7gen Bloc

I was extremely disappointed to read Ben Elgin’s cover story in the October 29th issue of BusinessWeek magazine. The article, “Little Green Lies,” wrongly suggests that profits and environmental initiatives don’t mix and that companies cannot hope to be both successful and sustainable. This myth has long been discredited, and my dismay at finding it still being given credence was so great that I fired off a letter to the editor, a portion of which has just been published on the Opinion page in the magazine’s November 12th issue. Here’s the complete version:

Under the headline “Climate Is a Risky Issue for Democrats,” an article in Tuesday’s Washington Post talked about what the Democratic candidates are saying about the climate crisis and posited that their general we-gotta-do-something-serious-but-it-ain’t-gonna-be-cheap-or-easy-or-fun campaign statements may be harmful to their electoral prospects.

Lots of enviro fact finding on the radar this week in the form of two major reports and several public opinion surveys that point to a coming crossroads that’s fast approaching. Does humanity blow right through the intersection and run off the rails? Or do we make the right turn and drive into a new era of sustainability? That, dear Yorick, is the question...

A new article from Fast Company is a good look at all the different kinds of environmental thinking now popping up on corporate radar screens all over the place. It’s notable for several reasons. For one, while some of these changes may not seem like much on the surface, they’re part of something I don’t think we’ve seen before: a deep overhaul of all kinds of wasteful systems that have been begging for meaningful change for years.

So it’s not just me. Seems like nearly everywhere I was looking I was seeing Seventh products. At first I thought maybe I just needed a vacation, but no… It turns out that our stuff really is appearing all over as part of that time-honored Hollywood tradition known as product placement. We’re getting so omnipresent you can even play a fun game when the Teevee ceases to adequately entertain: find the Seventh Product on the set. Double points for all non-kitchen appearances…

Given my bunker’s currently remote and undisclosed location, I’ll probably have to wait for Netflix to drop it in my mailbox, but the new documentary film King Corn looks like one to watch. It’s popped up on my radar several times in recent days, which means the buzz must be building for this look at corn and farming and food and how they’re all coming together to kick us in the cob. Corn, apparently, is everywhere, and that’s not a good thing for a lot of reasons.

This is “Green is Universal” week on NBC. What that means is that almost all of the network's television programs will have some kind of green mention or subject or plot twist, etc.. Daytime, prime time, late night, you name it, NBC has declared that almost all of its programming will feature an environmental theme or connection or info. So we’re going to get the Goracle on 30 Rock and Leno is his garage being eco and Claire cooking up energy saving tips for her high school’s heroic green week, and so on.

If you’ve ever sat at a restaurant while someone cleaned the table next to you, and you experienced an unpleasant sensation in your throat, nose and eyes, that was likely your body telling you that the contents of the spray cleaner were bad for your health. Studies over the past several years have documented that the VOC’s like those found in conventional cleaners are asthma triggers for children. Now, the evidence that spray cleaners are linked to asthma in adults is back in the news.