Issue #14: Great mehxpectations.

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There was a time when if we heard someone was giving $10 billion-with-a-B to a cause, we’d celebrate them as a philanthropist hero. But times have changed.

Now that we live in age of FOIA requests and social media vigilanteism, we know more about corporate behavior than ever before. But we still don’t know everything. So it’s no surprise that people are skeptical about billionaires using their money for “good”.

With individual giving on the decline, it’s clear that we’re evolving out of an age of philanthropy and into one of action. That doesn’t mean that philanthropy can’t help. But perhaps we should get a better understanding of how it can help best.

As we’ve been building Kindred, I’ve been inspired by how many new companies we’ve met who are working to solve this problem. With more information, we should be able to make better decisions about how to address some of society’s (and the world’s) biggest problems — including on how to best put $10 billion to work.

We should hold people with tremendous resources accountable for how they use them. It’s ok to be skeptical. But we should also not be afraid to suggest better ways for them to do it. If civil discourse can prevail, then it should result in a conversation that could teach us all how to give — and receive — better. And maybe then will our default expectations move from 🤦‍♀️ to 🤷‍♀️ to🦸‍♀️.

What’s Good:

Cupcycling. McDonald's and Starbucks having begun rolling out the use of "smart" resuseable cups in a few locations in California. These two chains alone go through billions of paper cups a year, and most are coated with a plastic lining that makes them almost impossible to recycle. These new models are made mostly from plastic and are outfitted with RFID chips or QR codes for tracking. Eliminating this waste would go a long way toward meeting the environmental goals set by each company.

Toothwaste: Colgate is launching what it says is a vegan-certified toothpaste that comes in an "industry-first" recyclable tube. The product's development is five years in the making. Most toothpaste tubes are made from plastic and aluminum, making it impossible to reduce an environmental footprint. Colgate's toothpaste will also contains minimal ingredients. Colgate is pledging to use 100% recyclable packaging on all of its products by 2025.

Frock the vote. In an effort to help increase female representation in all forms of government, M.M. LaFleur, which designs professional women's attire, has announced it will be lending free clothing to women candidates running for office — whether for Congress or town council.

Windows into mental health. Saks Fifth Avenue is using its famous windows to shine a light on mental health. Saks partnered with Fountain House, a community-based model for people living with mental illness, and Crisis Text Line, which provides free, 24/7 confidential support for those in crisis, to showcase the artwork of artist Osvaldo Cruz.

Hot and botted. 25% of all tweets about climate on an average day are produced by bots. As a result, online discourse is distorted to include far more climate science denialism than it would otherwise. This proportion was higher in certain topics – bots were responsible for 38% of tweets about “fake science” and 28% of all tweets about the petroleum giant Exxon. The findings “suggest that bots are not just prevalent, but disproportionately so in topics that were supportive of Trump’s announcement or skeptical of climate science and action”. It’s not just the poles we have to be worried about, it’s man-made polarization, too.

Kids should be zine — and heard. Teen Vogue launched a zine with the incredible kids from March for Our Lives, called UNQUIET. UNQUIET, is a collaboration of artists and activists from across the country, each telling their story and how our nation really looks. They are stories rooted in the systematic epidemic of gun violence.

Bezos’ billions, but better. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos announced that he was committing $10 billion to the new Bezos Earth Fund, designed to “amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change.” But many are speaking out about the potential effectiveness/efficiency of that commitment, including Amazon employees. Adele Peters at Fast Company reccomends that those funds would be better used to helppublic utilities commissioners around the country to rapidly decarbonize the grid. Once the grid is fixed, states will have leverage against transportation because of electric vehicles and energy efficent electricity generation. Those dollars should also be invested in policy change, because without it, nothing can be done to systematically overhaul our dependence on fossil fuels.

The fight for .org. Private equity firm Ethos Capital is planning a $1.1 billion takeover attempt on nonprofit Internet Society’s Public Interest Registry, which controls .org registration across the planet. This has nonprofits concerned that it will jack up the roughly $10 flat annual rate to maintain their .org domains. In order to mollify critics, the private equity fund is proposing to cap price increases at 10% per year for the first eight years. But non-profits are worried about paying exorbitant fees to maintain the .org designation after those 8 years are up.

CoNDA Nast. Condé Nast, owner of The New Yorker and other magazines, will stop using NDAs related to harassment and discrimination. It will also release people form existing NDAs on a “case-by-case basis”. Condé Nast cites "reporting on issues at other companies" as the reason for the change. Well, that and the Nevada Democratic Debate, I’m sure.

The devil wears Prada only once. Many forget that “reduce, reuse, recycle” is in a particular order of effectiveness. The fashion industry is under pressure similar to the electronics industry to move to repair clothing, rather than create waste by encouraging people to replace it.

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