Kiwi & Pink & Business Week, Oh My!

The Green is spreading!

First up is Kiwi– maybe those with kids have already heard of this great magazine centered around healthy and green living for parents (it seems to have been out for about 6 months now), but I just came across my first issue. Kiwi is super-informative, with lots of user-friendly articles centering on kids of all ages. The latest issue features articles about green baby shower gifts, responsible vacations for kids and their parents, safe bath products for children and babies, and a long, detailed feature piece on how to put together a greener home. If you know a parent who’s really trying to go green but needs a guide, this magazine is an ideal resource.

Business Week’s cover story for January 29, 2007 is “Beyond the Green Corporation – Imagine a world in which eco-friendly and socially reponsible practices actually help a company’s bottom line. It’s closer than you think.” Along with the main article, which, Business Week style, mentions lots of Fortune 500 companies and shows how their efforts to go green are actually tied to their bottom line (aka making money) in important ways, there are quite a few sidebars. Toyota is featured in one, Wal-Mart in another, and GlaxoSmithKline in a third. There’s also a rather boring-looking graph on “Who’s Doing Well by Doing Good”, which details exactly how leaders in various industries are green, have progressive human capital programs, or earn top marks in other areas of corporate responsibility. (There’s also a small chart below that one, titled “Some Laggards” (nice word choice!), which includes brief critiques of General Motors, Nintendo, and Wal-Mart.)

Take-home quote: “You can’t ignore the impact your company has on the community and environment. In the future, it will be the only way to do business.” – Unilever’s CEO Patrick Cescau

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Speaking of business, Pink is a newer magazine that caters to the serious working woman, with the Type-A tagline: A beautiful career, a beatiful life. Inside are articles about inspiring businesswomen, why flying private planes is worth the expense, and tips on mentoring younger women. Then if your business is growing fast and you are struggling to keep up with things, you should look into a quality virtual reception service, as they can then take a lot of that load from your shoulders. Aside from the egregious and disturbing article promoting private planes (as if flying on a plane with other people doesn’t already produce a ridiculous amount of CO2), the January issue also has a short piece on “3 Ways to Go Green in 2007” from Idealbite.com. Their suggestions: Recycle old computers, receive faxes electronically, and bring some plants and air filters into the office. Well, at least they’re trying…..