Our Blue Planet

Welcome to the Blue Planet Blog

Are you ready to "Do the Blue"?  Our Blue Planet blog is for people, who want to be a part of all that is happening on our blue planet.  It is also a place to do good for our world's oceans and even come meet our Blue Planet Superheroes!  You can  even start today - join the BluBag revolution and be one more person reducing plastic in your life (a major source of pollution in our world's oceans).  When you buy a BluBag you will not only own a very hip and cool 100% organic cotton shopping tote (made 100% in the USA) but best of all, you choose from one of three great blue planet causes to receive over 50% of all the profits from the sale of each BluBag - doing good ... one bag at at time!   

There may be no better place on earth to learn about our blue planet that at an aquarium.  The New England Aquarium is no exception, with over 26 thousand species of fish, birds, animals, reptiles and yes, people, inhabitating this Boston waterfront icon, every day brings an new adventure, discovery or challenge - of one sort or another! 

As the Director of Corporate Relations, I work with corporations, foundations and other non-profit organizations to help create the best of the best in cause-marketing partnerships and corporate social responsibility programs.  Blue Planet blog is a place for ideas, good news, bad news, updates and more.  Your comments, ideas and suggestions are always welcome!    

Future Leaders for a Blue Planet

Last month the New England Aquarium  announced the creation of a new cause promotion, Corporate Conservation Night on September 14, 2006.  This new initiative has taken off in no small part because of the Founding support of Corporate Partner New Balance and the New Balance Foundation.  New Balance is dedicated to promoting an active lifestyle for kids and has long shown a commitment to the environment and to in the communities where they do business.

For New Balance, support means providing the opportunity for dozens of children from greater Boston the chance to attend of week environmental science camp this summer.  Together with the New England Aquarium, New Balance hopes to inspire the future leaders for our Blue Planet. 

Many of us have a wonderful memories of summer camp, Harbor Discoveries Camp is no exception, campers from 4th through 9th grade  traverse  a variety of locations to engage in  hands-on  science and discovery projects.  Advanced campers in grades 10 through 12 are responsible for sophisticated projects in a variety into the world of water challenges.

Corporate Conservation Night will not only celebrate and help fund the 2006 summer camp program but will also recognize the New England Aquarium's growing group of Corporate Conservation Partners and supporters.  The list of Corporate Conservation Night Sponsors is growing too,  including Nixon Peabody, LLP , Sovereign Bank , Suez Energy Resources, the Boston Red Sox, Arthur J Gallagher of Massachusetts, PerkinElmer Foundation and more!  Each new supporter means more kids go to camp - and maybe  the next underwater explorer - or global warming scientist is born.

Selling out or buying in?

That is the question posed by Dara O'Rourke in her April 5th editorial in The Boston Globe.  As corporations continue buy into socially responsible businesses as a means to enhance their own brand and capture the ever-growing market for earth-conscious products, consumers are left to wonder what this all means.  As O'Rourke states,

"... maybe this is good news for environmentally and  socially responsible products.  A sign that Main Street and Wall Street are finally buying into companies that do well by doing good.  Certainly this reminds us that global corporations have the potential to spread phthalate-free perfumes and organic juices just as fast as they spread Marlboros and Coke".

O'Rourke points out that when Tom's of Maine announced their partnership with Colgate , maybe it is about  "reaching the masses through those elusive retail channels only a multinational company can access".  Whether good or bad, it is a trend not likely to end anytime soon.  As reported in the April 23rd issue of parade magazine,

"89% of adults surveyed believe that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees and the community, but ... 81% believe that American businesses make decisions based on what is best for their shareholders and investors - not what is best for employees ...."