Chasing Clean Air

Hybrids and healthcare

Everything you want to know about hybrid cars, learn here: www.hybridcenter.org

Loved Michael Moore's new film, Sicko. Makes me envious of advanced countries: Democracies that place more emphasis on WE than ME.

An Englishman that Moore interviewed said something like,

"If we could use tax dollars to kill Germans in World War 11, we can use tax dollars to help people now. And therefore we do."

British people have free medical care for all. Their doctors are rewarded for having the most healthy patients... lowest blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, etc.

American health administors admitted on camera they got bonuses and high wages to deny medical coverage and services to those most in need. Saving money is more valued than lives. Millions have suffered needlessly and/or died as a result.

Parts of America, like the healthcare industry, feel 3rd world.

Our health care industry has definitely affected me in unpleasant ways, especially when I was much younger and thought I couldn't afford medical care when I needed it. I put off going to an expensive specialist in favor of being misdiagnosed at free clinics until I felt I could afford fancy doctors with the latest machines.

I saw my grandparents, who'd worked hard their whole lives, suffer at the end with inadequate health care.

When you live in America, unless you're filthy rich, you worry that one day a medical diagnosis could wipe you out. And if that happens, as a country, we mostly don't take care of our old.

Not well.

Not often.

Most times, not at all. 

Youth and the ol' mighty dollar are too highly regarded, and the reality of aging left to languish in fear of increasing isolation.

At the bottom of our problem is a society where greed and selfishness is encouraged.

Buy more.

Have more.

Not enough people speak up to change. If we all did like Michael Moore has, maybe America would be a better place with better schools and health care.

While I love freedom and opportunity for education and work here, America has a lot of room for improvement in values and compassion.

Reach out and help someone in need.

Is Your Company Projecting A Greener Image?

A penquin accidentally steps off a glacier when an ice chunk falls into the widening water below.

Oops! global warming. I hope it doesn't claim another species.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, tucked in a dim-lit room are 15 thirty-year olds with their heads together: The Green Team.

The Green Team brainstorms ideas to help save the world and catapult Christie Digital into the number one position as the greenest projector company in the world.

And boy did they succeed.

Christie Digital, already considered one of the largest and best in its category, redefines 21st Century Survival of the Fittest that includes going green and telling the world about it.

I met Zoran Veselic, Vice President of Global Quality, and learned he created a 10 hour/four day factory work week to save energy, changed packaging requirements so that shipping materials are 100% recyclable, introduced a stand-by mode in new digital cinema projectors, which reduces power use, and improved company-wide recycling rate to name a few of their highlights.

Environmental consciousness permeated every Christie employee on the InfoComm convention floor, too. When I was there I observed every employee wearing a green shirt with a pin stating, Ask me about my shirt.

The shirts were edible should I care to bite into 80% bamboo and 20% organic cotton that had the words: Christie environment sewn on.

While many companies at the trade show gave away nifty gifts, Christie's give-away of an organic cotton grocery shopping bag was again one of the best and consistent with their message.

I picked up Christie brochures.

Every one was printed on recycled paper, using soy ink, which told me so.  As did their business cards.

Environmental certifications were listed on brochures too, including international environmental certification ISO 14001... they just celebrated their 20th anniversary... and RoHS, Restriction of Hazardous Substances, a European directive which requires that all electronic equipment sold into European Union do not contain certain toxic substances.

Christie went way beyond certification, and continues to strive daily to make their company, employees, and suppliers number one for the environment.

I hope companies in other industries use Christie Digital as their model, and get to work.

At InfoComm 07 I walked around with my "green" glasses on, seeking those companies making a sustainability difference in a typically high polluting industry.

As I walked around, I thought about the great Douglas Fir trees on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and how no companies should ever touch them or any old growth trees to make brochures and business cards for trade shows or anything else.

I observed a few business cards on recycled paper at Sanyo and Sharp.

In stark contrast to Christie Digital were companies who had employees at the trade show who knew nothing about recycling of their obsolete products, knew nothing about environmental certification, had nothing on recycled paper, and didn't know anyone else in the company who might know more. Obviously, their companies had not made the environment a priority.

In context of a polluting industry...

A convention center is a wonderful opportunity to see what is and isn't being done to green the world.

To see which companies are greenwashing, indifferent, making a difference, or somewhere in-between.

Before I went to InfoComm 2007, the audio and visual industry's tradeshow in Anaheim last week, I researched which companies were greening their company and industry, and I made a point to stop by and speak to many.

Hands down, of those I met, Christie Digital of North America was the #1 environmentally sound projector company.

One company somewhere in-between was Sanyo. I'm told they are very environmentally aware and compliant, and despite a beautiful short film at their press conference highlighting their Gaia campaign: Think GAIA For Life and the Earth, complete with gorgeous photos of earth, water, trees, people, young and old... their press kit was not on recycled paper (unless they failed to disclose), the information executives shared at press conference had nothing to do with the environment, which seemed odd since they'd gone to trouble with the film to tell us they're pro-environment, and I left with a greenwashing taste in my mouth until...

their competitor at Christie Digital told me how environmentally-friendly Sanyo is, especially in Japan.

How odd Sanyo had little to say about their environmental record at their press conference after the film.

At their press conference I asked how their LCD projectors, which they said were the brightest of them all, were made to protect the environment? I was told they weren't. But these bright LCD projectors are what they talked about after their pro-environment film.

Which brings me to this: Sanyo, perhaps, many other companies that are doing good by the environment need proper PR to disclose this information. And they must  educate their employees to tell the world what they're doing.

It's important to take green actions, but you have to speak up too. Otherwise you risk someone like me coming along and mistakenly thinking Sanyo is greenwashing.

Something similar happened recently to Apple Computers. They'd phased out toxic components from computers but failed to tell the world until pressured by Greenpeace. Turns out Apple was greening its products all along.

Survival of the fittest companies will be those that make green changes and tell the world.

The Green Book

The Green Book is on bookstore shelves now, and I anticipate it will sell out.

It is the most comprehensive and easy to read book on going green that I have read.

I highly recommend it!

Its attractive green cover with simple lettering will welcome you to its pages filled with simple solutions for you to help save our planet.

Written in short, pithy paragraphs on how and why to conserve natural resources, this book is spiced with quotes from stars like Robert Redford, Jennifer Aniston, and Cameron Diaz, who explain how and why they adopted a green lifestyle.

For example, Jennifer Aniston doesn't shower more than three minutes, and brushes her teeth at the same time. She adopted this habit after learning that every two minutes in the shower is the amount of water an African uses during a day of washing, cooking and cleaning.

Simple Steps are throughout book, and include this tidbit for workout afectionados like me:

Bring your own reusable water bottle filled with filtered water from home every time you go to gym. You will save 14 pounds of plastic (which is bad for the environment and studies increasingly say bad for your health, especially when exposed to heat) and you can save $200/year.

Buy a quality razor with refillable blades. Disposable plastic razors are neither recyclable nor biodegradable, and take significant energy to produce.

When the weather's right, give the treadmill a rest and walk outside. A 25% shift away from treadmill to outside will conserve about sixty kilowatt-hours of energy per year. If you walk instead of taking a car to do errands, you may save hundreds or thousands of miles over a long period.

This book is a wonderful, fast and easy read. A must have for everyone. You'll want to go green after reading this. And you'll learn how easy it can be.

If you're a company going green, I recommend you buy The Green Book for every employee. And in the meantime, have employees put computers in sleep mode when not in active use. Try to keep office between 69-73 degrees Fahrenheit.

Birthday or holiday gift coming up?

Go green.

Suggestions in The Green Book will help preserve our world.

Go ahead and make a difference.

http://readthegreenbook.com/

California Air Resources Board Hearing June 22, 2007

Do you worry about fine particulate matter more times than you can count?

Me too.

Living among diesel trucks is like living in enemy territory, for you never know when the poison is going to get you.

And with that cheery thought, buoyed by the knowledge that Los Angeles is the most polluted city in America--I headed out the door.

I was excited to go to my first South Coast Air Quality Management District's (AQMD) Environmental Justice Community Meeting and share ideas with like-minded people doing their best to make a positive difference in our air.

Being there reinforced:

The effects of smog on human health are much more severe than previously thought, especially for post-menopausal women and children.

Approximately, 5200 people die in Los Angeles County prematurely each year, as a result of breathing.

I also learned the California Air Resources Board was having a hearing in a nearby ballroom.

I was asked to testify with what turned out to be 100 others. (I'd been actively speaking up the AQMD meeting so I thought great no problem)

When I arrived to the ballroom, many well-dressed people milled about outside, and filled out forms requesting to speak before the California Air Resources Board.

So I did too.

Never mind I didn't know what I'd say. Or that I'd never testified before. Or that none of it felt natural.

I had much to say about our polluted air.

I entered the ballroom and saw dignified men and women on the podium, the CARB hearing staff.

As I took an aisle seat at the back of the room, I thought: I bet they don't want cancer or a pre-mature heart-attack from breathing the air either, so they will attentively listen and do the right thing.

I patiently listened to others' pleas, lawyers and representatives from the American Lung Association of California, Sierra Club, NRDC, Coalition For Clean Air, Plug In America, Communities for Ports (she was most articulate and impassioned. The Ports are a huge polluting issue...lots of people getting sick as a result), and representatives of political leaders including our mayor, senators, and assemblymen.

Community leaders spoke of cancer clusters in their neighborhoods. Environmental lawyers spoke of  statistics and standards that must be raised and adhered to. Political representatives spoke of laws and  health  issues.

A few ministers spoke, too. They were most impassioned. One community activist named around 15 people on her block who died of cancer, including her dad. Tears welled in my eyes, and everyone I could see.

And then eventually, after half the room was gone after a long day, I heard...

Donna Barnett

What would I say? I had to trust the right words would come.

The words came slowly at first and then poured... my best friend's mom dying of lung cancer who never smoked, and then learning she was far from alone. I learned about 7 other lung cancer victims recently dying, most women in their 40s who never smoked, living between Santa Monica and the Hollywood Hills. I spoke of how painful this type of cancer can be. Two friends got brain tumors, another... well, I'll spare you.

What everyone had in common was living in Los Angeles within 1/2 mile of a freeway or on a major thorough-fare.

Then I spoke of my hope.

As a result of working in public relations representing emerging technologies, I've witnessed the amazing brilliance, ingenuity, and creativity of scientists that innovated solutions for old problems.

Why not in the pursuit of clean air? Why not create amazing technologies and new systems to reduce smog and the worst chemicals in trucks, ships, and planes?

And I said we must give business incentives and laws, and new strict standards to work with toward fulfillment.

And set the bar high.

I said something about,

"You guys have the power to make a real positive change today," and immediately I regretted "you guys" but somehow the other words came out okay so I said thank you and returned to my seat.

Afterward, a few people thanked me for sharing, which felt good. I wasn't alone. Something I said registered with at least a few others. And I didn't completely stumble without a plan.

It also felt great to be part of the democratic process because laws are the best way to ensure the largest number of people and companies change for the better.

The port of Los Angeles is one of the biggest reasons for our serious smog and health problems.

Diesel ships and trucks transporting goods earmarked for the rest of the country clog the port and our local freeways. Not to mention the planes overhead, spewing fine particulate matter, too, the most dangerous chemical in smog. Too tiny to see and yet can lodge in one's lungs causing cancer and premature deaths.

Los Angeles and surrounding counties have 52 percent of America's fine particulate pollution. Yes, right here.

Disgusting. Excuse me, I have to cough.

And you New Yorkers, you only have 2.4 percent of nasty fine particulate matter.

On a bright note, there was victory in the end.

The Chairman of CARB, Robert Sawyer, said he'd reconsider their current plan based on our collective testimony requesting stricter standards for mobile air pollution sources such as diesel trucks, ships, planes, and cars, and their next meeting will reconvene in July and /or September.

It was a victory for AQMD's plan, which had pushed for stricter clean air standards, and, of course, everyone who breathes in California.

One moral of my fear of fine particulate matter story is to speak up when you feel strongly about something, and you never know, you may be the one, or one in a hundred, that helps make a difference in the world.

And that.

That feels good.

Bad air

Noon.

My car was newly washed when I backed out of my indoor Los Angeles garage to traverse four major freeways to get to the Anaheim Convention Center in Orange County.

I passed diesel trucks,  school buses, and construction zones.

I passed streams of black smoke emanating from metal cyclinders on trucks.

Black poison I surmised.

And for the zillionth time I thought how I hate breathing poison, and why aren't those truck owners penalized?

And then I thought I'm going to a convention.

I'm meeting many people and companies at one shot.

Not several meetings taking several separate trips.

I had my positive spin as I arrived to Anaheim Convention Center. 

1:00 p.m.

I parked on Hilton's roof, meaning--no overhead coverage.

1:00 p.m. -- 7:15 p.m. I had meetings.

7:30 p.m.

I returned to my car, which was caked with dust and particulate matter from the bad air.

A reminder of why leaving Los Angeles for cleaner air is desirable.

And today's headline story in Los Angeles underscores the point.

Today EPA's chief declared pollution standards are too weak to protect people's health from the air they breathe.

Will he do anything about it under pressure from big business?

Well Los Angeles can't even make those loose standards.

We keep scoring F F F for ozone, particulate matter and more junk in the air than any other city, with corresponding poor health of children and sensitive people. (Everyone else, basically, we're human)

There's an energy bill heading to the Senate to change fuel standards to require car manufacturers to make cars with at least 35 mpg by 2020. If Republicans have their way, it won't pass the majority SUV "enjoy the road and keep making gas-guzzler requirements".

Personally, I think humans are amazingly smart, creative, and given the motivation we can figure our way into helpful technologies as opposed to using outdated technologies that for one reason or another are not working.

So big polluting business, get to serious work on change rather than defending the old order. And please find a way to bury every diesel truck and school bus.

InfoComm 07 - Overview

Welcome to InfoComm 07 held at Anaheim Convention Center near Disneyland--where projectors, displays and video conferencing tools hit the high road to change your lifestyle soon.

Hopefully, green it, too! 

So turn off your IPod, PDA, cell phone and TV, I mean oversized LCD or Plasma Display (Panasonic's 103 inch Plasma largest in world here)  once you can find the right doohickey...

And let's get to work because there's even more technology to learn to make our lives easier and greener.

Oh boy!

And we best learn fast to catch up with Europeans or we risk staying behind.

Increasingly, Europeans are ahead of us in education and technology.

Are you wondering what's so green about these big displays? Me too.

The answer I got was more people in large venues can see a single message.

I'll have more to say about green messages in the visual display and projector world of Christie, Sanyo, NEC, Tandberg, and Sharp tomorrow.

And if you're a single woman reading this, and your eyes are about to glass over with the tech overload/burnout gaze... let me tell you. Those studies saying Atlanta, Raleigh, and Austin are havens to meet single men---try InfoComm. (And NAB... broadcasters convention)

30,000 people.

I'd guess, 100 to 1 ratio men to women. No lines in the restroom. Good parties at night. Good wine. Food. Contests. Want to win a Harley? Me neither. But NEC had this game, and it became like a party, and parties are fun.

Moving on...

Europeans already have 3 generation technology, a wider bandwidth on their cell phones so they can see each other when they talk, like a video-conference call.

Which means, if you're a woman and fading from a long day, apply lipstick first.

In the U.S. we still drop calls on our 2.75 generation networks, and talk about it.

That's how phone networks compete:

Cingular, the new AT&T might ask: Did you drop the call when he was going to propose?

Sprint might respond with: Can you hear me? Here? Here?

Instead of pushing the next generation of technology.

Meanwhile, Europe pushes forward.

They're way ahead of us in environmental initiatives and companies going green, too.

But change is slowly happening here. Hey, wait!

An HD underwater colorful fish is being projected on a bigger-than-life Christie screen.

Just what I need when I dive off the exotic coasts of Thailand and Australia's Barrier Reef before coming home to share.

Someone pushed me off edge of pool while I was dreaming.

New digital projectors are revolutionizing the movie industry and education system, too.

Pirates of the Caribbean or Algebra 1 can be beamed via a satellite to a movie theatre or school near you.

Which would you prefer?

View movie in theatre (real time or later) because the information is downloaded and stored in a device.

No shipping necessary.

No need for another truck on the road, or ship in the ocean. Or corresponding black poofs of sooty smoke in the air.

Arkansas has too few good teachers, (I was told) and now a teacher can be in one room yet beamed into many rooms for the benefit of large numbers of K-12 and college students.

Video Conferencing is getting better and easier, and soon it will be common to stop flying around on frequent business trips with the hassles of security, hot/cold temperatures, risk of people close to you getting you sick--and yet you will still get the feeling you're with people you otherwise would have flown to see.

The video-conferencing experience is amazing.

It's as if you're in the same room with whomever you're talking in a different city, and you can have cameras that see an entire room, everyone in it, ever detail.

The first time I was in a "virtual" meeting, I saw myself clearly, as others saw me.

I was mortified.

As a result, all my skirts are longer.

On the less self-conscious side, video conferencing is greening our lifestyles, and it's wonderful.

Less fossil fuel use.

Less greenhouse emissions.

You maintain your community and family life, if you have one. Or lucky you, can create one.

Can you see me?

I'm going to change.

One of my most heartfelt meetings at InfoComm was with Stu Gold, VP, Global Marketing at BCS Global.

He talked about how their application for video conferencing is green, and he was the most impassioned and convincing.

Video conferences are the wave of our daily future.    

She was beautiful, young and very athletic.

She was in love with her husband, and the mother of two beautiful young kids.

Her future was bright.

So was her husband's.

Until she was diagnosed with cancer that took her life, leaving her husband with two kids and a broken heart.

How does a single father, who is a VP of Marketing, working full-time cope?

Well Stu got into the world of video-conferencing.

And now he is a single father of two beautiful children, and a successful Vice President of Global Marketing at BCS Global, who meets with his associates and clients world-wide but doesn't leave New York, except, say, a day at a trade show called InfoComm 07.

BCS Global has offices in New York, Toronto, London, and Shanghai.  And thanks to their proprietary virtual presence technology--an application similar to AT&T or Verizon--it makes video conferencing work without glitches, connecting multiple cameras in different locations.

You could use a Sony camera on one end of a call, and a Tandberg camera on the other end, and BCS brings any and all camera brand technologies together with a clear signal.

So make sure that skirt isn't too tight during your next video conference call.

And sit up straight. Comb your hair.

Smile.

To learn how your company can go green, and get publicity for your efforts www.gogreenpr.com