Social Bridges conducted an interview with Mr. Eugene Tay, Director of Green Future Solutions and the Founder/Editor of AsiaIsGreen and Green Business Times.

• What is your definition of green?

Green means living a life with minimal impact on Nature and future generation.

• What role can blogs/ Web sites play in the green sector? Can we lead the change?

Blogs and websites can help to educate the public and businesses on environmental issues, keep them informed, help them to connect and network, and inspire them to take action. We can lead the change but we have to realise that the change can only happen when all the stakeholders are involved.

• The green movement in Asia has yet to take firm roots. What are the major bottlenecks in your opinion?

Most Asian countries are developing countries, with the governments and people more interested in economic growth than protecting the environment. The people in Asia need to understand that they cannot follow what the West did, grow first and then clean up. They need to embrace what works for the environment and adopt leapfrogging technologies while they grow economically. The current ‘economic growth at all cost’ focus is one major bottleneck that has to be resolved.

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Social Bridges presents the weekly rundown of the best posts on corporate social responsibility, sustainability and greener options.

1. ISR and MoP is the new face of CSR and BoP?

Enrico Wensing wants the change from within from those who are at the middle of the pyramid (MoP). Individual Social Responsibility (ISR) is necessary if we want to make this world more sustainable. Read more.

2. Supply chain management for CSR

A good supply chain management, combined with other factors, is necessary for good CSR strategies. Laura Gitman has some tips.

3. What makes an ecosystem work?

Lucy Bernholz has raised some questions about it.

4. Social networking for BoP movement

The idea is catchy and can bring BoP marketing to a totally new dimension.

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Social Bridges presents a round up of interviews that we conducted with Pakistani executives to know what their companies are doing for the community and what’s their environmental and social footprint. It was really heartening to know that Pakistani corporate sector has started doing good for the society and are also trying to reduce their carbon footprints. These interviews were really very helpful in learning the CSR dynamics of Pakistan.

• ENGRO is setting examples for other companies

ENGRO is very much cautious about its environmental foot print and has spent millions on reducing emissions.

• P&G Pakistan is working for a better future of Pakistani children

Proctor & Gamble has based its community efforts on children as they are the future of Pakistan.

• Tribal Monsoon joins forces with Pakistani artisans to rock the world

Pakistani artisans are great but live in very pathetic conditions and abject poverty. Tribal Monsoon is helping these artisans by paying them generously and taking their creations to international markets.

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Enrico J. Wensing is a sustainability expert who has not only founded Ecosphere Net but has also authored I Am Sustainability: How the Human Body can Save the Planet, a great book on all issues related to sustainable development. He is in the final year of his PhD at Saybrook. Social Bridges recently conducted an interview with him to know more about his ideas and theories.

How would you define sustainability - what’s your personal view about it?

As far as I can tell, my view of sustainability is pretty different than most. While most sustainability efforts are about doing more sustainable things, like being more environmentally friendly, my view is about how we can take that even further when we begin to integrate sustainability into who we are.

That’s right, actually integrate sustainability into who we each are as an individual. My view is that sustainability can actually be integrated and become a large part of a person’s personality

This goes further than most approaches to sustainability, and if a deeper more effective connection with sustainability is possible why not go for it?

While my approach is more confrontational than remembering to recycle plastics and paper, at the end of the day don’t we want to do our best to be as effective as possible toward achieving global sustainability?

Just this past July my book (my first) entitled I Am Sustainability: How the Human Body can Save the Planet was published. In it I describe in detail my view on what sustainability means and how I think we can get to global sustainability.

The book is intended to be the starting point for a growing cross-cultural global conversation, action and research to work together to define what sustainability means to all of us.

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Social Bridges presents the weekly rundown of the best posts on corporate social responsibility, sustainability and greener options.

1. Climate change poses a major road block to MDGs

Rapid climatic changes, especially those in the poor countries, are proving to be a major bottleneck in the achievement of millennium development goals but we’ve got the solutions.

2. What is thoughtless environmentalism?

Are we heading towards a customer-friendly environmentalism where we don’t have to go through the ordeal of sorting green products out or is it just a fantasy? Quinn McKew elaborates.

3. How to be socially responsible during economic recession?

The economic downturn has become a source of major debate all over the world. Companies can maintain their social activities by acting on these tips.

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Combating climate change has never been an easy task. Also it was never considered as a profession and volunteers were often looked down upon by the corporate folks. They were partially right in their approach as climate change had very little employment opportunities to offer with very low success rates.

Fortunately that’s not the case anymore. Recently ILO, UNEP, the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Organization of Employers joined hands to examine the job opportunities in the climate change sector. They have come up with a detailed report titled Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World which can prove to be a landmark for a green road map for jobs creation.

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Corporate Social Responsibility is a much debated topic these days. This topic is so diverse and can lead to so many discussions and possibilities that one can’t even imagine. However, we have to draw some lines and set some standards. There are some unified roles for CSR activities for example. The basic one is that you have to venture out in community in the same sector which is your specialty, your industry.

Compliance with this basic pre-requisite is on the rise but there are still some glitches. Many businesses, especially those of the developing countries, generally abstain from being a good corporate citizen within their own scope of business. They might be involved in charity or education related activities but if you look at their socially responsible efforts you would find some serious discrepancies. Starting with socially responsible business, many industries are not complying with the environmental laws thus posing serious risks to lives and natural resources.

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Andrew from Good Honest Dollar continues his discussion on socially responsible investing. This time writing from a company’s point of view.

This article is the sixth in a series on Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), otherwise known as ethical investing.

In this post, I would like to discuss the consequences, from a company’s point of view, of being successful or otherwise in attracting ethical investment.

Some commentators argue that attraction of the ethical investment dollar provides an incentive for firms to adopt positive ethical behavior. But is attracting ethical investment really important to a firm? Does attracting SRI really matter?

In order to understand the consequences for a company of attracting socially responsible investment, we first need to examine two issues - the nature of these consequences and the magnitude of such consequences.

In this post, I will examine the nature of the consequences for a firm in attracting ethical investment – the question of why it matters.

The following post will deal with the magnitude of such consequences – the question of how much it matters.

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There is a lot of discussion on the vulnerability of environmental laws and the loopholes which makes it easier for the companies to deceive the authorities about their environmental footprint. Recycling of the electronic waste is a major headache as it involves a lot of bucks. The easiest way of getting rid of the e-waste is to dump it in the developing countries and this practice has been in place for many years.

A recent research by the Government Accountability Office revealed that many companies are exporting e-waste materials, including CRT monitors, to the third world countries instead of recycling at home due to relaxed regulations. In environmental reports, however, they claim that they have recycled it by themselves and in full compliance with the international standards.

What these companies have failed to comprehend is that their negligence is killing people in those countries where these parts are ‘recycled’. Pakistan along with India and China are major importers of e-waste. The recycling of these materials is done under extremely dangerous procedures without any safety measures. As a result, the workers involved in the recycling industry become victims of debilitating diseases.

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Social Bridges present a weekly rundown of the best posts on corporate social responsibility, sustainability and greener options.

1. Is a CSR slowdown in the making or is it just a hoax?

While we can have an endless heated debate on the issue but what should be an ideal strategy to stay responsible in troubling times. Osbter Lancaster gives us some tips.

Here is Social Bridges opinion on this whole debate.

2. Green intent is the key

Motivation and intent play a key role when it comes to green consumerism, isn’t it?

3. Transparency of sustainability reports

As we recently reported, a research discovered that the sustainability and environmental reports of many giants are lacking a core pre-requisite; sustainability.

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