Dr Bonners and why it is good for you and the planet!

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201204/tom-foster/the-undiluted-genius-of-dr-bronners.html

There's a common narrative that unfolds the first time you buy Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. It starts in the store, where the bottles, with their brightly colored, text-heavy labels, line up like cure-alls from some deranged medicine man. You pick one up. Later, in the shower, there comes a curious tingling sensation after you've lathered up your nether regions. That's when you reach for the bottle again to give it a closer read.
There are quotes from Mao, Jesus, Hillel, Einstein, and George Washington, among others. There's something called the Moral ABC, which appears to be a philosophy for uniting all humans on Spaceship Earth. There's a lot of religious ranting, a liberal dose of exclamation points, and instructions for cleansing your "mind-body-soul-spirit instantly."
Now you're more curious than ever. And if you read enough of the label and happen to Google Dr. Bronner after you've toweled off, you'll discover the story of the late Emanuel Bronner, which reads like bizarro fiction. (We'll get to it shortly.) That story is just the beginning......In 2005, David decided he couldn't in good conscience buy raw materials from operations that didn't take labor practices as seriously as he did, so he set a two-year goal of switching all the company's major ingredients to certified fair trade. Only one problem: Nobody could find any certified organic and fair-trade farms that produced some of those ingredients.
The solution: Get into the farming business. By 2008, Dr. Bronner's owned a 200-employee fair-trade coconut-oil operation in Sri Lanka and a 150-employee palm-oil plant in Ghana, and had partnered on a peppermint-oil operation in India. Maybe the most audacious fair-trade project so far has been a partnership that combines olive oils from farmers in the West Bank and Israel, and has become a symbol of Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. Emanuel Bronner would be proud.

Two interesting articles from the BBC

Could babies' faces reduce crime?

• The experiment, named Babies of the Borough, follows other attempts to try and use the environment to moderate behaviour.
• One that has had plenty of publicity is the controversial Mosquito Anti-Loitering Security Device. The gadget emits an unbearable buzzing sound and can be set to a pitch that is audible only to those under the age of 25. It was initially used to prevent teenagers gathering outside shops, but opponents tried to get it banned as a breach of human rights.
• Music has also been used. London Underground copied a successful scheme from Tyne and Wear's Metro system to use classical music to reduce crime.
• Police cells in Switzerland were painted a colour described as "cool-down pink", which is said to keep prisoners calm.
• In the town of Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, pink lighting has been installed in areas where teenagers hang out. It's supposed to highlight their acne, so they're too embarrassed to be seen there. Cardiff too, has been experimenting with the same idea.

The forbidden public toilets of Beijing

The journalists' rule of thumb in China is that you cannot report the so-called three Ts - Tiananmen, Taiwan or Tibet. But it turns out there is also another T that upsets Chinese censors.

Two cool new services (Food and sharing)

http://www.ohsowe.com/ - Share More. Waste Less. Help Neighbors.


OhSoWe.com is a website that helps neighbors share resources (items and skills). We make it easier for friends, colleagues, neighbors, parent groups, teams, classmates, churches, Google Group, clubs, hobbyists, Meetups and other groups to asily share items like garden tools, camping gear, small kitchen appliances, party supplies, handbags, ...

http://cookitfor.us/

See a recipe you want made? Then "Crave It!". We'll notify you when local Makers "Make It!" - which could be as soon as now! The more Cravers "Crave It!", the more Makers will "Make It!", so be sure to "Share It!" with your family and friends! Crave. Make. Share.

Arunachalam Muruganantham: The first man to wear a sanitary napkin #INKt...

In under 12 minutes, listen to the fascinating journey of a workshop helper - from being rejected by the same women whose lives he wanted to change - to now gearing up to create jobs for a million women.

ABOUT ARUNACHALAM MURUGANANTHAM :http://www.inktalks.com/people/arunachalam-muruganantham

H/T to my dad

Nordstron Innovation Lab

Nordstron Innovation Lab
So a real smart, well thought out post from Rory Ford landed in my in-box earlier this week via the Gov2.0Australia Google list serve. The post had a link to his blog and being naturally curious, I went snooping and found a post he had written about this really cool shopping/marketing thingy done by Nordstrom Innovation Labs. Basically the Innovation Lab hijacked a real Nordstrom's store in Seattle for a week and in real time created an Ipad app for customers who wanted to buy sunglasses. Reminded me a little bit of NYC's Improv Everywhere.

I would think the next step would be to make a TV spot about this, set to some cool music, cause just watching the case study on youtube, makes me want to go and shop at Nordstrom's!