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Happiness is Serious Business
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Catalina Garcia, Co-founder of The Happy Post Project
The Happy Post Project is a social experiment using art and creative endeavors to spread happiness by empowering people with a simple question: What makes you happy? Our mission is to spread happiness. We strongly believe that the power of happiness can change everything — companies, governments, and especially people.
In a world where every day conversations revolve around economic crises, political conflicts and natural disasters, it is no wonder that there is a newfound interest in the subject of happiness. As co-founder of The Happy Post project, I join an ever-growing group of people that are dissatisfied with the path that humanity has taken and the consequences it is having on our planet. As all subjects related to sustainability become increasingly popular, I reflect on the sustainability of the human race and the important role that happiness plays in it.
What’s Next After the Electric Car?
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Atiim Wiley
I’m what is commonly known as a “car guy” — someone who is really into cars and prefers to have their garage populated with performance cars. I threw a fit when the Toyota Prius won Motor Trends 2005 “Car of the Year” award – it wasn’t a “sexy car” to me. However, there is the bigger picture to consider with the Prius winning the award—a car is still a car, no matter how it’s powered. There is no denying that the norm of the internal combustion engine will be challenged in the next 5-10 years.
It took 10 years for hybrid technology (gasoline & electric) to bridge the gap from gas powered engines to 100% electric vehicles which are starting to emerge on the market—the Nissan Leaf and coming soon, the Ford Focus Electric & Mitsubishi Mi-EV.
The Leftovers of Fast Fashion
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Brandy Davis-Balsamo
Wandering through a used clothing store, Jane pushes her way into a rack so tight with clothing that she can barely get a view of the item in front of her. Good thing the articles have tags that indicate the brand and size. The clothes that make it here are the lucky ones – approximately 68lbs per person ends up in the landfill every year. Only around a quarter of Americans donate used clothing and of those donations, the majority end up being sold overseas for cents on the dollar. Fortunately, there are a few companies that are disrupting this inefficient model and there is plenty of room for more.
Patagonia is a technical clothing company that started in the early 1970’s. The company commissioned a study on the environmental impact of its business back in the early years. That study proved to be an eye-opener for Patagonia for it revealed that a natural fiber - cotton - was more harmful to the environment than oil-based polyester and nylon, which will live far beyond our lifetimes. At the time, cotton farming used 25% of all toxic pesticides thus surpassing all other fibers in the scale of negative impact. Patagonia used this information to implement positive change and since 1996, its garments are 100% organic cotton. The company has since launched the Footprint Chronicles, an initiative to provide consumers with transparency in regard to each product’s resource consumption, projected environmental impact, and journey through the production cycle. Patagonia also offers consumers the ability to recycle their clothing when reuse is not a possibility and as of 2005, the company has taken back 45 tons in clothing to be created into new pieces.
Building Optimism: American Manufacturing Remerges in a New Form
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Devin Harvath
American manufacturing once conjured images of sweaty workers in cavernous factories churning out steel beams and station wagons. By the middle of the 20th century, a deep sense of optimism and the possibility of a solidly middle-class life for workers accompanied these images. Today, manufacturing brings to mind offshore sweatshops and abandoned U.S. factories, and this trend shows no immediate signs of ending.
However, there is reason to believe that American manufacturing is alive and growing, albeit in a new form. The reshoring movement and local manufacturing advocacy groups, like SFMade, have received a lot of press attention recently. Additionally, anecdotal evidence among some in my generation X and Y community shows a desire for locally made, high-quality, and long-lasting consumer goods.
Is Guilt a Sustainable Way to Pry Open Pockets?
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Sarah Anne White
Why we should run screaming in the other direction from “Gala” or “Gift” Economics
How many times have you been stopped on the street on the way into your favorite, overpriced, coffee shop only to be asked to contribute “a mere ten dollars a month” (much less than what you spend on your over-caffeinated, double-whip latte every week) to what appears to be a very worth cause?
How many times have you caught yourself quickly scrambling for the remote in an effort to change the channel when one of those tear-jerking, starving children or homeless pet commercials pops on the TV? What about your neighborhood grocer that asks you, loud enough to let the next person in line hear, if you would like to donate one measly dollar to help your local school or not?
What about the fancy dinner party your coworker invites you to that promises to assuage your guilt for spending way too much on a dress or suit (as well as the money spent at the bar afterwards) by donating a small portion of the proceeds to help better humanity?
In the words of Seth Godin, “… being invited to a gala feels like a gift. It’s nice to be asked, to be noticed, to be included. The socially appropriate response is to accept the gift and say yes.”
Similar to the examples given above, this last invitation is laden with guilt and the need for external approval.
Green Packaging: A Revolutionary Way to Sell, or Just Another Fad?
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Rahim Bhimani
We have all become accustomed to the over used word “green”: green products, green cars, green companies, green foods, and etc.
How about green packaging? Is it just a fad or are companies actually interested in improving and revolutionizing the ways products are being packaged? We individually purchase hundreds of products yearly and usually the cardboard packaging is just thrown away if not recycled. Is there something we can do to reduce the amount of waste that’s being created from packaging?
Inbox Overload and Sustainable Collaboration
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By James Lane
In November of 1860, word of Lincoln’s election reached San Francisco via Pony Express in a then unprecedented seven days and seventeen hours. Providing businesses with a fast and reliable method of contacting offices on opposite coasts, the Pony Express would nonetheless find itself obsolete in just eighteen months with the introduction of the country’s first transcontinental telegraph. One hundred and fifty-one years later, the Pony Express is firmly enshrined in American folklore, and another communications technology begins the slow march toward irrelevance. Is business ready for a post-email world?
The first email was sent forty years ago by researchers working on ARPAnet, the precursor to our modern Internet. Initially used by scientists to coordinate research, email quickly became an essential tool of business. There are nearly a billion active corporate email accounts, and, as noted in a 2011 study by the Radicati Group, these users send and receive, on average, 140 emails each day. The report also states that a quarter of the messages received have attachments, and that 85% of business users access their email from a mobile device. The behaviors surrounding email usage have changed drastically since the development of the technology, but email itself has not evolved to meet our growing needs.
How One Company Makes No-Brand Sexy to Consumers
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Kate Tsai
Innovative companies such as Apple make their brand sexy by creating genius products that attract cult-like consumers. If this is the western approach to innovation, how does the Japanese approach it differently? Specifically, how does MUJI make no-brand sexy to consumers?
In order to foster innovation strategic thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence and effective communication must be considered. As consumers become savvier, they demand innovation to catalyze change and transform our experience. Since there are an increasing number of companies around the world striving to innovate, MUJI, a Japanese retail company, creates an authentic language of simplicity that changes consumer’s experience and the way we live.
Look to College Campuses for Schooling on Nationwide Smart Grid
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By Christina McCauley
A 7.0 earthquake rocks the west coast. A category 5 hurricane hits the south. A sweltering record heat wave melts the plains states. Paralyzing snowstorms slam the northeast. During the recovery, electricity is down, natural gas stops flowing, and the nation’s energy system is severely strained. Rapid reallocation of energy resources is critical in these situations.
Focus on sustainable energy solutions and an integrated national smart grid in the U.S. has never been more important, yet there is still apprehension about the adoption of a nationwide smart grid initiative. Contrary to unfavorable opinion surrounding smart metering efforts, evidence of the benefits of an integrated energy system is showing up at colleges that have implemented campus-wide smart grids, or “microgrids.” Rutgers, Cornell, NYU, Utica College, Catabwa College, University of Mississippi, and the California State University system are all examples of higher learning institutions that have made capital investments in microgrid energy systems, with significant payoff. What lessons can lawmakers, utilities, and the public learn from these successful microgrid implementations to apply to a nationwide system?
Social Ventures Create Utopian Future
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
By: Sarah Olson
Imagine for a moment a world where involuntary unemployment is non-existent and living standards have improved for everyone. Imagine a place in which families have the opportunity to maintain sustainable incomes and local communities are providing services that not only benefit their immediate families and neighbors, but also have the knowledge and skills to pass along the same know-how to their surrounding community for infinite growth.
Sounds utopian, right? In reality, this kind of world is within reach thanks to current economic and social trends and the actions of many social entrepreneurs who are working with men and women in the developing world to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth for their families, their communities and their countries.
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