OODAlink » Doing Business with a Conscience

A big OODAThanks

Jeff Jacobson — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:24:18 +0000

Thanksgiving 2010: As we remember with gratitude all of our blessings today, we’d like to include all of you who have contributed to our success over these past (almost) two years. A big OODA THANK YOU to our customers, colleagues, suppliers, family, friends, fans and followers. Together, with you, we will continue to strive to make a difference and contribute to the betterment of this world using the gifts we have been given. Thank you very much!

“The earth has one and only one Origin, the universe has one and only one Origin, all humankind has one and only one Origin, and all religions also have one and only one Origin.”

- Kotama Okada (Seio)

Salvation through Harmony in Montreal

Jeff Jacobson — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:55:01 +0000

“Salvation through Harmony” is Montreal’s motto and appears on the city’s coat of arms intended to illustrate that different communities have co-existed in harmony for nearly 400 years: a fleur de lis for the French, a rose for the English, a thistle for the Scots, a shamrock for the Irish, and a beaver for the Canadians.

First, the Amerindians and the French coexisted – then the British, the Scottish, the Irish, the East Europeans, Italians, Greeks and now people from every continent … and today the Montreal School Board welcomes children born in 188 different countries. Talk about interoperability!

History, music, food, architecture, universities, churches, museums, islands, water, shopping … Montreal has it all. Despite the cold and the snow and the ice and the slush in early January, the city has a palpable vibe of fun and friendliness. It is extremely accessible – and if you don’t mind bundling up in winter – it’s a great place for walking.

By the way, the 31st Festival International de Jazz de Montréal will take place June 25 to July 6, 2010. The festival will be a carbon-neutral event through the help of Rio Tinto Alcan.

Check it out! Here’s a great clip from the 2007 festival:

Going Green to Preserve our Precious Planet

Nancy Harvey — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:40:53 +0000

Over the holiday break, I took my six-year-old to ZooLights – an amazing spectacle of nearly 1.25 million lights hung throughout the Oregon Zoo. Thankfully, it was greener than ever this year because nearly 2/3 of the festival’s bulbs have been replaced with energy-efficient LEDs. Patrons were even enticed to make the switch by getting free fudge in exchange for their old power-sucking holiday lights. Sweet!

Anyway, my zoo trek reminded me that we all can – and must – do our part to preserve the precious planet that we share with all its amazing, colorful, and playful inhabitants (my daughter included).

Climbing ocelots need healthy tree limbs to pounce from. Waddling penguins need solid ice to slide on. Silly sea otters need healthy clams to crack. And my daughter (who contributed to this post) needs to marvel at these creatures’ splendor for years to come … and so do her children.

So what simple changes can we all make in the workplace to reduce our collective footprint – even if you’re not a “green business”? Here are some things we’re doing. Please comment below and let us know what you’re up to.

Ship using UPS’s carbon neutral program
Go paperless – ask vendors to invoice electronically; get all your statements online
Invest in a duplex printer – when you must print, at least you’re using both sides of the paper
Recycle used toner cartridges – most manufacturers have a program to ship them back for free
Get energy-efficient office equipment – printers and PCs that automatically sleep when not in use
Use CFL lightbulbs – they use only about 1/10 the power of incandescent bulbs
Host online meetings and conference calls in lieu of traveling (when you can)
Go green with website hosting – options are available to not serve up content when site is idle
And there’s countless things to do at home – even my daughter knows when raspberry season is!

I’ll leave you with this to ponder:

“Analyses of air contained in ice from the Antarctic ice cap show that there is far more CO₂ in the air today than at any time in the last 650,000 years.” -United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction