When you get to a certain stage in life, it's all about decluttering. Clearing the decks of everything from old furniture to old flames. The dozens of cardboard boxes still in the garage from the last move (15 years ago). Layers of furniture crowding the basement like the rings of a tree, paying tribute to evolving tastes. And, of course, kids' college furniture ranging from the cheapest Jennifer Convertible to foldable dining table and chairs.

Whether you're an environmentally-missioned organization like TreePeople, a mega-brand that's incorporating sustainability into nearly every aspect of your business (think Unilever, Ikea), or one of 24% of Americans who worry a great deal about climate change, per Gallup, you've probably encountered baffling resistance in getting people to engage in more sustainable behavior.

There is nothing like a real emergency to galvanize people into action. At such times, communication becomes critical - but technology, like people, can be vulnerable to acts of God or terrorism.

December 2015. The end of another year of fire-storms, earthquakes, hurricanes and other Cecil B. DeMille-style reminders of the impending apocalypse we have wrought by messing with the world's climate. But don't lock the door to your fallout shelter and settle in with your 780 cans of pea soup just yet.

Thomas Paine wrote that government is inherently punitive, a necessary evil consequent to the "inability of moral virtue to govern the world." That comes to mind this week, as the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) meets in Paris. The goal, of questionable achievability, is to keep global warming at two degrees Celsius.