Went to an event last night that was very timely given current economic conditions and the election just past in Canada and just around the corner in the U.S. Artist, conservationist and lecturer Robert Bateman is well known internationally for his artwork, books and as we found out, his passionate, as he put it, rant on the economy’s inter-relationship with the natural world.

Well, we hear alot of speakers and alot of pitches in this business and we certainly celebrate entrepreneurship, innovation and opportunity. But, as Mr. Bateman pointed out, that does not mean that we or our readers should support unbridled materialism. One great resource that he drew us to was the book Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv, where he discusses “Nature deficit disorder” and how will a generation that grows up in front of “screens” rather than nature be able to preserve our environment? Or as Robert put it, “will they be reminiscing about the good old days of …. Grand Theft Auto?”

In times of economic uncertainty the environment can take a back seat, and given that we haven’t been doing a great job of it during good times who will mind the planet? In Canada, Stefan Dion’s Green shift went over like a lead balloon - he made the mistake of telling it like it is and suffered when the votes were cast. Will Barrack Obama do any better once he confirms his cakewalk into power in Washington? We can only hope so. Bateman pointed out how the GDP measures that are used credit inputs like number of prisoners and number of cancer patients. Isn’t that a measure of wrong-headed priorities - was the financial collapse surprising in this context?

As Robert pointed out, the only thing that can grow endlessly is a cancer cell. So what can we do? Get your kids dirty! I’m proud to be a director of a non-profit in Vancouver called the Stanley Park Ecology Society, (SPES) dedicated to the healthy balance of nature and man in urban environments and at SPES we were very pleased to host Mr. Bateman at our AGM. SPES is a great example of the kind of social entrepreneurship that makes a difference through school programs, public programs and conservation.

So, turn off the TV, limit the Wii and go outside and play with your kids - even better, encourage them to get dirty! Get into the woods, onto the beach, in the garden or up a tree. Think like a spider - what you do to your “web”, you do to yourself. Ok, rant complete we can go back to our usual programming but we also continue to support great examples of firms that make a difference like GiveMeaning.com, Kiva.org and the Grameen Bank and 3rdwhale.com. What if we all made a bit more meaning? Something to think about….