GlobeNews 11/99 | Green Biz Special Vol.1, No.4 Global citizen! Keep abreast of events around the globe: trends, politics, travel, society, technology, environment. GlobeNews is for you. NOT your nine o'clock news. It is a time to GIVE THANKS. Green business is blooming (pardon the pun)! No, not only for environmentally conscious consultants like myself. Even traditionally polluting industries are planting the seeds for a clean tomorrow. But beware of greenwashing, where firms paint rosy pictures of their dirty deeds. GlobeNews by Kahl Consultants. Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. Visit us at http://www.kahl.net To continue receiving; do nothing, you are on our list. To add someone or to stop receiving; send email. ============== THE GOOD NEWS ============== INDUSTRY REDUCES IMPACT -------------------------------------- Manufacturers are reducing environmental impacts as they take on several key characteristics of the service sector, according to the Boston-based Tellus Institute. There are a "growing number of forays" by manufacturers into the "functional economy," where their focus changes from the consumption of their products to the service they deliver. DuPont has moved toward leasing chemicals instead of selling them or providing car-painting services instead of selling paint. This changes a company's focus from "straightforward buying and selling" to "a spectrum of property rights arrangements, including leasing, pooling, sharing and take-back". The result? Greater responsibility for the effect of products on the environment throughout the life cycle. In this new relationship, companies gain environmental benefits by reducing their risk and liability as they take greater responsibility for their goods. They gain economic benefits by retaining control and possession of their physical goods, which encourages "maintenance, recycling, reclamation, remanufacturing and other aspects of product stewardship" (Green Business Letter, Aug. 1999 issue). JUST SAY NO SHARES ----------------------------- Deutsche Bank is advising investors to sell shares in companies leading the development of genetically modified organisms, saying consumers do not want to buy their products. A bank report says that "food companies, retailers, grain processors, and governments are sending the signal to seed producers that 'we are not reading for GMOs'." The report also says that the concerns of European consumers are real. The report: "European consumers have recently been through the mad-cow crisis, the French AIDS-tainted blood crisis, the Dutch pig-plague crisis, the Belgium chicken-dioxin crisis, the Belgian Coca-Cola crisis, etc. ========== GLOBESITES ========== IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL ------------------------------------------- This is a great site with only ONE purpose: calculates the distance between two places (as the crow flies). Using US Census data and a supplementary list of cities around the world you can find the latitude and longitude of two places and the distance between them. It also provides a map showing the two places. Bookmark it! HOW FAR IS IT? http://www.indo.com/distance === Y2K === While the Y2K software bug may disrupt global technology come new years day, the real bugaboo may be in the long term damage that USED HARDWARE is doing to the environment. Municipal bodies that manage solid waste have yet to develop effective disposal programs. Manufacturers are not (yet) financially responsible for disposal of their products. Lead, mercury and other hazardous materials in discarded hardware seeps into groundwater. About 1 billion pounds of lead from computer waste will enter U.S. waterways over the next decade. Companies and nonprofits that recycle computers "barely make a dent" in the masses of disposed equipment. Less than 15 percent of nearly 25 million computers discarded this year will be recycled or properly disposed of. AMAZING AMAZON ------------------------- In association with Amazon.com we offer you discount BOOKS, MUSIC and more. Grab some HOLIDAY GIFTS online! PLEASE SUPPORT GLOBENEWS by only using this link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/kahlconsultants ========= GlobeNews ========= DEBT FOR NATURE WITH A TWIST --------------------------------------------- Canada now has a deal to "buy oxygen" from Honduras in exchange for forgiving a portion of its debt. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will forgive about $680,000 of Honduras's $10.8 million debt to Canada. In exchange, the countries will open a "joint implementation office" in Honduras to promote reforestation and evaluate forest conservation programs. Trees absorb greenhouse gases, so Canada hopes to get credit for helping to curb global climate change. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada has to cut emissions by 6% below 1990 levels by 2012. ============= FUTURE IS NOW ============= 1 DOWN, 2 TO GO ----------------------- Scientists have determined the exact order of 1 billion of the basic chemical building blocks of life, 1/3 of the whole human genome. The human genome project began in 1990 to determine genetic factors behind diseases (from multiple sclerosis and cancers to hypertension and schizophrenia). A completely sequenced human genome is expected to be finished by 2003 or sooner. A working draft of the human genome is expected to be complete in the first half of next year. TIME TO THINK -------------------- TIME magazines "Beyond 2000" series starts with essays on the future of environment and health. Here are some excerpts. Jaws author Peter Benchley writes, "Modern technology has given us the tools to extinguish entire fish populations, and because man is a can-do critter, that's what we're doing." Ed Ayers of the Worldwatch Institute urges the end to the "era of mass-produced animal flesh, and its unsustainable costs to human and environmental health." Author Mark Hertsgaard writes that the first step toward reducing emissions from fossil fuel use should be improving energy efficiency, which could be a profitable venture. Hertsgaard: "If governments launched a program -- call it a Global Green Deal -- to environmentally retrofit our civilization from top to bottom, they could create the biggest business enterprise of the next 25 years, a huge source of jobs and profits." George Mason University physicist James Trefil writes, "It makes no sense to overreact to the prospect of global warming, but it makes no sense to ignore it either. A prudent policy that stresses conservation and alternate energy sources seems to me to be wise insurance in an uncertain age." Author Ivan Amato writes on the need to reduce consumption and garbage, pointing out that Americans produce 430 billion pounds of household trash each year. Into Thin Air author John Krakauer writes about dwindling wilderness areas. Krakauer: "Empty places have long served as a repository for a host of complicated yearnings and desires. As an antidote to the alienation and pervasive softness that plague modern society, there is no substitute for a trip to an untrammeled patch of backcountry, with its attendant wonders, privation and physical trials". BLATANT ADVERTISEMENT: If you are also interested in space, astronomy and extraterrestrial news, subscribe to ASTRONEWS, another free newsletter from Kahl Consultants. ============ !!GLOBALERT!! ============ 6 BILLION SOULS ---------------------- While everyone is talking about Y2K these days we hardly took notice that this is the year of Y6B - that is six billion people are now living on our planet, many in poverty. The continued exponential growth of the population, particularly in developing countries, will ensure that the Y7B is just a few short years away. Feel like there is nothing you can do about this? Then you need to tap into ZPG: Zero Population Growth http://www.zpg.org SAVE ON CALLS --------------------- Do you travel much? Then get the VoiceNet calling card! For example, any domestic call from any phone in the USA for only 17.5 cents/min! No more expensive calls! We've chosen to market these calling cards because It's the best deal we could find! Check out this offer AND MANY MORE! Visit your agent Alex Kahl at GlobalCom: http://www.kahl.net/global ====== NetTips ====== TRAVELIN' LIGHT ----------------------- If you want to prepare for a trip around the world or just play armchair explorer, the information you need is at your fingertips. Here are 2 choice websites you MUST SEE: CIA -- The World Factbook 1999 http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook - find out what the CIA has to say about your favorite country Britannica.com http://www.britannica.com/ - the complete Encyclopędia Britannica online and it's free Thanks to all who wrote in their comments. Cheers, Alex Kahl Consultants http://www.kahl.net THE PLUG ======== How has your small business or organization been performing lately? Are you happy with your work? Let Kahl Consultants help you. Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. If you got this far you obviously enjoyed GlobeNews. Pass it on! Please forward it to a handful of your friends. Remember, the best things in life are free. THE PUNCH LINE ============== FOUR LETTER WORD --------------------------- Concerned that area residents "apparently don't understand or heed the current air pollution warnings," the Air Improvement Resources Executive Committee in San Antonio, Texas is considering changing the wording of Ozone Action Day warnings. But committee member Bill England said using the word "smog" in the warnings could disrupt local tourism. England: "Smog is a dirty word. That's something you don't want to say" (Christopher Anderson, San Antonio Express-News, Nov. 1).