Thoughts on Energy, Water, Social Development & Sustainability

Thomas Friedman modertated a discussion with Al Gore and Bono on Climate Change and Global Poverty at the World Economic Forum recently.

Bono pointed out, that the world is at threat from three extremes - extreme climate, extreme poverty, and extreme idealogies. This, I think, is the best description of the world we live in today. Nothing makes me more happy than the fact that global community has come to realize the threat from these extremes. Yet another thing that Bono highlighted was that the people who have least contributed to the crisis of environment are the most affected and have very little or no means to undo it and shield themselves.

Al Gore's frustration was that the size of the community that really discussses these issues and seriously considers doing someting about it is very small. There's a lot of chatter but it is restricted within this group of people.

The first step that we can take is to get aware of these issues and then start talking about them to others. Let's spread the news, spread the awareness, and start changing our lives. Let yourself be the first one to change by rejecting extremism, lowering down our carbon footprint and helping a budding entrepreneur in third world or donating to feed a hungry displaced child living in a refugee camp in Africa.

So you thought that the US Government is doing a whole lot to save our environment? Indeed, they are - President Bush has committed $5 Billion to research global warming.


You also trusted them to tell you the truth as it is. Correct? Consider this. Clinton White House wanted the scientific community to exaggerate the gravity of global warming, whereas the Bush White House wants to undermine it. Actually, "wants to undermine it" is an understatement. It seems, as per the CBS documentary on global warming on January 20, 2008 that the current administration has done all it possibly can to prevent the truth about global warming from getting out to the world. They have restrained top scientists from speaking to media, forced people to resign from their jobs, edited scientific reports with political gibberish and misrepresented scientific findings to the public. Take this for example - a report from a top scientist from NASA said that increased human activity is leading to global warming. Chief of Staff of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality sent it back edited to say that human activity may be leading to global warming. That was not all. There were paragraphs deleted and edited to make the report sound as if there's nothing proven yet. Here's are two examples of these edits: "Earth is undergoing a period of rapid change" was changed to "Earth may be undergoing a period of rapid change". Words like "uncertainity" were edited to read "significant remaining uncertainity". Lines were crossed out, such as, "energy production contributes to warming" is crossed out.

Isn't this Perjury?

The sad part of it is that the people doing it all are not trained scientists, but lawyers and career politicians, who are also probably lobbyists for large energy and oil companies or organizations like American Petroleum Institute. Where's the transparency in it. Since when have the politicians been granted immunity from punishment for gross misrepresentation of truth. Isn't this perjury? Shouldn't the concerned White House staff be behind bars for this?

Recommendations (Video and Text)

• Watch this video and draw your own conclusions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc4OzpgTOhk
• I encourage you to read more about as reported by CBS at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/17/60minutes/main1415985.shtml
• Our Changing Planet 2008 is available in PDF format at: http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/ocp2008/ocp2008.pdf
• The details of some other changes can be found on Senator Frank R. Lautenberg's website: http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=254536

Recently when I saw a recycling logo on Styrofoam to-go box it surprised me, as I knew molded Styrofoam is not recyclable. I was curious to find out what these recycle logos actually represent. Does it indicate that product can be recycled or does it mean that the product is made from recycled content? After a little research I found out that recycle logo doesn’t necessarily indicate either.

There are no regulations for the use of recycle logos. If you are one of those who want to contribute to environment by buying products with recycled content you should check what labels says. If the label just says “recyclable” or “recycle” it may contain no recycled content and it may not be possible to recycle them in your area. Look for labels that list percentage of recycled content. e.g. “made from 100% recycled material” or “20 % percent post consumer fiber” and similar stuff.

Picture taken from: http://newopps.blogsome.com/wp-admin/images/recycle_logo.gif

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the latest threat to human race, specially to the vegetarians in the short run. There'd be no pollination, hence no more fruits, plants, etc. We'd just have to survive off of wheat, corn, and meat. A good concise read on CCD is available on Wiki ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder ).

CCD is a huge threat to our survival as a specie. A video program is available on this topic on PBS' website at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/bees/ , which I found very informative. There's also a new Hollywood movie coming out this Friday, called 'Bee'.

I wonder if this is a mere co-incidence. Regardless of the fact, I think this movie will generate a lot of awareness of the important role that Bees play in the human food supply. Kids for sure will learn a great deal about Bees and that can only help.

This is probably is the first time that a major Hollywood animation movie would portray the complex interdependence in nature and address an environmental issue in making.

Image taken from: http://web.mit.edu/pkamvyss/www/pictures/bee.jpg

I always knew that sand is silica and silica is what glass is made out of. But I never thought that glass can actually be recycled into sand. Why, don't ask me that; may be it's the imagination that I never cranked up. Or worse yet, may be I didn't observe the problem at all. Yes, I think, to give myself a benefit of doubt, that it was the latter. I have been living around beaches for about four and a half years now. But I never thought for a moment that beaches might be under erosion. Yes, they are! Every year water is pulling more sand in it at sea. Moreover, the modern construction practices, specially in the United States, has made it possible to erect buildings almost at the water line now. The second picture on the right shows buildings right on water. It has resulted in beaches' natural layout to be disturbed so much that they are virtually gone now. In South Florida, around Miami Fort Lauderdale area the situation is much worse. Due to man-made ports and high-rises more and more sand is being pulled back into sea.

The erosion is so mind-boggling that the authorities are now planning to somehow reverse that sand loss. One of the steps being taken is to put artificial sand on the beach. The problem, however, is the source. I had always known of one, the sea itself. That's how beaches the world over where authorities can afford do it. They pump sand from the vicinity of the beach, but under water, back to the land. South Florida (Broward County), on the other hand, is exploring something new and unconventional. They are now experimenting with recycling glass back to silica and throwing out on the beach.

Literature
Here are a few links from the Broward County website about the history and cost of the project:

1. http://www.broward.org/waste/beach_renourishment.pdf
2. http://www.broward.org/waste/beaches.pdf
3. http://www.broward.org/waste/beachglass.pdf

Since childhood, I have been a very green person. Choosing smaller vehicles over larger, walking over driving, planting trees, relocating grown up trees rather than cutting them down, etc. has been my way of life. The biggest kick I ever got was when we (I along with my father) uprooted 20 foot 4-5 year old trees and planted them elsewhere. And we did this almost every year.

This past week, however, was my greenest ever. I think, that my green deeds have never been better than this, even after all those years of moving trees around like people do with their furniture.

It all started with the Arbor Day last Saturday. I along with a friend of mine got 2 trees and 4 plants that we evenly distributed between us and planted in our homes. This was a free tree giveaway from our city government. It was my second year in a row when I did this and first ever when I encouraged someone else to do the same. Last year, we planted 2 trees and 2 plants in our house. To my heart's content, the line of people out there to take advantage of free tree giveaway was larger than I had expected and almost double that of last year.

As if it was not enough, the very next day I got a mail from a company that sent me a Meyer Spruce sapling, very nicely packed, in a mailing tube. This was the first time ever that I saw and got a tree in a mail. I think this is a very fascinating concept and hope that it becomes a trend - gifting trees; somewhat like gifting flowers.

Later in the week I was scheduled to attend a yearly gathering of my company, which I was looking forward to for the last few months for very many reasons. None of those reasons was related to the environment. The first thing that happened as I reached the venue not only surprised me but also made me appreciate my employer a lot more than what I did in the past. After the initial sign-up all the guests were given a tote bag for shopping, so that we can avoid using plastic bags. It was a big satisfaction to realize that some of my co-workers feel strongly about the environment, like I do. Actually, now I am convinced that that they are quite ahead of me in the sense that they not only talk and think about it but follow it up with action that sends a message to hundreds of other like minded people. Kudos to them for taking the bold step of spending money to get these bags and handing them out.

I already started thinking about how the week was by far the best and the greenest for me. There were absolutely no signs of what was yet to come. It was again a novelty for me - a tree in a box. Yes, one of my other co-workers had this bright idea of handing out trees to all of us. What better and more convenient than to give it out like any other gift; in a small box. Yes, in this 2in x 2in x 2in box is a decidious tree. It's the majestic and the beautiful Red Maple. It's hard for me to be away from home and moreso now since I can't wait to see this Red Maple in my backyard.

I am slowly turning into an environmentalist - trying to reduce my global footprint as much as possible. This desire has also given me an uncanny ability to smell and spot environment related debates, writings, editorials, discussions, and practices that usually don't get any attention from others.

However, recently I read something that threw me off-balance and made me say 'NO' to it. The Globe and Mail recently had an article on the occasion of Earth Day and it was titled, Don't have children, save the world - Parenting may be natural. It could also kill the planet. The author draws attention to the a group called the No Kidding (http://www.nokidding.net/), which is an international organization for people who choose to be childless. It mentions a couple in there who have decided not to have children because they see a family with kids put out four or five bags of garbage and no recycling bin.

Bigger Function of Practice than Size
In my opinion this viewpoint and sentiment is as much a disease as being a germophobe in the name of cleanliness. Four or five garbage bags and no recycling bin is a process and discipline issue. Countless families of two, without any kids, can do and actually do the same.

There's no doubt that there's a certain finite number of people that this planet can handle. But it's common sense that it all depends on how much we waste and at what rate. Having no children, however, is not addressing the problem at its root.

A more humane and educated goal should be to reduce the size of an average family down to a certain number like four and not to have any kids at all. This to me is a narcissistic point of view, one that is hardliner and can never be mainstream.

Better Solutions
It is completely natural and acceptable to not have children for medical and biological reasons or whatever, but to not have them to save the environment is foolish and deceiving. It is akin to duping other and robbing them of an experience of lifetime.

There are other ways to save the environment that should come first before even thinking of a step as radical as starting a movement for a "child-free" society. As starters, get those heavy, custom built, gas guzzling million dollar RVs off the roads and certainly off the camp grounds of North America. National Parks and Reserves should have no place for 3 miles a gallon bus with granite floors, flat screen TVs, and comfy leather couches. National park are more fun living in a tent close to nature and the elements of wilderness.

Say 'NO' to No Kidding
It is time for the existing and founding members of this groups to say 'NO' to people who say no to children to save the environment. This would be a wise decision in the long term, one that would not only save countless from regretting later but also keep the human race going and providing the diversity of ideas and background that has brought it to a point of technical, literary, and artistic excellence today.

Glass was once a dominant product in the industry and was used for anything from a glass table top and beverage containers. A lot of glass use is governed by the trends in different industries like Automobile and Construction. While on one hand the use of glass in automobile industry has gone down, the construction industry has lately been fascinated by it. It is not uncommon to see fully glass clad buildings even in the underdeveloped countries now.

One industry in which the usage of glass has remained fairly constant, though, is the food industry. We still get beer and juice in glass bottles. Quite amazingly, glass seems to be coming back into trend now. Coke has glass bottles and the popularity of Wine has increased the usage of glass.

The big question, however, is - what do we do with our glass bottles after we use them. I was talking to a friend of mine who I recently got to know and who is also a passionate recycler. She along with one of her other friends collects a whole lot of glass bottles from their friends and in her office and sells them back to the recyclers. They get an average of $0.07 (7 cents) for a bottle. But here's the amazing figure - it totals to over $40,000 a year between the two of them. And, this figure seems to increase every year partly because they are now getting people to participate in their program, but also because the usage of glass is increasing in our daily lives.

Sadly, most of us are not disciplined enough to throw the bottles into recycling bins, we just toss them into our normal garbage bags and forget about it. Why, because who'd care to be so disciplined for a mere 5-7 cents a bottle. But the problem is that increasing amounts of glass is now ending up in landfills. Imagine acres and acres of beautiful land having glass buried under it. What are we doing to our planet and can we prevent this from happening? Sure, we can. The lesson to learn comes from a very unusual group of people. Interestingly, my friend also told me that the most disciplined people she has come across when it comes to recycling glass bottles is none other than beer drinkers. I am suspecting that this trend would be the same across North America. Ketchup, pickels, jams, juice bottles and broken frame glasses and other discarded glass items still end up in the trash can, predominently. I guess, we are still not used, or shall I say discipline to, throw them in the recycling bin instead. And, this is the habit we've got to change if we have to save our planet.

The size of landfills and the waste generated per person in North America is at its peak right now. In other words, it is increasing and there are no signs of it reducing anytime soon unless we all change our per capita waste generated. The easiest way to do that is to start with glass. Use less of it and if you use it try to recycle it.

I have in the past come across confusion around the potential of recycling colored glass. Red, Brown, Green, Blue, no matter what color, it is qualifies as recyclable. See if you can get find some time out to collect the glass waste from your friends and turn it to a recycling program and earn some cash. Nice way to get some money out for charity. Isn't it?

For the first time in my life I stepped on to a floor made of Cork, a few days ago. Let me tell you this, I have never seen anything like it ever before. And as if love at first sight was not enough, I went to and office and there it was again, although in different color and finish.

Beautiful !!!

In just a week I saw and felt the advantages of a using a cork floor - already sold on it and going for it the next time I get the floors done. Here are a few benefits:

A good news to begin with - Wind power is the fastest growing segment of the renewable energy sources. :) Denmark generates 20% of its energy demands from wind power. Global wind energy capacity has sustained growth rates of over 25% (source: The Pembina Institute). And, Canada plans to generate 5% of its energy demands by 2010 from wind power.

For a few years now I had always wondered how the colder countries of the North like Canada, Sweden, Norway, etc. will be able to take advantage of solar energy. The reason is that both the availability of sunlight and the efficiency of solar panels go down drastically in those regions due to climatic conditions. I never realized that some of these countries are actually very lucky to have wind power like no where else in the world. Western Canada for example has abundant natural wind available year round that some of the hotter regions of north American doesn't have.

As expected of responsible corporations this energy source is now being invested and tapped into and being developed into a parallel revenue stream by some energy companies. Suncor, in Canada, has already been named as one of "10 Green Giants in Business" by Fortune magazine this year. It has invested in wind power for approximately 140 MW ( http://www.suncor.com/default.aspx?ID=1091 ) of power generation in Canada from wind power, although there was no mandate from any regulatory authority to do so. This is anticipated to reduce the CO2 emissions by 400,000 tonnes, half of which has already been achieved.

Here are three biggest advantages that a wind turbines and wind energy has:

1. It has got very little footprint. Turbines can be installed in the rural areas and the land below them can still be used for farming.
2. Energy partnership can be inked with the local farmers where the energy company promises the farmers a percentage of energy generated. This will not only ensure availability of land but also much needed power to the farmers, specially for irrigation.
3. The cost of wind power or wind energy has come down to almost 4 cents per KWh, a decrease of 80% in the last 20 years.

Images are from Suncor website.

A few years ago when Wipro Technologies changed its logo to the rainbow flower (shown on the right) the first thing that popped in my mind was 'environment'. There was no reason other than getting on the green bandwagon, at least that I could think of, why Wipro would choose the logo it did. Its lighting business and the portfolio that also includes manufacturing services were convincing enough pointers back then.

Month turned into years and I never ever got to know the reason and rationale behind the rainbow sunflower. That was until I read Bangalore Tiger by Steve Hamm ( http://www.wipro.com/bangaloretiger/index.htm ). Turns out that there wes no green philosophy that prompted Wipro to change the logo. In fact, it was an image makeover by a Bengali painter, Shombit Sengupta to revive brand Wipro. Oh Well!

But as I read the book further on, it turned out that Wipro actually has an incredible record so far when it comes to caring for the environment. Here are a few facts I got from the book:

Like millions of other human beings I too am a caffeine addict. But I try to restrict my intake just in the form of morning coffee. Well, that's actually how it started until I got hooked on to it. Now, I step inside my favourite coffee shop, wherever I can find it, about 3-4 times a day atleast if not more.

Recently, one morning I stopped for a coffee along with a colleague of mine when she actually went ahead and bought a travel mug. I asked her why and she said because she always uses one and prefers to get her coffee in her mug. Again, out of curiosity, I asked her if it tastes better in a mug. The answer was not quite what I had expected. I was waiting for her to say "yes" so that I get an excuse to buy one myself. They look cool, don't they? Sorry for the digression - but her answer was, "No". That's when I couldn't resist and asked her one more question, "Why would you spend $10 to get a mug when you can get it in a disposable cup?" Just as I was asking the question the obvious answer came to me. And that's exactly what she said. She didn't want to waste paper.

Alert and Thinking
Putting it all into context, I ran a few numbers quickly. My favorite coffee shop chain may be selling between 1.5 to 2.0 billion paper cups annually. That number in itself was mind boggling and big enough for me to become a convert. I am glad that the coffee company realized the impact it has on the environment. So they introduced 10% post-consumer recycled fiber in their cups and sleeves. The difference it made is substantial, which is highlighted in the figure on the right. Imagine a world where we don't have paper cups at all in just this coffee chain alone. It would:

• Save atleast 780,00 trees from being felled,
• Provide 6400 homes a total of 580 billion BTUs of energy,
• Avoid 470 million gallons of wastewater, and
• Prevent 30 million pounds of solid waste.

In a previous blog about Walmart's green intiative ( http://udairaj.blogspot.com/2007/01/greenwalmartcom.html ) I had written about cloth hangers made out of corn. To take the concept a little further down and closer to your body today I am glad to write about clothes that are made out of corn.

Nau, an apparel business, has recently announced opening new stores in Boulder, Portland, Seattle, and Chicago. These stores, which will open by April 2007, will be the first for the company.

• Instead of pushing newspapers to guests, the guests should be asked at the time of check-in if they'd like to get a newspaper delivered in the morning.
• Another possible way is to have the papers stacked at a common area where the patrons can pick them up from.

Imagine a world where your daily commute to work is just an elevator ride or a bike ride or a small walk on tree-lined avenue away. Sadly, this is a dream especially if your work address is in a urban setting or repute and might anywhere across the world. Not only is it financially exhausting to travel to work for both the employer and the employees, it is sadly bad for productivity and the mental well being of the commuters. To alleviate the problem there has been very high developmental activity in the segment of remote collaboration tools like video conferencing, PC accessibility and connectivity, etc. But that has still left us with a lot to be desired. Moreover, there are times when remote collaboration just doesn't cut it nice and clear. There's nothing as of yet to match the magic of human touch and face-to-face interactions. If that doesn't make you feel bad let me burden you with the harm that these commuters have done to the environment bellowing CO2 in the enviroment. One third of the CO2 emmissions are from the transportation sector alone in the United States.

1. Client agrees and pays for my stay over in Gotham. This can be a little burden for the client because they'll have to foot my bills over the weekend.


2. Client agrees for and contributes to environmental sustaining and building efforts in order to engage me. What does this mean? It can be as simle a thing as planting a tree for every 10 roundtrips that I make to my clients office in Gotham or replacing one lightbulb with an energy saving long-life incandescent bulbs for each of my roundtrip. Turns out that this is the easiest and cheapest thing to do since it'll cost the client about $10 to do so per week.


3. Other option for the client is to match my travelling expenses in contributions and committments towards investment into alternative energy sources like Photo Voltaic (Solar).


4. For a certain number of miles travelled by their consultants the clients should sponsor a rooftop garden and foliage at one of their facilities.

• newsprint,
• magazines,
• books,
• office stationery,
• packaging, etc.

1. Do not checkmark the options to receive promotional material in post/snail mail, USPS at any of the websites that you register at or buy stuff from.
2. Subscribe electronically, if you can, to your periodicals.
3. If you don't get a newspaper thrown at home, you are already my hero.
4. See if you can get your bank statements online and stop the paper being mailed to you.
5. Whereever you get a service or product from please insist that you name and address not be traded to other companies.
6. Register yourself at the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service (MPS) at https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing