Earth Day, Going Green and the Little Things

The Earth Day went by this week. Lots of people talked about lots of big ideas and initiatives - good soundbytes, little action. Everyone's talking about energy related issues - the extinction of cheap hydrocarbons, the lack of progress on renewables, etc.

One of the thing that amazes me is the low attention that another environment issue - which is at least as important if not more - that is the amazing waste of water and drought affecting most of the highly populated metropolitan centers around the world.

At the same time, the green crowd goes around drinking Evian and Dassani and Perrier.

Drinkable tap water is a great asset that any developed nation has. USA has had the advantage of having this resource for over a century now. Yet, there is no stopping the trend towards bottled water. Most of it is driven by high visibility advertising that has made bottled water a part of the fashion cuisine. And it's partly driven by fear mongering - creating scare about municipal water; even though in many lab tests, tap water usually beats bottled water in all areas - not only purity but also taste.

I think the Dutch have the right idea about it - there a voluntary agency is selling empty bottles branded as Neau - patrons buy these empty bottles at about the same price that they would pay for a Dassani and then they fill up with refreshing tap water. The money generated by sales of Neau is being used to provide basic potable water infrastructure in poor countries.

http://www.finewaters.com/Newsletter/November_2005/Neau_-_No_Water.asp

http://www.slate.com/id/2165124/fr/rss/

Outsource the Government

You could see it coming for a long time - someone had to do a good satire on this in public - and who better than Scott Adams to attempt this!

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/04/outsource_the_g.html

Scott's post displays both a frustration with the level of incompetence in our Government today and also his well-established history of incisive, yet humorous skepticism of outsourcing as the answer to everything.

Unfortunately, some people seem to have taken his post too seriously. But it does make for a good piece of humor on a Friday and provokes some thoughts about public policy at the same time.

Stephen Colbert - The Greatest Living American

This one is too good to be true - I am sure it won't last too long.

When you search for "greatest living american" - Stephen Colbert's fans' website - http://www.colbertnation.com tops the search results. Obviously, this is the result of Colbert's huge fan following in the blogosphere, some of whom figured out a way to bomb Google. You might remember another Google bomb from a couple of years back when searching for "miserable failure" led to George Bush's website. It lasted for some time before Google tweaked their algorithm. I guess they couldn't make their algorithm foolproof - so we have another Google Bomb now.

Click here to check the search results yourself on Google.

An interesting reflection : Slow Down Culture

This one has been making the rounds on the Net - has already been published on various blogs, etc. I don't know where it originated - if you have any clue, do leave me a comment. I am posting it here 'cause I found it very thought provoking. Thanks Mohit for sending me this email.

"An interesting reflection : Slow Down Culture

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo , a state in Brazil .
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm , has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden , one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US 's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!".

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world."

Of Cynics and Idealists

"Cynics regarded everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regarded everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves."
- Robert Anton Wilson

So which one are you?