Goal For The Green

On Tuesday, August 21,2012 you can experience the spectacular imagery that only Disneynature can provide – with it’s newest debut of  “Chimpanzee,” as a Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray+DVD=$39.99 U.S. and $49.99 Canada.), Digital and On-Demand viewing.  Disneynature, has brought you “Earth,” “Oceans,” and “African Cats,” and now the most amazing and heartwarming adventure yet “Chimpanzee.”

This inspiring film takes you on the true life adventure of Oscar, an adorable young chimpanzee, whose zest for life and constant curiosity showcases some of the ingenuity and intelligence of the chimpanzee’s in an up close and personal way.  They have always been known to be among the most extraordinary personalities of the entire animal kingdom.

“Chimpanzee,” is a remarkable look at Oscar’s growth and individual triumph, as well as, family bonds created within his group. You’ll experience a journey deep into the African Forest, where Oscar and other fellow young chimps introduce you to their playground, where they love creating mayhem. It’s an inspiring and life-changing adventure that gives you an up close and personal look into Oscar’s family, and how they must navigate and protect their complex forest territory, which is their food source and vital to their existence.  This interesting, inspirational and life-changing adventure with it’s beautiful footage, is guaranteed to capture your heart with it’s courage and charm.

The making of “Chimpanzee” is a series of exciting short features, that show the incredible lengths the film-makers went through to capture and tell the  story of Oscar and his family.

A team of researchers, including Dr. Jane Goodall, have been researching chimpanzee’s along the Ivory Coast for 30 years.  You’ll get a behind the scenes look at how and why the film was made. Cameramen would go on a two hour daily trek through the forest, just to get to the chimpanzee’s and observe their daily lives, like how they use rocks and tools to prepare their food. They also had to keep a distance, and yet manage to catch the films two rival family groups struggle to share the same family forest home.  The crew, even spent two days wading through the sea of bees on location, in order to capture just 20 seconds of stunning footage.

In celebration of the in-home debut of “Chimpanzee,” Disneynature will donate a portion of the first-week sales to the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) through the “See Chimpanzee, Save Chimpanzees” Conservation Program. For every purchase of the movie through August 27th,2012, Disneynature will make a donation through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, to conserve chimpanzee habitat, educate the next generation, and care for orphaned chimpanzees.

This is a beautiful look at one of the most amazing creatures in the world. It is good wholesome family entertainment, and a close-up look at family values in the wild. It’s some of the most amazing filming I have ever seen. It makes you feel like you are there, and a part of the action in a most beautiful and pristine place.

It was a happy day last week, when I received a copy of The Lorax, for me and my family to review. My generation, was raised on the traditional fairy tales. But, the wonderful, imaginative, and always humorous yarns of Dr. Seuss- always seemed to get read over and over again, and were ageless in their appeal to everyone.  The Lorax, has that same appeal, and was pinned by Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), in 1971, and was his personal favorite piece of work.  It leaves me wondering if he could somehow see into the future, or take a slight glimpse into what the world is like today. The message is apparent that we should respect and care for our environment.

Twelve year old Ted, sets out on a journey to find the Truffula Tree, for his crush(Audrey)-who just so happens to be the girl next door-the girl of his dreams.  The journey proves to be more difficult than he anticipated.  You see, humans have built a fake and sterile world, where there in NO dirt, NO trees, NO grass, and NO real or natural ANYTHING.  Trees are made of sanitized Plastic and the Food is overly processed unappetizing BLOBS- in the town of Thneedville.

Ted starts off on his journey with fifteen cents, a nail and the shell of a great-great grandfather SNAIL! He takes these treasures with him to the very secluded Once-ler, in his quest to find the Truffula Tree.  It is there, that he learns the story of the Lorax- (a grumpy, but loveable creature who speaks for the trees and is a protector of Truffula Valley). He also learns that he must avoid coming up against the town owner who sells-AIR!

You’ll have NO problem watching the trials and tribulations Ted must go through, to see if he finds the Truffula Tree and gets the girl of his dreams!

Here is a brief trailer of the other three movie shorts included in the pack.

The Lorax, is great family fun for everyone.  My seven year old grandson thinks it is the best.  It keeps you watching and laughing, and even us adults enjoyed it tremendously.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Combo Packs contain a Blu-ray™, DVD and a Digital Copy of the film compatible with iTunes^®, iPad^®, iPhone^®, iPod^™, Android (or select online retailers), as well as, UltraViolet^™.  UltraViolet^,™ is the revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows in the cloud to instantly stream and download to computers, tablets and smart phones. Consumers can now truly enjoy their movies anytime, anywhere on the platform of their choice.

The packs all include these bonus features:

• MINI MOVIES

• Serenade — Two Bar-ba-loots — one love shy and the other suave and confident — battle for the heart of their would-be sweetheart with the help of a colorful cast of characters, including the Humming-Fish and Swomme-Swans.
• Wagon-Ho—Two Bar-ba-loots take The Once-ler’s wagon on a ride they won’t soon forget.
• Forces of Nature—Determined to scare The Once-ler out of Truffula Valley, The Lorax decides to create the illusion of ominous forces of nature.

The launch date for The Lorax, began on Tuesday August 7th, and is available in stores everywhere.  No matter how you choose to view it, it is a great addition to your viewing library.  I received a copy for viewing and review, and all thoughts and opinions shared here are my own.

Recently there was a study done to determine how to best sell the idea of sustainability inside corporate America. The results are quite interesting, as noted in the findings below.

In a report by VOX Global, Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting and Net Impact, Berkeley Finds Corporate Sustainability Leaders Succeed Through Collaboration and Using the Language of Business when Making the Pitch of Selling Sustainability From Inside Corporate America.

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC–(Marketwire – July 26, 2012) – To be successful, corporate sustainability leaders avoid the jargon of sustainability when selling it inside their companies. Rather, the path to success is developed by understanding business objectives and using broad interpersonal skills to communicate social and environmental issues in the language business leaders will understand, according to a new report that surveyed more than 30 sustainability leaders representing both publicly and privately held companies.

English: The "three pillars" of sustainability bounded by the environment (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Trying to get people to think about sustainability,understand it, and then align our business strategy takes a lot of dialogue, discussion,and influencing skills,” said John Gardner,Chief Sustainability Officer at Novelis. “You can be very bright and smart on sustainability and the science, but if you can’t convince people why it makes good business sense, your initiative will go nowhere.”

The study — conducted through a partnership between VOX Global, a Washington-based firm specializing in corporate sustainability consulting; Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting; and the Net Impact Chapter at the University of California, Berkeley — sheds new light on the skills,drivers,and internal collaboration strategies necessary for sustainability executives to find success.

Thirty-two corporate sustainability leaders,primarily from Fortune 100 companies,participated in the online survey and included in-depth phone interviews with sustainability officers and senior executives at McDonald’s, Novelis, AT&T, DuPont, EMC, Hilton Worldwide and Nixon Peabody LLP.

“A significant part of my role is translating those social and environmental issues that intersect with our business in ways senior management can understand,” said Kathrin Winkler, Chief Sustainability Officer at EMC. “Showing how they can either provide a competitive edge or respond to a customer demand is critical for success.”

Charged with integrating a relatively new and evolving function within their company and generally operating with fewer resources than traditional business units, sustainability leaders say they primarily rely on interpersonal skills, rather than subject matter expertise. The study found that prior to taking their job, nearly three quarters of respondents thought subject matter expertise was the most important factor to be successful. But, after being on the job, 100% of respondents stated interpersonal skills were the most important factor.

“This study crystallized the fact that sustainability leaders are multi-lingual. Instead of selling sustainability inside their companies one hundred different times, they sell it one hundred different ways,” explained Tony Calandro, Senior Vice President & Partner at VOX Global. “The secret sauce of success is balancing subject matter expertise with strong interpersonal skills along with leadership traits that are not easily developed.”

More important than senior executive buy-in, 81 percent of respondents stated that they rely instead on collaborating with colleagues and co-workers at all levels of the company in order to integrate sustainability throughout their organizations. This finding is even more significant given the fact that they have little to no management authority over these colleagues inside their companies.

Carolyn Kaplan, Counsel and Chief Sustainability Officer at Nixon Peabody LLP, stated, “On any given day, I might be demonstrating to a partner the link between a strong internal sustainability program and a client’s core business, working with an office manager to implement a new sustainability procedure, or helping a secretary take advantage of energy savings opportunities.”

Counter to conventional wisdom, the survey also found that traditional business drivers like customer pressures and competitors were significantly more influential in compelling change inside companies than external factors driven by NGO pressures, regulatory policies and sustainability rankings.

“The report shows that interpersonal skills trump all, and I have definitely seen that come through for my placements,” said Ellen Weinreb, Managing Director of Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting. “While these skills are innate, the ability to hone and accelerate them while on the job is critical to their success.”

You can read the Executive Summary and Full Report of the survey at voxglobal.com.

VOX Global is a strategic communications and public affairs firm with significant experience navigating the intersection of business, media and society. Our Sustainability Practice Group helps position sustainability leaders and their companies for long-term success by providing services that help them achieve both a good reputation and financial return on investment. VOX Global is currently working with the Center for Sustainability at Saint Louis University, to develop a unique executive training program that focuses on honing and sharpening the interpersonal skills needed for sustainability leaders to be successful.

Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting is a niche executive search firm, specializing in corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Clients include Wal-Mart, Patagonia, Sears, Nestle Waters and Levi Strauss & Co. Weinreb Group publishes reports regularly about the CSR profession including, “CSO Back Story, How Chief Sustainability Officers Reached the C-Suite.”

Net Impact, Berkeley, an undergraduate chapter sponsored by the Haas School of Business, provides consulting services to organizations in order to gain real world experience as a complement to their education. Together they are working on sustainability and better tomorrows for the future!