On December 7th, 2009 at 1:30pm GMT Starbucks invited musicians from all over the world to sing together at the same time to raise awareness for AIDS in Africa. In that one breathtaking moment, musicians from 156 countries played “All You Need is Love” together. Watch now, as musicians from all around the world come together and share a song.
Join in by lending your own voice to http://StarbucksLoveProject.com Watch streaming video from countries around the world and then join in by singing All You Need is Love yourself. For each video submitted, Starbucks will make a contribution to the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa. You can also help increase the Starbucks contribution to the Global Fund by submitting a drawing to the Love Gallery.
The global sing-along is part of our continuing efforts to help fight AIDS in Africa. In just one year in partnership with (RED)™, Starbucks has generated money equivalent to more than 7 million days of medicine to help those living with HIV in Africa.
What does this lucid term mean! Webster’s defines it as:
Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources.
However to me sustainability means you can remain consistent in the ebbs and flows of life. In fact I would venture to say that this one of the most serious topics each of us struggles with everyday. Just yesterday I attended a speech given by Jerry of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream company. They were passing out free dessert and I had already eaten one ice cream bar. In my brain I new that I would be going to the gym and if I ate more than one ice cream bar I would find myself in a nauseous state at the gym. However my belly was telling me that they were free and if I didn’t grab another ice cream bar I would be a fool because they were free.
Which one do you listen to the belly or the brain? How does this relate to sustainability. The key in life is to master our urges and desires, which I call the ebbs and flows of life. Sustainability is measuring your results through life and finding that you were consistent in your practices when setting out to accomplish a given goal. This is applicable not only to your personal life goals but also to any business or company you may own or work for. This is the process one uses to measure value. (ie: ones ability to consistently produce a profit each quarter). The ebbs and flows of life can be likened naturally to the ocean’s tide receding in and out at the shoreline. However I would like to compare it to the aeronautical function of course heading. When flying an air plane one must set a course heading in order to fly to a given destination. Now if the heading was 360 degrees, that would be due north. However, if the pilot does not measure his progress by consistently checking his gauges, he will be pushed off course by the surrounding elements in the atmosphere. This is similar to a goal you have set for your self. If you cannot consistently check your progress you might be tempted to make a decision such as eating that second ice cream bar, but then you think back to the hard work you have put in at the gym and the final destination of lifting a given weight or running a given distance. Weighing the decision you will probably decide against eating the second bar because of the progress up until that point. This creates sustainability. However without a measurement you might just eat that second ice cream bar. Ones ability to measure their success in the way they deem successful is the key component to achieving sustainability.
Ben and Jerry measure their success by profit, number one but also by the amount they can return to the community and/or environment. Jerry says in order to accomplish both tasks they must look for avenues that complement one! Another-wards they do not cancel/deplete one another. For example, they chose a bakery that employees many workers who are ex-convicts or homeless, to purchase their brownies for many of their flavors. This not only supports the bakery with many sales, but it also benefits those workers who needed a job and could not find one elsewhere. Second they choose creative marketing techniques to not only attract customers to their products, but also to voice their opinions on the environment and social concerns (ie: Imagine Whirled Peace). These are just a few ways that Ben and Jerry’s use to achieve sustainability in their ice cream company while still promoting that of giving back to the community. By measuring their successes in both business profits and environmental concerns they mange the ebbs and flows of life with a sustainable twist.
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