Sustainable Development can be overwhelming for some people and I get cought up wondering what major change I can make in my life to make a difference. Making smaller changes both at work and at home is much easier and in the long run can have a large impact.

I have made a few easy changes at work including turning off computer monitors at night, bringing coffee mugs and turning 100% of our team meetings into paperless meetings. At home, I have challenged myself to come up with one new idea for a permanent small change per month for the next year. My friend inspired this idea – she and her husband have committed to one new idea per week and have implemented over 37 small changes in their household. Some examples include shopping with cloth bags, buying environmentally friendly cleaning products, using more public transportation and switching to more natural fibers (bamboo sheets, etc.). People often comment on the cost of switching products etc however these do not have to be expensive solutions!

The following is an interesting article I came across which talks about some simple and inexpensive ideas for living greener. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-simple-and-cheap-green-ideas.html#

I have a challenge for you: Who will take me up on implementing one permanent change per month for the next 12 months?

New Zealand government today has issued a law, forcing the retailers to only import bulbs that meet new efficiency standards or face fines of up to $10,000  as of October 2009.

Here’s the link to the article.

The ultimate goal is to reduce the energy consumption of New Zealand by 20% (!) by 2015.

Here’s another article on the same topic.

This is definitely NOT “greenwashing”, it’s pretty radical.

Alex Roitman.

I was paying way too much in electricity bills last year in 2006 and I decided to take action. I live in a 1000 square feet (100 square meters) condo in Ottawa Canada with electrical heat. I was paying an average of 400 CDN $ during the winter months.
I visited the Hydro One website called Power Wise for simple tips on how to reduce electricity consumption (that’s the company in Ottawa that provides electricity) and here are the results: my consumption in 2007 dropped to about 220 to 250$ for comparable periods.
Here are the actions I took:
1-replaced old appliances (fridge, old washing machine and dish-washer)
2-Service heat pump and electric boards.
3-Changed all light bulbs for efficient fluorescent light bulb.
4- We also close our computers/ printers when not using them.
Makes sense for my wallet and for the environment. I would like to see a more systematic application of these principles in businesses as a measure to reduce costs.
Actually, that there are some initiatives to implement new policies according to this article. My only critique is that as usual with any level of government, its taking place at a snail’s pace. 2012 – That’s in over 5 years!
McGuinty Government to Ban Inefficient Light Bulbs by 2012

During one of the class discussions, a popular opinion emerged that suggests consumers are not overly concerned as to whether or not we make Green Choices. Unfortunately, I agree with this sentiment; creating a demand for green products or practices is not as simple as slapping on an eco-label and writing out a sustainable development vision on company websites.

Reports have shown that there is a desire to support sustainable development. However, Joel Makower’s article “WC Retro: Green Marketing –Lesson From the Leader” , discusses how our choices seem to contradict our ethical values. As the article explains, Phillips had a light bulb that was energy saving and longer lasting, but was only popular in Europe and not in the U.S. The difference is that the bulb addressed the needs of the European consumer due to high energy costs. They were willing to pay a higher price for the product because it met a need. The US consumers, on the other hand, were not as willing to pay the higher price despite the efficiency because it did not meet their immediate needs.

Therefore, businesses still have to focus marketing efforts on the direct benefits to the consumer and add the tagline of “environmentally friendly” to allow the consumer to feel good about their product purchase.

The very popular Toyota Hybrid avoided the eco-friendly marketing campaign during product launch because they believed consumers would not have taken the product seriously. Instead, they focused on gas savings, a direct benefit to the consumer.

It seems that we still have a long way to go before consumers automatically make green choices. Perhaps industry should be looking at creative marketing instead of the government to help us find a solution.

Catherine Yarker