Fairer Trade B Corps Aim to Right the System
Traditional business models have recently experienced many manmade traumas, including the housing/bank- ing industry collapse, world recession, nuclear pollution in Japan, the BP Gulf oil spill and the Massey Energy Com- pany coal mining deaths in West Virginia. The conventional
response is that smarter regulation is needed to prevent such crises in the future, but a growing number of business analysts say the problems go deeper, and a new kind of corporate legal structure is needed that requires companies to operate for the good of society, not just for their sharehold- ers. These new entities, called B Corporations (the B is for benefit), are growing in number, having been adopted so far in Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont and Virginia. According to B Lab, the nonprofit behind the concept, “Our vision is simple, yet ambitious: to create a new sector of the economy that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. It will be comprised of a new type of corporation—the B Corporation—that meets rigorous and independent standards of social and environmental perfor- mance, accountability and transparency.” Jay Coen Gilbert, a B Lab co-founder, says, “We can’t
have a new economy unless we have a new type of corpo- ration. Corporate law actually works against sustainability.” Its certification effort helps consumers identify truly re- sponsible companies. It also works with private equity inves- tors to help them make better-informed investment decisions. Ultimately, it is pushing for new laws to, “…redefine fiduciary duty and hold companies accountable to create a material positive impact on society and the environment, as measured by an independent, transparent, third-party standard.”
Source:
GreenBiz.com
sOccket to Me A Powerful Plaything
Two Harvard undergraduate students, Julia Silverman and Jes- sica Matthews, have come up with a way to harness the kinetic energy of a moving soccer ball and store it as electric current in a battery inside the ball. The invention, called sOccket, collects enough energy in 15 minutes of play to power a typi- cal LED lamp for three hours. The device sports its own power outlet to retrieve the juice inside. Today’s sOccket is designed to last for a year or longer; researchers are studying its larger potential.
Source:
CleanTechnica.com natural awakenings November 2011 27
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