Archive for 2008

Turn up the tiny guitar

The Brag,

September 2008

Attach it to a distortion pedal and it sounds like a wobbly, out-of-tune bass. Pitchshift it up with a delay effect and you’ve got steel drums. The humble ukulele played by electric ukulele lady, Rose Turtle Ertler, sounds nothing like Tiny Tim.

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How green are Christmas trees?

G Magazine,

December, 2008

Xmas trees, by the numbers.

Oh, brave new (carbon-contrained) world!

Nett Magazine,

October 2008

First published here.

The next carefully wrapped iteration of the Federal Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is due in time for Christmas 2008. What are the likely costs and opportunities for small business?

Due for introduction in 2010, theFederal Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) will not directly impact small businesses in Australia. Carbon caps will only be imposed on companies that produce more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon pollution each year – less than 1% of the 7.6 million registered businesses in Australia.

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A cleaner way

Nett Magazine,

2007

It’s an improbable link. The Chhattisgarh region of India and the busy HQ of your local plumber. However, as Joe Blow’s plumbers dash from job to job in their company utes, Indian farmers in Chhattisgarh are replacing inefficient diesel pumps with non-polluting treadle pumps to irrigate their crops.

http://nett.com.au/marketing/branding-and-design/grow-a-greener-business/11114.html

Business puts weight on green

Nett Magazine,

November 2008

A sold-out audience in June 2008 listened intently as Rand Waddoups, senior director of corporate responsibility at global retail chain Wal-Mart, said to the company’s suppliers:

“Over time, if you cannot tell us how a product was made, what its ingredients are and where they came from, how the workers in the factory are treated and paid, what the packaging materials are and how it was shipped, we will not do business with you.

“As a supplier…you can choose to think sustainability is not that important and that’s OK, it’s just that in time you won’t do business with Wal-Mart,” he said. “We believe there are thousands of emerging businesses who will take up this challenge with us.”

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