Our company is participating in a "Water For Life" benefit. Water is so important to the growth here in Southern California but we are an insignificant drop compared to real world life and death issues. As in other areas of consumption, The US uses an extraordinary amount of water compared to other nations so here are a few fact and tips provided by "Water For Life" that I think are important. Once again it is our individual small steps that add to something significant - think about that the next time you brush your teeth.
World Water Wise
Quick Facts:
* 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water.
* Every week an estimated 42,000 people die from water related diseases.
* Over 1 million people die from malaria every year.
* The average American individual uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day. The average African family uses about 5 gallons of water each day.
* While 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, 97.5% of it is salt water and 2.5% fresh water. Only 1% of the total water on earth is available for human use.
* 50% of the world's wetlands have been lost since 1900.
* Every day, 2 million tons of human waste is disposed of in water courses.
* 40% of water bodies assessed in 1998 in the United States were not deemed fit for hydro power recreational use due to nutrient, metal and agricultural pollution.
Things You Can Do:
* Participate in Beach Clean-Ups.
* Turn the faucet off while brushing your teeth, shaving, rinsing vegetables, etc.
* Wash the car with water from a bucket.
* Use water/energy conservation appliances.
* Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,700 gallons per year.
* Check for toilet tank leaks.
* Water lawns during the early morning hours when temperatures and wind speed are the lowest. This reduces losses from evaporation.
* Plant native grasses, ground covers, shrubs and trees.
* Refrigerate a bottle of drinking water instead of letting a faucet flow until the water is cold.
* When washing dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin with soapy water. Quickly rinse under a slow-moving stream from the faucet.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Ah, Capitalism
As a sailor/surfer and the GM of a manufacturing facility producing the foam cores used to make surfboards, environmental issues are very important to me. I know that when I research directions and issues of concern to me both personally and professionally there is much confusion and contrary opinion. I believe that environmental issues make up more than how we deal with the natural environment. They also - and perhaps more importantly - deal with the human issue.
Here is where capitalism comes into play. Any issue, environmental or otherwise, that comes to the forefront will be appropriately addressed when a profit potential is clear. This is an absolute fact in all levels of society from the young boy that may cut your lawn to the energy companies and the need to search out alternatives. If you don't think this is true, ask your gardener to cut the lawn for $2 a week - it won't happen. It readily happens when the profit meets the demand. So it is true of the energy companies on down.
There is no motivation to look for alternative energy sources when plenty of money is being made in the current conditions and the alternatives cost more and provide less profit. We then can say, ah yes, but this is short term thinking. Yes, oil is a finite supply but the short term for this issue goes beyond most of our lifetimes and certainly longer than a CEO's term as the lead sled dog. Obviously short term is a relative condition.
Once the profit potential is clear, all the needed resources to take advantage of the condition will be available. So I am not too concerned about global warming and in fact there is so much happening with this issue now that solutions will come forward - and some will make plenty of money providing those solutions.
One thing that does concern me however is that the solutions are often bandages. Take, for instance, southern California where there is no water naturally. We continue to build - in the desert with no water - more and more homes that need water. We even build golf courses in the desert - with no water - that use huge amounts of water. Instead of saying no we have exceeded the resource, we look for the water bandage initially with damming the rivers and then with a possible desalination facility.
Time has now shown us that damming the rivers was a mistake because sediment flow is important for the beaches, etc. We can't remove the dam because we still need the water and besides thousands of homes are now built where that water would flow. The jury is still out on the desalinator but what I know of it doesn't sound like the answer. Yet new homes are the money maker so that is the most important issue at the moment.
Ultimately capitalism will take care of the hard issues. I feel sure of that. The human issue is the real issue. From as far back as we have written history we know that human capital didn't rank as high as the dough. The pyramids were built by thousands of humans that were easily replaceable and inconsequential to the building of the Emperor's tomb. This goes true for slaves in the tobacco fields, to men and women in the world's armies, to the workers in factories around the world where safe healthy working conditions don't exist yet the managers are housed in luxury offices.
I simply don't understand how a human life became less valuable then the dollar, yen, euro, or whatever and God knows I don't have the answer to this one. I will, however, never let that attitude become part of me.
Here is where capitalism comes into play. Any issue, environmental or otherwise, that comes to the forefront will be appropriately addressed when a profit potential is clear. This is an absolute fact in all levels of society from the young boy that may cut your lawn to the energy companies and the need to search out alternatives. If you don't think this is true, ask your gardener to cut the lawn for $2 a week - it won't happen. It readily happens when the profit meets the demand. So it is true of the energy companies on down.
There is no motivation to look for alternative energy sources when plenty of money is being made in the current conditions and the alternatives cost more and provide less profit. We then can say, ah yes, but this is short term thinking. Yes, oil is a finite supply but the short term for this issue goes beyond most of our lifetimes and certainly longer than a CEO's term as the lead sled dog. Obviously short term is a relative condition.
Once the profit potential is clear, all the needed resources to take advantage of the condition will be available. So I am not too concerned about global warming and in fact there is so much happening with this issue now that solutions will come forward - and some will make plenty of money providing those solutions.
One thing that does concern me however is that the solutions are often bandages. Take, for instance, southern California where there is no water naturally. We continue to build - in the desert with no water - more and more homes that need water. We even build golf courses in the desert - with no water - that use huge amounts of water. Instead of saying no we have exceeded the resource, we look for the water bandage initially with damming the rivers and then with a possible desalination facility.
Time has now shown us that damming the rivers was a mistake because sediment flow is important for the beaches, etc. We can't remove the dam because we still need the water and besides thousands of homes are now built where that water would flow. The jury is still out on the desalinator but what I know of it doesn't sound like the answer. Yet new homes are the money maker so that is the most important issue at the moment.
Ultimately capitalism will take care of the hard issues. I feel sure of that. The human issue is the real issue. From as far back as we have written history we know that human capital didn't rank as high as the dough. The pyramids were built by thousands of humans that were easily replaceable and inconsequential to the building of the Emperor's tomb. This goes true for slaves in the tobacco fields, to men and women in the world's armies, to the workers in factories around the world where safe healthy working conditions don't exist yet the managers are housed in luxury offices.
I simply don't understand how a human life became less valuable then the dollar, yen, euro, or whatever and God knows I don't have the answer to this one. I will, however, never let that attitude become part of me.
Monday, March 5, 2007
The Simple Life
An American businessman was at the pier of a small South Pacific Island village when a small outrigger with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small outrigger was a dorado several large grouper.
The American complimented the Islander on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Islander replied, "Only a little while."
The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Islander said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a late afternoon nap with my wife, Helia, stroll into the village each evening where I have adrink and play guitar with my friends, I have a full and busy life."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small fishing village and move to Australia, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The South Seas fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?" asked the fisherman.
The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, really? Then what?" asked the fisherman.
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a late afternoon nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings here you could have a drink and play your guitar with your friends."
The American complimented the Islander on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Islander replied, "Only a little while."
The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Islander said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a late afternoon nap with my wife, Helia, stroll into the village each evening where I have adrink and play guitar with my friends, I have a full and busy life."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small fishing village and move to Australia, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The South Seas fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?" asked the fisherman.
The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, really? Then what?" asked the fisherman.
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a late afternoon nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings here you could have a drink and play your guitar with your friends."
Friday, March 2, 2007
The Magic of Surfing
The surfing experience is a completely individual endeavor yet surfers are part of a global tribe that crosses all political, cultural, religious, and economic boundaries. The surfing experience causes the surfer to become tuned to the natural world of wind and tide and current and season. Even the surfboard it self is modern magic carpet that defies normal physical quantification sometimes planing, sometimes displacement, sometimes airborne with constant changes in direction and velocity.
In an age where many high school seniors in the United States can not find their own country on a globe, most surfers know about Angola, Sumatra, Madagascar, New Caledonia, and the Canaries and more mainstream places like Morocco, and Peru. When the season is right for a particular region, surfers go. Islamic Jihad in Indonesia will not deter them. The works of ETA on the Basque coast of Spain are not a concern. The military coup in Fiji doesn’t get a second thought. Yet at the beach, in any of these locations with others from around the world, there is peaceful coexistence and respect.
Local customs and cultures are embraced by this global tribe. Often the local religions are participated in without question but for the new experience it may offer. Parts of the religion, culture, and customs from often faraway lands usually stick and some of that experience is then carried forward to the next place of the tribes meeting. Again the resulting mixture is a reverent diversity and respect. In fact, at the recent tsunami disaster, surfers were the first responders – not only rescuing people but setting up camps in which to live.
In the water the surfer is not judged by his bank account, what type of car he drives, or where he lives but rather he is judged by his skills in the ocean. Riding waves and the intimate knowledge of the break is paramount and other valued skills include sailing, diving, and fishing. The better the surfer is at these skills, the more independent he becomes and therefore the economic differences become even less important.
The passage from beginner to journeyman surfer includes meteorological study. To fully benefit from the variety of waves breaking around the planet, the surfer learns about the changing of the seasons in the different hemispheres. He learns the origin or source of the waves and can predict the swell direction and time that swell will hit certain beaches. With this knowledge he will calculate the local tide, current, and wind conditions for optimal riding. When this precise time hits, the pursuit of the resulting waves becomes the all consuming focus of his being.
When finally paddling out to the break, the surfer has learned the skills of a physical oceanographer and studied the rip currents and uses these forces to his advantage and get out past the break more easily. He knows the bottom contours and the physical properties of the sea floor under the waves. Understanding the physical condition is critical – is the swell moving across a variable sandbar or breaking like clockwork over a nearly exposed coral reef. Respect is once again in order as the wave will break the way it will without regard to the surfer. The surfer knows to go with the flow and use the natural forces at work to maximize his experience.
A noted NASA scientist once said the ability of a surfer paddling a small surfboard into a wave is a mathematical impossibility. In nearly every other sport both participant and equipment can be quantified for maximum performance, there is no such quantifier in surfing. The act of riding waves is an entirely individual experience. There is no absolute in design or materials nor ideal size like a jockey of 118 pounds or a 6’9” basketball player. Both the surfboard and surfer are completely unique and therefore the experience on the wave is a completely unique experience as well. This is easily proven when two surfers are in the water both on their favorite boards getting maximum enjoyment from the conditions and they switch boards. The maximum enjoyment disappears and very quickly they want to switch back.
Surfers also become staunch environmentalists. Coastal zone management and both source and non-source pollution are well known. Public beach access rather than selling off the coastline to only the richest 1% is a critical issue and that battle rages daily in the halls of places like the California Coastal Commission where the special interests of politics are being battled by the grass roots activists of the global surfing community. A local issue such as a freeway extension that may affect a revered surfing spot near San Clemente has opposition support in England, Brazil, and Australia.
So the experience of the surfer is all encompassing with political, cultural, and religious components. Physical and natural sciences are part of the surfer’s daily experience. And the engineering of the surfboard can’t be quantified. The experience is very personal and unique while at the same time being part of a global community that lives with respect and is acutely of aware the relationship to the cycles of the natural environment. The surfer’s scorecard doesn’t have an entry for monetary success and therefore it is very easy to give back to the communities in which they participate. The world on a larger scale could learn much from a surfer. After all, it’s magic!
In an age where many high school seniors in the United States can not find their own country on a globe, most surfers know about Angola, Sumatra, Madagascar, New Caledonia, and the Canaries and more mainstream places like Morocco, and Peru. When the season is right for a particular region, surfers go. Islamic Jihad in Indonesia will not deter them. The works of ETA on the Basque coast of Spain are not a concern. The military coup in Fiji doesn’t get a second thought. Yet at the beach, in any of these locations with others from around the world, there is peaceful coexistence and respect.
Local customs and cultures are embraced by this global tribe. Often the local religions are participated in without question but for the new experience it may offer. Parts of the religion, culture, and customs from often faraway lands usually stick and some of that experience is then carried forward to the next place of the tribes meeting. Again the resulting mixture is a reverent diversity and respect. In fact, at the recent tsunami disaster, surfers were the first responders – not only rescuing people but setting up camps in which to live.
In the water the surfer is not judged by his bank account, what type of car he drives, or where he lives but rather he is judged by his skills in the ocean. Riding waves and the intimate knowledge of the break is paramount and other valued skills include sailing, diving, and fishing. The better the surfer is at these skills, the more independent he becomes and therefore the economic differences become even less important.
The passage from beginner to journeyman surfer includes meteorological study. To fully benefit from the variety of waves breaking around the planet, the surfer learns about the changing of the seasons in the different hemispheres. He learns the origin or source of the waves and can predict the swell direction and time that swell will hit certain beaches. With this knowledge he will calculate the local tide, current, and wind conditions for optimal riding. When this precise time hits, the pursuit of the resulting waves becomes the all consuming focus of his being.
When finally paddling out to the break, the surfer has learned the skills of a physical oceanographer and studied the rip currents and uses these forces to his advantage and get out past the break more easily. He knows the bottom contours and the physical properties of the sea floor under the waves. Understanding the physical condition is critical – is the swell moving across a variable sandbar or breaking like clockwork over a nearly exposed coral reef. Respect is once again in order as the wave will break the way it will without regard to the surfer. The surfer knows to go with the flow and use the natural forces at work to maximize his experience.
A noted NASA scientist once said the ability of a surfer paddling a small surfboard into a wave is a mathematical impossibility. In nearly every other sport both participant and equipment can be quantified for maximum performance, there is no such quantifier in surfing. The act of riding waves is an entirely individual experience. There is no absolute in design or materials nor ideal size like a jockey of 118 pounds or a 6’9” basketball player. Both the surfboard and surfer are completely unique and therefore the experience on the wave is a completely unique experience as well. This is easily proven when two surfers are in the water both on their favorite boards getting maximum enjoyment from the conditions and they switch boards. The maximum enjoyment disappears and very quickly they want to switch back.
Surfers also become staunch environmentalists. Coastal zone management and both source and non-source pollution are well known. Public beach access rather than selling off the coastline to only the richest 1% is a critical issue and that battle rages daily in the halls of places like the California Coastal Commission where the special interests of politics are being battled by the grass roots activists of the global surfing community. A local issue such as a freeway extension that may affect a revered surfing spot near San Clemente has opposition support in England, Brazil, and Australia.
So the experience of the surfer is all encompassing with political, cultural, and religious components. Physical and natural sciences are part of the surfer’s daily experience. And the engineering of the surfboard can’t be quantified. The experience is very personal and unique while at the same time being part of a global community that lives with respect and is acutely of aware the relationship to the cycles of the natural environment. The surfer’s scorecard doesn’t have an entry for monetary success and therefore it is very easy to give back to the communities in which they participate. The world on a larger scale could learn much from a surfer. After all, it’s magic!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)