Bushmen and Sumerians

By Bill Hinchberger

Bushmen and Sumerians. The First People and the first civilization akin to anything we might remotely recognize today. Their stories demonstrate how human beings have coped, and failed to cope, with localized water scarcity. As our planet enters “the coming age of permanent drought,” as author James G. Workman puts it in the subtitle of his book about the Bushmen, their experiences offer clues about how we might address our impending global water crisis. Not, as we shall see, that this will make it any easier for democratic politicians.

Sumerians

In her book Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map, Cleo Paskal examines sundry ways that geopolitics may be affected by climate change and resource scarcity. Nowhere is her book more poignant than where it compares our water problems today with those of the people who inhabited what is now southeastern Iraq, between the Tigres and Euphrates rivers, starting around the mid-fourth millennium B.C.

Do Something!

DoSomething calls itself the "largest org in the US for teens and social change." The organization further describes itself as: "A driving force in creating a culture of volunteerism, DoSomething.org is on track to activate two million young people in 2011. By leveraging the web, television, mobile, and pop culture, DoSomething.org inspires, empowers and celebrates a generation of doers: teenagers who recognize the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action." Indeed, DoSomething's causes include helping with disaster response and relief, addressing and finding solutions to teen violence and bullying, bringing attention to human trafficking and child labor among other international human rights issues, and offering information and action ideas on animal welfare.

One project being highlighted currently is "Rainbow Caps." Eleven-year-old Mahima Aggarwal is making crochet caps for kids with cancer in India. Contact her at rainbowcaps.com, send her yarn and hooks, or help her make the caps.

Another project is the "Battle for the Bands." This campaign aims to promote music education. Then there's an effort to provide jeans to homeless youths.

So if you have a cause that needs funding, if you want to start a club, if you want to contribute to a cause, then do so with DoSomething!

1+3: Partnering for China

It has been three years since the China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD) launched its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) “1+3” project. The CBCSD has worked together with BASF and 14 other member companies and their “1+3” teams, actively exploring and promoting both a local and international approach to social responsibility in China.

The CBCSD is a coalition of 75 leading Chinese and foreign enterprises in China. Officially established in 2003, the CBCSD recognizes the importance of sustainable development and aims to nurture closer cooperation, dialogue and exchange between business, government and other likeminded organizations.

Under the CSR “1+3” initiative, member companies are expected to train three or more of their partners from their supply chain, based on their own experiences with CSR. Issues addressed include environmental protection, labor issues and human rights protection. Thirty-six companies joined the first phase of the program under the guidance of 11 multinationals, including BASF, and several Chinese multinationals, including Sinopec and COSCO.

LifeGate: People, Planet, Profit

LifeGate puts the environment at the center of doing business. One of its projects, Impatto Zero (Zero Impact), which lowers carbon emissions through reforestation, has created over 20 million square meters of new forests since the Italian company was founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Marco Roveda. Another LifeGate activity is LifeGate Engineering, which advises residences, businesses and public services on renewable energy systems, while LifeGate Renewable Energy distributes the clean energy. Another business, LifeGate Ecojeans, makes organic cotton jeans.

LifeGate founder and president Marco Roveda started and then sold two companies at a young age, bringing him wealth, but he soon realized he was less interested in making money than in promoting quality-of-life principles and non-materialistic values. Thus he created LifeGate, which "offers a unique model for a new economy, where business has a conscience and people are aware of their actions, and how they affect others and the environment." LifeGate's website includes thousands of articles on health, the environment, natural foods, electric cars and a myriad of other subjects endorsing social and environmental awareness, and challenging readers to think about how their actions and acquisitions impact others and the planet.

From Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2010, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

SCALEAfrica: Transforming Lives

This is the story of an architect who, having traveled to a school in Zambia and seen the often limited conditions in which the primary schools operate there, decided to devote some of her spare time to fund-raising and designing affordable and sustainable schools and housing in Africa. Erinn McGurn's side project has turned into her life mission. In 2006 she created SCALEAfrica to work on multiphased projects that include school renovation, improved sanitation, the design and construction of classrooms that use local labor and building materials, passive solar techniques and natural ventilation, as well as the provision of basic educational materials and furniture. To ensure community buy-in and respect for the local culture, Erinn works with governmental and tribal officials and the Ministry of Education. She has now left the architectural firm where she worked in New York on residential design to concentrate full time on SCALEAfrica, which is funded entirely by private donations. Erinn's stated aim is to devise a scalable, sustainable design model that can be replicated in various places.

SCALEAfrica is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that, in its own words, is "dedicated to the improvement of rural schools in sub-Saharan Africa through the use of sustainable building techniques and active community participation. The model of sustainable design is intended to allow communities to build in ways that can be supported and maintained by their existing resources, with a focus on improving public health and education. SCALEAfrica aims to meld principles of sustainability with practical and cost effective local solutions." Do consider a donation or other support so SCALEAfrica can keep up its tremendous work!

Empowering Women in the Workforce

Founded in 1991, Phulki demonstrates how investing in on-site daycare services at the workplace, be it in factories, companies or government offices, can benefit working mothers as well as their employers. The organization was started in Bangladesh by Suraiya Haque as a way to allow disadvantaged mothers to breastfeed their infants while at work and gain access to childcare during the day. Today Phulki operates 130 childcare facilities, which the company either manages for a fee or runs with the help of the employers whose company personnel are trained in daycare management by Phulki. Business owners in Bangladesh who have worked with Phulki concur that Phulki's daycare services lead to employees who are more productive at work, happier and absent less often. Haque's efforts have also helped women stay in jobs, allowing them greater economic security and independence as well as increased gender balance and empowerment.

Excerpt from Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2010, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

Driving Sustainable Production and Consumption

The green economy, and balancing economic and environmental development, is an increasingly important topic in China. Global companies must demonstrate leadership in incorporating sustainability issues in their own operations and product offering. China is one of Nokia’s largest markets, and Nokia has had a substantial presence in the country for 25 years. Like in all Nokia’s local operations, sustainability issues in Nokia China are managed according to global policies and standards, including local production and supply chain management, as well as raising consumer awareness of take-back and recycling programs.

Based on a visionary goal created a decade ago, Nokia has set up a mobile industry value chain in the Xingwang Industrial Park in Beijing that “clusters” Nokia and its key suppliers to produce mobile phones under stringent environmental standards with regard to manufacturing, distribution, sales and recycling. Commissioned by Nokia in 2009, research at the Xingwang Industrial Park shows how well environmental protection and business goals can go hand in hand, achieving considerable cost reduction for the companies located in the area by reducing energy consumption, optimizing material use, and reducing both logistics and inventory costs. It has been called “one of the largest and most complete industry value chains in the world.”

Wild Animal Sanctuary Steps It Up a Notch!

Last August I wrote a post about the amazing work of the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. The Sanctuary is "the oldest and largest nonprofit Sanctuary in the US dedicated exclusively to rescuing captive exotic and endangered large carnivores, providing them with a wonderful life for as long as they live, and educating about the tragic plight faced by an estimated 30,000 such animals in America today.”