Site of the Day for Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Selling to the Poor: Doing Well = Doing Good? Today's site, from those inquiring folks at the Why Files, presents an inspirational and optimistic concept which attempts to marry capitalism to philanthropy. Gentle Subscribers will discover a new politically correct term and an interesting examination of how it may be possible to cash in on selling to those at the base of the global economic pyramid while maintaining the moral high ground. "Dark night sheds light on new path to sustainable development ... Could the pitch-black villages and shantytowns of the developing world present an opportunity to alleviate poverty, improve education, goose green technology, save some energy, and create jobs -- all in one package? ... By marketing to billions of lower-income people, business can do well by doing good: Affordable green goods for "the base of the pyramid" could improve lives and cut environmental damage. Could this work?" - from the website The exhibit explores the reality of global economics where those at the Base of the Pyramid spend trillions of dollars a year on inferior goods and services which could be replaced by lower cost, better quality, environmentally sound products and services. From looking at the explosive growth of the cell phone industry in Africa at the turn of the century to establishing companies to purify and sell local drinking water, the presentation provides a compelling case for innovative capitalism to raise the standard of living for those at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP). Citing the example of a Canadian non-profit company as an illustration, the exhibit charts the low cost, durability and better quality of the latest LEDs in comparison to the frequently used expensive and dangerous kerosene. It points out that powered by inexpensive photovoltaic panels, LEDs could transform struggling third world villages by providing a cheap source of artificial light. A noteworthy bibliography rounds out the exhibit. Soar over to the site to explore how selling to those in developing nations might be both profitable and morally upstanding at: http://whyfiles.org/270sustain_develop/ A.M. Holm <admin-sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Manage your subscription and view the List archives on the web at: <//www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/webpage?webpage_id=sotd> and <//www.freelists.org/archives/sotd> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to sotd-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with unsubscribe in the Subject field.