CO: Livestock and the food they eat occupy 30% of the world's landmass and produce loads of terrible green house gases (GHG).

• "In a comprehensive 400-page analysis, published last year, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) described the spiralling increase in greenhouse gases from livestock as "massive" and asserted that the world governments must urgently address the problem. It explicitly chided environmentalists for their apparent indifference. In essence, the FAO says , livestock have inherited the Earth - with disastrous consequences."

• Vegetarian anyone?
  

CO: Water good. Bottles not good for the environment. Bottles + fancy water = premium prices. What happens if bottles are misleadingly labeled?

• How many water bottles do you use in a week?
• Do you know where the water comes from?
  

Contrasting approaches to labeling of bottled waters. Reported by Vinnee Tong, AP July 27, 2007. "New Aquafina labels: It's tap water"

CO: Search engines used to keep records of searches for undetermined time periods, but they are now changing their policies in response to the efforts of privacy advocacy organizations

• Search engines keep records of searches for advertizing purposes, but how long should they be able to keep these records?
• How many users actually read terms of use agreements? How many actually knew that any records were being kept?
• The issue seems to pit privacy rights vs. the free market. Consumers could theoretically just reject search engines that abuse privacy rights; however, this would require an unrealistic amount of computer literacy (who actually reads the fine print?).
• The work of organizations like Privacy International show the power of NGOs to change TNC behaviour through research, education and advocacy.
  

CO: Students from colleges and universities across the USA and Canada converged on the US Congress to wake up legislators and to learn more about how to "Change It"

• Work shops were led by experienced facilitators to turn student passion into action
• Will this make a difference in the future? Yes. Organization is essential to ensure that energy and outrage is channeled effectively into change.
• Participant Jenna K ., New Jersey, pledges to change the world: "By teaching others that our choices will make a difference in environmental and social justice standards for future generations."

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...