Against the Gods – A worldwide bestseller for the ecopreneur that would enjoy a very interesting, historical perspective on entrepreneurialism and the concept of risk. Google book describes it as a “narrative that reads like a novel, chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from the oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today. This is a richly-woven tale of Greek philosophers and Arab mathematicians, of merchants and scientists, gamblers and philosophers, world-renowned intellects and obscure but inspired amateurs who helped discover the modern methods of putting the future at the service of the present, replacing helplessness before the fates with choice and decision.”

Preview it at Google Books here

Triple Bottom Line – Andrew Savitz. If you have not already come across this book, now is the time. A must read for ecopreneurs, business managers, social responsibility managers, and consumers and investors. The Triple Bottom Line illustrates the connection between the financial, social, and environmental bottom lines of any operation and demonstrates that innovative and profitable solutions to the real problems companies face can come from sustainability. This book is becoming one of the essential pieces of literature guiding many of today’s top companies transition into a more sustainable business model.

Preview it at Google Books here.

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Today I read a very interesting article at by Rod Edwards (”Paper from Wheat, not Wood“), who reports from Canada about exciting developments in what seems as a very eco-friendly alternative to trees as the source of paper: wheat.

No, it’s not the case of corn here where a food crop is transferred into (what some think is) an alternative “green” product. We’re talking here about pure agricultural waste - wheat straw.

The issue comes up following the printing of the Canadian National Geographic magazine’s June issue, which was printed using 20% wheat straw. The rest of the paper was made of 40% post-consumer recycled paper and 40% virgin paper.

Well, the wheat straw pulp was imported from China (because straw-pulping facilities have yet to be retrofitted in Canada), and that’s not that eco-friendly, but the point was definitely made in terms of feasibility and quality of this alternative. And the potential is huge, as we can learn from the Canadian printer Dollco, which was part of this effort and explains in its news release what could be the impact of using wheat straw for printing paper in Canada:

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Worldchanging magazine has announced that it is selling the ultimate environmentalist gift for high school and college graduates: carbon offsets for life.

This means that for every donation above a certain level, Worldchanging will buy carbon offsets in the name of the graduate.

But the price of this gift is not cheap—the minimum donation is $6,000 to offset a graduate’s childhood, and the max is $25,000 to offset an entire career. It also raises an important question: what will such a present do to the mindset of the recipient?

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In refreshing presentations that conventional power point users should take notes from (using simple slides, single quotes and vibrant images), both Leonard and Rich told of their own personal histories and what influenced them in their work. Leonard began in journalism as a music and arts critic, then moved into design. Rich has a fashion background and moved into the green sphere through exploring the world's relationship with food. Today both are focused on solutions based journalism, and strive to tell success stories and innovations rather than focusing on the problems people face.

On the topic of Sustaining Change - or keeping the enthusiasm for green going after the buzz wears off - a large part of making that possible, Rich explained, is to educate people. Not just in a conventional sense of expanding K-12 education around the globe, but also creating an awareness of the relationships between people and their environments or surroundings.

Additionally, one of the biggest obstacles in sustaining change is scalability of solutions. There isn't one solution that will work well everywhere. For example, what works well for a small community may not be able to be applied on a large scale globally because of climatic, cultural or resource differences and limitations. Instead every local community should discover what works best for their area to sustain small solutions.

In the Q&A discussion that followed one audience member asked if there was hope for the future, if another world is possible. Leonard responded with, "Another world is happening now… the mainstream media just isn't covering it. " She said that we must find new ways for people to present and access information, and focus on the positive happenings in the world, which is what her work and Rich's work is aiming to achieve. (GO is also focused on this goal.)

While just a small crowd turned out for the talk on a balmy, 80 degree New York Saturday (in an overly air conditioned space), it was definitely an event worth checking out and provided a positive, idealistic, yet pragmatic view on these issues.

The Creators Series is billed as a multidisciplinary view of what is going on in the creative world. The Creators Series was in New York last weekend and will be in Los Angeles this weekend (June 14-17). Many of the panel discussions will be available online as a webcast in a few weeks.