Weekly News: Thailand's Sustainable Vision, Biodiversity and Food Supplies, and 5 CSR Activities in Hong Kong
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
Developing Thailand’s Vision of A Sustainable, Technology-driven Future
Bosses force female workers making jeans for Levis and Wrangler into sex
5 Corporate Bonding Activities To Make Hong Kong A Better Place
World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity
Thailand's Roads are Deadly, Especially if you are Poor
The Untold Story of the Vegetable Peeler That Changed the World
Weekly News: Patagonia's Bottom Line, Marketing Sustainability, Nestle Finds Child, and CEOs Promise Purpose
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
Patagonia's environmental mission hasn't just been good for the planet — it's also boosted the bottom line . Good news. Being a better corporate steward is profitable. Now, if only we could get more CEOs to buy in.
Nearly 200 CEOs just agreed on an updated definition of “the purpose of a corporation” - Pledges are easy, but the nice thing about pledges from corporate CEOs is that we only need to wait a quarter to see the results
The truth on poverty reduction around the world An interesting, if not blunt assessment of why Africa has failed to keep up with the rest of the world on reducing poverty. Key to this was economic growth and migration, something Asia has performed at perhaps the highest levels on over the last 25 years. However, while the article focuses on migration as a rich-to-poor country migration, what we see in Asia is more of a rural to urban migration.
Nestlé admits slavery in Thailand while fighting child labour lawsuit in Ivory Coast - While cases like these are bound to come up in any large supply chain, the fact that Nestle is employing child labor in multiple regions of the world would indicate that their leadership has not made this a priority any more than their commitments to deforestation.
Recycling is all about being taken for a ride - A pretty honest assessment of municipal recycling, and the value of materials that are being collected, the value of those materials, and why "recycling" isn't the solution.
Marketing the climate emergency - A great piece, with a lot of things to consider, on how we should be communication "sustainability" for improved action vs. apathy. Some great tactical information.
River of no return: Mekong faces grim future - The Mekong is in real trouble. How are we going to urbanize the next 2 billion Asians without water?
Food after oil: how urban farmers are preparing us for a self-sufficient future - An area of focus for me. I recommend others get up on urban farming as a way to increase resilience in our cities.
Weekly News: Busting Myths on Vegans and Volunteers, IKEA goes Green, and SE Asia Battle with Water
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
5 Surprising Myths About Volunteers and Donors - Some of these will come as no surprise to you, the educated and experienced Change Maker!
When You Burn Out While Changing the World - This is a big issue for many I know in the space.
Why a hipster, vegan, green tech economy is not sustainable - I am not sure the hipsters have ever tried to proclaim their vegan / green tech economy was sustainable. I think it was more about the hipsters looking for better ways to act on their convictions, which at times meant transitioning to veganism and supporting cleantech (EV cars, solar panels, etc).
The milk industry is changing. We meet the man giving dairy a run for its money - In this article, the hipster vegan is behind the milk industry's decline.
In Shanghai, every Ikea delivery is now made with an electric vehicle - Awesome news, and STAY TUNED... I am going to tru and arrange an interview and drive along on one of these trucks!
Mekong water level lowest in 10 years - The lack of water will be THE challenge faced in Asia, and while we have only started speaking about Chennai's issues, the lower Mekong struggles to reach the sea.
The Sea Is Consuming Jakarta, and Its People Aren't Insured - The poor always lose.
Weekly News: Feeding 10b People, 2030 SDG Update, 3D Printed Hearts, and AI Solves Urban Challenges
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
Can Planet Earth Feed 10 Billion People? - This is a question I am beginning to spend a lot more time considering, not as a function of population itself, but of the challenges that are going to be faced by urbanizing the next 2 billion Asians and supporting their dietary shift.
The world will not meet the 2030 Agenda goals - I never thought they would. Glad someone is willing to admit it.
The Man With the $13 Billion Checkbook - This is an amazing article that looks into Darren Walker, head of the Ford Foundation. Less about the foundation itself, and more about his rise through Ford Foundation,and his vision for the organization, with some very interesting insights into the world of high net worth philanthropy.
World’s First 3D Printed Hearts And Functional Beating Hearts Grown From Stem Cells - Advances like these will have a dramatic impact going forward.
Bali officially bans all single-use plastic to curb ocean pollution - I'll get excited when they officially stop using plastic bags
Google-backed Bali start-up tackles waste crisis with AI - This is something to get excited by, but hope they are able to scale quickly. Billions, in Asia, are looking at very uncertain water futures.
Using AI to make cities more responsive to their residents - Some interesting work and insights in this article
Some of the best places to eat, shop and sleep in Bangkok if you care about sustainability - Found this guide while doing a little research for my upcoming trip to Bangkok, and thought you might find it interesting as well.
Weekly News: Shanghai's Bold Waste Regulations, Circular Economies, and Awesome Ag Entrepreneur
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
Shanghai rubbish rules: New law sends Chinese city into frenzy - This regulation has been the talk of Asia, and for good reason... Shanghai went BOLD with their new waste separation program. Only a week in, a lot of articles are focused more on the fines than on the efficiency, but I have a plan for that!
Reduce, reuse, and recycle: can we achieve a global circular economy? - Once we collect the waste, we need to do something with it. Something, through my consulting work, is something MUCH easier said than done.
Urban farming company seeking to help the poor one bayong at a time - Sometimes it's the simple ideas.
America’s first urban ‘agrihood’ feeds 2,000 households for free - Delivering safe, affordable, and accessible food in 2050 is going to require we look at urban farming. Over the last few years, that concept has largely been dominated by the vertical movement, but in many (more) parts of the world the model may be more "agrihood"
Engineer Quits US Job, Builds Sustainable Homes From Agri-Waste In Villages! Tying the themes of waste and food together, this article highlights the work of an amazing entrepreneur who is using agri waste as a way to build homes.
Entrepreneurs Ending Alzheimers, India is TOO hot, and Passion Leading to Burnout | Weekly News
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
A vaccine for Alzheimer's is on the verge of becoming a reality - This is by far and away my pick of the week. first, becuase we are apparently very close to having an answer to Alzeimers, and second, because this article is a story about a family business where the entrepreneur was driven by a pass
Are parts of India becoming too hot for humans? - As if Chennai running out of water wasn't bad enough, temperatures across many areas of India are reaching the upper 40s, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
A Nasty Swine Virus in China Means Big Trouble for US Farmers - China is losing the battle against African swine flu, and it is costing farmers billions. This article provides a nuce summery of the size, scale and scope of the problem.
With Love From An Oregon Prison: How Eric Lundgren Is Going To Help You Recycle All Your Electronics - While the world is searching for answers to waste, in Oregon an entrepreneur was sentenced to 13 months in prison for buying scrap computers, installing their original Microsoft OS, and then putting them back into the economy.
US investors hunt for the Beyond Meat of China - On the other side of the world, investors are looking for their entry point into Asia's plant based movement.
Engineer Quits US Job, Builds Sustainable Homes From Agri-Waste In Villages! - Another phenonminal article about Shriti Pandey's path as a social entrepreneurto launch a green construction firm.
When Passion Leads to Burnout - As discused, briefly, in my recent interview with Tom Stader, this is an important topic, and I fully intend to keep a light on it.
Weekly News: Plastic Bits, Pollution Entrepreneurs, and Learning from Failure
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
23 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better - It's very easy to look at a social media feed and think that things are going the wrong way. Sometimes that is true, but at other (perhaps the majority of) times, we simply need a bit of perspective.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Isn’t What You Think it Is - National Geographic
It's not what you think. It's a lot bigger, and full of a lot of different materials in smaller quantities. And it is important to understand that as we are not going to fix the problem if we create the wrong solutions.
How Start-ups Are Battling Air Pollution in China - Entrepreneur
It's a lot of fun seeing entrepreneurs you know get mentioned in the news, particularly when they are the good guys developing new products and business models for solving big challenges.
Why do digital health startups keep failing? - Fast Company
This is a market that will see a lot of failure, but through that are the solutions that will scale to bring safe, affordable, and accessible healthcare to the masses. Perhaps by reading this, you'll gain some insights into how it should actually be done
Weekly News: Vegans Get Rich, What is Beef, and the Need for Small Farms
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
Why we need small farms - An awesome photo piece on small farmers. Individuals, and collectives, that supply up to 70% of the world's food.
A China Veggie-Selling App May Be Worth $7 billion - Being a "mission driven" entrepreneur is business.
Vegan Company Reportedly Sets Sights On IPO
The “Beef” With Plant Based “Meat” Product Labels - No one said changing the world was easy, but this article seems to suggest that some of those barriers may be coming down.
Worker-owned co-ops are coming for the digital gig economy - An interesting article on the future of the gig-economy and organizations.
Weekly News Roundup:
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article or event that you feel needs to be mentioned, please link it in the comments section below!
For Business to Be Good, It Must Be Good for Everyone - Be The Change
Thai Beach Is Closing ‘Indefinitely’ Due to Overtourism - The Points Guy
New Paper on Deep Adaptation to Climate Chaos - IFLAS
The Future Innovators Index 2018 - Vanity Fair
Seaweed’ pencil shows untapped economic potential of marine resources - Algae World
Impact investing is booming–but not nearly enough to make radical change - Fast Company
Weekly News Roundup: Impact Investing, Smart Devices, and Social Change
With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, I have created this post to highlight articles that I feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
If you have an article, or event, that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
Champions of Impact Investing - Barrons
While impact investing, and impact investors, has been a topic for some time, the reality is that there have been few transactions to date. Through this article though, you will gain an understanding of some of the personalities and the infrastructure that are behind what I believe will ultimate bring "the movement" into full force.
Smart device gives elderly and disabled more time to cross Hong Kong’s busy streets - SCMP
With many of Asia's cities greying, there are a lot of daily challenges that cities will face in supporting this population. In HK, that means testing a system that will slow traffic down so that the elderly can safely cross the road.
Al Gore: sustainability is history’s biggest investment opportunity -
While an Inconvenient Truth is what many will know Al Gore for, his work through his fund (Generation Investment Management) is something that I believe will help build the business case for sustainable investing. While small in size, the fund has produced well above average returns through their selection process and interest in taking on active board positions. This article provides some insights into his mindset and process.
Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and CEO Social Capital, on Money as an Instrument of Change
More than a hour in length, this candid fireside chat with Chamath Palihapitiya at Stanford is illuminating, and should give a lot of people pause. For me, I can honestly say that a few of his comments have led me to question (1) is what I am doing in Asia enough and (2) if not, how do I pivot activities to have a larger impact.