7gen Bloc

Today we have a guest post from Ariya Martin of the New Orleans Kid Camera Project. The Crescent City is a realm near and dear to my own heart and to many others here, and I think this initiative is one of the most inspiring to emerge in the post-Katrina era. Well, as the first blog posted from the New Orleans Kid Camera Project, and as one of the organizers, I thought it would be appropriate to give a project overview and talk about our mission.

From the balcony of the room, one could be atop a giant schooner challenging the 20 – 30 mile an hour winds that fill the ocean with endless whitecaps. This jagged shoreline is relentlessly wild. Rocky points hide coves within coves. The rock is sharp and granular, the beaches packed hard with fine damp sand that never dries. The tides rush in over hundreds of yards of almost flat beach, beaches nearly devoid of shells other then the mussels that have been pried loose from the nests where multitudes grow, more than one could ever harvest or eat.

It wouldn’t surprise anyone (at least here) to find out that chemical poisoning is ultimately to blame for the strange epidemic of honeybee vanishings. That idea gets another boost today from new reports that researchers are zeroing in on the pesticide imidacloprid as the likely cause.

In 2001, we had a problem with our baby wipes. Or rather with the manufacturing partner who produced our formula for us. What happened next is a case study in the challenges that socially responsible businesses so often face. Literally. By that I mean that University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business Professor Mike Russo and former grad student Dan Goldstein have actually turned the story into one that just won the 2007 oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition sponsored by the oikos Foundation at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

They say we live in the age of information. Wireless internet, satellite TV, digital radio, ThisTube, ThatTube, a zillion channels and everything’s on. Information is everywhere. People traffic in it. Profit from it. Spread it. Share it. Find it. Know it. We cram our tired heads with trivia and ephemera and worse, but to what end?

Several interesting developments on the bee front in recent days. For one thing, it’s been gratifying to (finally) see the mainstream media pick up the story. Seems like it took forever, but the issue (and a fair amount of its seriousness) is at last being communicated by TV, newspapers, and other conventional media outlets. People are talking about it. Attention is being focused. That’s a good thing because that’s how action happens. If nobody knows or cares about a crisis, it generally isn’t treated like one.

In Second Life I am Kelvin Kavka. Last week I met up with my ole film gu-ru, Robert, aka Shamada Shinobu at the Seventh Generation Design Center on Echoditto Island (188, 98, 27) to shoot some shite. Come check out the design center, let me know what you think. It is our first iteration "place" so we have virtual miles to go. Also, check out the rest of Echoditto island, designed by my ole karma buddy Usu Ventura - some pretty cool design going on. Soon...WR

With less than 12 hours left until the application deadline for Change It 07 I am overwhelmed by the number of students who have already applied. Last year’s total number of applicants for Change It was 420. And with still half a day left for the (inevitable) procrastinators to apply to our activism training program, we’ve already received nearly 1,200 thoughtful submissions from students who want to “be the change”. I’m just so excited to see such an amazing response!

Several months ago the U.K.-based Employee Ownership Association published an exceptionally important and insightful report about the tremendous benefits of employee-owned companies. The report has some invaluable observations for all businesses, and I highly recommend it. Here are just a few highlights: