The city began the process in 2009 with a report analyzing bike-shares Velib’ in Paris, Bicing in Barcelona, SmartBike in Washington DC, Bixi in Montreal and Vélô Toulouse in Toulouse for clues about successful bike-share programs. It concluded that to truly be successful and financially viable, programs have to be large scale, and recommended that NYC plan a city-wide program. Financing is expected to come from membership fees, sponsorship and advertising, and will be shared between the program contractor and the city. Stations will be placed on streets, sidewalks and parks, and users will be able to take out bikes based on an as-yet-to-be-designed subscription system. Bikes could be returned and taken out from any station with membership. #

There has been a huge boom in bike-share programs recently, and the programs are particularly useful in densely populated cities where commuter and travel distances are small. In other cities, bike-share programs have been low-cost and relatively easy to operate. #

NYCDOT predicts that New York’s relatively flat layout and high density will make it an ideal bike-share city. The city hopes to make the large-scale program specific to New York by placing bike stations close together, utilizing existing public spaces, using bike-station designs that do not interfere with subways or road-work and starting the program in the city’s highest density areas. The ideal bikes-share would also target  transportation-needy areas, like areas of northwest Brooklyn and Queens where research indicates that insufficient transit results in many commuters driving to work who could easily bike instead. #

Cycling itself in New York City is at an all-time reported high, and the NYCDOT reports that cycling accidents have reduced dramatically in recent years due to new facilities and lanes. NYC has over 620 miles of bike lanes. With this program NYCDOT hopes to make the best use of these lanes, and change the way that New Yorkers get around their home. #]]> http://dowser.org/new-york-citys-bike-share-program-to-launch-in-2012/feed/ 5 http://dowser.org/how-nuru-lights-markets-leds-via-networks-of-micro-entrepreneurs/ http://dowser.org/how-nuru-lights-markets-leds-via-networks-of-micro-entrepreneurs/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:56:22 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=9562

While driving through a village in Rwanda, Sameer Hajee came across a mother walking with her two-year-old son, who had severe burns covering a third of his body. The cause: an accident from a kerosene lamp. “That haunting image of the boy, who was the same age as my kid then, is what keeps me going,” says Hajee, founder and CEO of Nuru Lights. His company sells affordable, off-the-grid lighting systems to poor people who would otherwise be dependent on hazardous and expensive fuel sources, like kerosene. The Nuru portable LED lights are charged by pedal-operated generators and sold by local entrepreneurs backed by microfinance. Currently in India and parts of Africa, Nuru is looking to expand to new markets. #

Dowser caught up with Hajee to learn more about Nuru’s technology and business model. #

Dowser: You have an engineering background in the U.S. and Canada; how did you end up designing lights in India?
Hajee: My first engagement with the developing world was with a telecom operator in Afghanistan. I worked there for six months and realized that delivering technology was really an area I wanted to focus my life on. I was looking for something that would enable me to use my background in engineering [to make] an impact. I wanted a career in the BoP [Bottom of the Pyramid] space and thankfully I got to work with the United Nations in exactly this area. #

How did the idea of Nuru come about?
[At] the United Nations I was working with global corporates, helping them think through and develop business models for the rural poor. It was not CSR or charity; we were seeking ways to engage the rural poor either as suppliers or consumers to the products and services these companies offered. I spent a year there as a BoP consultant. #

One of the clients we had was Freeplay Energy who had developed hand-cranked power technology back in 1995. I knew that this could have a lot of impact. People were using kerosene or firewood for energy and I thought: this technology can [put] them in charge of the energy they need. I started to work with Freeplay full time. We had a product called Weza, which was a foot-powered generator. That got me thinking, there is a lot of room for development of new products here. We pitched many ideas but [Freeplay] was not in a position to develop and design new products. So eventually I left and started Nuru energy. #

What went into the design and conceptualization of the product?
We knew that the primary need for energy at the BoP is lighting, the other, cooking. We started in Rwanda. It has one of the highest densities of population in the region but one of the lowest distribution rates for electricity. #

We spent six weeks in rural Rwanda, to study consumer patterns and to learn more about how they used energy. Ninety percent of the population used kerosene and a majority of the energy needs were task-based – the whole room need not be lit up, only a specific area. We thought of providing smaller lights, which are affordable but can be bundled if you need more. So it’s a modular aspect of lighting, which is an innovation we have patented. We looked at solar as an option for the charger but it was inefficient. Human power is fantastically efficient, and you can charge up the devices very quickly. We designed a simple pedal device that uses existing pedal and cycle parts available in the rural market. #

How do you distribute?
That's what makes our model work – we do not directly have to contact or sell to the end-consumers; we do that through our network of rural entrepreneurs in Africa and in India. The entrepreneurs buy a charging unit through a loan from the microfinance partner, and from the income they generate, pay off the loans. #

These entrepreneurs are able to charge five portable lights in 20 minutes, and in Rwanda they charge 30 U.S. cents [per unit]. Each charged portable light lasts 20-40 hours, which means seven to ten days of usage. The entrepreneurs make $1.50 from each recharge, which is as much as they make in a day [farming] and less strenuous than agriculture. For households a one-time charge almost lasts a week and this means a $1.20 [expenditure on light] for the month, which is one tenth of what they used to spend on kerosene. #

Do you train the entrepreneurs?
We provide technology with marketing materials. The financing of the pack comes from microfinance partners. We work with BASIX in India who also has a focus on generating sustainable livelihood. #

What are your plans for India?
Our plan is to manufacture in India. Based on our research and calculations we estimate that it is going to cost about $6 for a light and $200 dollars for the generator. The generator is a shared resource and we are not selling it to every single household. We are using the collaborative consumption approach. #

We are in Orissa at the moment. We want to scale to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal in the first quarter of 2011. #

How would you compare this with solar lighting?
We are working toward selling the lights at one-third the cost of a representative comparison of the solar light. Within six months the entrepreneur will have paid back the loan along with the interest. The loan for buying a power cycle/generator is for an income-generation asset and helps the economy of the village. #

Interview was edited and condensed. #

Photo: Nuru Lights #]]> http://dowser.org/how-nuru-lights-markets-leds-via-networks-of-micro-entrepreneurs/feed/ 2 http://dowser.org/emergent-how-to-create-a-profitable-green-energy-company/ http://dowser.org/emergent-how-to-create-a-profitable-green-energy-company/#comments Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:53:53 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=8204 #

The Emergent Energy Group was founded in the basement of a Tufts University dorm, and the founders, Jayson Uppal and Jesse Gossett, got their first consulting contract before they got bachelor's degrees. By 2009 Business Week had named them among the nation's top young entrepreneurs. Emergent Energy Group helps communities, individuals, and businesses assess their resources so that they can implement cost-effective renewable energy technologies.  Here, Dowser talks with the 25-year-old Uppal about being a young entrepreneur and running a profitable business with a green mission. #

Dowser: What are the latest innovations in green energy?
Uppal: The solar energy space is seeing the most innovation right now. The focus has been on both increasing the technology’s efficiency while reducing costs. Thanks to cost reductions on the manufacturing side combined with lower demand during the recession, we have seen a 50 percent price drop over the past two years, making solar energy quite actively sought out.

Are you working on projects dealing with solar energy space?
The lowering cost of solar technology along with a strong incentive program here in Massachusetts has actually led us to focus on solar projects. We have found that municipalities, universities, and businesses can actually reduce their energy costs by producing electricity on site with solar panels. For example, we are working with Anna Maria College in Paxton Massachusetts to implement a solar facility that would power most or all of their campus. #

How is Emergent different from other energy-consulting firms?
Most firms work on the side of the financier and construction company to determine what would be the most lucrative financial structure for the financier and construction company. We work on the side of the host town, business, or university, and bid out the project. This creates a competitive landscape in which the financier and construction companies must offer fair pricing to secure the project, ensuring the host is getting the best deal possible. #

Has age played a role in your experience as a social entrepreneur?
Age absolutely plays a role. It goes both ways. On one hand, many potential clients are immediately skeptical of our capabilities. We therefore take professionalism very seriously, and we work hard to ensure that our work is of the highest possible quality. On the other hand, many seasoned entrepreneurs are more than willing to help us find our way. We have found a number of amazing mentors and advisers who are willing to help us through the learning curve of being an entrepreneur. #

Why did you decide to go into green energy?
I've always had a passion for environmentalism. But it goes beyond that. I want to solve one of humanity's biggest problems right now: limited resources.  We need to get back to a point where we can sustain our economy for thousands of years and not just the next few. Fortunately, we're in a better position then in the past to do so because of technology. #

What were the toughest issues you faced in starting the business?
Being young was for sure the biggest hurdle. Besides having to work especially hard to appeal to funders and clients alike and maintain a high level of professionalism, we also had to realize that nobody on the team had any knowledge of business practices. We improvised as we went along, which had its benefits but was also really tough. It taught us the importance of learning from mistakes, and then being able to rebuild quickly after the inevitable mistakes were made.  One example of that is that Emergent quickly grew to six employees. Frankly, our problem was that we didn't have a concrete enough business model at the time to sustain those six people.  We had to learn to find a balance between growth and financial limitations. #

What would you like Emergent to be known for in 10 years? What's your strategy for getting there?
Jesse and I are fundamental believers that we have an opportunity to redefine how we produce and consume energy. Rapidly improving renewable energy technology makes it financially lucrative for us to harness our own resources. By keeping control on a community level, we have the opportunity to drive local economic development through cost savings, stability, and a new source of revenue. In ten years, we hope to have realized this vision. #

We have been working on the past six months to develop a comprehensive community energy implementation plan for cities and towns in Massachusetts. Through this process, we hope to set a clear path for our communities to reduce their overhead costs, become energy independent, and attract new businesses and industry through the implementation of renewable energy. We already have two pilot communities lined up that we hope to begin work on in the spring.

Do you have any advice for young entrepreneurs?
If you have a passion and you think you have a good idea for a business, do it. There's no better time to start than in or right out of school; you have nothing to lose. Right now is great too because of the job market how it is. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I've learned more the last three years than at any other point in my life. Even if I left tomorrow, I've learned the most incredible fundamentals that will help me professionally in whatever I do, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. #

This interview has been edited and condensed. #

Photo: Emergent Energy Group #]]> http://dowser.org/emergent-how-to-create-a-profitable-green-energy-company/feed/ 0 http://dowser.org/mini-case-study-heal-the-bay-on-how-to-make-a-video-go-viral/ http://dowser.org/mini-case-study-heal-the-bay-on-how-to-make-a-video-go-viral/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:30:09 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=8083
Social innovators can learn from each others' successes and failures. That's the idea behind Dowser's Mini Case Studies, real-world stories showing how changemakers confront practical challenges. #

PROBLEM:
The environmental advocacy group Heal the Bay has identified marine debris as a core problem – and an issue ripe for political action. “Sixty to eighty percent of urban runoff is plastic,” says the group’s Communications Director Matthew King. “You just need to take a walk along the shoreline after a rainy day and you’ll see. We have to do something about plastic.” For five years, the group has been sponsoring bag ban bills in state and local legislatures, educating on marine debris issues, and leading beach clean-ups and other actions. In spring 2010, when the California plastic bag ban – AB1998 – finally came up in the state senate, the group knew it needed a big push if the bill had a chance of becoming law. But Heal the Bay had no budget for a major media campaign. #

RESPONSE:
King met with longtime advertising agency partner DDB, whose group Creative Director Kevin McCarthy is a Heal the Bay supporter and volunteer.  To succeed, they knew they needed to appeal to emotion to personalize the story, and to make the video funny instead of didactic. McCarthy and others agreed to work pro-bono on a nature mockumentary, a film exploring the life of a plastic bag. They brought in Partisan Pictures to produce the film and Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons to do the voice-over. Once they saw the film, King’s colleagues knew they had a powerful communication tool. To promote it, they sent it around to sites like Boing Boing, The Huffington Post, and the UK Guardian. Within a few days it was the second most-watched video on YouTube. “I think it went viral because of the compelling storytelling that combined humor, drama and education,” said King. “I liked that what had been thought of as the villain – the plastic bag – became an unlikely hero as it fought off all these challenges to make it to the ocean.” #

RESULTS:
“The [film] drew people in in a way nothing had been able to before,” King said. Although AB1998 did not pass, King considers the campaign a success. Thousands of people beyond Heal the Bay’s usual supporters responded by sending letters. Local legislators – including Arnold Schwarzenegger, who watched video with his staff – have taken up the plastic bag ban cause. Schools and other institutions across the country have asked for copies of the video to distribute. The video demonstrated the power of storytelling and entertainment in campaigns that can otherwise be filled with “so much doom and gloom,” said King. “The outstanding production values, Jeremy Irons' understated narration, the stirring music and the bits of humor all made for an entertaining – rather than hectoring – film.” He added: “This made us look like a creative risk taker and smart communicator and advocate – and it now really is a calling card for us.” #

Click here to view the embedded video.

# #

Around 100 million Americans use web-connected, camera-equipped phones on a daily -- probably hourly -- basis. Which is why many developers are exploring how this extraordinary resource can be harnessed for social change. By using our phones to snap photographs of trash-filled riverbeds, for example, or geo-tag pervasive noise pollution, just about anyone can contribute to vital data treasures that can reshape the world. Such crowd-sourced data advances scientific research and improves long-term planning. Today, we feature a few of our favorite apps that are empowering everyday people to become citizen scientists. #

#

• NOAH, or Networked Organisms And Habitats, is an iPhone app that helps people learn more about the natural world using the virtual one. You can download field guides to look up different organisms you want to learn more about, or you can volunteer for a mission to help research groups and organizations track invasive plants or log photographs of endangered species. Right now, NOAH is working with groups who need help tracking wildlife in the Gulf Coast region.

• Using the Visibility smartphone app, you can help researchers at the Robotic Embedded Systems Laboratory measure air pollution. After downloading the app, take a picture of the sky, rate the visibility and upload the image. The researchers who receive your image have developed an algorithm that lets them assess the particulate matter in the air just by collecting a large quantity of unobstructed images of the sky. So the more images you send in, they better they can evaluate the air pollution in your area.

• Creek Watch is an iPhone app that lets you help monitor the health of your local watershed. If you pass by a waterway you can use the Creek Watch application to snap a picture and note how much water and trash you see. Analysts aggregate the data and share it with water control boards to help them track pollution and manage water resources.

Lack of access to clean water is one of the world’s biggest health problems. And it is one of the hardest to solve. Lots of different groups dig wells and lay pipes ─ but the biggest challenge comes after the hardware is in. #

The villages of Africa and South Asia are littered with the ghosts of water projects past. A traveler winding through the dirt roads and trails of rural India or Ethiopia will find wells, pumps and springs with taps ─ but most of the wells will be contaminated, the pumps broken, the taps rusted away. When the British group WaterAid began its work in the Konso district of southwestern Ethiopia in 2007, the first thing it did was look at what had come before. It found that of 35 water projects built in the area, only nine were functioning. #

Unlike one-shot vaccines, water systems need to function all day, every day, forever. So sustainability ─ the issue we find so important that it started off the Fixes series ─ is particularly crucial. It’s important to donors, who don’t want to see their money wasted. It’s important to the groups that do the work: no project is successful unless it’s taken over by local people to run. And it’s most crucial to villagers themselves, who grow cynical about promises after they see project after project inaugurated only to fail. #

Now there’s a new way to save water projects from an early death: make clean water a for-profit business, charging people an unusual price: zero. Several multinational companies, such as Bechtel and Suez, already have run for-profit water systems in cities around the world. These companies have attracted a lot of criticism, especially for the way they treat rural people and slum dwellers. The companies have little incentive to lay pipes to reach people who are far away, and if they do, they charge very high prices. I’m talking about something different: a water business run by a company that has headquarters in Switzerland, Vestergaard Frandsen, that plans to provide clean water to some of the world’s poorest people and charge them nothing. #

Where will the profits come from? Polluters. #

What will make this work are the global carbon credit markets. These markets were established after the 2007 Kyoto Protocol to limit greenhouse gases that cause climate change. The markets provide a way for wealthy countries and corporations to offset their emissions of these gases by financing other projects that will reduce emissions. Projects can be awarded credits if auditors certify they will cut carbon emissions ─ for example, a new wind energy plant whose output will replace coal energy. These credits can then be purchased by polluters, be they countries, companies or individuals. The system is highly controversial, as it allows wealthy countries to go on polluting as long as they can pay others to cut back for them. But it does provide financial incentives for the creation of green projects. #

Most of the projects that have won certification from the carbon markets are big energy plants in India and China. Less than three percent of the credits come from projects in Africa, and none of them help people get clean water. But one of the carbon credit markets does grant credits for cookstoves that use solar energy instead of wood or coal. #

Now it can be good business as well. If you are a hiker or camper, you may have heard about Vestergaard Frandsen’s LifeStraw. It’s a hollow stick equipped with a series of filtering membranes. You put the end of the stick in a river or puddle ─ or a toilet, for that matter ─ and suck on it. By the time the water hits your lips, it is clean and safe ─ its filters are fine enough to trap virtually all bacteria, viruses and parasites. The product has a bigger cousin called the LifeStraw Family. You hang it on your wall, pour dirty water in the top, open the tap and clean water comes out the bottom. No power or replacement parts are required. Each unit cleans about 18,000 liters of water ─ enough for a family for three years. The market cost of the unit averages out at a penny per ten liters of water purified. #

Vestergaard Frandsen will distribute the LifeStraw Family for free. It is helping to sponsor a traveling campaign through the western part of Kenya set for April, 2011, that will reach 4 million families. The campaign bundles various products ─ each family that attends will get insecticide-treated bednets to protect against malaria, AIDS tests and counseling and a free LifeStraw Family. #

The company is on the way to getting approval from one of the carbon credit markets for the LifeStraw Family, and expects to win it in February. Approval will provide a way for Vestergaard Frandsen to recoup its $24 million initial investment and to turn the product into a sustainable business ─ at no cost to users. It will earn credits for preventing greenhouse gas emissions, credits that polluters will then buy. The company will open free repair shops across western Kenya. Every three years, at the end of the units’ lifespan, it will replace them at no charge. #

Why would a for-profit business do all this? Because the amount of carbon credits it receives depends on how much boiling it prevents ─ and therefore, how much water is purified. (Periodic audits will answer these questions.) The more the product is used, the more credits Vestergaard Frandsen is awarded, and so the more money it makes. So it has a strong financial incentive to maximize the number of families using the purifiers and keep them working properly. #

You will notice that this financing method pays for performance. Normally, water projects get financing from donors up front. Whether they end up working or lasting is rarely even measured, because there is no cost for failure. But the carbon credit market penalizes failure. Vestergaard Frandsen also now has a good monetary reason to improve the product ─ to create one, for example, that can be refurbished instead of replaced, or one that lasts longer than three years. This kind of incentive is a rarity with products that are given away. #

One problem that the LifeStraw program does not address is water collection: someone still has to fetch water to pour through it. Getting water is staggeringly burdensome — in southwestern Ethiopia, I met women who spend eight hours a day or more each day traveling back and forth to the river with 50-pound yellow plastic jerry cans on their backs. The need to help mom while she fetches water is a primary reason that many girls don’t go to school. Fetching water enslaves women. #

But if the LifeStraw Family succeeds as a profitable business, it is possible that the carbon credit markets could also be used to finance many different types of projects. On Saturday, I’ll write about the wider possibilities. For villagers in Africa, however, none would be as important as using them to finance traditional water projects ─ ones like wells with pumps that do bring water closer to its users. After all, a family that used to boil river water is also cutting down on its emissions when its village gets a clean-water well. If running water pumps in rural Africa suddenly becomes good business, pumps will proliferate ─ and they will be maintained. #

This column was originally published in The New York Times. Fixes appears every Tuesday in the Times Opinionator section. #

Photo credit/caption: Photo 1: Pieter Bauermeister, Water must be transported by hand when there is an absence of fresh water in villages. These women in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, trek one and a half hours to gather water from Nongoma, a larger town; Photo 2: Vestergaard Frandsen, Vestergaard Frandsen’s LifeStraw allows people to drink from local sources without fear of disease. #]]> http://dowser.org/clean-water-at-no-cost-just-add-carbon-credits/feed/ 0 http://dowser.org/weekly-links-roundup-july-29-american-transportation-gets-greener-electric-apparel-and-more/ http://dowser.org/weekly-links-roundup-july-29-american-transportation-gets-greener-electric-apparel-and-more/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:43:37 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=4869

All around us, people are working on innovative solutions to pressing social problems. Often, though, those stories can be difficult to track down. Which is why we’re regularly scouring the Web to highlight who’s solving what and how. #

I'm leaving on a jet plane (preceded by a bicycle) #

• Portland, Oregon, already one of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation, is opening its airport to bike-lovers everywhere. With a bike path to the airport in place since 2005, all it needed was a spot to assemble and disassemble bikes before and after flights – and now it's got one. (Spring Wise, “Portland Airport Installs Bike Assembly Station for Travelers”)  

• Last week we mentioned how NASA has mapped the world's forests. Well, more progress on that front as the rivers of the world have now been digitally catalogued as well. Right now less than one percent of the earth's water is both fresh and accessible for human consumption. As the population of the Earth grows, this new data will be increasingly useful. (The Star, “McGill Prof Creates First Accurate Map of World's Rivers”)

• The highly-anticipated Chevy Volt is finally available for pre-order. Uniquely, the Volt offers the ability to drive the first 40 miles electrically (more than the average American drives per day) after which the car switches to gas, totaling about 240 miles per gallon.  But it may face some stiff competition: Nissan's new Leaf, a fully electric vehicle capable of driving 100 miles on its battery, has already sold out its pre-order of 13,000 cars. (Daily Finance, “GM Prices the Chevy Volt at $41,000. Will Buyers Plug In?”)

• Advances in the flexibility and lightness of solar cells made at the University of Southern California may allow us to reap power from light splashing across our clothes. While not as efficient as larger solar panels, these offer another way to transform our energy landscape, powering ourselves wherever we go. (TreeHugger, “New, Transparent Solar Technology Could Hide Photovoltaics in Your Clothes”)

Photo: Christopher Isherwood #]]> http://dowser.org/weekly-links-roundup-july-29-american-transportation-gets-greener-electric-apparel-and-more/feed/ 0 http://dowser.org/ucsd-energ/ http://dowser.org/ucsd-energ/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:45:29 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=937

Byron Washom, director of strategic energy initiatives, on campus at UCSD

The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf has refocused global attention on the urgency of developing alternative fuels. UCSD has been a pace setter in this area for decades. One of its researchers, Charles David Keeling, was the first scientist to track atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in 1958.  In recent years, the school has turned that research into action.  Step one was the construction of a massive cogeneration power plant, which turns heat given off by normal energy generation into steam and electricity.  Next was the installation of a network of solar panels, including panels that track the sun’s movement across the sky. And now UCSD is nearing completion of a fuel cell and energy storage system that will convert methane gas into electricity. #

The school wants to become a “living laboratory,” a nexus for collaboration between research scientists, facilities and construction managers, private utility companies, and green technology entrepreneurs—all critical stakeholders in our nation’s efforts to reduce consumption and increase sustainability.  Working towards a national model for the development of new energy technology, the school created an Office of Strategic Energy Initiatives, and appointed solar energy pioneer Byron Washom to run it.  Washom has the ambition to match his mandate:  "The only thing we're looking at, at the campus, are quantum improvements," he said. "It's not just to install the next incremental step; it's to put in the next breakthrough. What I'm doing with my colleagues is going to have a global impact." #

Photo: Los Angeles Times #

#]]> http://dowser.org/ucsd-energ/feed/ 0 http://dowser.org/tax-day-special-dowser-interview-donna-morton-of-the-centre-for-integral-economics/ http://dowser.org/tax-day-special-dowser-interview-donna-morton-of-the-centre-for-integral-economics/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:00:16 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=924 Happy Tax Day! Have you ever wondered why don’t we tax Hummers instead of salaries? Or why don’t we list environmental damage as a liability on balance sheets? These are the kinds of questions with which Donna Morton, cofounder of British Columbia’s Centre for Integral Economics, is obsessed. Morton sees economics as an art, not a dismal science. She’s spent years thinking about how to change economic incentives to improve society. And one of her core lessons is that, even when talking about taxes – or especially when doing so -- you have to reveal your heart. #

Dowser: The Centre for Integral Economics (CIE) strives to shift tax policy to advance social and environmental justice and economic prosperity. What’s innovative about your approach?
Morton: We work upstream from problems, trying to prevent crises. We ask, 'How can tax policy be used to reward leadership on environmental and social justice issues, while making people pay for their wastefulness and inefficiencies?' #

You say that we can be the generation that changes the world economy so it no longer ‘pits profit against people and places.’  How can tax policy help?
Companies operate under, 'How can I do what I do and never have to pay for the resulting fragmentation of communities, toxic pollution and rampant use of natural resources?' We say: Point taxes at the worst problems in our society and take taxes off the things that we treasure. Why do we tax work? Why do we tax investment? Why do we not tax pollution, congestion, sprawl, and Hummers? #

Can society compel large companies to be more socially conscious?
If we made businesses internalize the real costs of childhood cancer and nuclear energy by forcing them to put it on their balance sheets, they would turn on a dime to avoid the associated processes and chemicals. #

What is an example of a tax that could better align economic behavior with social justice?
The Tobin Tax. It’s designed to address currency speculation, for which there's currently no taxation. An infinitesimally small tax could create the largest-ever global superfund to address green infrastructure, the end of poverty, AIDS, etc. #

What’s the problem with currency speculation?
Currency speculation involves trillions of dollars exchanging hands every day via international transactions. Because it's international, there's no governing structure and therefore no taxation. It's a massive profit-making scheme that destabilizes currencies and causes many other related problems. #

Can you point to a tax that promotes sustainability today?
The British Columbia carbon tax on gasoline makes businesses and citizens conscious of their carbon emissions by making them pay for them. Ideally, the tax dollars are invested in mass transit, renewable energy and rebates to help create a more efficient fleet of vehicles.  The carbon tax has influenced federal policy in Canada. #

What has been your biggest obstacle?
Raising money -- because our work is unusual, complex and policy-laden. Most donors are interested in direct projects like feeding the poor or building literacy. Our work is more structural. How do we get ahead of poverty, pollution and childhood cancer by not allowing these things to happen in the first place? The funding pool for that is much smaller. #

So, how have you raised funds?
When we couldn't raise funds through foundations, we went out and earned them. We've had years where we generated 90% of our revenue through fee-for-service work such as consulting, research, speaking engagements and in some cases even branding and marketing. #

I'm becoming more interested in coaching. I was approached by an investment banker who asked if I could coach some of his CEOs and executive teams on how to rethink their business acumen to push for ethical changes in the world. He was interested in learning how to align internal corporate structure with sustainability objectives. #

What are some things you tried that didn't work?
We tried to push governments to go faster than citizens were ready to accept.  We tried to stuff ourselves into the box of being sustainability consultants. #

But the biggest mistake I ever made was not bringing my whole self to the work.  The times I've been most effective is when I've worked from my heart and deep authenticity. Saying this is who I am, this is what I feel and believe, and here's my vision for what's possible. #

Do you think it’s possible to build a social movement around tax policy?
Citizens are not really interested in taxation. We think it's complicated, mind-numbing and mystified—and it is. But it doesn't have to be. Much of my work is about describing economics as a story—a work of art--that people can wrap their heads and hearts around. We’re becoming more of a communications and education organization than a policy organization. #

How will that be developed?
By using multimedia, television, film and radio partnerships. We developed economic literacy workshops and the Art of Economics book project, which focuses on community-led economics. I’m also part of a quasi reality television series on the lives of people who are doing environmental work called ’Changemakers Act for the Planet.’ #

In your latest project, First Power, CIE trains leaders in First Nations [Aboriginal Canadian] communities to build and sustain renewable energy ventures. This seems like a departure from your earlier work.
That’s right. CIE has always worked on pointing to best practices in the global economy, but now we are leveraging our expertise to build social businesses. Rather than tracking green collar jobs, we are creating them. #

So why have you chosen to work with First Nations?
We're taking advantage of the fact that First Nations want energy autonomy as much as they want other forms of autonomy. Also, First Nations communities have deep traditional beliefs and practices around sustainability. Many First Nations were living sustainably on this continent for 10,000 years [laughs]. #

Good point.
Yes, and unfortunately, many First Nations communities have inadequate energy sources and very limited sewage systems. So we're turning a negative situation into a positive one by empowering First Nations to leapfrog ahead of non-aboriginal communities in the use of green technology and power. #

Who have been your big influences?
When I was 15, I heard a speech by Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. A light went on and I thought, 'That's my tribe.' #

Also, Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Paul Hawken, Jane Jacobs and E.F. Schumacher influenced my sense that economics is a fault line—a powerful piece of what is broken and therefore a powerful place to heal. #

Any funny stories?
In my 20s, during a government land use process, a group of us created and performed a hip-hop number to shift the debate. It actually succeeded. #

What has this work taught you?
We mustn’t decide that there are good guys and bad guys— ethical people and unethical people. We have to put aside our divides and our judgments. Listen and talk to absolutely everyone you can. #

You have to work at the grassroots, but you can't be afraid to be in the room with senior elected officials and people who run large companies. I listen as much to moms on welfare as I do to senior executives. I don't think either group has an exclusive claim to the truth. #

This interview was edited and condensed. #

Photo: CIE #]]> http://dowser.org/tax-day-special-dowser-interview-donna-morton-of-the-centre-for-integral-economics/feed/ 0 http://dowser.org/not-your-average-heath-care-news/ http://dowser.org/not-your-average-heath-care-news/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:03:01 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=85 #

The recent health care debate has drawn attention to the industry's proclivity for wasting time and money. But research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), shows that the industry is also accomplished at wasting energy and resources.  Mother Jones reports that the industry accounts for almost one-tenth of the United States’ carbon footprint, an environmental toll that is unnecessarily high. #

The University of Chicago (U of C) Medical Center is showing it can do better.  The hospital implemented a recycling program for plastics and mandated that 90% of cleaning supplies be certified by Green Seal, a group that uses science-based standards to evaluate products, restaurants, and hotel chains for environmental friendliness.  Implementing these two measures has helped the hospital save about $20,000 in waste costs each month.  After you get over the dismay that a major U.S. hospital just figured out that recycling is a good idea, the success of the U of C effort is actually encouraging. It’s a reminder that simple steps are available to reduce our carbon footprint and our health care costs at once. #

For a broader context, check out Health Care Without Harm, a movement to reform health care practices globally, or The Collaborative on Health and the Environment, a partnership working to address linkages between environmental factors and human health. #

Photo: Paul Martin #]]> http://dowser.org/not-your-average-heath-care-news/feed/ 0