Smoking and Cigarette Butts

Our business lives in a tiny heritage cottage in the inner city of Brisbane. Half our staff are smokers and take regular breaks to go outside and puff out their frustrations.

Smoking is their personal choice and as we all know there are rules to minimise the affect of passive smoke on the general public so our smokers go outside into the garden for their breaks. They have their own personal sealed glass jars where they are responsible to dispose their cigarette butts in a sealed glass jar and place in a bin.

Cigarette butts are not biodegradable.
The acetate (plastic) filters can take many years to decompose.

Some of the environmental impacts of cigarette butts:

When it rains, cigarette butts lying in our streets and gutters are carried via stormwater directly into our harbours, beaches and rivers.
The chemicals contained in these butts and the butts themselves impact on our water quality and can be deadly to marine life.
Flicked butts can cause fires.
When thrown from a motor vehicle into dried grass, butts can start a grassfire or even a bushfire.
Cigarette butts can take up to 12 months to break down in freshwater and up to 5 uears to break down in seawater.
Littered butts seriously reduce the aesthetic quality of any environment.
Butts have been found in the stomachs of young birds, sea turtles and other marine creatures.

So if you are a smoker, please consider all of these consequences and dispose of your butts responsibily.

Water Efficiency

Remember we will always have what we need.
It may be in another form.
You neither gain nor lose anything.
Value your water, appreciate it and manage its use and you get more out of it.

Avoiding watering gardens on windy days;
Clean paths by sweeping
Fix leaks as soon as they happen or as soon as they are recognised.
Install water efficient equipment.
Monitor water usage.
Read the water meter.
Reduce water use in the work kitchen.
Recycle water
Reduce unnecessary water usage.
Use recycled or rain water where possible.
Install a Rain Water Tank.
Water gardens during the coolest part of the day
Watering trees and shrubs, which have deep root systems less weekly

Five Rs

The five Rs are our new religion - ooh that would make it six! :-)
Seriously - Recycle, Repair, Reuse, Renew and Reduce

These five little words can save you money, save energy and save resources.

If you are into money, you have a savings plan and are careful with you spending.
Sit down and look at your life and see where you can apply the RRRRRs and create your own Life Savings plan.

Here are some ideas to get you started!

Car use – reduce your usage and increase passengers
Domestic Travel – reduce flights to four times per annum
Dual Toilet Flushers
Eat what you buy, don’t waste it!
Energy – use a renewable source
Garden – rainwater or grey water tanks
Go organic, when shopping and gardening
Grow your own
House – have number of rooms to match number of people
New Clothing – reduce purchase to once a month
Overseas Travel – reduce to once every 2 years
Plant Australian natives and Succulent desert plants to save water
Reduce animal products in your diet
Shop locally
Eat slow foods
Temperature – reduce cooling and heating number of rooms and time
Water Efficient Shower Heads
Whitegoods – decrease number; reduce usage and share with others

Waste Management

It really isn't rocket science taking responsibility for your own waste. Just start by making a list of everything in your life - car, home, office - and schedule time for maintenance, repairs, upgrades and conversions. Waste not Want not my grandmother always said - see how you can minimise your waste and reuse somewhere else.

Pollution Management
Be dilligent and minimise your waste through our Water Ways.
Instead of flushing old food scraps, bury in your compost heap.
Clean your Air Conditioning units each month to minimise air pollution inside. Only use when really truly needed.
Look at the air pollution emitted from you car, research more eco friendly options.

Stormwater Management
Keep your Footpath and Gutters Free of Litter
Instead of hosing of outdoor areas into gutter or drain try sweeping.
Keep all drains clear of litter - create a monthly schedule to maintain.
Recycle the swept rubbish like leaves and twigs etc into garden or general rubbish into the recyclable bin
Ensure all yards, parking areas and rooves have drainage and systems in place to direct the rain into the stormwater system and not the sewer.
All waste and material to be disposed of or stored in covered area.

Energy Management

Install Air Conditioning Thermostats and check and maintain regularly
Switch Off Stand By Power at the end of every day
Use Energy Efficient Products - whitegoods, sound and vision equipment
Install Insulation in the Roof

Earth Mission

Our Mission is to:
Live a simpler life.
Live as part of the earth, part of the tides, the natural rhythms, the planets and the elements.
Align the values of the earth with family, community, work and mine.
Live with less.
Make better use of our resources.
Make better use of our time.

“A robin eats worms in the spring, because it needs the protein to lay eggs and raise chicks.
A robin eats fruit in the summer, because food is abundant and carbohydrates are lightweight energy.
And a robin eats seeds and nuts in the fall, to store fats for the long flight south.
In the same way, it is important for people to vary their diet throughout the year to remain healthy.
Eating locally does that.
It keeps you in touch with the cycle of nature wherever you live."

In our business world, the impact of our operations and actions on our networks, the community and the environment is something we take very seriously.
Feedback from clients, suppliers, associates, alliance partners, employees, shareholders, the community and the environment identifies the voids – the unfulfilled need and this provides the greatest opportunities for change and improvement.

Our quest is never ending as we collect, analyse, research, educate and share our information and ideas as individuals and as a company in the journey of our commitment to manage the impact of our business on the health and safety of our employees, contractors and members of the communities in which we operate and on the environment.

Together we can make a difference.

Today Is My Day Because Of You

A break from business - without children I couldn't run my businesses anyway........

Forty months of my life have been dedicated to sharing my body with each of you at a time. There is no comparable beauty or honour than while carrying a child. The fierce mother tigress emerged then protecting her growing belly at all costs. Then I met you – each in different ways and times – and it was as if you had been with me all the time. No.1, you emerged one day early and looked directly at me with calm focus – locking eyes with full expectation that together we had a job to do. I almost heard you say: “Right there you are. Come on let’s get started!” I was so young and so terrified and you expertly trained me out of being such a scared little girl into a capable strong mother. No. 2, you cried leaving the comfort behind three weeks late yet stopped as soon as I put you under my chin snuggling in comfort and melting my heart. No.3, you surfaced two days late, arms and legs flapping around, eager to take on the world and start straight away – now!!! No. 4, disembarking two weeks late, and like your sister before you, calmly emerged and directly engaged me with your peaceful determination. I continue to be amazed that your personalities have remained constant since the very first moment that we each met.

I received a card from my cousin, upon No.1 ’s birth and it said “Life as you know it is over.” That bloody card haunted me for years as I was terrified that I would be true.  Guess what? It was. Endless sleepless nights walking the floor while you screamed in pain or frustration or plain exhaustion. The nightly five o’clock danger zone where the only relief was walking the pram through the neighbourhood for hours. The desperate midnight car rides. My mother had a bag packed, pillows, doonas and PJs in her car for years ready to drive over as the relief team whenever the call went out. Raising each of you has been a team effort. Grandparents, cousins, neighbours, friends – there has always been an open arm willing to juggle and share. It does take a whole village to raise a child. Together we passed on clothes, toys, books, cots, prams and most importantly courage. You four will do the same with each other when the time comes.

I have been spewed on, peed on and seen things in your nappies that would curl my father’s hair. I have mopped, hosed, bleached, disinfected and scrubbed enough shit to fill the Wivenhoe Dam. As a family we have spent so much time in the Emergency Ward that we now have special reserve seating. My frequent flyer points are record breaking for the miles to piano, violin, ballet classes, soccer, cricket and rugby games, camps, gigs, formals, concerts, functions, parties and graduations.  Then the driving lessons, the late night “Come Get Me” calls when you try to pretend that you haven’t been drinking - yeah right.

You each have collected your stories of my various cyclical rebellions to ban Easter, eradicate sugar, go vegetarian, open doors with axes, craft new family customs, explode religious myths and expose you to a variety of brave new worlds. You’ve endured me as a Wiccan, Conspiracy Theorist, Buddhist, Alien, Middle Eastern, New Age – and guffawed with each other about the next crazy thing I throw myself into. You’ve tolerated me dragging you to Chinese Doctors, Naturopaths, Psychics, Intuits, Magicians, Kinesiologists, Acupuncturists; Network Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Homeopaths and Personal Development Gurus. We’ve pulled all nighters for assignments, presentations, exams, broken hearts, high temperatures and a plethora of childhood illnesses. I’ve cackled to myself with each new fashion statement, hair colour, dance move and favourite song you have shared with me. We’ve chatted, laughed, sang, danced, screamed, yelled, cried, sobbed and just sat silently with each other. Our talks have covered the most mundane to the most outrageous and you have each baffled me with your exceptional intelligence and I often wonder where the hell you came from.  

And you always remind me........

Greater mirrors I have never known. My soul mates. My family. And you know what? I've loved every minute of it! I am who I am because of you.

Today is MY day because of you four. Thank You xxx

I'm not sure I remember correctly?

Have you ever noticed that sometimes questions about shared memory or history may be answered with “I’m not sure if I remember correctly.”? Ponder this. Is it possible that when someone declares that their memory has faded when asked to clarify details of the past, chances are that the original story they told yesterday or 20 years ago was fabricated and constructed for a specific purpose? Like a Broadway show, it was created and produced to inspire a certain emotional response in a targeted audience. We all do this. Ever watched children fight in the backyard and then recall the “event” to their mother? Ever facilitated staff in the “He said She said” game? Ever watched the six o’clock news? 

Dr John F Demartini says “Memory and imagination is a lie.” Harsh and confronting perhaps, however John is not alone in his assessment of these functional mental tools of humanity. Napoleon, a master of the twist and sell, volunteered much about the nature of his own campaigns when he declared. “History is a myth that men agree to believe.”

In Maslow’s “Safety” zone, when we perceive pain in an experience, we subsequently slap a label of shame, guilt or blame on the story and its characters. The selling of a skewed “story” to a particular audience becomes a necessary survival strategy.

I’ve recently been asking my parents to shed light on information they shared with me as a child and am noticing a distinct “loss of memory” pattern in both of them when I press for specifics. The endlessly inquisitive serious minded Capricorn child had obsessively catalogued stories as her own means of survival repeating and retelling as primitive tribes pass down and preserve mythology. I was the child patiently going through the family photo albums researching investigating questioning and interviewing grandparents and family collating notating and collecting the family stories. As a young adult I joined genealogical societies and conducted family history research hunting and gathering seeds and fruits to preserve the family story like sweet jam in large glass jars each containing characters, plots, twists and turns of each episodic fantastic tale – my hi-story.

So imagine my surprise when I finally find the courage to face my parents and ask the tough questions about whats been fermenting in my glass jars only to discover that perhaps the original mythology sold to me as a three year old was about as real as the latest Harry Potter movie and probably just as expensive to produce! 

Did my parents all of a sudden lose their memory or was mi- story (or my-stery) – far more important for me to hold onto in my sweet sticky jars of memories?

How many of us have based our life beliefs on the tales we have accumulated from our childhood experience, and thus constructed a reality in accordance with these stories, crafted our own mythology about what is “good” or “bad” and established benchmarks to measure experience accordingly? What happens when we determine that these fables were engineered with an agenda in mind by the author of the story? What then of the certainty we have safely underpinning the structure of our own reality?

Voltaire declared that “History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions.”
So let’s see just how imaginative we really are and test his assertion. Try this exercise. Declare your rules for life. Dig deep into the well of memory and list your benchmarks for relationships, finances, business and work, fitness and health, beauty, good and bad, family and friendships, influence, power, right and wrong.

Once you make this list, note the corresponding story at the foundation of each rule.
Note the patterns in your own childhood classification of each memory in accordance with your perceptions of reality at the time.

How does that look now? How does that feel? It’s an interesting exercise isn’t it? Oscar Wilde however needs the final word and believe me when I tell you that he is absolutely correct in his identification of the power of our memory. “Any fool can make history but it takes a genius to write it.” 

Clear your mind must

Clear your mind must be, if you are to discover the real villains behind this plot.” Yoda