Our small business encourages all staff to reduce annual individual car kilometres to
8000 kms Per week
this means 154 kms Per day
this means 22 kms
We suggest you calculate kms to office from your home
Calculate kms to gigs from your home and the office
Go to http://www.whereis.com.au/Get Directions – add to and from addresses.
It will show you KM and Time
Plan ahead to reduce time and mileage
Catch Public Transport a couple of days each week
http://www.translink.com.au/
Set up a Remote Office, create a compliance enterprise standard with measureable targets so your staff can work from home a couple of days each week. Save resources in the office and in the environment. (Make sure you have good benchmarks and check lists to monitor time management and production efficiency!)
When You Mean Business
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
In Your Hood
Sometimes the greatest security your home can have is a neighbour. The appreciation of the people that live in your neighbourhood may be realised in a time of great need.
So we suggest the following Neighbourhood Practice: Consider, Create a Contingency Plan, Factor in Worse Case Scenarios and Maintain Communication.
Consider the noise in your neighbourhood. Mowing, drilling, building, sawing, playing loud music, holding large noisy parties before 10am or after 10pm - can really impact on a neighbour's wellbeing.
Consider the parking impact on your Neighbourhood. Visitors, Party Guests, Tradespeople or teenage children adding extra cars to your 2 car household can all at times overflow onto your neighbours space.
Consider the parking impact on your Neighbourhood. You may work in a tiny little street in the inner city where cars are lined up and down both sides of the street with barely enough room to move. Take the bus, park a few blocks away and walk - the exercise wouldnt hurt. Plan client meetings for a local cafe. Create alternatives and get creative!
Consider creating a community in your Neighbourhood. Become a Safe House, Hold street Parties, introduce yourself, look out for each other, establish a pet feeding or walking service, hold gardening BBQs and help out elderley or ill neighbours with daily chores. Look after your neighbours mail, garden and pets while they are away. Ask your neighbours about the history of your street and your neighbourhood and create a history book for your local library.
Value and appreciate your neighbourhood as it is and it will become what you want!
So we suggest the following Neighbourhood Practice: Consider, Create a Contingency Plan, Factor in Worse Case Scenarios and Maintain Communication.
Consider the noise in your neighbourhood. Mowing, drilling, building, sawing, playing loud music, holding large noisy parties before 10am or after 10pm - can really impact on a neighbour's wellbeing.
Consider the parking impact on your Neighbourhood. Visitors, Party Guests, Tradespeople or teenage children adding extra cars to your 2 car household can all at times overflow onto your neighbours space.
Consider the parking impact on your Neighbourhood. You may work in a tiny little street in the inner city where cars are lined up and down both sides of the street with barely enough room to move. Take the bus, park a few blocks away and walk - the exercise wouldnt hurt. Plan client meetings for a local cafe. Create alternatives and get creative!
Consider creating a community in your Neighbourhood. Become a Safe House, Hold street Parties, introduce yourself, look out for each other, establish a pet feeding or walking service, hold gardening BBQs and help out elderley or ill neighbours with daily chores. Look after your neighbours mail, garden and pets while they are away. Ask your neighbours about the history of your street and your neighbourhood and create a history book for your local library.
Value and appreciate your neighbourhood as it is and it will become what you want!
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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