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In this newsletter:
- OOPS!
- 2nd National EMS Forum
- ISO 14001, auditing problems, certification and greenwash
- Mind-map your environmental footprint workshops
- Clearing old stock
- Links to 5 articles
OOPS!
My Frog got it wrong in his last comment! Obviously the average house hold releases 14 tons of greenhouse emission, NOT 14 million tons. Thank you so much to the gentleman who pointed that out! I am not precious and am happy to be given feedback and corrected when wrong. That is what continual improvement is about and we ALL make mistake and I certainly made a typo there!
2nd National EMS Forum
This is being held in Newcastle, NSW this week with a very interesting group of people including several International speakers all working at a variety of different levels of environmental management.
I am giving 2 papers; The first is a case study jointly with one of my clients, a member of a group of 5 dry-land farmers from central Queensland who are very close to calling in the auditor now to certify them to ISO 14001. These farmers combined with a Darwin based cleaning business doing ISO 9001 for the second and third modules of their management system and my second paper is on greenwash and the recent legislation about this. Both these papers will be linked on my resources page within the next couple of days.
ISO 14001, auditing problems, certification and greenwash
One subject that was raised in keynote speeches and other presentation is rapid international uptake of ISO 14001 around the world. The no 1 country taking up this standard is Japan, followed by China, Spain and Italy. The drivers are the need for regulatory compliance, public image, identified cost savings, customer requirements and corporate requirements. One problem that emerged is the failure of some auditors to understand the importance of legal compliance and of aspects and impacts (At Enviro Action we usually refer to these as causes and effects with aspects and impacts in brackets to keep auditors happy because we recognise that the terminology causes confusion for many people). Where an auditor can see that the Company’s Environmental Policy contains a commitment to comply with all legislation and they repeatedly get fines, the auditor needs to note this as a non-conformance and require improvement if the certification is to remain in place. Failure by the auditor to do this devalues the standard and reduces it to approach the greenwash. This is clearly an auditor responsibility.
For those of you who missed it here are the links to the recording of a teleconference with an auditor held recently. I have more teleconferences in the planning stage and I will let you know because this is going to be a regular feature for you. You can find out about green certification and download an audio file of “An Interview with a certification auditor”. To listen click here, or here to download the MP3 file,
Mind-map your environmental footprint workshops
This is a one day mind-mapping workshop for either the corporate sector or for groups of businesses. These workshops help culturally and behaviourally grow environmental awareness within the organisations. The value of mind-mapping is that it follows the way we think and readily accesses both the left and the right side of the brain. It is the most effective tool for getting groups of to work together to develop both a broad basis for identifying then reducing their environmental footprint and for raising awareness among personnel. Contact us direct on 1300 88 3646 or at info@enviroaction.com.au for more information about how these workshops can be tailored to your requirements.
Clearing old stock – early warning!
I have a storage crisis in my shed and will send out an extra email about this within the next 2 days. There will be dramatically reduced pricing for this! I do have a number of earlier editions of my “Easy to be Green” training materials. There were actually called “ISO 14001 In Action” – same stuff but slightly earlier version. They will be packaged with the latest version of the MP3 audio files so those who are too busy to read the materials can listen to them while they drive or when it is convenient. I want to list exactly what is there before I send out the list to you. There are a few complete ISO 14001 training sets, some more occupational health and safety modules, and around one or two quality modules enabling you to implement ISO 9001 if you wish.
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Wetlands remove over 90% of nutrients, bacteria and silt form water. They clean our rivers and seas. They are nature’s water filtration. Reed beds are natural freshwater wetland systems. We need to value these systems yet many people still see them as 'swamps" or wasteland.
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Here are the links to the latest articles on the Enviro Jean Blog
One has to ask whether the new Rudd government knows whether the left hand knows what the right hand is doing. The core demographic for solar energy system purchases are households with additional discretionary income. Read more ...
Biochemistry professor Hervé Philippe from the Université de Montréal says that the average Canadian produces 22 tones of carbon dioxide each year - equal to the weight of about 4 large elephants. Doesn’t everyone measure carbon dioxide in elephants? Read more.......
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said pressure from the car industry will not deter California from attempting to impose strict emission rules for vehicles sold in the state. He met privately with seven car executives who requested the get-together. He told them “the train has left the station” and that they should stop challenging California rules that are intended to help slow the rate of global warming. Read more...
A new survey released by the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development found that the businesses with high greenhouse emissions are having the most influence on climate change policy, according to. Read more...
If New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) goes ahead in its current form, Rio Tinto Alcan warns it may have to close its aluminium smelter. But the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development (NZBCSD) said the likely economic impact of the ETS will be low and most businesses support the scheme. Read more...
Kindest regards
Jean Cannon
Helping business build effective management systems to save money and grow
It is easy to be green
Winner 2007 South Australian Seafood Industry Training Award in recognition of training excellence
For more information or suggestions about how I can serve you better,
please contact me on jean@enviroaction.com.au.
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