Salesman's worse nightmare

I am in the market for a new fridge/freezer and a chest freezer. We have had the main house fridge/freezer for about 10 years and it is still kicking along quite nicely with the exception of the seal but with the improvements in technology I see a lot of merit in upgrading our refrigeration situation.

Benefits primarily relate to the improved electrical efficiencies that the new model refrigerators have experienced in recent years, which will in turn help out my hip pocket (cheaper electricity bills)!

So after some research on the government's efficient efficiency appliance website, calculation on size requirements, preparation of my list of possibilities, cut out a size guide for some of the larger items I plan on storing in the fridge/freezer, I have started to visit some of the shops that sell these appliances.

Since I started this process a couple of weeks ago, all I can say is that I am highly disappointed with the attitude of sale persons and the stocked range of fridge/freezers (brands) that the I have experienced so far.

It must be said that I haven't visited some of the bigger chains yet, as where I live these two stores are currently in sales/moving mode and I can't bear to think of going to these places with a whole bunch of sale driven customers added into the mix.

But nevertheless, the stores that I have been to so far either:

• showed me products that weren't in my list because they aren't energy efficient, but was told by the salesperson that I would love them because of the technological features they supported (I mentioned that one of my criteria was that it had to be energy efficient) - ice dispensers in the door and a tricky little door that opened so that I could get the milk out of the door without opening the entire door; or
• considered me a bit of a disappointment as a potential customer (well that was the impression I got) and was just told the star ratings had change several times over the years and the kWh give you an idea of how much the fridge would cost me to run per year. After thinking about this for a little bit, I just think I was a disappointment because he wouldn't be able to upsell some random product or feature to me.

As you my expect from this post, I haven't bought any of my required appliances yet, but at least have ruled out two stores in my purchase process.


The thing that surprises me most about this process is the number of brands and models that are being sold by appliance stores that aren't energy efficient and sales peoples' attitude/lack of information to be able to respond to queries about energy efficient appliances and the amount of personal effort I have to go to to know the energy efficient models and time to go to the variety of appliance stores to even find the models. Hope this all changes in the future and these energy efficient appliances are easy to come by and sales people become well armed with the "right" information!



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Carbon Tax starts tomorrow

The world will continue with the carbon tax, my strawberry farmer neighbour and his sign "families can not afford the carbon tax" will continue to farm and the sign to rust into the ground (yipppeeee) and I will be happy to see a price on carbon. Sure this will see an increase in prices and greedy businesses passing this tax on to their consumers, but there will be a recognition for the environment in the economics of business and we may start to make some realistic decisions about what we should and should not invest in.

The environment should not be an externality but something that is costed within prices and this is what the carbon price is about.

I enjoyed reading "Greening of Gavin" blog's post on this topic. Go and have a read and maybe you might also see some light at the end of the tunnel too! Pin It

Advertising gone crazy

I heard the funniest McDonalds advertisement the other day. The ad was for one of their new cold drink products, something along the lines of a fruit smoothie. The bit that I found funny was their catch cry which was "and it has real ingredients".

Wow, not real ingredients! I mean how foolish do corporations think we are? I believe the ad prior to this statement had been talking about the fruitiness of the drink and I guess the idea behind the statement and its placement was to confuse the viewer into thinking that real ingredients were somehow indicating that there is real fruit in the drink.

Certainly gave me a chuckle and have a "what the?" moment. Pin It

Growing Change

I have just found an interesting documentary trailer showcasing the Venezuelan food production revolution. The trailer can be viewed at www.growingchange.com.au. You can buy the full documentary for $15 and organise showings, if you like the principles expressed in the documentary or have a group that would be interested. 


I believe the principles behind what is being done in Venezuela is what many people believe should be happening around the world. That is, removing the dominance of multinational companies from our food chain and providing a food production system which is fair and appropriate to the people producing the food and those buying the food. 


Another interesting article of linked relevance can be found at: http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6060. This article shows how how food production and importation can be affected by government policy and how innovative government policy can provide protection for local industry whilst still providing its people with the relevant and "required" resources. 



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Greenwash article....big brands "using" the environment

I just read an interesting marketing article defending "greenwash". Have a look and see what you think. See whether you think we should be offended by the idea of big brands using the environment to encourage you to buy their products or not.


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Clean energy future?

The Australian Senate yesterday passed the package of Clean Energy legislation to allow Australia move into a new phase of its history! This legislation is aimed at driving the production of non-renewable energy down and increase the amount of renewables or clean energy available to Australia in the future. The legislation will also attempt to cut emissions that Australia would have otherwise generated by 2020. And the biggest and most publicised component, is that there will be a price on carbon from the 1 July 2012. This will commence at $23 a tonne for the top 500 polluters in Australia.

I was recently interested to know that Brisbane City Council is one of these top 500, but from the information that I recently heard from their Mayor, they are well on their way to looking at alternative sources of energy and ways to improve their activities and how to reduce their "bill" as you might say.

What an environmental step forward our country made yesterday and I am pleased that the government stood up to big business. Pin It

1200 Building Initiative

The 1200 Buildings program is a building retrofit program in the City of Melbourne. It was generated out of a council idea to support commercial building owners to retrofit their buildings with measures that will increase a building's water and energy efficiency and reduce waste. It is also supports the Council's goal  for the entire Council area to become "carbon neutral by 2020". What an idea, particularly since the City of Melbourne doesn't own and cannot dictate these changes to these privately owned buildings. In reality, this goal will only be achieved through support, education and changes made by building owners.

How to achieve this? My goodness I can't even imagine. However, Melbourne city has come up with some very exciting ideas to achieve this, which include some new financial lending models. One of the imaginative models means that finance institutions can forward funding to commercial building owners for activities to achieve the goals set by the Melbourne City Council and then these funds are re-couped to the bank by having a charge in your Council rates to fund these "loans".

I don't know the precise details of how this finance model works, but it certainly seems like an innovative one and one that will break some of the dis-incentives for owners of properties, to undertake sustainability measures, when these buildings are rented out, and it is the tenant that in fact receives the cost-breaks through energy and water cost savings!

If you want to know more about the program have a look at the 1200 Buildings website.

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Reclaim your rights!

In a previous post, "Don't sit back", I discuss the requirement about the requirement for people to participate in public comment periods and become involved in shaping their communities. I just attended a conference which not only confirmed this thought pattern but took it one step further and discussed the requirement that people within the community need to start to participate as citizens.

What does this mean? Surely, by just occupying space within a community you are considered a citizen. I'm afraid not. We need people to start to participate in the political process to re-engage the politicians with their constituents and actually act on their (our) behalf rather than the large corporations that are currently hijacking the political process and our rights.

Stand up and be counted!

What can you do?

• Contact your local political representative, at all levels of government (local, state and federal), and discuss your interests and express that as your elected representative (no matter what their party lines are) they should be representing you and your community! Bring your ideals, values and beliefs to the front and allow them to be counted and considered.  
• Another thing to do is join up with some of the internet groups that represent your values (perhaps groups like GetUp, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Avaaz, etc) and sign their petitions. Politicians are beginning to take notice of these group actions and make decisions based on these groups'/peoples' interests. 
• Engage with people in your community and make them aware of your concerns/beliefs. Your beliefs may seem a little different to many that you share them with, but eventually you will link up with like-minded people and all these individual voices together will add up and be heard. 
• Stand up for your convictions. Don't be scared to rebut other people's opinions and create useful debate. With such dialogue, learnings can be made and challenges can be explored.  

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Occupy Wall Street

The idea behind Occupy Wall Street is to bring the 99% of the population together to protest against greed and consumption of the wealthiest people in the US (those that make up only 1% of the population). There are also going to be supportive protests here in Australia: Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane today. 

Some people are questioning whether it is relevant here because the American/Canadian movement commenced out of the impacts they felt as a result of the Global Financial Crisis. I personally think it is still relevant here in Australia, as most people here would probably be interested in supporting their fellow global citizens and also saying 'no' to the way the world seems to progressing. That is, the dominance of corporations and wealthy people and their influence over government process. 

I think there is definitely a ground-swell or movement where people are expressing that they are sick of this influence and would like the government once again to be an elected representative of the people rather than large corporations, wealthy people or their political party. 

I think this is a great conversation starter and allows you to introduce new ideas to people and also meet people of like-minded experience.

A "blog" that expresses the opinions and views of some of the 99% (American focus) can be found at: http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/. Maybe you could subscribe and add your story. Cool community spirit!

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Rebates available for you

The Federal government has a website called Living Greener which has a vast array of information about living more sustainably, but I found a particularly useful part of the website today: The rebates and assistance section. This is located at: http://www.livinggreener.gov.au/rebates-assistance.

When you visit the site you enter in your postcode and your interests (in terms of sustainable living strategies) and the website then tells you what rebates and assistance various governments and organisations can provide to you for these goods and services.

I thought this provided a good overview for the ever-changing government rebates and programs available across the country.


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Forest Stewardship Council timber

Some of you may have heard of FSC timber, otherwise known as timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The Council is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which provides standards for responsible forest management and has a mission of promoting environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests. What does this mean?

According to the FSC (international website: http://www.fsc.org/) timber and timber products must meet 10 principles and criteria as a minimum for their operation and management. These are:

Principle 1: Compliance with all applicable laws and international treaties
Principle 2: Demonstrated and uncontested, clearly defined, long-term land tenure and use rights
Principle 3: Recognition and respect of indigenous peoples' rights
Principle 4: Maintenance or enhancement of long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local communities and respect of worker's rights in compliance with International Labour Organisation conventions
Principle 5: Equitable use and sharing of benefits derived from the forest
Principle 6: Reduction of environmental impact of logging activities and maintenance of the ecological functions and integrity of the forest
Principle 7: Appropriate and continuously updated management plan
Principle 8: Appropriate monitoring and assessment activities to assess the condition of the forest, management activities and their social and environmental impacts
Principle 9: Maintenance of High Conservation Value Forests defined as environmental and social values that are considered to be of outstanding significance or critical importance
Principle 10: In addition to compliance with all of the above, plantations must contribute to reduce the pressures on and promote the restoration and conservation of natural forests (as sourced from the http://www.fsc.org/ website).

It is interesting to note, that Australian and international products that display the FSC timber come from a broad range of markets and don't just include unprocessed timber, but also timber furniture and  paper products. The Australian branch of the FSC has a webpage allowing you to find a FSC certified products.

Now my quest to find a couple of timber tables (one indoor and one outdoor) that are FSC certified begins. Pin It

Bring new equipment to the Australian Wildlife Hospital

SunSuper is running a competition where someone's dream will be granted. You can submit your own, but there are some already worthy "dreams" available to vote for. The idea is the dream with the highest vote wins their dream.

The Australian Wildlife Hospital at Australia Zoo, here on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, has been entered to win $5000 worth of orthopaedic equipment. This provision of this vital surgical equipment would mean that many more injured Australian wildlife patients admitted to the Australian Wildlife Hospital could be treated and eventually returned to the wild.

To vote for this worthy cause just click on the following link: http://sunsuperdreams.com.au/dream/view/help-give-our-native-wildlife-a-fighting-chance. You can only vote once for one dream and apparently voting from multiple email addresses is against the terms of conditions, so don't ruin their chances! But remember, be active and help out this good cause. Pin It

Should companies be responsible?

What would happen if companies were held to account for the goods they produce throughout their products entire life-cycle? As an example in this situation, a producer of a mobile phone would therefore be responsible for all of the discarded or redundant mobile phones they produce. I think this is a marvellous situation to ponder.

Would producers end up producing products that were likely to last longer, have more recyclable or reusable content and reduce the number of new models they are produced? What other situations would arise from this? Perhaps there would be a return of repairers, rather than the standard response "it would be cheaper to buy a new one than investigate the issue and then repair the problem" or "parts are no longer available for that model".

I believe there would likely be less landfill, less pollution, more sustainability and longevity of products. Producers would become more savvy with their products, more responsible with their choice of components, increase the amount of recycled content, as well as the increasing the capability for  their products to be recycled.

To me the opportunities and positive outcomes as a result of such a scenario are endless and something that perhaps we could strive towards and maybe mark the end of endless consumption that modern, western society seems to have entered into. Pin It

How to make a difference with your super!

Here in Australia it is mandatory to have a percentage of your wage go into superannuation, with the money only accessible once you retire aged 60/65. The reason for this is to ensure all people will have some sort of financial security in their retirement and reduce the burden on the government.

Generally, this money is invested by private companies into shares, cash and property. Many of these companies offer different packages to allow you say in the investment choice dependent on your circumstances. For example, there are packages tailored to those retiring in the short-term, with these likely to be more aggressive attempting to maximise your gain in a short period of time.

Some of these companies are realising that not all people wish to invest in "typical" options and/or have a desire to make a difference to the world throughout their lives. As such, there are now packages appearing which are entitled "socially responsible" or "environmentally friendly". If you are a person considering one of these options it is worthwhile investigating the package to determine whether they address your concerns. I personally have a "socially responsible" package through my superannuation firm, which gives me similar returns to other standard packages, but the investment choices within this are determined to be socially responsible.

However, what does "socially responsible" mean though? My superannuation company has an extensive list of the firms they invest in through this package available on their website, which can be downloaded and reviewed at your leisure. This is a great first step. After reviewing the list briefly, of so-called "socially responsible" companies some of them looked a little questionable to me. So, my next step was to email my company requesting a definition or set of parameters that they use to to determine whether a company is "socially responsible" or not.

I received the following as a response. They have three key criteria which they use:

" 1. the financial assessment process and the ability to factor labour standards, and ethical, social and environmental factors into company selection;
2. avoiding exposure to companies with a material exposure (greater than 10% on key financial measures) to avoid the production or manufacture of tobacco, uranium, armaments, gambling, alcohol, or pornography;
3. selecting optimal manager combinations."

This was fascinating and made me more aware of the package I was "buying into". The issue, however comes as you cannot change your investment mix to reflect personal choices and remove individual companies based on your preferences.

So if you are considering making a positive step for either the environment or "society" through your long-term finances an appropriate superannuation packages might be another reasonable strategy. The key message however, is to look into the investment structure and asked for definitions.

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Carbon tax

In recent months the Australian Federal Government (the Labor party) has announced they will pursue the introduction of a carbon tax. For those that know nothing about this, this announcement will introduce a price (a tax) for each tonne of carbon pollution emitted. The idea behind this is that such pollution becomes an economic dis-incentive and hopefully those polluting will consider reducing their emissions because it hurts their back pocket (so to speak). The level that the carbon tax is set at will determine how much of a dis-incentive such pollution turns out to be (the higher the price the greater the incentive not to pollute).

Such taxes target large organisations but there will also be some impact on the average household as in this modern day we all have carbon emissions. However, given the government will be raising money through the introduction of such a tax such impacts on households hopefully can be evened out with the government promising to assist families through the transition and provide some buffers. Thus again, expressing the idea that the introduction is about reducing the incentive for big polluters/big business rather than impacting upon your average family.

The idea of a carbon tax shouldn't be a scary thing for the average Australian. Yes, there will be economic implications, but big business is smart. Obviously, if they can continue doing what they have always done it is the path of least resistance but if forced they will come up with alternatives and solutions to work around this issue and remain profitable. They always do. The large companies that are going to impacted upon potentially significantly are also usually highly diverse businesses.  Their economic strategies will allow them to pursue alternative business models and business streams that previously may not have been heavily invested in and hopefully are better for the environment (with such incentives) and those that are most heavily taxed because they are significant contributors to carbon pollution will be reduced.

The world can't persist on its current path forever. The world will shut down without such drastic steps (both environment and economies). You have probably all heard the statement "there will be no economy, if there is no environment". This is certainly true and the government is starting to appreciate this. The introduction of the carbon tax is truly about providing our country with a future, one that we all want to be a part of. Subsidies for cleaner energy solutions, incentives for big businesses to involve and buffering families will hopefully all be part of the broader picture and assist us all through this transition period. Pin It

Coles makes positive steps for sustainable fisheries

WWF has partnered with Coles Supermarkets to make Coles' choices in fish products more sustainable and make sustainably-fished seafood available to the masses! This is a fantastic step. Certainly makes me believe both consumer passion and hard-working non-government organisations can really make a difference. Coles has placed their commitment on their website.

Commitments include:

• changes in the sources of tuna for their canned products;
• sustainability fished salmon; and
• removal of orange roughy (no longer available). 

Fabulous! Well done to Coles. Pin It

BP Gulf of Mexico oil well - de-commissioned

According to President Obama the BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has finally been sealed, five months after the initial explosion. There is still a significant amount of cleaning up to be finalised and a serious amount of legal wrangling to be completed, but hopefully this means that there won't be any additional direct pollution to this already suffering marine ecosystem. Pin It