Posted 04/30/08 by Ryan Morris
The Legatum Prosperity Africa Prize is a program which "seeks to recognize and reward the best of small business in emerging markets." The grand prize winner received $100,000 for training and business development.
Check out the trailer for Unlocking Africa, a documentary on the Legatum Pioneers of Prosperity Africa Prize program. More info on this awesome endeavor to come!
Posted 04/22/08 by Ryan Morris
It is estimated that Americans toss almost 38 billion water bottles in the trash every year. To combat this environental waste, Brita and Nalgene teamed up to create the FilterForGood campaign.
Gauging it's success by the number of disposable water bottles saved from ending up in a landfill, the program requires participants to pledge to reduce bottled water waste by using a reusable water bottle (Nalgene, encouraged) or filtered water (this is where Brita's pitchers and faucet mount filters come in.)
I'm so excited about this campaign I signed the pledge and am in the process of making sure everyone in the office has a reusable water bottle. You can get involved by taking the pledge and joining the cause on Razoo today.
To see how many water bottles have been saved, you can view a really cool interactive map on the campaign Web site. So go on, take the pledge, help the planet and enjoy a greener, healthier earth.
Happy Earth Day!
Posted 10/22/07 by Rebecca Carpenter
This past week, those of us in D.C. have enjoyed checking out the innovative houses comprising the Solar Village built on the National Mall. The village is part of the 2007 Solar Decathlon, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy to encourage and promote research and innovation in the alternate energy source arena. This year's Decathlon highlighted teams from twenty universities around the world, who were challenged with designing, building and operating energy-efficient solar-powered houses.
The student teams behind the houses competed to build homes that were entirely powered by the sun, and were judged on their ability to have a fully-functional home that did all the regular stuff a family needs to do -- run appliances, have lights, control the air temperature, heat water, etc. Like the Olympic decathlon, the Solar Decathlon consisted of ten contests, including architecture, engineering, market viability and energy balance, among others.
The week-long Village festivities culminated in winners being announced this weekend. First place went to Technische Universitat Darmstadt, a team from Germany; second place went to the team from the University of Maryland; and third place went to Santa Clara University. The
German design "pushed the envelope on all levels," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in announcing the winner Friday, calling it "the house people have been lining up all week to watch."
From The Washington Post: Renewable energy sources - mostly wind turbines - account for a little more than 2 percent of electricity production. A very small percentage comes from solar, or photovoltaic, cells such as those used in the houses on the Mall, according the Energy Department.
But in the two years since the last Solar Decathlon, the competing house designs have become more mainstream, according to judges and participants. For the first time a category of "market appeal" was added to the criteria on which teams were judged. While the prototype homes were said to cost $500,000 or more to design, ship and erect, they also contained many features that are commercially available, according to competition organizers.
"In 2005 (the houses) were experiments. This year they're not. ... They're an example of what can be done," said Bob Burt, a building consultant who was one of the judges ranking the homes on market appeal. "There are a couple of houses that when I first walked in I said, 'Yeah, I could live here.'"
One of the title sponsors, BP, has been working hard to position themselves as a leader in alternative-energy research (whether this is true or just the fruits of a very effective PR machine has get to be determined). While it isn't entirely altruistic, they do have a decent amount of resources on their site addressing the topic. One of the most interesting is the Green Curve, which is a quick quiz that enables you to see how you stack up in energy efficiency and conservation. Take the Green Curve quiz here.
Got some innovative alternative-energy ideas of your own? Get 'em together for the next competition -- the 2009 Solar Decathlon.
Posted 10/19/07 by Rebecca Carpenter
After a long and exciting race, we're excited to announce the winners of our Change Your World contest.
It came down to the wire, as the top contenders battled it out until midnight on the final day of voting this week. The first prize of $10,000 was awarded to Students Helping Honduras (SHH), a young non-profit started by college students that sends groups of students to Honduras throughout the year to engage in service projects.
SHH co-founder and CEO Shin Fujiyama has informed us that they "will be using the funds to build a school in Honduras and purchase seeds for the indigenous people of La Misquitia where their crops were completely destroyed by Hurricane Felix. Without these seeds, thousands of people would face famine next spring and relief organizations would have to spend tens of thousands of dollars sending food. We have to think ahead and prevent, instead of acting when it's too late." Justin Simeone, the Chairperson of the Board of SHH also shared how "SHH is incredibly proud of the continued hard work and dedication of its members at UVA, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, William & Mary, and Mary Washington. Their efforts have continually proven what can be possible when passionate young people come together for a good cause. We are also tremendously grateful to all of our additional supporters who helped us make change possible during the course of Razoo's "Change Your World Contest."
The second place prize of $2,500 went to Leadership Initiatives, an organization that seeks to enable university students worldwide to turn their ideas into sustainable community development projects. Leadership Initiatives held a number of Razoo sign-up parties across the US and Nigeria in their creative efforts to win this prize. "We're excited about mobilizing people around some great causes and contributing to the work of these organizations," said Razoo CEO Sebastian Traeger. “We're pleased to be able to give individuals an opportunity to support an organization without needing to reach into their own pockets."
We were also happy to recognize the valiant efforts of two other groups, Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), and Saving Shelter Pets, by awarding them with $1500 honorable mention prizes. LinK will be using the prize money to support their network of underground shelters for North Korean refugees and expand their underground railroad. Saving Shelter Pets plans to use the funds to support the launch of a new program that will to provide much-needed pet-care services to low-income residents in Murray County, Georgia. We also awarded a $1,000 Lucky Draw prize to March of Dimes, an organization working to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
Thirty-four different non-profit organizations qualified for the contest by creating a group on Razoo.com and recruiting 100 members by October 1, 2007. From October 1st to October 15th, the Razoo community voted from among the qualifying groups to determine which organization was most worthy to win the contest. This was an opportunity for nonprofits, student groups, and other social cause organizations to win money for their work while increasing their reach and impact in the online world.
Deputy Director Hannah Song of Liberty in North Korea summed it well in saying: "Razoo's vision and tremendous efforts will change the way groups like ours are able to more effectively and efficiently mobilize grassroots efforts and encourage others to similarly take on passions, expend their resources, take actions, and ultimately change the world - because change IS possible!"
With the conclusion of the Change Your World Contest, we're now planning the launch of our next big contest... stay tuned for news in the next couple weeks.
Posted 10/18/07 by Rebecca Carpenter
Have you thanked a soldier lately?
There are lots of good folks serving on our behalf all around the world. Sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in our own lives and daily to-do lists, that we forget the sacrifice our soldiers and their families make every day. Here's an easy way to let them know that we haven't forgotten them -- that we recognize and appreciate what they do.
Xerox is sponsoring the Let's Say Thanks program. The program allows anyone to send a postcard (real, not virtual) to one of our servicemen or women serving abroad. Just choose from any of the many patriotic cards (designed by U.S. schoolkids), fill in your message, and Xerox will print the card and ship it in care packages via Give2TheTroops.
This is just one of the many ways our little actions can make a big difference.
Posted 10/18/07 by Scott Overdyke
Working for Razoo, I'm privileged to find myself in a world of social enterprise, idealists, nonprofiteers, social-do-gooders, environmentalists, activists, and myspace spam-bots (it's not all roses in world of online activism, folks). So sometimes I forget if all the noise I hear around "corporate social responsibility" and "social entrepreneurism" is actually representative of a greater social and professional trend or if it's simply the popular dialect of a relatively small group of people by which I find myself surrounded. My sense is that social enterprise is on the rise, perhaps not the 'new black' that's suggested but something more than a passing fad.
And this will of course have significant implications for people looking to enter not only the private sector but the public/citizen sector as well. With the understanding that the American job market has seen better days and the reality that MBAs are currently in high demand, a number of people are considering graduate school (specifically Business School) as a viable avenue for career development.
And for those of you looking into Business programs of the 'social good' variety you'll be pleased to note that a number of great schools recognize social-enterprise and sustainability in their curriculum, their faculty, even their institutional ethos. Finding the right school for you, however, is still as tricky as ever.
A couple of resources I've come across:
- Beyond Grey Pinstripes - This project of the Aspen Institute provides a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools based on issues of social and environmental stewardship.
- Net Impact - They also publish a Business as UNususal report that analyzes and ranks Business schools based on social and environmental factors. Rebecca Recently posted about this here
Since this is a subject in which I have a great personal interest, I may keep this thread going, sharing my findings as they make themselves known. Any resources I'm missing? Let us know.
Scott
Posted 10/15/07 by Mimi Ghez
As we write about occasionally, it's great to see so many companies getting on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) bandwagon. And while we know that often their motivation is more self-serving than altruistic, sometimes the end does justify the means.
One of those companies getting active is Marshalls, Inc. We came across their latest do-gooding through our October campaign focusing on human trafficking and slavery. Marshalls is teaming up with the Family Violence Prevention Fund , an organization that works to end violence against women and children.
Check it out:
From October 18-October 24, Marshalls, Inc. is sponsoring a week-long Shop Till It Stops campaign in more than 700 stores nationwide. For every pair of shoes purchased, $1 will be donated to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, up to $150,000, to support efforts to prevent violence against women and raise awareness about the harmful effects of abuse. Visit a store or shop at Marshalls online and get some shoes! It's that simple. Remember that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so here's a way to step out and take action.
Posted 10/03/07 by Rebecca Carpenter
Thanks to our friends at TreeHugger for bringing to our attention the Good Design Awards. Like the CSR reporting awards that we wrote about a while back, this is another positive step in recognizing and rewarding good works.
With origins dating back to 1957, the Good Design awards were originally a vehicle to "nurture the industry and design of Japan." Since that time, the awards have grown to include more than 30,000 award winners from all over the globe.
From their site: "The scope of the Good Design Award now transcends mere evaluation of design, and this system is now beginning to play a dynamic role in getting us to think about basic matters such as the lives we should be living and how industry can undergo continuous development."
This week the the results of the Good Design Awards 2007 were announced, including 1,043 entries from 594 companies. Check out the list of winners to see how industrial designers are shaping our sustainable future.
Posted 09/28/07 by Rebecca Carpenter
We've been writing about water bottles for a while now, and our Razoo community is really fired up about the topic. So we were psyched to see the latest news about Nalgene and Brita's new partnership, Filter For Good.
The scoop from Filter For Good:
Last year, Americans threw away 38 billion plastic water bottles, about $1 billion worth of plastic. That's a huge waste, especially considering 1.5 million barrels of oil - enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year - were used to produce the bottles. And that's not even including the oil used for transportation.
You can make a difference by choosing to reduce your contribution to bottle water waste. Brita and Nalgene have partnered to create the FilterForGood pledge, a commitment to reduce your personal waste by giving up bottled water, even if it's just a few days each week.
If you purchase a FilterForGood refillable bottle, you'll also be supporting the Blue Planet Run Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to provide safe drinking water to 200 million people for the rest of their lives by 2027. For every FilterForGood refillable bottle purchased between August 10th and December 31st, 2007, a donation of $4, up to a maximum of $25,000, will be made to the Blue Planet Run Foundation.
Get involved:
Learn the facts about water bottles.
Take the Filter for Good pledge.
Get more information and learn how to get involved on Razoo.
Posted 09/13/07 by Rebecca Carpenter
Thanks to Triple Pundit for keeping me on top of the latest from a field near and dear to my heart: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Net Impact, a great organization of business school students and professionals committed to social responsibility, has just released its 2007 Business as UNusual Guide. In it, the the organization details the leading MBA programs and how they address social and environmental issues.
Like the recent shift towards annual CSR reports, the rating of b-schools with regard to social responsibility is a positive trend. It's nice to see that consumers (and in this case, prospective students) are driving institutional action by their demand for information and accountability. And with any luck (and a little more demand from folks like us), hopefully we'll see this trend continue to gain traction and become mainstream.
