"To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone."
~Buckminster Fuller, (His Vision)
Over time, this project will make purpose and profit become inextricably linked. This will have many positive outcomes given where we are currently. It will also generate new challenges that we must manage from a spiritually inclusive, creative and sustainable perspective.
Bill Milner,
Social Entrepreneur
Delray Beach, FL
imaginegreenfuture@yahoo.com
Green Future; A Synergistic Approach to the Triple Bottom Line (*TBL)
A project to build community and more participatory political and economic systems and a green consumer base using a synergy of people, commerce and social objectives by building a business with social justice and green metrics as bottom line.
http://imaginegreenfuture.blogspot.com/
The project that I propose has two components;
An unrivaled marketing opportunity that will allow interested parties to associate themselves with a broadly beneficial project that has the potential to increase civic participation, transform large swaths of our community, enrich and empower the lives of our most vulnerable citizens and create a consumer base thirsty for green technology and increased means to afford it. This opportunity is for businesses that care about more than just the bottom-line and see the financial health of their business as being inextricably tied to the quality of life of the entire community and particularly to that of our weakest citizens. Using the power of Network Effects to build Communities of Practice around an inclusive green effort, provides an elegant and innovative way to a brighter future.
A vehicle to raise capital, pay staff and build capacity driven by that marketing opportunity and managed as a joint venture by local officials, business and the community. The capital raised will fund a wide variety of critical community needs including endow a venture capital fund to spawn new start-ups. The infrastructure itself will be entirely run by citizens; citizens with business skills, citizens with genuine green cred, citizens with authentic influence in urban areas, citizens who may be political officials, but can see beyond the inertia of politics and government.
This will be a privately managed, citizen-led endeavor with a minimum of government involvement and as little political involvement as humanly possible. What I really want to do, is to create a infrastructure that will allow us to learn to work together beyond the boundaries and consequences of our history. Something that will allow all of us to wipe the slate clean, and move forward together, with minimum hassle and maximum fun.
The marketing opportunity arises out of the fact that we will be mounting a novel and innovative project utilizing a great deal of self-help from the local community, a project of community uplift, individual initiative and collective effort. This is a project that by its very nature will generate a plethora of news stories throughout the duration of the project. This endeavor will be self-funding. The revenue generated will fund an umbrella organization that will spawn support systems, auxiliary units and partnerships with the private and non-profit sector.
An unrivaled opportunity for increased business in an era of declining revenue. The revenue will be drawn from a Social Venture Capital Fund (SVCF) funded by the collective efforts of the participants in our project. In the case of redeveloping one of the properties in our target area, all interested parties; contractors, building supply companies, landscapers, etc. would collaborate with us by enrolling their company and/or their employees in our core commercial service. The team members that serviced that account, would bring back to HQ the applications, their portion, $300 or less depending upon circumstances. The remainder is put into the SVCF. As the property is developed, all the collaborator’s are allowed to bid upon the various stages of the work and are paid from the SVCF. All work is evaluated for quality and other green metrics as we develop them. We can, of course, leverage these funds with foundation and government funds as well, given the social nature of our work.
The potential home-owner's story will be on a website along with a thermometer, and people beyond the area will be able to purchase the service and support the project as well as they track our fundraising and home-raising progress. If they want to support our green project but do not desire to use the service, they can offer to give the plan to one of the families in our target area. It includes a service called Legal Shield that will give piece of mind to parents and families in the community.
In the case of a school, one of our school specialists marketing teams will meet with school staff (including auxiliary and substitutes), parents, and interested community members from the neighborhood surrounding the school. The team will explain the value of the service, how proceeds from the service will be used to generate income for the participants and capital for a SVCF and devise a marketing plan to target parents of students with an interest in supporting the school. One of our teams will run the appointment, a stay-at-home parent or idle sub if during daytime, a teacher, secretary, or asst. principal, if after schools hours. As in the case above, the team members that serviced that account, would bring back to HQ the applications, their portion, $300 or less, depending upon circumstances. The remainder is put into the SVCF.
The SVCF will be divided up as follows; 1/4 to the classroom of the contributor’s child; 1/4 to other areas of the school; 1/4 to the surrounding neighborhood and 1/8 beyond the boundaries of the school to an even less well off neighborhood’s SVCF, and 1/8 beyond the shores of America. This type of overarching network of funding will insure inclusiveness and accountability and will encourage a more vibrant and stable local economy by providing liquidity in areas of need using green metrics and rigorous standards and high expectations for participants. As we increase consumer confidence and aggregate demand in the local economy, the general business climate will improve and bottom lines and balance sheets will begin to firm up again.
Our individual risk? $26 month ($10, onetime application fee). No government regulation, no taxes, no bureaucracy, no politics, no cries of heartless, green-washing businesses.
Showing posts with label Triple Bottom Line. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Triple Bottom Line. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Saturday, October 17, 2009
THE ENERGY-ENVIRONMENT-DEVELOPMENT TRIAD
Concluding talk, Energy Pact Conference, Geneva, March 16-17 2009
By Johan Galtung 23-Mar-09
A very felicitous idea to bring together three major concerns in what could become a political, economic and intellectual pact. Like a poor, creative family in Kerala wanting to boil their rice, having neither electricity nor kerosene nor wood nor matches but a sheet of black paper, a used tire, a piece of window glass and noon sunshine. With the sheet on the ground, the pot with water and rice on it, the used tire around the pot and the glass on top of that for isolation, the rice is boiled in half an hour's time.
Renewable energy from that inexhaustible source, reusing rather than recycling waste, meeting basic needs (for a single person use a bicycle tire, for a nuclear family a car tire, for the extended family a truck tire, for more a bulldozer tire). Triadic thinking. Ugly? Put it all in a nicely decorated box. Primitive-traditional-modern-postmodern? Irrelevant problem.
The basic point is to integrate the three, looking for synergies; all the time mindful of the old Hindu wisdom that if we pursue only one we may not even get that one (for an example read that primer on political economics, John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitman). There is holism at work. Sectorial-global approaches--one at the time--are needed, but we have many huge bureaucracies and single-minded academic disciplines. We also need integrated approaches focused on communities, rural and urban, where people live and feel where the shoes are pinching when only one is pursued, and can put their ingenuity to work.
As a matter of fact, "development ministries" might be wise to bring communities from all over the world--no region, no country has any monopoly on wisdom--together for exchange of positive experiences. There are, say, two million of them and more wisdom to draw upon than from 200 states or 2,000 nations.
Energy impacts on environment impacts on development, with conflicts all over. How to create cooperative, harmonious peace?
Take the major CO2 excess (and N2O, CH4). Years ago Japan piped CO2 from factories into greenhouses designed for agriculture next to the factory, speeding up the synthesis, producing oxygen, privileging communities mixing industry and agricultures. Putting CO2 to giant use, serving the whole triad, should be possible.
How much global warming is part of a mega-process after the ice age peaked, say, 10-15,000 years ago, and how much is human-made, is a major controversy. Whatever the percentage we should do our best, but quota-trading is not the approach. It smacks of somebody practicing slavery buying some quotas from those with a slavery deficit. The task is to reduce slavery and carbon emission, not to legitimize with fake markets. Much may be irreversible.
But that works both ways, flooding lowlands here, thawing icecaps and permafrost there (with its problems), liberating land in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Russia. Who will pay for the move? If the polluter pays then he who pollutes most will pay most, pointing at USA-China. Or we all share. Cooperation.
We have had development with less developed countries (LDCs) now having things found in the more developed countries (MDCs), electricity, computers, highways, etc., but still with huge masses suffering at the bottom of countries at the bottom, exposed to capitalist machines pumping wealth from bottom to top, producing misery at the bottom (125,000 daily deaths, 25,000 from hunger, 100,000 from preventable-curable diseases), and excess liquidity, trading absurd products, at the top.
Result: a double crisis, one permanent another conjunctural, synergizing, feeding each other. Less so, however, in Islamic banks limiting loans to 30 percent of the capital (sharia). The eco-quake crisis hits those financially closer to Ground Zero, Wall street, more than others.
There are remedies for the permanent crisis. Labor-intensive agriculture and small farms are more efficient and softer on the environment. Water can be distilled using parabolic mirrors on sunshine, pumped from oceans to deserts in oil pipelines drying up as the oil madness subsides; and, Khosla's proposal, in cubic containers that can be used LEGO like to build houses. Plants Israel-Palestine, and Israel-Lebanon, might be peace-building.
Health can be served through dense networks of polyclinics and health workers who know enough to know what they do not know, top rate hospitals accessible by fleets of helicopters, generic medicines, hygiene everywhere. Education by internet run by solar energy, monopolized by no region, and alphabetization by students (Castro), and army officers (Saddam), living with the illiterate.
Why does it not happen? The energy costs serving the poor are small, the impact on the environment soft. Simply because:
- it is convenient to have poor people who can be paid poorly; and
- lest they treat us as badly moving upwards as we treated them.
This can best be handled in communities with rich and poor working together, like men and women, and older, middle-aged and children, so important as their habits are shaped for the future. China today uses much public-private-people community cooperation.
But there is another side to this issue: we should learn to lift the bottom without threatening the top, preparing them for the inevitable. Like men in patriarchic Spain when women rise. A winning argument in that case might be that with more ability to enjoy the joy of you partner sex becomes better. Equity = peace.
Renewable energy resources for conversion and storage is not good enough. We need local conversion to cut down transportation pollution. And we need energy equality, exploring a variety of profiles among, say, ten energy resources. High-low on all gives us 1024 profiles for all kinds of local resource endowment.
Military force to control resources creates huge suffering; equality helps. Like cooperation between the biggest consumer, USA, and the potentially biggest producer, Iran, on renewables (hydro: gravity and waves; bio: mass and genetic; thermic: geo and hydro; solar: heat and electric; wind, some carbon, some nuclear).
Make energy--underlying all basic needs--free, like streets and parks, health and education in decent countries, up to a point when the user pays for high speed motor highways etc. From tubes, sockets, free panels, like the Internet should be freely available all over. Give each household a 1m3 contraption on four wheels to roll into the sunshine for heating, then tapping for all purposes.
This would help people overcoming misery considerably. As would a labor-based economy next to the money-based one. If an Euro equals an Euro, why should not an hour lecture on mediation by a professor equal an hour cleaning by a cleaning man or woman? If we all have equal value so do hours of our lives. Easily done on a community basis; like local currencies to stimulate using local nature-production-consumption economic cycles. As would a basic needs-oriented economy like health for oil (Cuba-Venezuela).
Markets can make miracles, but a cure-all they are not, nor are them self-regulating. The three classical production factors land-labor-capital can also read nature-humans-capital. Economists have canonized capital equating economic growth with capital growth. How about Nature growth - meaning increased complexity based on diversity and symbiosis? How about Human growth beyond basic needs for survival-wellness-freedom-identity? The spiritual dimension, creating, transcending, not limited to optimization by those prisoners of prisoner's games, the economists. Thinking New!
We need a Capital-ism not going amok. But we also need a broader economics, with Nature-ism and Human-ism. As we see today.
__________________________
Concluding talk, Energy Pact Conference, Geneva, March 16-17 2009.
http://www.transcend.org/tms/article_detail.php?article_id=995
By Johan Galtung 23-Mar-09
A very felicitous idea to bring together three major concerns in what could become a political, economic and intellectual pact. Like a poor, creative family in Kerala wanting to boil their rice, having neither electricity nor kerosene nor wood nor matches but a sheet of black paper, a used tire, a piece of window glass and noon sunshine. With the sheet on the ground, the pot with water and rice on it, the used tire around the pot and the glass on top of that for isolation, the rice is boiled in half an hour's time.
Renewable energy from that inexhaustible source, reusing rather than recycling waste, meeting basic needs (for a single person use a bicycle tire, for a nuclear family a car tire, for the extended family a truck tire, for more a bulldozer tire). Triadic thinking. Ugly? Put it all in a nicely decorated box. Primitive-traditional-modern-postmodern? Irrelevant problem.
The basic point is to integrate the three, looking for synergies; all the time mindful of the old Hindu wisdom that if we pursue only one we may not even get that one (for an example read that primer on political economics, John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitman). There is holism at work. Sectorial-global approaches--one at the time--are needed, but we have many huge bureaucracies and single-minded academic disciplines. We also need integrated approaches focused on communities, rural and urban, where people live and feel where the shoes are pinching when only one is pursued, and can put their ingenuity to work.
As a matter of fact, "development ministries" might be wise to bring communities from all over the world--no region, no country has any monopoly on wisdom--together for exchange of positive experiences. There are, say, two million of them and more wisdom to draw upon than from 200 states or 2,000 nations.
Energy impacts on environment impacts on development, with conflicts all over. How to create cooperative, harmonious peace?
Take the major CO2 excess (and N2O, CH4). Years ago Japan piped CO2 from factories into greenhouses designed for agriculture next to the factory, speeding up the synthesis, producing oxygen, privileging communities mixing industry and agricultures. Putting CO2 to giant use, serving the whole triad, should be possible.
How much global warming is part of a mega-process after the ice age peaked, say, 10-15,000 years ago, and how much is human-made, is a major controversy. Whatever the percentage we should do our best, but quota-trading is not the approach. It smacks of somebody practicing slavery buying some quotas from those with a slavery deficit. The task is to reduce slavery and carbon emission, not to legitimize with fake markets. Much may be irreversible.
But that works both ways, flooding lowlands here, thawing icecaps and permafrost there (with its problems), liberating land in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Russia. Who will pay for the move? If the polluter pays then he who pollutes most will pay most, pointing at USA-China. Or we all share. Cooperation.
We have had development with less developed countries (LDCs) now having things found in the more developed countries (MDCs), electricity, computers, highways, etc., but still with huge masses suffering at the bottom of countries at the bottom, exposed to capitalist machines pumping wealth from bottom to top, producing misery at the bottom (125,000 daily deaths, 25,000 from hunger, 100,000 from preventable-curable diseases), and excess liquidity, trading absurd products, at the top.
Result: a double crisis, one permanent another conjunctural, synergizing, feeding each other. Less so, however, in Islamic banks limiting loans to 30 percent of the capital (sharia). The eco-quake crisis hits those financially closer to Ground Zero, Wall street, more than others.
There are remedies for the permanent crisis. Labor-intensive agriculture and small farms are more efficient and softer on the environment. Water can be distilled using parabolic mirrors on sunshine, pumped from oceans to deserts in oil pipelines drying up as the oil madness subsides; and, Khosla's proposal, in cubic containers that can be used LEGO like to build houses. Plants Israel-Palestine, and Israel-Lebanon, might be peace-building.
Health can be served through dense networks of polyclinics and health workers who know enough to know what they do not know, top rate hospitals accessible by fleets of helicopters, generic medicines, hygiene everywhere. Education by internet run by solar energy, monopolized by no region, and alphabetization by students (Castro), and army officers (Saddam), living with the illiterate.
Why does it not happen? The energy costs serving the poor are small, the impact on the environment soft. Simply because:
- it is convenient to have poor people who can be paid poorly; and
- lest they treat us as badly moving upwards as we treated them.
This can best be handled in communities with rich and poor working together, like men and women, and older, middle-aged and children, so important as their habits are shaped for the future. China today uses much public-private-people community cooperation.
But there is another side to this issue: we should learn to lift the bottom without threatening the top, preparing them for the inevitable. Like men in patriarchic Spain when women rise. A winning argument in that case might be that with more ability to enjoy the joy of you partner sex becomes better. Equity = peace.
Renewable energy resources for conversion and storage is not good enough. We need local conversion to cut down transportation pollution. And we need energy equality, exploring a variety of profiles among, say, ten energy resources. High-low on all gives us 1024 profiles for all kinds of local resource endowment.
Military force to control resources creates huge suffering; equality helps. Like cooperation between the biggest consumer, USA, and the potentially biggest producer, Iran, on renewables (hydro: gravity and waves; bio: mass and genetic; thermic: geo and hydro; solar: heat and electric; wind, some carbon, some nuclear).
Make energy--underlying all basic needs--free, like streets and parks, health and education in decent countries, up to a point when the user pays for high speed motor highways etc. From tubes, sockets, free panels, like the Internet should be freely available all over. Give each household a 1m3 contraption on four wheels to roll into the sunshine for heating, then tapping for all purposes.
This would help people overcoming misery considerably. As would a labor-based economy next to the money-based one. If an Euro equals an Euro, why should not an hour lecture on mediation by a professor equal an hour cleaning by a cleaning man or woman? If we all have equal value so do hours of our lives. Easily done on a community basis; like local currencies to stimulate using local nature-production-consumption economic cycles. As would a basic needs-oriented economy like health for oil (Cuba-Venezuela).
Markets can make miracles, but a cure-all they are not, nor are them self-regulating. The three classical production factors land-labor-capital can also read nature-humans-capital. Economists have canonized capital equating economic growth with capital growth. How about Nature growth - meaning increased complexity based on diversity and symbiosis? How about Human growth beyond basic needs for survival-wellness-freedom-identity? The spiritual dimension, creating, transcending, not limited to optimization by those prisoners of prisoner's games, the economists. Thinking New!
We need a Capital-ism not going amok. But we also need a broader economics, with Nature-ism and Human-ism. As we see today.
__________________________
Concluding talk, Energy Pact Conference, Geneva, March 16-17 2009.
http://www.transcend.org/tms/article_detail.php?article_id=995
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Green Future; A Synergistic Approach to the Triple Bottom Line (*TBL)
A project to build community and more participatory political and economic systems and a green consumer base using a synergy of people, commerce and social objectives by building a business with social justice and green metrics as bottom line.
The keys to our success will include the following;
* Accountable
* Focus from Ground Up
* Green & Sustainable
* Income for All Participants
* Market-Based
* Open to all, Inclusive
* Profits to Higher Purposes
* Transparent
* Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Metrics (Planet, People & Profit)
* Voluntary
(*For more on the TBL see, Triple Bottom Line and Sustainable Business Strategies)
Briefly, we have four options for sources of capital to meet the difficult challenges we face;
* Business
* Wealthy Individuals, Philanthropists
* Government, taxes, regulation and law.
* Non Governmental Sector; non-profits, religious and educational institutions, foundations, etc.
There is often an interplay between these systems but at foundation is private business. They all bring advantages and disadvantages to efforts at Human advancement. If we are to break free from the limitations and inertia of the status quo we need a new way to synthesize these various components to give maximum influence to citizens and community members in rebuilding their communities and being co-creators of a vibrant participatory democracy. The idea that I propose combines the best aspects of the for-profit and non-profit worlds into a more effective and more sustainable hybrid organization; the purpose driven mission of non-profits with the capital aggregation of for-profit businesses. With this idea we can provide popular access to capital by creating a Social Venture Capital Fund (SVCF)
Below is an introductory outline, some quotes that address my assumptions and a narrative laying out the context that we find ourselves. The idea itself can be found on my blog here, (http://imaginegreenfuture.blogspot.com/2008/09/vehicle-method-and-bridge-to-green.html), and below. I look forward to answering any questions that you may have.
Triple Bottom-Line; the DNA of a Green Business starts with People
* Problem --
Declining consumer confidence, decreasing discretionary incomes, growing environmental challenges, deteriorating neighborhoods, tightening economy. Government that seems ineffective, business that seem heartless and waning trust in societal institutions; government, business and between people and communities.
* Solution --
A community-wide project combining voluntary effort, the desire of people to help others and participate in something larger than themselves and the revenue generating capacity of Network Marketing to create a synergy that will excite and inspire us all to greater achievement and community spirit.
* Result --
Increased social capital, stronger communities, lower expenditures on crime, stronger consumer base, increased tax base, and a vibrant civic thrust toward a green future.
* Business Model --
A hybrid organization composed of business leaders, representatives of local government, community stakeholders and non-profits utilizing Network Marketing motivated by social outcomes and green metrics.
* Underlying Magic --
People hunger for more meaning and purpose in their lives, businesses seek connection to consumers and employees and the means to join the growing movement to a green future without compromising profit. Network Marketing offers low start-up costs and a short learning curve.
Under Further Development;
* Marketing and sales
* Team
* Projections and milestones
* Status and timeline
* Summary and call to action
In a nutshell the idea takes Network Marketing and uses the revenue generated to endow a Social Venture Capital Fund (SVCF). The SVCF will be managed by a board composed of community stakeholders with the purpose of funding essential community and capacity building efforts and supporting the SVCF itself (salaries, marketing, admin, etc.).
The SVCF will have the mission of greening our community using Triple Bottom Line (TBL) metrics developed by our group. As we green our community using TBL metrics (aka People, Planet and Profits or P3), we can increase the discretionary income of our most vulnerable citizens, increase the ability of community members to become self-reliant, contributing, productive citizens, augment our education budgets, support the arts, etc. Amazingly, the more people that we can help, the more support we can draw from beyond our community in partnership with our efforts.
http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/09/10/triple-bottom-line-the-dna-of-a-green-business-starts-with-people/
A community wide effort has the potential in full blossom to generate millions of dollars to address critical community challenges even as we lower our Carbon footprint, house by house, block by block, community by community. The idea can be utilized in less grandiose contexts as well. It can be mounted as a pilot program in a small business, a day care center, or a non-profit.
The Triple Bottom Line and our fundamental assumptions; P3 = Progress
"Individual and collective economic vitality is an important element of any sustainable community. In order to advance economic security extant economic opportunities must be preserved and new development encouraged. Generally, economic vitality is founded in "a healthy...economy that diversifies and co-develops sufficiently to create meaningful jobs, reduce poverty, and provide the opportunity for a high quality of life for all in an increasingly competitive world"
~(President's Council on Sustainable Development PCSD, 1996:15).
Simple & Integrated Perspective on Sustainability
Warren Flint, Ph.D
Advancement toward social equity requires particular attention to the progress made by those who are most disadvantaged in the community, usually women, youth and children, indigenous people, and/or racial/ethnic minorities.
In essence, we are practicing sustainable development when we find the means to equally and simultaneously address economic development with environmental protection, while also insuring that the most disadvantaged people in our society are provided the ability to improve their quality of life. If disproportionately impacted community members aren't able to improve their well-being, the best designed plans will not meet with success and future generations will not enjoy a high quality of life. This is the nexus of sustainable development and equity -- without equity and justice considerations sustainability objectives cannot be achieved.
In this context therefore, we are affirming that sustainable development not only embraces wisdom and stewardship in the management of natural resources, but also considers fulfillment of basic human needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and the provision of economic means through which to achieve these needs for all peoples in present generations, without compromising the ability of other species sharing our world or future generations to meet their own needs."
http://www.eeeee.net/
“When the fundamental principles of fairness and equal justice through the rule of law are shaken, the cornerstones of our democratic society are threatened. Respect for justice and laws is diminished when large segments of our society do not have equal access to civil justice because they cannot obtain legal assistance to resolve disputes that touch on the very basics of life (e.g., health care, food, and shelter) or to seek legal redress of their grievances.”
~Yale Law & Policy Review, Vol. 17, No. 1, 1998
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=192616
"Because legal services are increasingly necessary in a complex society, prepaid legal service plans analogous to health insurance have become an important means of assuring basic rights to millions of citizens."
~Ralph Nader
"NOTICE: This person is a member of the Legal Shield program and has 24-hour telephone access to legal representation by a law firm provided by Pre-Paid Legal Services, ® Inc. and subsidiaries. To any law enforcement officer or security personnel: If it is your intention to question, detain or arrest me, or if you intend to remove my children from my custody, or serve me with a warrant, please allow me to call my attorney immediately."
~The Legal Shield card offered by Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
The project that I am working on is unconventional and at first glance, complicated. It utilizes some components that are not held in the highest regard. It is a bridge, a pump primer and catalyst, not an ends unto itself. It, no doubt, will have detractors. It is not a perfect idea because no idea can satisfy all interests, but it is practical, doable and uses market forces, volunteer energy and the human desire to help, to achieve it's aims. It is a low risk idea with a potential large upside. I believe that in full blossom it can green lower-income neighborhoods, provide liquidity in areas of most need and assist our efforts at forestalling economic collapse. Bold assertions true but I believe that I can make the case for this outcome if given the opportunity.
The idea can be found here, A Vehicle, a Method and a Bridge to a Green Future, (http://imaginegreenfuture.blogspot.com/2008/09/vehicle-method-and-bridge-to-green.html) along with supporting info. With this idea, we can create a new business model that will endow a social venture capital fund for many underfunded needs such as;
Funding small business start-ups, community cooperatives, support for early childhood education, tutors for students, additional income for teachers, support for the arts, hurricane mitigation, solar and energy conservation upgrades, neighborhood gardens, additional tree canopy, etc., all done using green metrics, local labor and the latest in green tech. We could make our neighborhoods LEED certified block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood.
You are probably aware of the condiments company, Newman's Own. Newman's Own (http://www.newmansown.com/) is a company started by Paul Newman that donates all profits and royalties after taxes to educational and charitable purposes. I believe that this concept --using private enterprise for public good-- can be utilized in many other applications.
Wall St. wobbles waiting for Main St. to find it's footing and Main St. is scared. Noted conservative journalist and commentator David Brooks put it this way;
"If there’s a thread running through the gravest current concerns, it is that people lack a secure environment in which they can lead their lives. Wild swings in global capital and energy markets buffet family budgets. Nobody is sure the health care system will be there when they need it. National productivity gains don’t seem to alleviate economic anxiety. Inequality strains national cohesion. In many communities, social norms do not encourage academic achievement, decent values or family stability. These problems straining the social fabric aren’t directly addressed by maximizing individual freedom."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/opinion/12brooks.html?hp
It seems that everyone is treading water until manna falls from heaven. Meanwhile, firms are laying off, businesses are failing, families frayed, communities are stressed, and people are suffering.
Free markets are constantly weeding out marginal players, this is par for the course. Economic dislocation always involve some pain. Yet, we may be in uncharted territory as we face severe challenges domestically and from abroad. Because of war commitments, huge entitlement programs and a citizenry hammered by a low tax mantra, policy makers have extremely difficult choices to make. Education budgets are being cut even when studies show that investments early on save expenditures down the road. Public safety costs are escalating and recidivism as well. We are increasingly paying more and getting less.
Essentially this is a method to use the power of the free market, volunteerism and self-help to build beauty, self-sufficiency and sustainability from the ground up in areas of society that are now a drain on public resources and often resistant to current remediation methods. The impulse to do good works, the need for social justice and the quickening wave of excitement about green energy creates an elegant community project generating a synergy greater than it's parts.
This project will not raise our taxes. This project will not force government regulation on overburdened business or people. This project will facilitate our working together to create green communities, bringing capital and income to areas of historic deficits. Please keep an open mind and have a look. As presented, it functions in a municipal context. I can show how the framework can be utilized in for-profit and non-profit organizations as well. Using this method, business owners may enhance recruitment, retention and job satisfaction for their valued team members and support Social Ventures through an innovative funding mechanism.
Thank you,
Bill Milner
Delray Beach, FL
http://imaginegreenfuture.blogspot.com/2008/09/vehicle-method-and-bridge-to-green.html
“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”
~Thomas A. Edison
http://www.myspace.com/zaragozabill
http://www.thebigwordproject.com/search?word=ablaze
The keys to our success will include the following;
* Accountable
* Focus from Ground Up
* Green & Sustainable
* Income for All Participants
* Market-Based
* Open to all, Inclusive
* Profits to Higher Purposes
* Transparent
* Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Metrics (Planet, People & Profit)
* Voluntary
(*For more on the TBL see, Triple Bottom Line and Sustainable Business Strategies)
Briefly, we have four options for sources of capital to meet the difficult challenges we face;
* Business
* Wealthy Individuals, Philanthropists
* Government, taxes, regulation and law.
* Non Governmental Sector; non-profits, religious and educational institutions, foundations, etc.
There is often an interplay between these systems but at foundation is private business. They all bring advantages and disadvantages to efforts at Human advancement. If we are to break free from the limitations and inertia of the status quo we need a new way to synthesize these various components to give maximum influence to citizens and community members in rebuilding their communities and being co-creators of a vibrant participatory democracy. The idea that I propose combines the best aspects of the for-profit and non-profit worlds into a more effective and more sustainable hybrid organization; the purpose driven mission of non-profits with the capital aggregation of for-profit businesses. With this idea we can provide popular access to capital by creating a Social Venture Capital Fund (SVCF)
Below is an introductory outline, some quotes that address my assumptions and a narrative laying out the context that we find ourselves. The idea itself can be found on my blog here, (http://imaginegreenfuture.blogspot.com/2008/09/vehicle-method-and-bridge-to-green.html), and below. I look forward to answering any questions that you may have.
Triple Bottom-Line; the DNA of a Green Business starts with People
* Problem --
Declining consumer confidence, decreasing discretionary incomes, growing environmental challenges, deteriorating neighborhoods, tightening economy. Government that seems ineffective, business that seem heartless and waning trust in societal institutions; government, business and between people and communities.
* Solution --
A community-wide project combining voluntary effort, the desire of people to help others and participate in something larger than themselves and the revenue generating capacity of Network Marketing to create a synergy that will excite and inspire us all to greater achievement and community spirit.
* Result --
Increased social capital, stronger communities, lower expenditures on crime, stronger consumer base, increased tax base, and a vibrant civic thrust toward a green future.
* Business Model --
A hybrid organization composed of business leaders, representatives of local government, community stakeholders and non-profits utilizing Network Marketing motivated by social outcomes and green metrics.
* Underlying Magic --
People hunger for more meaning and purpose in their lives, businesses seek connection to consumers and employees and the means to join the growing movement to a green future without compromising profit. Network Marketing offers low start-up costs and a short learning curve.
Under Further Development;
* Marketing and sales
* Team
* Projections and milestones
* Status and timeline
* Summary and call to action
In a nutshell the idea takes Network Marketing and uses the revenue generated to endow a Social Venture Capital Fund (SVCF). The SVCF will be managed by a board composed of community stakeholders with the purpose of funding essential community and capacity building efforts and supporting the SVCF itself (salaries, marketing, admin, etc.).
The SVCF will have the mission of greening our community using Triple Bottom Line (TBL) metrics developed by our group. As we green our community using TBL metrics (aka People, Planet and Profits or P3), we can increase the discretionary income of our most vulnerable citizens, increase the ability of community members to become self-reliant, contributing, productive citizens, augment our education budgets, support the arts, etc. Amazingly, the more people that we can help, the more support we can draw from beyond our community in partnership with our efforts.
http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/09/10/triple-bottom-line-the-dna-of-a-green-business-starts-with-people/
A community wide effort has the potential in full blossom to generate millions of dollars to address critical community challenges even as we lower our Carbon footprint, house by house, block by block, community by community. The idea can be utilized in less grandiose contexts as well. It can be mounted as a pilot program in a small business, a day care center, or a non-profit.
The Triple Bottom Line and our fundamental assumptions; P3 = Progress
"Individual and collective economic vitality is an important element of any sustainable community. In order to advance economic security extant economic opportunities must be preserved and new development encouraged. Generally, economic vitality is founded in "a healthy...economy that diversifies and co-develops sufficiently to create meaningful jobs, reduce poverty, and provide the opportunity for a high quality of life for all in an increasingly competitive world"
~(President's Council on Sustainable Development PCSD, 1996:15).
Simple & Integrated Perspective on Sustainability
Warren Flint, Ph.D
Advancement toward social equity requires particular attention to the progress made by those who are most disadvantaged in the community, usually women, youth and children, indigenous people, and/or racial/ethnic minorities.
In essence, we are practicing sustainable development when we find the means to equally and simultaneously address economic development with environmental protection, while also insuring that the most disadvantaged people in our society are provided the ability to improve their quality of life. If disproportionately impacted community members aren't able to improve their well-being, the best designed plans will not meet with success and future generations will not enjoy a high quality of life. This is the nexus of sustainable development and equity -- without equity and justice considerations sustainability objectives cannot be achieved.
In this context therefore, we are affirming that sustainable development not only embraces wisdom and stewardship in the management of natural resources, but also considers fulfillment of basic human needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and the provision of economic means through which to achieve these needs for all peoples in present generations, without compromising the ability of other species sharing our world or future generations to meet their own needs."
http://www.eeeee.net/
“When the fundamental principles of fairness and equal justice through the rule of law are shaken, the cornerstones of our democratic society are threatened. Respect for justice and laws is diminished when large segments of our society do not have equal access to civil justice because they cannot obtain legal assistance to resolve disputes that touch on the very basics of life (e.g., health care, food, and shelter) or to seek legal redress of their grievances.”
~Yale Law & Policy Review, Vol. 17, No. 1, 1998
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=192616
"Because legal services are increasingly necessary in a complex society, prepaid legal service plans analogous to health insurance have become an important means of assuring basic rights to millions of citizens."
~Ralph Nader
"NOTICE: This person is a member of the Legal Shield program and has 24-hour telephone access to legal representation by a law firm provided by Pre-Paid Legal Services, ® Inc. and subsidiaries. To any law enforcement officer or security personnel: If it is your intention to question, detain or arrest me, or if you intend to remove my children from my custody, or serve me with a warrant, please allow me to call my attorney immediately."
~The Legal Shield card offered by Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
The project that I am working on is unconventional and at first glance, complicated. It utilizes some components that are not held in the highest regard. It is a bridge, a pump primer and catalyst, not an ends unto itself. It, no doubt, will have detractors. It is not a perfect idea because no idea can satisfy all interests, but it is practical, doable and uses market forces, volunteer energy and the human desire to help, to achieve it's aims. It is a low risk idea with a potential large upside. I believe that in full blossom it can green lower-income neighborhoods, provide liquidity in areas of most need and assist our efforts at forestalling economic collapse. Bold assertions true but I believe that I can make the case for this outcome if given the opportunity.
The idea can be found here, A Vehicle, a Method and a Bridge to a Green Future, (http://imaginegreenfuture.blogspot.com/2008/09/vehicle-method-and-bridge-to-green.html) along with supporting info. With this idea, we can create a new business model that will endow a social venture capital fund for many underfunded needs such as;
Funding small business start-ups, community cooperatives, support for early childhood education, tutors for students, additional income for teachers, support for the arts, hurricane mitigation, solar and energy conservation upgrades, neighborhood gardens, additional tree canopy, etc., all done using green metrics, local labor and the latest in green tech. We could make our neighborhoods LEED certified block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood.
You are probably aware of the condiments company, Newman's Own. Newman's Own (http://www.newmansown.com/) is a company started by Paul Newman that donates all profits and royalties after taxes to educational and charitable purposes. I believe that this concept --using private enterprise for public good-- can be utilized in many other applications.
Wall St. wobbles waiting for Main St. to find it's footing and Main St. is scared. Noted conservative journalist and commentator David Brooks put it this way;
"If there’s a thread running through the gravest current concerns, it is that people lack a secure environment in which they can lead their lives. Wild swings in global capital and energy markets buffet family budgets. Nobody is sure the health care system will be there when they need it. National productivity gains don’t seem to alleviate economic anxiety. Inequality strains national cohesion. In many communities, social norms do not encourage academic achievement, decent values or family stability. These problems straining the social fabric aren’t directly addressed by maximizing individual freedom."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/opinion/12brooks.html?hp
It seems that everyone is treading water until manna falls from heaven. Meanwhile, firms are laying off, businesses are failing, families frayed, communities are stressed, and people are suffering.
Free markets are constantly weeding out marginal players, this is par for the course. Economic dislocation always involve some pain. Yet, we may be in uncharted territory as we face severe challenges domestically and from abroad. Because of war commitments, huge entitlement programs and a citizenry hammered by a low tax mantra, policy makers have extremely difficult choices to make. Education budgets are being cut even when studies show that investments early on save expenditures down the road. Public safety costs are escalating and recidivism as well. We are increasingly paying more and getting less.
Essentially this is a method to use the power of the free market, volunteerism and self-help to build beauty, self-sufficiency and sustainability from the ground up in areas of society that are now a drain on public resources and often resistant to current remediation methods. The impulse to do good works, the need for social justice and the quickening wave of excitement about green energy creates an elegant community project generating a synergy greater than it's parts.
This project will not raise our taxes. This project will not force government regulation on overburdened business or people. This project will facilitate our working together to create green communities, bringing capital and income to areas of historic deficits. Please keep an open mind and have a look. As presented, it functions in a municipal context. I can show how the framework can be utilized in for-profit and non-profit organizations as well. Using this method, business owners may enhance recruitment, retention and job satisfaction for their valued team members and support Social Ventures through an innovative funding mechanism.
Thank you,
Bill Milner
Delray Beach, FL
http://imaginegreenfuture.blogspot.com/2008/09/vehicle-method-and-bridge-to-green.html
“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”
~Thomas A. Edison
http://www.myspace.com/zaragozabill
http://www.thebigwordproject.com/search?word=ablaze
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