Charity / Non-Profit / Community

Social equity is part of the Triple Bottom Line and thus we will look for opportunities to nurture our community through charitable efforts.

-Cash Donations

-Charity Drives

-Grants (microloans and mentoring for emerging entrepreneurs…) / Scholarships (Outward Bound,…) / Live-Work-Study programs for social entrepreneurs, artists (www.serveyourplanet.org)

-Soup kitchen/Donating leftovers?

-Nurture stewardship of local “place” & community participation:

--Bring in a ticket stub from a local event (school play, Chef Soiree, etc, and get a discount or something)

-Host a StoryCorps recording station (http://www.storycorps.net/) 

Core Principles

In order to achieve our vision, we are committed to supporting the triple bottom line (TBL) – adding financial, environmental, and social value to the local living economy. This expanded criteria for success can be summarized as “People, Planet, Profit.”

 "People" (Human Capital) pertains to fair and beneficial business practices toward labor and the community and region in which a company conducts its business.

 "Planet" (Natural Capital) refers to sustainable environmental practices such as managing consumption of energy and material and reducing waste.

 "Profit" (Economic Capital) is not only internal profit but also the economic benefit to the larger community.

 These areas are obviously interdependent and, thankfully, they can be mutually supportive.

 Every decision made in the design and operation of Bo Tree will reflect our drive to respect the TBL.

 It will be the standard by which we evaluate our decisions and determine our success.

 

The Vision

Bo Tree is inspired by a simple and powerful vision:

“A physical encyclopedia nourishing body, mind, soul, & spirit.”

The term “physical encyclopedia” may be unfamiliar in modern times but the concept was an instrumental element in the origins of Western culture. “Encyclopedia” originally described a broad and integrated curriculum of general education. The word evolved out of a combination of two Greek words - enkyklios (meaning “complete system” or “circle”) and paideia (a system of classical education that included such subjects as gymnastics, rhetoric, music, natural history, and philosophy). It was through the paideia that Greek citizens pursued two diverging but complementary practices:

• Active participation in public life in order to advance their community, and
  
• Momentary disengagement from others in order to develop their intellectual, physical, and spiritual qualities.
  

Bo Tree will be the place that provides opportunities for our patrons to do both. Whether you live nearby or you are just passing through, the atmosphere and range of options will make Bo Tree your destination to eat, read, laugh, learn, and grow. A beloved place to drop in and hang out, to work up a sweat or settle down for some peace, to meet old friends and make new ones, to feed your body and nourish your soul, to remember the past and chart your future. Bo Tree is where people will explore the limits of their mind and body while staying grounded in the comfort of the community—a community that will also benefit from our commitment to the "triple bottom line" of people, profit, & planet. 

There are other places to buy books, but Bo Tree is where you’ll go for knowledge. There are other places to eat and exercise, but Bo Tree is where you’ll go for health. There are other places to meet your friends, but Bo Tree is where you’ll go to reconnect. 

...There are also other places to develop your business plan, but the Bo Tree Blog is where we've gone. Inspired by collaborative and democratic endeavors like Wikipedia and OpenOffice, our business ideas are out in the open. Sure, someone else may profit from this but, as someone else said, "It is more important for this to be done that it is for me to do it." If someone went as far as to completely "steal" these ideas and make it a reality then the world would be a better place. I think the advantages of an open process far outweigh this and other disadvantages.

 

Business Name

Bo Tree Bookstore, Market, & Café

The bo tree is a tree found in Asia. Buddha achieved enlightenment while sitting underneath a Bo tree and this legend is “the most important single moment in Oriental mythology, a counterpart of the Crucifixion of the West. The Buddha beneath the Tree of Enlightenment (the Bo tree) and Christ on Holy Rood (the Tree of Redemption) are analogous figures, incorporating an archetypal World Savoir, World Tree motif, which is of immemorial antiquity” (J. Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces).

 

Alternative Name:

Pachamama’s Market (variations: Mama Pacha’s, Mama P’s, P.M. Market)

In Incan mythology, Pachamama was a benevolent goddess who presided over planting and harvesting. It is usually translated as "Mother Earth” but is also interpreted as “everything and all time.” Catholic conquest replaced her image with Virgin Mary with which she is still identified with in some parts of South America. Pachamama has a special worship day on the day before the Catholic Ash Wednesday. The connection to wholeness is symbolic of both our philosophy and the quality/quantity of our services and products. The connection to Catholicism and Mardi Gras are applicable to our upbringing in Louisiana culture. Lastly, the ideas of combining the new and old and expanding our perspectives are representative of our philosophy and vision.

 

Products and Services

Existing or imagined products/services that are inspirational examples of what we would like to sell/provide... 

www.T-shirtdeli.com  

www.CafePress.com 

www.Evos.com 

Cranium Games (http://www.hasbro.com/games/cranium/home.cfm) 

Community Support Agriculture (http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csadef.shtml)

 www.TekoSocks.com

 www.Smartwool.com

 www.Swobo.com

 www.PlanToys.com

 http://www.corksncanvas.com/ (Bring your favorite bottle of wine or beverage, and paint a picture along with a local artist. She will show you step-by-step how to paint a beautiful work of art that you will take home at the end of the evening.)

 http://www.froebelgifts.com/ (“The legendary Froebel Gifts^TM, the educational materials developed for Friedrich Froebel's original kindergarten in 1837, are perhaps the world's most intricately conceived playthings. The Froebel Gifts^TM appear deceptively simple but they represent a sophisticated approach to child development. Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, and many other notable architects and artists were educated with the Froebel Gifts^TM, but the effect of Froebel's kindergarten is more widespread and interwoven with the world history. The purpose of this site is to introduce you to the Froebel Gifts^TM and their proper use.”)

 

 

Publications

MAGAZINES/JOURNALS/BLOGS

• Green Source magazine
  
• New Urban News
  
• Utne
  
• Adbusters magazine
  
• Dwell
  
• Southern Living
  

BOOKS

• Farr, Douglas. Sustainable Urbanism
  
• Ellin, Nan. Postmodern Urbanism
  
• Ellin, Nan. Integral Urbanism
  
• Cameron, Julia. The Right to Write
  
• Campbell, Joseph with Bill Moyers. The Power of Myth
  
• Campbell, Joesph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces
  
• Campbell, Joseph. The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion
  
• Covey, Stephen. First Things First
  
• Covey, Stephen. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
  
• de Graaf, John (Editor). Take Back Your Time
  
• Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
  
• Greider, William. Soul of Capitalism 
  
• Hirsch, Jr E. D. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know 
  
• Jones, Morgan D. The Thinker’s Toolkit
  
• Lappe, Frances Moore. Diet for a Small Planet
  
• Marinoff, Lou. Plato, Not Prozac!: Applying Philosophy to Everyday Problems
  
• Maser, Chris. Resolving Environmental Conflict
  
• Phillips, Christopher. Socrates Café
  
• Russell, Peter. The Global Brain Awakens: Our Next Evolutionary Leap
  
• Reder, Catalfo, and Hamilton. The Whole Parenting Guide
  
• Wilber, Kenneth. Theory of Everything
  
• Williamson, Marianne. Healing the Soul of America: Reclaiming Our Voices as Spiritual Citizens
  

 

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

• Jon J. Muth. The Three Questions, Zen Ties, Zen Shorts
  
• Shel Silverstein’s works (http://www.shelsilverstein.com/indexSite.html)
  
• Dr. Suess
  
• Eric Carle
  

…to be continued…

Problems

Big problems and the big thinkers that are bringing our attention to both the issues and possible solutions.  These problems are dynamic and complex and require integrated perspectives to understand and resolve them.

-Climate Change (...)

-Childhood Obesity (...)

-Urban Sprawl (SmartGrowth.org, Congress for the New Urbanism, LEED-ND, Farr’s Sustainable Urbanism, Ellin’s Integral Urbanism)

-Affluenza (storyofstuff on youtube... I know - its ironic for a business to be inspired by a movement that strives to minimize consumerism.)

-Education (…)

-Time Scarcity (de Graaf’s Take Back Your Time)

-Loneliness in America (http://www.utne.com/Spirituality/Reconnect-Technology-Society-Lonely-American.aspx)

...to be continued/expanded...

 

People (Quotes)

Poet Mary Oliver... writing: "…What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Anthropologist Margaret Mead... writing: “Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.... saying that “Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”

Whoever said..."What would you do if you weren't afraid?" and “Never let the odds keep you from pursuing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.”

Mahatma Gandhi... saying: "My life is my message."

Van Jones... saying: "I am fire, bringing water."

Chuck Palahniuk... writing in Fight Club: “The things you own end up owning you."

John Adams... saying: "I must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading.”

Norman Cousins... saying: “The big ideas in this world cannot survive unless they come to life in the individual citizen.”

Williamson... writing in Healing The Soul Of America: “Working for social change in solitude is a contradiction in terms.”

The anonymous Latin speaker that said “Beware the man of one book.”

Sir Francis Bacon... writing: “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”

Helen Keller ... writing: "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change, and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate, is strength undefeatable."

 

Practices & Programs

Changing Hands Offers Series of Hiking Events

Tempe, Arizona's Changing Hands Bookstore, offers customers "Changing Hands Outdoors," a series of hiking events with themes to expand the mind, body, and spirit. The price of each hike includes a sack lunch from the Wildflower Bread Company, and most include a copy of a related title. The cost of $30 includes the hike, lunch, and a copy of Sixty Hikes Within Sixty Miles (Menasha Ridge), and there's a couple's price of $45, which includes one book and two lunches. http://news.bookweb.org/6625.html

Capitola Book Cafe Launches Membership Program

Created a membership program that offers customers five levels of membership whose fees range from $25 to $250. Among the benefits are free food and drink, shopping sprees, tickets to events, and other discounts. In recent years, the store, which was knew as "a kind of literary clearinghouse, not only selling books, but hosting readings from authors," has expanded its food-and-drink offerings, welcomed consignment items, brought in artworks, hosted community events, set aside a kids' area, and given attention to local writers and artists. http://news.bookweb.org/6625.html

Tree House Books Draws Media Attention for IBA

Michele Lonergan of Tree House Books in Holland, Michigan, who was instrumental in the creation of the new Lakeshore Business Alliance to educate the public about the "huge" positive impact that shopping locally can have on a community…The survey also found independent businesses in communities with a buy-local campaign fared better than those without one. http://news.bookweb.org/6625.html

Salons - http://www.utne.com/Spirituality/The-Art-of-a-Lively-Conversation.aspx

No Child Left Inside - http://nochildleftinside.org/

Austin Found (city wide teasure hunt) - http://www.austinfound.info/mambo/

Open Source / Collaborative Efforts such as wikipedia.org, wikiplanning, and openoffice software

Employee Practices  at Whole Foods, Zappos.com, Google, and Cranium

Urban Adventure Racing -

-Austin Oyster Urban Adventure Race Home javascript:void(0)
The Oyster Racing Series Ultimate Urban Adventure Race

-The Great Urban Race An Urban Adventure and Scavenger Hunt Race javascript:void(0)
The Great Urban Race is a unique urban adventure - a scavenger hunt, road race, and party all rolled into one fun day!

-Urban Assault Ride - The Pedal Powered Urban Adventure javascript:void(0)
Beer, Bikes, and Big Wheels – the biggest bike scavenger hunt series in the US.

 Socially Responsible Investing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_investing

 

 

Pictures