Coffee Pods

Last month, K-Cup inventor John Sylan made headlines when he said what plenty of environmentally conscious folks were already thinking: He wished he’d never invented the nonrecyclable coffee pods. Although the manufacturer of K-Cups, Keurig Green Mountain, has the goal of making the tiny plastic containers sustainable by 2020, that might be too little, too late. Just the pods sold in 2014 can encircle the globe at least 10.5 times. That astronomical amount of waste will only grow over the next five years as the number of people who roll out of bed thinking about the convenience of single-serve coffee—not plastic piling up in landfills or floating in the ocean—increases.

Supporting Artists

If communities are going to realize the full potential of artists’ power to contribute to positive change, then they need to sustain and support their artists. Artists can only stay and create experiences if there are communities and organizations who recognize that value, and support it financially. In good times and lean, art brings people together, sustains and connects them, and needs to be a part of the consideration. And since art comes from artists, we need to value our artists, in all senses of the word.

Direct Marketing

In many ways, direct marketing on the web is a self-limiting process, because the more that media companies embrace it, the worse it works. This is precisely the opposite of what happened for a generation to branded ads in Vogue and other magazines. Work too hard at getting clicks on the ads you sold, your audience leaves.

Customer Service

Customer service, like everything an effective organization does, changes people. Announce the change you seek, then invest appropriately, in a system that is likely to actually produce the outcomes you just said you wanted. Make promises and keep them.

The Fate of Trees

The Fate of Trees: How Climate Change May Alter Forests World Wide This is an interesting read from Rolling Stone on the impact of climate change to our forests. Its not a very rosy picture. 25% of the worlds land surface is covered by forests, which are great consumers of the carbon we produce. Increased mortality from heat stress, drought, insects, fire, urbanization can be expected as we move towards mid century. It becomes a clear imperative that we protect and enhance our urban forests.

Trees

Science Daily: "In the first broad-scale estimate of air pollution removal by trees nationwide, U.S. Forest Service scientists and collaborators calculated that trees are saving more than 850 human lives a year and preventing 670,000 incidents of acute respiratory symptoms."

Shell Oil and the Environment

Oil giant Shell’s efforts to drill in the Arctic Ocean have been plagued by mistakes and near disasters. The company even lost control of an offshore drilling rig – allowing it to run aground in Alaska. You saw the destruction that the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused to the Gulf in 2010. Imagine that same devastation brought to the Arctic – one of the most unique and important places left on earth.