Through the miracle of hydroponics, we now have this:

A house that is alive.  It's official, you've now seen everything.  Keep reading...

Circulated by our friends at Natural Path Media, here is a lot to be hopeful about:

• Consumers are increasingly aligning their purchases with their values.  According to a recent report by BBMG, 9 in 10 Americans agree that the term "conscious consumer" describes them well.
• A November 2008 Economist survey of managers and senior executives (sponsored by Cisco, HP, Qualcomm and SAS) found that Corporate citizenship is viewed as becoming increasingly important for the long-term health of their companies.
• A McKinsey Quarterly survey found that companies with a strong position in the green market may be able to better protect their market share from competitors. Large brand advertisers have discovered that Moms, which pour $1.7 billion into the US economy each year, are especially receptive to cause marketing.
• A recent survey conducted by Millard Brown found that both women without children (86.4%) and moms (85.6%) feel it's important for companies to support causes and charities and an overwhelming (97.3%) of corporate marketers believed that cause branding is a valid business strategy.
• The Hartman Group's latest report, "Sustainability: The Rise of Consumer Responsibility", gives further support that consumers aren't throwing out the (green) baby with the (economic decline) bathwater. The survey represents the latest report that shows environmental responsibility not going away during these difficult economic times. In particular, the report found more than 75 percent consider environmental and social aspects in deciding what to buy and about a third are willing to pay more for those benefits.
• A recent and very comprehensive report, published this January 09 by The Boston Consulting Group, concludes this question with a resounding Yes: consumers will continue to seek out green products, despite the economy.
• The Boston Consulting Group (BCG, just issued an extensive report: "Capturing the Green Advantage Consumer Companies". The BCG report, based on interviews with 9,000 consumers in North America, Europe, China, and Japan and other research, found that consumers bought more green goods in 2008 than they did in 2007 and that many "consumers greatly value the direct benefits that green products offer, such as superior freshness and taste, the promise of safety and health, and savings on energy costs."  The BCG report found that consumers were willing to pay higher prices for green products deemed to be of high quality.

Ecostore Founder Malcolm Rands also said this week at a speech in Auckland that in general, people were gravitating towards environmentally and fairly traded products because, in a world of financial fall outs and corporate spin, these brands had promises that they could believe in.

From John Bielenberg:

“All along the way, people were inspired not just by the act itself, but by how this grassroots effort was conceived and executed. It’s an example of how the process of thinking wrong can lead to something that doesn’t feel wrong at all.”

Not only does thinking wrong often not feel wrong, contends Bielenberg, it may just be the most effective means of doing right.

“The more diverse minds you have working on something, the more opportunity there is to make connections that one individual or one discipline wouldn’t make. In the activity of problem-solving on these big issues of sustainability and climate change, I think you need that diverse expertise in the room. Getting out of your comfort zone is where the really cool ideas come from.”

And designers have an important seat at the table.

“This is where we are very different from a think tank or an institute that considers the issues and writes white papers. Designers like to make stuff. It’s not just the idea generation, it’s the rapid prototyping, the execution, the bringing these ideas to life.”

Old economy hacks and stalewarts of business as usual take note: Forward thinking companies outperform in the current economic crisis.  As it turns out, focus on value, the big picture, and long term growth, as well as social conscience aren't a bad thing afterall.  Who knew?  But don't take our word for it... the Financial Times had this to say:

We see things differently. The downturn will produce more integrated, strategic and value-creating sustainability efforts in many companies. While traditional corporate responsibility and philanthropic initiatives may suffer, core elements of the sustainability agenda will survive or even thrive in a re-ordered economy.

In other news, a landmark global warming lawsuit was settled this week setting a legal precedent that funding dirty polluting business can leave you with a big liability.  And at last, someone has mapped out the relationships between all the organisations pushing for change.  It is called the "Gort Cloud".  Interesting findings, albeit the awkward name.

If you've been looking for a good read, or some really great background material to understand the "sustainability" space and the era going forward, check out this really fantastic booklist. 

As seen on Springwise:

Breaking a bad habit is never easy, but a little support can help. Much like Green Thing, which we wrote about back in 2007, Green Groove is a site that aims to help consumers create and stick to a plan to eliminate their unsustainable ways and embrace new, greener habits.

Green Groove's goal is to help consumers make "a phased withdrawal on catastrophic climate change." Toward that end, the Idaho-based site invites visitors to take three initial steps to create their own, personal withdrawal plan. First, they choose their desired plan type, length and level of difficulty, including whether it's just a personal plan or one that incorporates a household or family. Next, the site guides visitors to select specific weekly goals in four categories: auto, diet, home and lifestyle. Within the "home" category, for example, weekly goals might include replacing one old lightbulb with a compact fluorescent, or hang-drying at least one load of laundry. Third, visitors are then invited to put their weekly goals into the order they'd like to follow in accomplishing them, thereby creating their step-by-step action plan. A downloadable "Goal Tracker" widget is available both for Mac and PC, as are "Green Groove Participant" and "Green Groove Certified" website badges for those who are in the midst of or have finished their plans.

With all the many external demands on consumers' time and attention today, the need for support in making lifestyle changes seems greater than ever. Deliver that help in bite-sized portions, and you may just win some lasting support yourself! (Related: Nagging service for dieters — A public incentive to stick to one's goals.)

Website: www.greengroove.org
Contact: support@greengroove.org

A brief, 3 minute video that pretty much sums up the state of the world.  Brilliantly done.

H. Thomas Johnson, Portland State University, USA; extract
from closing remarks to a conference 2nd November 2007:

“…..I find it troubling that this definition and virtually all
references to sustainability since the Brundtland Report make
no reference to LIFE. Instead of life, the subject under
discussion is the human economy. The key word in the
Brundtland definition is development – a word drawn from the
literature of neo-classical economics where it generally take to
be a synonym for growth – economic growth. …..

“… Perhaps some humility is in order, I believe that
sustainability will not emerge in human affairs until we begin to
conduct economic activity in harmony with the principles that
shape all living systems on earth. Then we will view a
business as a natural living system that thrives in a context of
cooperation, restraint, and quality, not in a context of
competition, growth and accumulation. That will be
sustainability…..

(thanks to Ray at Sustainability Matters for passing this along)

From Joel Makower and his crew at Greenbiz.com, find the annual summary of green business here for download.  This useful progress report highlights the ups and downs over the past year, as well as speculates on where the issues may take industries in the year ahead. 

From the introduction:

"Last year, when we launched the inaugural State of Green Business
report, we set out to measure the environmental impacts of the growing
green economy. We were sobered and encouraged by what we found.
Our efforts to measure, for the first time ever, whether and how companies
were reducing their environmental impacts revealed mixed results:
More companies were doing more things, but moving the needle of
environmental progress only slightly, if at all.

(continues)

Spotted on the Moxie blog...

"The sustainability debate has been positioned all wrong - as an environmental problem, as something business needs to account for, a risk to be managed or a tax to be paid. The business community has been going along with this to an extent, but it doesn’t sit well. And now, in a volatile global economy and competitive environment, sustainability is being pushed aside as a luxury while business focuses on efficiencies, and the bolder ones look to innovate their way out of recession.

But it’s not an and/or situation. The answer is and/and. Sustainability 1.0 - compliance, CSR, reduction, limits, is over. Sustainability 2.0 is here. Sustainability 2.0 is an outcome-focused all encompassing approach. It’s a process that builds prosperous businesses creating innovative products and services; businesses founded on good financial results, responsible use of resources, and community well‐being."

Sustainability 2.0?  Sounds like an upgrade for virus prone Microsoft.  In computer language, they call this sort of thing a kludge.  Its a clunky, technical fix to get around something that wasn't right to begin with.  Everyone has a different understanding of "sustainability" anyway.  By only increasing the complexity of language with the "2.0", we only talk to our group that much more-- rather than branching out with language that the rest of the world can understand.

Isn't this whole thing about dreaming what we want the future to be, consciously designing a plan to achieve it, and taking practical steps to move the whole thing Forward?  I'm with the spirit of this, not to be overcritical, but in terms of conveying the meaning, sustainability isn't ringing enough bells to begin with, and adding 2.0 only makes it a bit more convoluted to any outsider.