Push the Future

Entrepreneur in socially responsible business, chief executive officer of GOOD and co-founder of Ethos Water Jonathan Greenblatt brought his business ethos to his Monday morning talk.

Greenblatt began speaking about the “economy of integrity,” individual social action and potential. Globalization and the immediacy of technology mean that more people are more aware than ever before. There is as much potential for entrepreneurial corruption as there is for entrepreneurial authenticity as businesses vie for new markets in the arena that pits the “haves” against the ”have-nots.”

This fertile arena has the potential to spawn ethical and socially responsible new ventures to which consumers want to respond. In creating models for such companies, entrepreneurs and executives must seize the opportunity to leverage the consumer appeal of credibility and carry a socially responsible ideology throughout the entirety of their product and product identity to prohibit it from deteriorating into corporate spin or just good PR.

Greenblatt’s first venture, Ethos Water (which he co-founded with Peter Thum), and current endeavor at GOOD Worldwide (where he serves as CEO) represent the technological and ideological response to global inequalities. As ethical brands, they start with intention, are rooted in authenticity and transparency, demand competition-trumping performance and deep commitment to an issue, and engage consumers and vendors in their cause.

The concept behind Ethos Water sprung from the aspiration to help eliminate water shortages in the developing world. As an ethical brand, Ethos does not just satisfy the body’s basic need for water or the ego’s desire to hold a fancy bottle, but satiates one’s need for a brand that incorporates these elements and more, making the product meaningful.

Noticing a void on the newsstand, GOOD Magazine was developed by Ben Goldhirsh as a bottom-up, question-asking publication, designed to engage and inspire its readers. It asks the basic question “what’s good?” and inspires the authentic promise that the world can be.

Posted by Anna Wool

It used to be that when I spoke about a future in which we’d have mini-manufacturing hubs in the home, that I’d see the audience squirm with discomfort. It just seemed too freaky, too unrelated to life as we know it.

But in this last year I’ve been able to share video clips demonstrating current technologies that “print” products, and seen people’s expressions transform from “Eeeeww!” to “Wow!!” The old saw that “seeing is believing” proves its point once again; the problem is that by the time trends and innovations can be seen, you’ve lost the advantage of anticipating them.

It’s not too late, however, to appreciate the ultimate impact of personal manufacturing hubs on the economy, with it’s potential to disrupt every link of the supply chain, from raw materials to design, production to distribution, inventory to retail and marketing. Watch the following video from Fab@Home, an open-source tool set that allows anyone to download blueprints and instructions to assemble your very own 3-D fabricator, right now. Material cost runs around $2,400.

Desktop fabricators allow users to print 3D objects

St. Paul, Minn. — We consider Thanksgiving as a holiday full of tradition, especially in the foods we eat. But, technology, globalization and food science have changed the way Americans shop for, and prepare, Thanksgiving dinner.

Futurist Cecily Sommers, as the president of the Push Institute in Minneapolis, studies change. MPR’s Tom Crann asked her to look well beyond Thanksgiving dinner, to talk about what the foods of the future may look like.