August is…innovative
Here’s our iNSPiRED blackboard for August. It’s half over but the theme remains: August is innovative. The first part of this month was spent in China – Shanghai and Beijing. You can probably imagine that with a population of 1 billion people, you have to get creative. Didn’t someone once say necessity is the mother of invention? Recycling in China is not just an industry like in Canada, for some it is a livelihood. It is a billion times (no pun intended) more important that waste is diverted through means such as recycling. Each recyclable item (a plastic bottle, aluminum can, etc…) can be deposited in a Reverse Vending Machine. A deposited item will return a certain amount of money. You will see individuals collecting glass, plastic and aluminum from public recycling bins as a source of income. It offers an excellent incentive to recycle.
A big chunk of August (and September) is dedicated to the Children’s Health & Environment Partnership. We’re working on developing a very cool and informative website on children’s environmental health bits and bites for the Partnership. The future home of this site will be: www.childrensenvironment.ca. Bookmark it!
Our Toronto location is up and running this month. We are extremely excited about it! There are lots of little visual reminders of our mission and pledge to create a happier and healthier planet for all. These fantastic recycled bottle caps turned magnets (courtesy of See Jane Work) are just one of many items we found to help create an eco-friendly office. We are keen to try out new things – not the tired old “green”.
The Goode Family will be coming to tv screens this fall. A series developed by the creators of King of the Hill – it documents the trials and tribulations of being an eco and social conscious family. Pretty different from most of the stuff you see on tv. Basically, it makes fun of people just like us. Hey you’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself, right?
Finally, we will be updating our website to give you the skinny on some of the great methodologies and techniques we use in the work we do. One process that we are learning more and more about every day is the U Process. Created by C. Otto Scharmer, a brilliant practical academic and senior lecturer at MIT – the U process is described as one process with five movements. The whole idea is that you move through the “u” and experience the stages necessary to tap into emerging possibilities. This is how innovation is born. We will share more on this and how we’ve used the process but for now, check out www.theoryU.com
Filed under: iP Blackboards
