John Winsor

Taking Control

I read this a few minutes ago:

Companies now recognize that “if you get people’s obesity down, cholesterol down, asthma down, you save a lot of money,” said Uwe E. Reinhardt, a health economist at Princeton University.

In order to control their own future, businesses need to take control of everything that affects them. Certainly, health care is a big one. Can the issues around sustainablity be next? Let's hope so.

Surf's Up

Ian has a nice little riff in answer to Matt Higgins ponder, “it’s unclear why surfing has found a broader respectability,” in Sunday's New York Times.

Is this Disneyfication of the waves a good thing? After all, more people are enjoying what the early tribe of surfers enjoyed. And maybe, just maybe, surfing going upscale will translate into better stewardship of our precious oceans.

Quote of the Day

"He's an icon. Imagine that: Al Gore, Mr. Straight and Narrow, Mr. Dull on Wheels -- now he's culturally cool."

- Frank Luntz, the Republican consultant who advised George W. Bush to dispute global warming during the 2000 and 2004 elections.

The Nutritional Economy

Josh Spear points to a wonderful little film produced by Christopher Bronsart and Daniel Migg, that rethinks sustainability by using the concept of nutrition. If you can shift the language and you can shift the paradigm.

The Package Speaks for Itself

I came home from a trip last night and stopped by my local Wild Oats to get some dinner. Being thirsty, I looked around to find something healthy to drink. While I drink a lot of green tea/juice mixes, I never know what brand I drink. They all look the same.

Well, last night, POM's Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea. Instead of the typical juice bottle POM comes in a glass. Two thoughts came to mind when I saw the glass. If you're old enough, you'll probably remember the Flintstone jelly jars. I have a fond place in my heart for the jars. Second, the glasses scream recycling. Not the kind of recycling you're probably thinking about - throwing it in the recycle bin. The recycling I'm talking about is really reusing.

While the unique POM package might have gotten me to buy the tea for the first time the great taste will keep me coming back for more.

Dee's Dream House

The holidays are always a time to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going. My friends at Nau just pointed me to a wonderfully inspiring video they've created about Dee and her dream House.

What's your footprint?

Knowledge is Power

Although Timberland announced their "Nutritional Label" at the beginning of the year, I just ran across an ad with the label and was intrigued.

Timberland's plan is to place a “nutritional label” on each shoe box that will educate consumers about the product they are purchasing, including where it was manufactured, how it was produced, and its effect on the environment and the community.

One of the things I really like about Timberland's idea is that it takes something that we are all familiar with, the nutritional label on food, and changes the context of it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everything we bought had such a label that could help us, as consumers, understand what impact our purchases have on the world.

Will this label effort help evolve the sustainability conversation in a way that makes it more relevant to consumers?
 

Nau, Live!

I just got a note from Chris Van Dyke at Nau telling me their web site went live last night.

Even though Ian Yolles and his crew have been blogging for a couple of months from their Thought Kitchen, it's nice to see more substance on the site. I particularly like the way they are inviting people in to help them shift the paradigm.

a word of welcome

We take our name from the Maori word for welcome. By celebrating positive change and the people who make it possible, by helping redefine what it means to do business responsibly and by using the power of design to create more sustainable clothing, we’re trying to do things differently. While our business is outdoor apparel, our passions are much larger, and the stories we want to tell much broader. We invite you to join us.

As I've written before, Nau's motto of "Doing well by doing good" seems to be capturing many imaginations as I've heard this phrase in many conversations lately. One can only hope that this indicates a shift in our collective consciousness.

Congratulations to all of my friends at Nau for another taking another step in the journey.

Greenwashing

While some have accused Wal-Mart of "greenwashing" in their latest efforts to make the business more sustainable, I believe that anything the company does to embrace more sustainable practices is a great thing for everyone.

Wal-Mart's CEO, Lee Scott told USA Today:

"We asked ourselves: If we had known 10 years ago what challenges we would face today, what would we have done different? What struck us was: This world is much more fragile than any of us would have thought years ago."

Wal-Mart plans to:

• Slash gasoline use by its trucking fleet, one of the largest in the USA, and use more hybrid trucks to increase efficiency by 25% over the next three years and double it within 10 years. That will save $310 million a year by 2015, the company says.

• Buy 100% of its wild-caught salmon and frozen fish for the North American market only from fisheries that are certified as "sustainable" by the non-profit Marine Stewardship Council within three to five years. That designation means areas of the ocean aren't fished in ways that destroy fish populations.

• Cut energy use at its more than 7,000 stores worldwide by 30% and cut greenhouse-gas emissions at existing stores by 20% in seven years. Wal-Mart is the largest private electricity user in the USA.

• Reduce solid waste from U.S. stores by 25% within three years.

I'll take that kind of greenwashing any day of the week.

Good for Good!

Sharon Waxman wrote a very nice article in The New York Times on Good Magazine yesterday that's worth a read.