7gen Bloc

That’s a saying I heard a lot growing up – ever the eager child looking for immediate results. I always answered with the same smart-aleck response: “well, MY middle name is a virtue!” But at the time I didn’t really know what “Faith” meant either. I think eventually I grew to learn the meaning of my middle name, but like a lot of us I still struggle with practicing faith as well as having patience.

Some months ago I called your attention to the amazing work Dannon was doing in Bangladesh. Now the CEO of Unilever is talking about the end of CSR and the rise of sustainable development. Wow!

Chris Jordan’s photographic work is featured in this month's issue of Good magazine. His work focuses on consumerism, and it’s true: a picture is worth a thousand words. He has a show of his opening up in New York City this week. Chassis Yard #1, Seattle 2003 In his own words:

I’d never really considered buying a Porsche, but check out the point of view of Wendelin Wiedeking, who is Porsche’s CEO not to mention a potato farmer and a shoemaker! Here's an excerpt from a Financial Times interview published a few days ago:

Chrystie, our Goddess of Public Relations, sent me this bit of philosophical gossamer that I thought said a very great deal in a very small space. Certainly it is a point worth pondering and so I offer it as a thought for a Thursday. "Despite its artistic pretensions, its sophistication, and its many accomplishments, humankind owes its existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains." --Anonymous

A few weeks ago, Stefan Stern, writing in the Financial Times, noted: “New research into the UK workforce, to be published this week, reveals that the British malaise is as serious as any. The online market research group, YouGov, has surveyed 40,000 employees working at all levels in all sections of the economy. Only half (51 per cent) feel fully engaged by the company they work for. Less than two-thirds (63 per cent) say they feel loyal to their employer and an even smaller proportion (51 per cent) believes their employer deserves any loyalty.”

Today is World Environment Day, an annual international United Nations event that highlights environmental issues and encourages positive action. Each year, a different theme is chosen and a different city is selected to serve as the host of the event’s annual environmental exposition. This year the theme is “Melting Ice –A Hot Topic?” and the host city is Tromsø, Norway. The theme was selected to dovetail with International Polar year 2007. According to the U.N.:

Great books are few and far between, but go out and get this one. A review from the Baltimore Chronicle gives a better overview than I can! Do you ever open your eyes in the morning and think, Oh, wow, why bother...? If so, you’ll be glad to hear that macrohistorian and cultural transformation theorist Riane Eisler has just delivered another massive and exhilarating dose of hope for the sane and weary, with the publication of her latest book, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics.

White Rhino, who currently is lost in the woods of the Left Coast, forwarded this post from the Cool Hunter about Dongtan, a new 100% eco-city being built in China. The pedestrian-oriented city will get all its energy from renewables, and the only greenhouse gases it will produce will come from its exhaling residents. All waste will be reused, composted, or otherwise recycled.