On Friday, I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the Clean Energy Challenge–a really unique event hosted by a new organization called Next Agenda, founded by Peter Leyden.  The event brought together 200 remarkable innovators from a wide range of fields to help define how America could get all its electricity from clean energy within 10 years or so—an enormous challenge.  Read more...

It’s a big week for the climate with the UN’s Climate Week N.Y.C. and the Clinton Global Initiative both happening at once in New York City. Climate Week N.Y.C. is being billed as a run-up to December’s international climate meeting in Copenhagen, where delegates from around the globe will try to negotiate a new climate tready. Today the UN hosted a G20 strategy conference as a precursor to Copenhagen, with urgent speeches by President Obama and UN Secratary General Ban-Ki Moon .  Read more...

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“For change to take real effect, it needs to be personalized. Saatchi & Saatchi S , our sustainability agency, is working with big companies like Walmart to roll out Personal Sustainability Plans from their employees and then out into the world.

We call this DIY contagion DOT, Do One Thing. Each person is encouraged to choose one thing to pursue regularity. It can be anything from cycling to work or doing laundry with cold water. It’s just one thing, a start not a complete change of life. One person’s DOT may stand alone, but connect a billion DOTs together and you’ll see a movement of change happening.”  Read more...

When the bigger picture comes to light, the intersection of social and environmental sustainability can get complicated…

A devastating article

in the Sunday Times of London paints the cruel picture of negligent environmental practices in the garment industry of Lesotho, Africa – practices for which Gap, and most ironically Gap (RED) , play a foundational role.  Read more...

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While the recession has caused folks to tighten their budgets, many are still devoting time and money to causes they care about.  A recent Times article

on National Service stated that 38% of Americans reported taking socially conscious actions this year, including buying green products and goods, and volunteering at higher rates than their counterparts. Given this renewed spirit of service, here are a few potential volunteer opportunities for those of you who want to support blue causes.  Read more...

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Excerpt from Southern Baptist Examiner

“Instead of the reactive nature of the denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention should be on the cutting edge, adapting methods and utilizing the creative talents of its best and brightest to pave the way for future ministry. Unfortunately, for the past thirty years, the best and the brightest in the convention have left it because of its infighting, politics, and bureaucratic nature. The best and brightest are gone. A new generation of the best and brightest have to be cultivated and allowed to blossom without the trappings of political denomination. In addition, the Convention should be on the constant lookout for changes and adjustments and preparing for them, rather than being caught off guard….”

WARNING: This post contains graphic video footage not suitable for children

The non-profit organization Mercy for Animals

has recently released a video shot at an Iowa egg hatchery showing workers killing unwanted male chicks by placing them in a grinder while still alive. The shocking footage is now spreading quickly around the internet along with calls for the company in question, Hy-Line, to reform its practices. Male chicks are routinely discarded because they don’t produce eggs and don’t grow large enough or quickly enough to be sold for meat. While there is nothing illegal about killing chicks in this way, the footage also contains images of chicks slipping through the grinder and dying slowly on the factory floor, which is a violation of corporate and industry ethical standards.  Read more...

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Last week the Times of London reported

that Ben & Jerry’s was hard at work on a new “freeze at home” ice cream that wouldn’t need to be refrigerated until you got it home, saving energy throughout the supply chain. But if this is true, Unilever -parent of Ben & Jerry’s- doesn’t want you to know yet and promptly denied the story.  Read more...

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I moved this weekend – and, unfortunately for me, as a Core Blue consumer I had to make some needlessly complicated ethical decisions about it. Here’s the story about one of those decisions.  Read more...