Jean Cannon - in the news but not in Playboy

In this Issue

• Note from Jean
• Featured Article
• Enviro Action Activities
• Links to Articles

Note from Jean
This week I was interviewed for two different newspaper articles.  The links are below.  What I found interesting is that one of them was an interview asking me to comment on overseas research that found Australian business women are too sensitive about putting themselves forward.  I have to agree and did in the interview.

I have realised over the past year that if you have a worthwhile product or service that is helpful to the businesses that use it; you have a responsibility to let people know about it.  This means you must market and “put yourself out there” otherwise you remain a secret and the clients who may well be looking for your service have no idea you can help them.  The important thing is to always give good value to clients.  So I need to give you more information about how I can help businesses to “go green” and save money and also get the recognised certification, ISO 14001.

Here are the article links: The first was in The Adelaide Advertiser . There was also a large photo of me on my terrace, looking totally windblown on Page 13 of The Advertiser on Tuesday 19th August.
It was a bit daunting to click on Jean Cannon and find I linked directly to a site selling Jeans in “styles and fits to suit every body!”  If you Google Jean Cannon much more comes up!  For the record – I was never in Playboy – that Jean Cannon died early - I wondered about pneumonia given what she was wearing.

The Second was in the Adelaide Hills Weekender and entitled “Leaders In Business – get to know your local professionals”   (This link may take a couple of determined clicks to get onto - It did when I tested it)

Featured Article – Be surprised - what things in our everyday lives emit greenhouse gases?

I heard today that  food is 37% of our greenhouse emissions and transport is 10%.f  The same study suggested that if we reduce our red meat consumption by 150 gm per week it is equivalent to leaving your car off the road.  I had previously heard that transport was 14% but it is certainly a lot less than food and agriculture.  There is a lot of personal choice here.  I seldom eat red meat because I don’t like the taste and I prefer fish and free range poultry but that is personal although both those protein sources are less greenhouse gas emitting.  I am not advocating vegetarianism because it certainly does not suit my metabolism and if we look at our teeth we have evolved to be omnivores or mixed eaters.  We don’t have big canines like cats and dogs, but equally we don’t have herbivorous molars like cows and horses.  Our nearest relatives certainly eat birds and small mammals when they can as well as leaves, fruit and seeds.  

A recent report stated that agriculture is responsible for 40% of greenhouse gasses, 70% of total methane and 80% of Nitrogen oxides (NOX) – this comes from biochemical processes in soils.  There are large losses of N from fertilizers – between 15 and 50% of N fertilizer goes missing.  If you use N fertilizer, you need to improve the efficiency of use.  This matters in the garden as well!    What is interesting is that Methane and NOX have a much longer lasting impact then CO2.  I have seen other reports that lower this figure – it seems to depend on who does the report.

Two-stroke engines produce up to 10 times more water pollution than four-stroke.  The cocktail of chemicals outboard motors left in their wake acidify waterways and deposit long-lasting carcinogens. "Heavy metals can be bound in sediments but as outboards motor emissions lower the pH of the water, heavy metals can be released as the water becomes acidified. The heavy metals in the acid water then become bio available and enter the food chain."  The result is that underwater pollution is up to 1,000 per cent worse with two -stroke engines.

How Much Waste
•    The US generates 25% of global waste (236 million tonnes of municipal waste) with only 5% of the world population.
•    No 2 is Russia
•    No 3 is Japan
•    No 4 is Germany but because of its large population, 83 million, it generates 1/3 of the waste per head of the US.
•    Spain with 45 million people produces the least waste on the list.
•    Are we heading down the US lifestyle route?
•    How much is recycled?

Types of Energy
•    According to official Eurostat figures the wind and hydro section of the power market was 13.7% of total power in the EU.
•    Nuclear power fell down to 30.6%
•    Denmark is the leader in wind power producing 23% of its electricity, Germany 13%, Spain 12% and UK 1%.

What cars should we drive?
Interestingly the Greens are opposed to the luxury car tax because many of the imported cars from the EU are much more energy efficient.  

Following on from this, an online survey conducted by UMR, Australia's leading research and issues management company, has discovered that over a quarter (28%) of people believe they will be driving a hybrid car in five years' time, and an overwhelming majority (76%) believe that fuel efficient cars should have lower taxes on than on other vehicles.

Most Australians (81%) believe that there will be the same number or more cars on the road in five years' time but, due to climate change and the rising cost of fuel, cars will be depreciating in value far more quickly than they do today.  My comment here is that decent public transport would be a good idea in the cities but I cannot see how rural people can possibly mange without them given the distances involved in this country. 

Enviro Action Activities

It really is easy to be green and save money. 

• Clients tell me that they are increasingly being asked by customers how they are accounting for their carbon.  If your business is in a supply chain this will definitely be something you will need to address even if you are small.
• They are also being asked about their green credentials.

The first step to help you with both of these if to audit your environmental footprint and this is what we do in the Environmental Module 1.  You can do this as part of a coached course to help you implement a slimline very workable ISO 14001 and I gurantee to help you get certified, or you do it with one of the off—the-shelf training packages "Audit your environmental footprint" $49, “It is easy to be Green” Module 1 home study course $179 or “Green your Business: the Do-It-Yourself Manual” which has all 3 modules for $600 (all digital) or $660 with the Printed book and CD.  All priced need to add 10% GST for Australians.   If you buy an Off-the-Shelf module and want to upgrade to a coached course, you get a discount off your coached course. 

Some of the benefits are:

• Reduced waste – materials, energy, human effort saves $$s
• Increased efficiency saves $$s
• Access to green and international markets
• Increased credibility with regulators and special interest groups
• Once you have your environmental management system in place, you can establish triple bottom line reporting

Industries and individuals as well as government need to take responsibility to make a contribution to reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.  Why delay when Enviro Action makes it easy?

I always thought that my management was good enough to certify but I could never prove it and I wanted to be able to do this. I see the certification as like getting a drivers licence –now I am able to move forward and continuously improve.  It has made me look at my business management differently. I have not added an extra layer of paper but done an overall clean out and review. It has been like a good desk tidy where I pull all my management practices together.  Peter Dunne, Farmer Queensland Peter on video

Here are the links to the latest articles on the Enviro Jean Blog

Dell’s Green Payday: Going Carbon-Neutral Helps Bottom Line

Dell Computer said today it reached its goal of becoming “carbon neutral” five months ahead of schedule. 
It is interesting that this is more evidence of the fact that taking action to avoid the consequences of rising energy costs and helping the environment are not mutually exclusive.  

China to Be World’s Top Manufacturer of Green Energy

While China is the world’s biggest greenhouse- gas emitter, it is making huge contributions to clean energy production as the world leader in the production of solar cells, wind power turbines and low-carbon energy technology.  Read more

Australia’s harsh reality: adapt or perish

Another interim report from Professor Ross Garnaut gave a stark ultimatum in the first comprehensive assessment of the impact on the country of climate change.  Australians must pay more for petrol, food and energy or ultimately face a rising death toll, economic loss and the eventual destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, the snowfields, Kakadu and the nation’s food bowl, the Murray-Darling Basin.  Read more

Local power could be the intelligent emissions solution

The CSIRO and five Australian universities launched a 3-year research project on smart ways to enable distributed energy generation, which could help CSIRO’s long-term aim to help halve the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. They will delve into the barriers and opportunities to developing localised grids.   A great deal of energy is lost in transmission so local grids make sense in a country with vast distances.    Losses in the transmission network typically see less than 15% of the energy in traditional coal delivered to the end user.  Read more

Australian Green groups attack luxury car tax

The Rudd Government’s luxury car tax increase from 25% to 33% is under fire from a surprising source – Green Party senators.  With a very close senate and Green and Independent senators holding the balance of power this could be the key to whether the law actually passes through Parliament.  Greens senator Christine Milne has expressed concern that the tax will hit some of the most advanced and fuel efficient cars on the road.  Read more

Kindest regards

Jean Cannon
Helping business build effective management systems to save money and grow
It is easy to be green

Winner 2008 FarmBis Award for Distance Learning/eLearning, 2007 South Australian Seafood Industry Training Award in recognition of training excellence and more.

For more information or suggestions about how I can serve you better,
please contact me on jean@enviroaction.com.au.

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