Perpetual Innovation

Author: SustainMe

  • Fast 10 sustainability leadership tips | GreenBiz

    ‘Fast 10’ sustainability leadership tips | GreenBiz:

    There are great tips.

    I really like the “building a business case” tip.  If you can’t build a pretty good business case for something, then it makes a case for change that is usually hard, nearly impossible.

    Getting ahead means that you can play offense, not defense.

    Langert is from McDonald’s so he has had his work cut out for him. When McD has tried to introduce more healthy foods, the consumer usually hasn’t been buying it… they go to McDonald’s for BIG Mac and fries.

    McD really grew sales after the Great Recession. Until 2014, when sales slumped (same-store sales). Consumers have been going for healthier foods like Chipotle.
    * Check out the healthier Corner McCafe by McDonald’s.
    * Is Chipotle really healthier than McDonald’s?

    It would be interesting to see what Langert recommended for McDonald’s. Healthier fair would likely be slower fair, … and in a few weeks, it won’t be there.

    That doesn’t make Langert’s advise any less valuable. But in some places it is a whole lot easier to go more sustainable than in others.

    Makes you wonder what Hall and Knab (2012) would suggest related to how these 10 tips fit into the profile of a Sustainable Leader?

    Reference

    Hall,
    E., & Knab, E.F. (2012, July). Social irresponsibility provides opportunity
    for the win-win-win of Sustainable Leadership. In C. A. Lentz (Ed.), The
    refractive thinker: Vol. 7. Social responsibility,     (pp. 197-220). Las
    Vegas, NV: The Refractive Thinker®
    Press.
    (Available from     www.RefractiveThinker.com, ISBN:
    978-0-9840054-2-0) 

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  • Inside the war on coal

    Inside the war on coal:

    Wow, this is a very thoughtful and well presented article on Coal.

    The real demise of coal is too fold: raising costs of trying to make coal a little cleaner (less dirty); and the increase of cheaper alternatives.

    Number 1 in all of this is the dirty cheap costs of NatGas which is a by-product of much oil production. We in the US flair about half of the NatGas we produce because it gets in the way of the valuable oil production process.

    NatGas is soooo much cleaner to burn and produces only half the CO2 emissions.

    As people and communities realize the real costs of burning (dirty) coal, the political will to back coal simply because it is cheap is seriously waning. As the externality costs start to mount, people are less inclined to have the plants in their back yard.

    But, the Sierra club can not take that much of the credit. Basic economics is ruling. The EPA wants cleaner coal, which makes it more expansive at the same time that NatGas, wind and solar are all getting better and cheaper.

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  • Top 15 Contaminated Fish You Shouldn’t be Eating

    Top 15 Contaminated Fish You Shouldn’t be Eating:

    What’s the USDA recommendation for Mercury intake?

    If you eat some of these fish, you will exceed safe levels if you eat it more than once every couple weeks. Sharks and swordfish I new about, but others in the list are a real eye-opener.

    Biomagnification is where toxic chemicals such as mercury build up more and more as it moves up the food chain (to humans).

    This is a really good article with lots of good information on sustainability and safe eating levels of fish.

    Maybe salmon will move up on many people’s list. Sustainable, wild would be best, of course.

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  • Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

    Here it is the United Nations water report for 2015:
    http://www.sustainablebrands.com/digital_learning/research_report/leadership/united_nations_world_water_development_report_2015?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=schtweets&utm_campaign=social

    As California suffer through water shortage, imagine what the rest of the world looks like. Now, imagine what the rest of the world will look like in the year 2050?
    By that time we should have moved to a population of 9 to 11 billion!
    The first chapter is on non-sustainable uses of water. The trends, including use of water, that are not sustainable, have a way of ending on gracefully!
    Case in point, California.

  • Climate-change deniers are in retreat – The Washington Post

    Climate-change deniers are in retreat – The Washington Post:

    It will be nice to move past the non-debate about is there global warming, and move off into the real debate.

    We are all living unsustainable lives with non-sustainable business models. What is our plan to move toward sustainability. Singly and collectively?

    The argument that it doesn’t do any good for us to do something if China and India continue consuming is sad and ironic.

    For a century, we in the US with only 4.5% of the worlds population, have consumed about 1/4 of all the worlds resources consumed/used… Coal, Iron, Gas, etc.

    We have produced about 1/4 of the worlds byproducts for a century (pollution and CO2).

    We at this blog like to focus on those things that can be done within weeks, not decades. Energy Efficiency (EE) initiatives can pay for themselves in weeks, with a perpetuity of savings forever after. Telecommuting can result in a perpetuity of savings for ever (until you start a new job that requires a commuting).

    We argue that nobody anywhere can reasonably believe that the price we pay at the pump of oil and at the meter for coal power is accurate and represents the true cost. Gas taxes continue to pay less and less of the US road maintenance, for example.

    Economist generally settle on a carbon tax as a better solution than either subsidizing green energy/cars or a cap-and-trade mechanism. There will never be a better time to initiate a carbon tax then 2014 when oil prices are half and should be reasonably low for a year or more.

    Or, we can continue to consume oil and gas like as if there is no tomorrow.

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