Green Business

For the past decade or so, the people all over the world became more conscious of the adverse effects of almost a lifetime of neglect and abuse of the environment.  Suddenly everyone hitched on the bandwagon of "clean living and preservation of and care for the environment".  Business is no exception.  It was quick to jump into the bandwagon and capitalized on the rising consumer desire to do something right for the environment.  Out of this phenomenon, green business was born.  The term “green business” pertains to businesses and business practices which are environmentally sound and sustainable.  Its products or services replace non-green products or services.  Lastly, business operations adhere to environmental principles that adequately address current environmental concerns while maintaining a profit.

Green business differs from traditional business in the sense that it measures success on the so-called triple bottom line or TBL or 3BL.  Instead of success being measured on the usual parameter of profit, companies take the extra mile by thinking beyond money.  Social (people) and environmental (planet) factors are taken into consideration as well.  It must meet customer satisfaction and at the same time treat the environment well. It gives back to the environment by producing products and services that will benefit it in the end.

Related articles

• A Business Checklist for Going Green (brighthub.com)
• Green Business Resources (thinkup.waldenu.edu)
• The Pros and Cons to Being a Green Business (ecopreneurist.com)

http://www.greenmarketing.tv/2010/03/27/what-is-a-green-business/

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-green-business.htm

Smokers Pollute the Environment Big-time!

"Surgeon General's Warning:  Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Enphysema and May

Complicate Pregnancy." If you are a smoker, chances are you have encountered these words emblazoned on a pack of cigarettes.  Whoever thought of putting this warning must be doing it to assuage his guilt for allowing the manufacture and selling of cigarettes in exchange for huge amount of sin taxes. 

According to CigaretteLitter.Org, a non-profit organization whose advocacy is to run educational campaigns on reducing the amount of cigarette litter, billions of cigarette butts are being littered daily.  That is mind-boggling!  In the Philippines alone, 85 billion sticks were sold last year to over 17 million Filipino smokers, Chris Nelson, President of Philip Morris Philippines reported.   By sheer volume alone, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources tags cigarette butts as the number 2 pollutant of the environment.

CigaretteLitter.Org also said that "most people who litter their cigarettes either don't fully understand the consequences of their actions or they have rationalized the behaviour."  After that butt have been thrown onto the street or beach, wind and rain carry it towards the bodies of water.  It is toxic to marine and freshwater fish.  Contrary to popular belief, the cellulose acetate that it in the filter of cigarette is not biodegradable.  It will take 25 years to break down the cellulose acetate, a type of plastic.

Just last week, Philip Morris has launched its "BA2D2" anti-litter program.  "BA2D2" is the short text version of "Ibato Mo Dito" (Throw Your Litter Here). It is an information and education drive to address cigarette butt litter.  Philip Morris has committed to post BA2D2 posters  and BA2D2 trash bins tin strategic places to create awareness on how and where to dispose of their cigarette butts.

Sounds laudable coming from the leading manufacturer and marketer of cigarettes.  For the sake of everyone, I hope this campaign will fly.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20101115-303296/DENR-tags-cigarette-butts-No-2-pollutant

http://www.cigarettelitter.org/
http://bluelivingideas.com/topics/freshwater-ecosystems/cigarette-butts-kill-fish-study/

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/health/stop-smoking.html

Related articles

• Cigarette butts second top polluter in PH -- DENR report (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• How to Recycle Cigarette Butt Litter (brighthub.com)
• Nonsmoker Lung Cancer: A Different Disease? (webmd.com)

Let's Have a Green Christmas

Image via Wikipedia

It's barely a month before the merriest month of the year,  Christmas.  I love Christmas because it invokes mostly happy memories for me since I was a child. It is during Christmas that I get to see relatives whom I don't see for the most part of the year.  It also connotes gift-giving and a sumptuous feast shared by all.

In this time of global warming and climate change,  the best gift one can give Mother Earth is to buy gifts that are not harmful to the environment. What about giving away home-made goodies that come inside glass containers like sardines, jams, jellies, cookies? I sure would love receiving one.  For plant lovers, a pot of orchid or lettuce would be truly appreciated.  It's best that the gifts come without the glossy wrappers as these only end up in the garbage bins and into the landfills.

The list of possibilities is endless.  In choosing what to give, one must be aware of the impact of our choices to the environment.  Just remember the 3Rs, i.e., reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Have a Green Christmas everyone. 

Related articles

• Best Christmas Gifts: Make Your Christmas Unique - Best Christmas ... (shetoldme.com)
• How to Plan a Green Christmas (socyberty.com)

Yes, You Can Have Clean Air, Water and Food

I promised myself that I will post an article on or before October 31.  I've been busy with my studies on Blog Entrepreneurship which require me to launch a blog with at least ten posts so I was remiss in maintaining this blog.

Been wanting to write something on Ozein Four-Stage Air Purifying System for quite sometime.  I saw it at a recent Couples for Christ gathering being demonstrated to prospective buyers by Bro. Mark Banzon.  I got curious when I saw a whole chicken soaked in water being sanitized using Ozein.  What caught my attention was the bubble-like white thing that formed on top of the chicken.  Bro. Mark told me that the white thing represent the toxins from the medicines/chemicals that were ingested by the chicken while being fattened.  He said that the machine could also remove from the vegetables the pesticides and fertilizers that accumulated on the foliage or outer covering/surface.  I cringed at the thought of all these chemicals that enter our body.  I am feeding my family garbage disguised as food!  With this realization, I ordered a unit immediately from Sis. Nympha Padolina, Bro. Mark's downline.

Aside from removing the chemicals from food, Ozein air purifier could first and foremost purify the air that you breathe.  It is a given that our environment is so polluted that pulmonary diseases are rampant nowadays. Since I developed asthma quite late in my life, I am taking medication to avoid attacks.  The medicine that I inhale twice a day leave me with palpitations after each session.  I am hypertensive but have to inhale my asthma medicine so I will not be coughing all day long.  After Sis. Nympha delivered the Ozein, I stopped from inhaling my asthma medicine to test if it really does wonders for asthma victims like me.  I am happy to report that I don't need my asthma inhaler if I am at home.  I only use it when I am out of the house.

With the ozonator hose and stone that come with the air purifier, I can have purified water from my faucet.  Now I don't have to order drinking water from the nearby water refilling station.  This translates to a monthly savings of P1,000.  

Clean living is not only a choice but rather a commitment.  Clean air and water is no longer available today but it is not yet late to have one.  It requires a commitment from each one of us.

Related articles

• How Air Purifiers Can Help With Your Allergies (e-prescribe.biz)
• Improve Your In-Home Air Quality (healthadel.com)

http://ozein-air.com/product.html

http://www.ozein-air.com/

Is The Air Really Cleaner in the Rural Areas?

During the incumbency of President Arroyo, "holiday economics" was a byword.  The Arroyo administration believed that shifting the observance of holidays to the nearest Friday or Monday would reduce disruption to business and production schedules and at the same time promote domestic tourism. Everyone was encouraged to flock to the tourist attraction of choice to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and be able to breathe fresh air, eat fresh food.  Once in the province, one doesn't need a car to go from one place to the other as there is the ubiquitous tricycle.  The tricycle is everywhere specially on smaller roads where jeepneys and buses are not allowed to operate.  But if we are to believe DENR Sec. Paje's report that one of the main pollutants of the environment is the tricycle, is the air really cleaner in the provinces?

The tricycle is the main mode of transport in the rural areas and parts in the urban areas where streets are narrow for jeepneys and buses.  84% of the country's population depends on the tricycles to bring them to school, work, and wherever.  There are roughly 2 million tricycles of which 70% have two-stroke engines.   The Clean Air Act of 1999 calls for the phasing out of two-stroke engines as they are prone to pollute the air more as they emit more particulate matter than four-stroke engines.  Two-stroke engines have lower fuel efficiency.  It is estimated that 15-40% of the fuel-air mixture escape from the engine through the exhaust port.  These "scavenging losses" contain high level of unburned gasoline and lubricant and increase the emissions of hydrocarbons, particulate matters and visible smoke. The government though cannot just ban the use of the existing two-stroke tricycles as banning will put a lot of tricycle drivers without livelihood.

Not all is lost for two stroke tricycles.  Low-smoke, environment-friendly lubricants are already available.  Lubricants are mixed with the gasoline at the ratio of 200 ml lubricant for every 4 liters of gasoline.  These lubricants, made from vegetable-derived esters (VDE), lubricate well, mix well with the gasoline that prevents unburned gasoline and lubricant, and make the engines perform more efficiently.  With the above stated advantages of vegetable-based lubricants, tricycle drivers can expect their motorcycles to perform better, have fuel savings, have cleaner engines and at the same time help in protecting and nurturing the environment.  There is no need to phase out two-stroke motorcycles if these biodegradable and environment-friendly lubricants are used.   And we could also start breathing fresh air again.



http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20070725-78742/Holiday_economics_now_a_law


http://www.thepoc.net/breaking-news/breaking-stories/9751-denr-air-pollution-in-metro-worse.html


http://www.philsol.nl/news/03/CleanAir01-jan03.htm

Related articles

• DENR issues new limits on vehicular emissions to cut air pollution (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• Proud be a Filipino (socyberty.com)
• How to Adjust and Tune Carburetors on a Two Stroke ATV (brighthub.com)