Slow Road to Sustainability
Last week, we released the sustainability rankings of the world's largest oil and gas companies. Despite the skepticism of whether the industry can ever be green, there are plenty of reasons to rank their sustainability efforts.
How to Embed Sustainability Into Your Company's DNA
"The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability" makes the business case for why companies should be rethinking their corporate structures, processes and performance, while also offering advice and case studies of how companies are putting these practices to work.
NASA's Latest 'Launch' Focuses on Water Sustainability
NASA will conduct its first-ever water sustainability forum next week at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is singling out 10 firms from around the world to showcase innovative solutions to water management.
Zero Net Energy Live/Work Showcase Opens Doors to Public
A LEED-Platinum rated zero net energy live/work unit opens its doors to the public today before a deal closes to buy the unique property near the Oakland Estuary.
The Evolution of Innovative Green Brands
As consumers, we define ourselves by the brands we keep. We believe in them, yet they seldom give us new reasons to do so. But that's changing now as we find ourselves in the early stages of a new industrial revolution.
Support for Green Building, LEED Slip Slightly But Remain Strong Despite Downturn
Support for green construction and LEED certification dipped slightly in 2009 but remains strong across the past three years despite the recession, according to the latest green building survey by Allen Matkins, Constructive Technologies Group and the Green Building Insider.
4th Annual Green Building Survey
This survey of more than 1,600 design and construction professionals in the U.S. charts their latest perceptions and practices regarding green building -- and compares them to attitudes and activities before and during the Great Recession.
SunChips Stacks First Compostable Bags on Canadian Shelves
For the launch of its fully-compostable snack bag, Frito Lay Canada is working with local composting programs to ensure that new SunChips bags are handled properly when disposed.
Inside Cisco's Sustainable Packaging Project
This slideshow from Cisco Systems outlines some of the steps the company has taken to save $24 million per year as part of its sustainable packaging pilot.
How Cisco's Packaging Diet Saves $24 Million a Year
The technology giant has implemented three best practices as part of a sustainability pilot project that are netting huge savings in materials and transportation costs as well as waste management.
Rwanda Turns to Trapped Methane For Electricity, Growth
A project that aims to harvest energy from a potentially disastrous situation in Rwanda's Lake Kivu aims to turn risk into reward, and bring much-needed power to a developing economy.
New Enviance Software Starts Counting GHGs in 60 Days or Less
Carbon management software firm Enviance unveiled a new product Tuesday to help companies comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas reporting rules.
Bovis Lend Lease Teams with 1e to Cut Energy Use by 90,000 kWh
The construction and project management firm has installed 1e's PC power management suite on 3,000 computers in Europe, allowing the firm to make quick progress on its corporate-wide energy efficiency goal.
Greening the Workhorses of American Fleets
Medium-duty trucks, a mainstay for American fleets, produce more than 80 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Environmental Defense Fund and PHH Arval are now offering fleet managers a framework for reducing emissions from the vehicles.
eBay Sells 'Green' Used Goods with Rainforest Reward
eBay made a big push Monday to get consumers to commit to using products over new ones with the launch of a new green shopping website. The company will reward the first 250,000 people who make the reuse pledge with a donation toward the protection of an acre of rainforest.
'Outsourcing' Emissions Hides Countries' True Carbon Footprints
Around a third of industrialized countries carbon emissions are exported to developing nations.
Eco-Dentists Aim to Clean and Green
With 500 members in 42 states and 11 countries, the Eco-Dentistry Association has launched a certification program for green dental practices and named its two inaugural recipients.
Walmart, Tesco Vendors Get Supply Chain Help from Five Winds
Five Winds International has created a new website to help companies meet supplier sustainability requirements being imposed by retailers.
Three Simple Checkpoints on the Road to a Clean Energy Future
In the midst of a gold rush of clean technologies, some observers believe we're still years from making a dent in the national carbon footprint. But these three shovel-ready technologies show a low-carbon future is already within sight.
Greenhouse Gas Management for Medium-Duty Truck Fleets
This white paper from Environmental Defense Fund and fleet management company PHH Arval lays out strategies for reducing emissions from medium-duty trucks, which are responsible for more than 80 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Businesses Want Clarity in Face of Climate-Law Uncertainty
With the chorus of business leaders calling for comprehensive climate rules appearing to grow louder, the face of potential legislation continues to shift as Congressional leaders work to build bipartisan support.
Amazing Gadgets for the Poor
A nonprofit called Kopernik hopes to connect the creators of the low-cost, innovative and life-saving inventions with the people who need them most.
Solar Systems for Cheap from Sungevity, TXU Energy
Two solar power system providers are expanding the availability of solar leases with no down payments.
What Your Employees Know About Green Innovation That You Don't
Engagement is the mot du jour today. It's being pitched as a new religion, buoyed by the social media wave; however, behind all the hype is a remarkably simple concept: If you need help, ask.
The Truth About Millennials
We hear it all the time: “It’s the young people we need to target! They’ll buy anything green.” In fact, they do a lot of talking, but are only just starting to buy green products and change their behaviors
Peerless Coffee Brews More Efficient Waste Management
The Oakland-based company has spent the last 10 years finding ways to recycle its waste, use less packaging and testing reusable delivery crates.
The Unintended Consequences of Corporate Transparency
The final installment of our three-part series on transparency explores how organizations must walk the line between an unhealthy and unsustainable obsessions with quarterly earnings results and an unmanageable expectation of 'accountability to everyone.'
ExxonMobil Takes Third Place in Big Oil Sustainability Rankings
The latest industry rankings from Tomorrow's Value Rating looks at fossil fuel firms and finds that, despite solid leadership in innovation, the 10 largest companies are failing to take action on a number of environmental issues.
Toxie Awards Name Worst Chemicals of the Year
A coalition of environmental and advocacy groups staged a red carpet event this week to spotlight a slew of what they call "bad actors" -- pervasive toxic chemicals that consistently behave poorly. BPA, lead and mercury were among the honorees.
The Toxie Awards' Bad Actor Chemicals
This report highlights 16 bad actor chemicals in widespread use in California. What they have in common is that they affect the health of those exposed to them -- whether the exposures take place in manufacturing settings, in the home, or in the general environment -- and that there are safer alternatives to all these chemicals.
Networking the Green Economy
This report outlines the ways that broadband technologies and smart grids can create jobs, save individuals and businesses money, and cut the national carbon footprint.
Green Jobs, Green Technology in the Spotlight in New Report
In the run-up to the release of the federal government's national broadband plan, a coalition of groups are detailing the ways that green technologies can grow the economy while cutting the country's carbon footprint.
Don't Sweat the Trickle of Stimulus Funds
Recovery Act funding hasn't been squandered, it just hasn't been spent yet. While it's understandable to be disappointed about how long it's taken to get things in gear, there's no reason to overreact and attack the program now that most of the growing pains are behind us.
Nov 11 2008
My Father’s Memorial Service
Most of you know that I’m the youngest, by far, of the children. Dad was 40 years old when I was born, just after the mid point of his life. I’m the only one in the family to grow up in Birmingham, Michigan, where Dad got his last job as general counsel for ExCello Corporation. And that was a much bigger deal than I knew as a kid, which wasn’t much. I found out only a couple of weeks ago Ex-Cello was a fortune 200 company!
Anyway, I feel lucky to have grown up in the mid-west with my parents at in their mid-point of life. I had a lot of opportunities to spend quality time with Dad, sailing on Willy Wispe, hanging out at the Detroit Boat Club, and traveling on vacations all around the country and world.
But, there was something special about cruising on the sailboat. I think it was because Dad was at such peace when he was on the water. I’ll never forget summers cruising in the Georgian Bay and North Channel in Canada, where we would go for days without seeing another boat, anchoring at uninhabited islands, and filling the water tanks right from the lake (you can’t do THAT in salt water!)
The longest time Dad and I spent together was taking the boat from Michigan to Maryland after he retired, a trip which took an entire summer between high school and college. It was such an amazing journey. From Dad, I learned the joy of timelessness, where each day blended into the next. It was an adventure- we never knew what to expect. I remember circling around a buoy in the fog in the Thousand Islands for an hour. We didn’t know exactly where we wanted to go because Dad refused to spend money on charts for a place we’d only be once in our life. So we used a Texaco ROAD map as our guide, which didn’t clue us in as to where the shoals were or the location of the next buoy. But sailing the Thousand Islands with a road map made the trip that much more fun.
Nov 11 2008
A Fling with the Divine
I rarely accept the marriage proposal
Whispered from the Divine
A proposal asked over and over again
The few times I allow myself to hear it,
There is a chance that I may,
in a fit of insanity, say yes.
But when I return to my little world
To make the preparations
I forget the reality of that intense love
When I acquiesced.
Eventually, I return to the sanctuary
Calculated to miss the promised time
Having forgotten about the ceremony
And the Beloved must start over again.
Nov 11 2008
Everywhere
Running
Through the streets
Screaming
Throwing Rocks through windows
Using my own head to ring
Great bells
Pulling out my hair
Tearing off my clothes
Tying everything I own
To a stick
And setting it on
Fire
What else can Hafiz do tonight
To celebrate the madness
The joy
Of seeing God
Everywhere
– HAFIZ –
Nov 11 2008
The Signature
I ask you to sign your name
It’s not just a contract
It is the result of my desire
to give you an unconditional love
For me this is a big step
To stop hedging my bets
Keeping my options open
Love is not something to do half-way
To contain
It is the ocean with boundless depths
It is reality
So let’s jump in together
Into it’s warm embrace
So sign on the dotted line
And we shall win and lose everything
together
