Purpose Inspired #68

PICTURE OF THE WEEK - #MUSIC        

REFLECTION OF THE WEEK - #BIOPHILIA        

Are you bringing nature indoors? Is your workplace a green haven? Biophilia literally means ‘nature love’ but is associated with biologist Edward O. Wilson’s philosophy that humans have an innate, biological affinity for the natural world. I remember staying at a Marriott hotel in Wroclaw, Poland, which uses biophilic design principles: wooden floors and panels, curved lines, marble and stone, lots of plants, natural light and posters of nature. Research shows that biophilic design reduces stress, increases focus, boosts immunity and reduces mental illness. Interface, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft are fans of biophilia. Is your company? Are you?

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK - #SPOILER        

“Sustainability is like a geeky, pimply teenager who has come to our party and turned off the music”

Quote from?Sustainable Frontiers?| More quotes on?social responsibility,?sustainable business?and?transformational change

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK - WHEN WILL ANIMAL CRUELTY GO OUT OF FASHION?        

Every year, more than 150 billion animals are slaughtered, ending their extremely short lives having endured unspeakable suffering under barbaric factory-farming conditions, to satisfy insatiable human appetites for food and clothing.?What I find surprising is how seldom animal rights makes it onto the ethical agendas of business, government and civil society. In this short reflective piece, I want to examine why this is – and more importantly, why the situation is now rapidly changing, happily for the better.

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PODCAST OF THE WEEK - MAKING NET POSITIVE THE NEW NORM        

Andrew Winston is co-author of Net Positive (with Paul Polman). In this episode of the Thriving podcast, he speaks about: How net positive – which means thriving by solving the world’s problems, not causing them – is different from what came before; What the outside-in perspective – including the science-based targets movement – means for business strategy; What companies like Unilever, IKEA, Patagonia, Mars, Microsoft, Google, and Stripe are doing to earn their recognition as pioneers in net positive; Why partnerships and shifting societal norms are the key to making progress towards net positive – and achieving the scale of solutions that we urgently need; and What examples we see of tipping points that are seeding the net positive movement – including in clean tech and sustainable finance.

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POEM OF THE WEEK - MY FATHER'S SON        

We’ve come a great long way together / Upon the trail of father and son / We’ve chased the flight of Illusions’ feather / And watched the swirling Tao stream run.

From cradling safety in your arms / To infant hugs down on the beach / And catapulting shoulder dives – / Your love was never out of reach.

Then as I grew from boy to man / You placed a compass in my hand – / A set of values and ideals / That point true North in every land.

I watched and learned, as patient deeds / Turned dreams into reality / You taught me that hard work and faith / Grow seeds defying gravity.

So many worlds we’ve seen together / So many things we’ve dared and done / I love you always and forever / I’m proud to be my father’s son.

Poem link |?More poems

BOOK OF THE WEEK - CSR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COMPENDIUM        

In this Compendium, CSR International has compiled summaries of the best research on corporate sustainability, social responsibility and business ethics (2009-2014) including practitioner reports, market surveys and academic papers. Volume 1 focuses on Governance, Volume 2 on Environment, and Volume 3 on Society.

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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK - #FOOD        

Through food, we are connected across the divide, without having to sacrifice our identity. Food lets us to express who we are and where we are; to tell the tale of how we got there and what lies ahead. It connects us to the land and binds us to our cultures. Our food links us to the chain of life.

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ARCHIVE OF THE WEEK - CONNECTING EARTH AND SKY        

In this epilogue, I finish the season by returning to the big picture. Because sustainability is not just about business, leadership and innovation. And it is certainly not just about surviving the future. It is also about living in a world of abundance and diversity in a way that that brings joy and inspiration. Jean M. Russell calls this?Thrivability. I cover: The Birth and Rebirth of Creation; Recalling and Retelling the Stories of Hope; and Relearning the Skill of Listening to Life.

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THRIVING FEATURE OF THE WEEK - #BIOMASS        

Without the ecological principle of circularity, the earth would collapse under its own weight. To illustrate, imagine if the 10,000 acorns and 200,000 leaves that a mature oak tree produces every year were not biodegradable. Very few acorns become new oak trees, so within a decade, we would be wading knee-deep in leaves and acorns. Now let’s scale that idea up. The earth’s total living biomass (the sum of all living materials) has been estimated at 1.1 trillion tons. Think of what would happen if all of that material simply accumulated year after year, rather than being broken down and recycled back into food for nature’s processes and organisms.

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Copyright 2022 Wayne Visser