The Human Imprint

Melamine and eggs

First it was gluten, pet food, then milk and now eggs that have been found to be contaminated with melamine. First the New York Times reported that Hong Kong inspectors have found that eggs imported from North East China are contaminated with melamine. The melamine level found was almost double the legal limit for food sold in Hong Kong.

Then CNN News reported that a second contaminated batch of eggs had been identified from a second supplier. CNN confirms that U.N. officials are concerned that melamine has been introduced to animal feed and that it may turn up in chicken, pork, farmed fish and other products. Maybe in time this will be shown to go full circle link back to animal feed ingredients and/or gluten contamination. Follow the links for more details.

New Standard to measure carbon footprint

BBC News reports that a new standard has been launched to assist UK firms in measuring the size of the carbon footprint of the goods and services that they supply. The Standard known as PAS 2050, will be managed by BSI - the British Standards Institute. The Standard PAS 2050:2008 can be purchased here but is currently only available for pre-ordering. Its full title is the "Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services." 

Age of Conversation 2

I am part of a unique collaboration via the internet, involving 237  professionals who blog from 29 US States and from 14 other nations from Australia to the Ukraine. I have joined online with other bloggers to write The Age of Conversation 2, a book that is being published this month.  All proceeds from sales of the book, available in hardcover and softcover editions, as well as a downloadable e-book, will be donated to Variety, the international children’s charity.

Nearly two years ago through a chance online conversation, Drew McLellan from the US and Gavin Heaton from Australia decided to invite fellow bloggers to participate in writing a book about conversation and how it impacts us in marketing, in business and in life in general. For the first edition more than 100 bloggers worldwide became involved. The book, published in the summer of 2007, earned $15,000, all of which was donated to the international children’s charity Variety. All individuals give their time and their written contributions absolutely free. The second edition has followed in close succession.  Each author has contributed one page of the book and my page is entitled “The Age of Conversation: Why don’t people get it?”

The book is launched today!

Buy AOC2 Here.

For the full story on AOC2, you can check out the site at The Age Of Conversation. The authors who  have contributed are:

 Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Plus two more G. Kofi Annan  http://annansi.com/blog/ James G. Lindberg    http://www.arounddesmoines.com

 

Are you in the market for some carbon?

I have written before about whether market based incentives i.e. markets can provide benefits to assist in reducing our environmental footprint. The Independent reports that in the UK we have taken a further step to develop an on-line carbon credit banking system. Those businesses or organisations who reduce their carbon usage can trade these benefits with those who are unable to reduce their carbon at the same rate.

Does this favour polluters? Well some might argue "YES" but if the delivered benefit is a reduction in carbon overall then we are moving in the right direction. Some businesses can access technology or implement best practice to reduce their carbon footprint. Other businesses may not have the technology available but can ask/pay other organisations to offset their impact. The Independent reports that " The newly-opened national registry is now linked to the UN’s certified   emissions reductions (CER) database and the EU system, enabling companies to   log and trade all permits from a single, interlinked account. Individuals   with no compliance obligations may also set up an account in order to buy,   sell and trade the certificates".

I really hope that the farming industry can now develop a market and a credit system for their ability to reduce their carbon footprint and thus offset other industries. I hope that this can be used as an alternative source of revenue as well as reducing the overall output of carbon associated with food production. We could also look to plant trees on less productive land or land that is more prone to soil erosion and water run-off either as buffer strips or more extensive plantations.

Many industries say that the credit crunch reinforces that we should not be asked to pay for the environmental consequences of our actions and/or industries at the point of purchase - but in time it has to be paid for and if we don't pay it will be our children and grandchildren.

Biofuel for aircraft - how many years away?

The Guardian reports that Boeing has suggested that aircraft powered by biofuels could be flying  in the next three years. This is an exciting technological development but as the Guardian suggests if we used a 100% soya-bean based fuel for the world's 13,000 commercial planes it would require land to be set aside for the purpose equivalent to the entire land mass of Europe. We need to take visible action to address this fuel versus food issue - we need to engage and determine whether we will allow the market to decide land and resource use or will governmental policy determine land use - we cannot keep putting off the decision.

Biofuel from algae

I believe that technology using algae may turn out to be one of the best opportunities to provide biofuel. Scientific American carries a really interesting article on the work in Fort Collins, Colorado and El Paso, Texas. Check it out.

Drop in hospital superbug cases in England

The Guardian reports that there has been a sharp drop in the number of cases of Clostridium Difficile   in England. The article states that "There were 8,683 cases recorded in patients aged over 65 between April and June - a decrease of 18% compared with the previous quarter between January and March, according to the agency that monitors infectious diseases. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) added that, compared with the same period last year, the number of cases had declined by 38%, from 13,924 cases."

£2 billion biomass project planned

The Guardian reports that the company that owns the largest UK coal-fired power station Drax Group has developed plans to build the country's first large scale biomass plants. The project in the north-east of England could cost around £2 billion and three plants will be built.  These plants will have the capacity to produce 900MW of electricity - enough to supply 3% of the country's total. Follow the link to find out more.

Ancient woodland in the UK under threat

The Guardian reports that ancient woodland in Britain is being felled at a rate even faster than the Amazon rainforest. This is the conclusions from a recent Woodlands Trust report that suggests that almost half of all woods in the UK that are more than 400 years old have been lost in the past 80 years and more than 600 ancient woods are now threatened by new development. Follow the link to find out more.

Being positive

Is your cup full or half-empty? Do you focus on the positive or the negative in life or at work? Here are some well-known quotes about being positive:

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes. Mahatma Gandhi

 A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill

The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. Unknown

 You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. Albert Einstein quotes