In the struggle for human rights and environmental justice, it is easy to lose track of the forest because of the horrifying trees that surround us, but a new website called Bright Future is pointing the lense back towards solutions.

I don't know if there is a good way of deciding whether someone is overly cynical or optimistic. I googled the word cynical and was brought to a handy-dandy quiz that allowed users to find out just how cynical they were. Of course, my cynical side noticed that there were loads of ads and the result of the quiz was designed to be posted on a blog that would then link back to the site....

How about quotes:

The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead. Robert Brault

A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute. Gil Stern - All courtesy of Quote Garden

I think that the best approach to corpobligation is to be optimistic while retaining a healthy cynicism when viewing both corporate reports. This allows you to fight the good fight but avoid getting snowed by public relations information. It also helps sorting through the realistic solutions while still aiming for idealistic solutions to modern day problems like environmental crises or excess waste. Keep up the good fight as we struggle for a "Brighter Future". We welcome feedback about whether we are getting too cynical or optimistic.

CO: Publishers are seeing the benefits of choosing post-consumer recycled paper: publicity, reputation and endorsements by Harry Potter's author J.K. Rowling.

Corpobligation wants a slice of Harry Potter:

• books are made of paper, which comes from trees, which destroys forests
• But publishers like Raincoast Books have garnered loads of positive PR through the use of "100% ancient-forest free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper"
• For example: The Globe and Mail's, James Barber, reports [Harry Potter and the] "Deathly Hallows called 'greenest book in history'" (July 17, 2007).
  

Inpirational first steps...

What price are we willing to pay to eat food full of corpobligation?

Strawberries, peaches, tomatoes grace many an Ontario table at this time of the year, because of the hard work of migrant workers, who make little money and live in terrible conditions.

Workers come from Mexico, Jamaica, and other Carribean countries come to Canada to do the dull, dirty and dangerous farm work that Canadians are unwilling to do. Unlike in the United States, this program is run under a treaty between Canada and other national governments (Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program- Government of Canada site). They work on farms for 6-10 months and in many cases send a large part of their earnings back to their families.

How is migrant labour an issue of corpobligation (corporate obligation)?

The family farm is in many ways a myth of the past and it has been replaced with corporate enterprise farming, which even if owned by one family, farms are now more industrial than idylic pastoral creatures. In southern Ontario, where most of the soft-fruit produced in Canada comes from, the nature of the fruit requires a human touch which is provided by migrant workers. These workers are unable to join unions, nor to bargain or access health care effectively because of their precarious employment conditions.

The fruit produced under these bitter conditions feed into the corporate food processing plants that prepare those delicious canned peaches and tomatoes. We as consumers eat the products of the Earth at low prices because of the low wages of migrant workers. Justice for Migrant Workers/Justicia for Migrantes has been active in this area for a long time and provides loads of resources on migrant workers' struggles. They are also presenting a film on the effects of farmwork on the workers and their families...

CO: London may follow other cities in banning plastic bags, which could have a huge impact given London's identity as a shopping mecca.

• According to the Guardian Online (July 13, 2007) The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: "I am in favour of having a levy on plastic bags which could lead to a huge reduction in the use of plastic bags, cutting back on waste and helping our efforts to tackle climate change.
  
• British consumers use an estimated 10bn plastic bags - 167 per person - a year, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
• Ireland introduced a "plastax" of about 30 cents (20p) on each bag in 2002 and there has been a 90% reduction in use.

CO: Corporate philanthropy can be commendable or condemnable or something in between: Where should the line be drawn? What is responsible corporation to do? What should a responsible consumer do?

• Is true altruism required or can a corporation get an advertising benefit from a charitable donation?
• Charitable branding that provides a share of revenues to a charity can be a win/win, but what share makes the corporation philanthropic rather than just opportunistic?

• Are there limits to what should be branded? What about locations of branding?