Ideaplants

Noone really seems to have grasped what sustainability really stands for. One of those concepts that is so broad that anything could fit in and so complex that noone really knows how to transform it into something practical.


Especially corporates seem to be struggling in making sense of it and putting the topic in a context that speaks to the individual, to management and serves the company purpose. Let’s be honest here – it’s a real challenge. There’s no off-the-shelf solution on how to turn a successful corpoate business into a successful sustainable one. And it’s surely not about the process but much more about the indivudual that drives change in the organization.


Boston University has built their concept around ‘Corporate Citizenship’. They recently released a report on Leadership Competencies for Community Involvement that shows what it takes to be a change agent in driving a big organization towards taking an active role in corporate citizenship. Have a look it’s an interesting read.


Best wishes, Mira

The other day on my way to work I walked passed a house on which’s doorstep three book-filled yellow bags were waiting for the trash man. It hurt seeing books being thrown away just like that! There are several second hand books shops, independent ones, as well as Oxfam or Les Petit Riens, there are libraries, there are second hand markets, there are friends and there are bookswaps.

Eight years ago a British man had a great idea, he liked to read and did not like to throw books away, but he only had so much space in his appartment. This was when he started a book swap.

The principle is quite simple you bring your old and read books and you pick up some interesting other ones. Over time quite an amount of books was brought in by the readers of Brussels – mainly in English, but also French, German and other language books kept on popping up. The bookswaps mailing list grew to over 200.
Once a month, either on the first Monday or Tuesday, he and his friends would fill the pub’s tables with all those books. At the beginning the book-filled boxes had to be carried there each time, then they found a pub that allowed them to store the books, making the whole organisation of it much easier.

Now the pub has changed owners and David cannot store the books there anymore; and he thinks its time to move on. If you want the bookswap to continue and know of a location and/or would like to organize them, I can put you in touch with David. If no new organiser is found, the books will go to charity.

The last bookswap is happening on Tuesday March 9, no new books will be accepted. I am not putting the address here as I it would feel strange if 30 new people would show up to the last one, but if you are wondering about continuing it and meet David, that would be a date to keep in mind, but drop me a line and you should have all the necessary info ; – )

Happy swapping,
Sylvia

One of our contacts from EUROPEN recommended this video which reflects in a viral – web friendly way the purpose of packaging.


When it comes to discussing sustainability and product development, packaging is often seen as an easy target for policy makers. There’s a public perception that packaging equals waste. So the more packaging, the more waste is being created. Only few people take into account that packaging also prevents waste and keeps the product safe in a purposeful way (if designed smartly).


Have a look at the video clip below developed by Elipso (the French plastic & flexible packaging association) that addresses this topic.

Have you ever been in a conversation and got tired of the other person complaining all the time?

Sometimes it seems to be a popular nation-wide sport, complaining about what others did or did not do, about how bad the world is, but no of course none of us could change the world anyway.
But then sometimes you come across these little projects initiated by a few creative people and you just think: “This is really neat!”

One of those initiatives is Easy Sunday’s. It’s a simple idea and it works. Four colleagues (of mine actually) got together and founded Easy Sunday’s. This was almost a year ago, since then they cook and bake and prepare food about once a month to then invite friends and everybody else to join them for a brunch on Sunday’s each time at a different location in Brussels.

Everybody that enjoys the food and drinks donates a bit of money, which then goes to a good cause, be it to buy school supplies for a Moroccan school, supporting handicapped babies in Vietnam or like this coming Sunday to support children with severe heart problems. Will you come too on Valentine’s Day?

For more info check their site, you can also sign up on Facebook

http://www.easysundays.info/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48328815999

Bon appetit,

Sylvia

How often did it happen that we have to send a video file to our client that takes hours to upload.
And that while the client is just a 20min drive away. But of course everyone is on the way to a meeting it’s rush hours so even a taxi courier couldn’t solve the issue. And of course it should have been delivered yesterday.


Pedalbxl is a solution to such a situation here in Brussels. And not only quick but also green. The company offers delivery services by bicycle. Not only cost effective but also fast and reliable since the common traffic trap in rush hour times can be avoided. A nice concept really.

Just a nice viral video (part of a Friends of Glass sustainability campaign) to share with you. Merry Xmas to everyone!

Mira

I just read through an article on China Daily in which Marcos Fava Neves, professor of strategic planning and food chains at the School of Economics and Business, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, proposes to add another dimension to the model of sustainabiltiy. Normally we consider the economic, social and environmental perspective (triple bottom line) when assessing sustainability. Marcos Fava Neves proposes to add in the context of organizations that struggle to implement this concept as part of their planning and operations pro-activeness as an additional measure.


When reading the article I started wondering whether pro-activeness is really what we are missing. Companies do most of the time act in different ways. In my eyes the issue is rather a lack of ownership and leadership in the space of sustainability. In a traditional company structure sustainability is not assigned to any specific department and therefore it is unclear who should be taking the lead on this.


It’s not just about what you do but also about how you link individual activites. Ideally an organization has an overall sustainability strategy and links activites to this strategy with the aim to create one real and coherent sustainability story. Transparency and involvement of internal and external stakeholders is key here. This involves HR, marketing, business development, and many other divisions.

Getting everyone on board requires not just pro-activeness but also smart leadership.

When was the last time you made a rational choice as part of a complex decision? Thinking about it seriously, I’m not even sure that I’ve ever made one.
How is it possible to consider all possible factors and anticipate what option might be best with our little brain that has a limited amount of knowledge?

The choice for the right study programme, the most promising job, the least polluting car, the relationship that will last forever or simply the greenest energy provider often bring us to the edge of our capabilities of making a rational decision.

James G. March wrote in his book ‘A Primer on Decision Making’ about the limitations of rationality. He identifies four factors that limit us in the way we make decisions while also considering challenges for organizations:

1. Problems of attention: Limitations in the time we can spend on considering all factors
2. Problems of memory: Capabilities to capture and process all the information we gather
3. Problems of comprehension: Capacity to grasp complex issues and interpret them correctly – this is especially difficult in complex situations that cover a wide field of knowledge areas
4. Problems of communication: Problems with sharing and communicating crucial information, factors that are not presented clearly and other limiting issues e.g. due to language and cultural differences.

All these issues make it quiet difficult for someone to make a decision that is solely based on rationality – this is probably not a good excuse for individuals and businesses, but it might explain certain behaviors and put off pressure of people that think they should always make rational and fair decisions.

Especially in organizations that have been around for a while decision making processes are extremely long and complex. In todays fast changing world, this limits and blocks the organization in making the right choices.

In today’s environment the biggest challenge is not anymore to make the right choice, but to adapt to the changing environment.

A lot of flexibility is demanded from individuals and organizations. It’s not a surprise that young organizations with less structure and processes seem to cope with this much better than multinationals that are following a model which is already many years old.

We’re calling on people around the world to organize an action on October 24 incorporating the number 350 at an iconic place in their community, and then upload a photo of their event to 350.org website.

And what does this 350 number even mean?
350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide—measured in “Parts Per Million” in our atmosphere. 350 PPM—it’s the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.

View the map of actions here