How to Heal the World

Guest post from Shel Horowitz

How the Profit Motive Can Solve Hunger, Poverty, War, and Catastrophic Climate Change

By Shel Horowitz

Two years ago, I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up: the person who proves that the business world can end hunger, poverty, war, and catastrophic climate change.

Not through guilt or shame—through enlightened self-interest: profit. Developing a core business identity based in social transformation, creating/marketing products and services that address these issues directly.

 Let's make that concrete:

    • Example 1: inexpensive, profitable solar-powered LED lanterns eliminate kerosene's toxic fumes and deadly fires…fund the purchase out of a household's existing kerosene budget…provide better light, enabling kids to get better grades and parents to take on a cottage industry—ladders out of poverty (at least three companies make these)

   • Example 2: holistic design: without furnace or AC, you can save 80% energy/carbon. nature knows how to build a curved anthill that withstands both India's intense monsoon flooding and the inhospitable dry climate the rest of the year.

   • Example 3: self-feeding loops grow mushrooms on the spent grain from a brewery, feed the mushroom waste to a tilapia (fish) crop, and uses the fish nutrients to grow gourmet salad greens. This cycle creates new jobs, improves quality of life *and* food self-sufficiency, and restores polluted water—all at once.

 Pretty cool, huh? I've spent the past two years looking at how systemic thinking can eliminate scarcity, balance the planet, and promote peace.

 My 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, comes out in April, with 22 endorsements including Jack Canfield and Seth Godin, and four essays from Cynthia Kersey (author of Unstoppable/Unstoppable Women), Frances Moore Lappé (Diet for a Small Planet), Yanik Silver (Evolved Enterprise), and Ken McArthur (The Impact Factor). It's the best thing I've ever done.

 If enough people read it, this book can change the world! Learn more:  

http://goingbeyondsustainability.com/guerrilla-marketing-to-heal-the-world/

 
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Green/social change business profitability expert Shel Horowitz shows you how profit by greening your business, turning hunger and poverty into sufficiency, war into peace, and catastrophic climate change into planetary balance, and marketing these commitments. Shel’s 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World (Morgan James Publishing), highlights profitable and successful socially responsible strategies used by companies from Fortune 100 to solopreneurs. To discuss your next project with him or schedule a no-charge 15-minute strategy session: shel [AT] greenandprofitable.com, 413-586-2388 (8 a.m. to 10 p.m., US Eastern Time), Twitter: @ShelHorowitz