Challenging Mankind
I was on Saltspring Island last weekend for a little camping and stopped at a local organic coffee shop for a cup of tea. While enjoying the company of one of my good friends I spotted a great quote on one of the walls that really caught my attention. With some digital enhancement I’ve turned it into a desktop background.
The earthen walls of this coffee shop were so cool! This quote hit home with 2 points for me.
First, in business it often seems to me that more of us could be challenged or pushed to prove our maturity over our own egos or wrong perceptions of others. More good in the world could certainly be done if we all demonstrated a little more humility and maturity in our daily tasks.
Second, with the growing concern about global warming I think this quote from Rachel Carson bears significant importance. I recently watched Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” that addresses a number of emerging climate crises. Interestingly, Al Gore states that we have all the technology, all the brainpower, and all the resources that are necessary to reverse the effects of global warming, but what we need most is a change in public thought. Rather than constantly striving to demonstrate our mastery over nature, we really ought to be exercising greater self–discipline and really caring for our environment in whatever way we can. Make time to do your part.
With this in mind, I just received my MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op) spring catalog. I was excited to see that they have just joined 1% for the planet, which is an organization of businesses that have agreed to pay 1% of their profits to benefit environmental organizations. Along with compostable shopping bags and many other neat ways to improve the environment, they’re on the right track. Congratulations MEC!
