(Wildlife creatures) The Environmental “Awareness” Paradox
No commentsBy Eric Eckl
Let’s take a fresh look at a couple of tired old sayings you’ve probably heard a million times, and examine what they mean when comes to raising environmental awareness and encouraging everyday citizens to do their part to preserve the planet for future generations.
Here’s the first: “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” In our world, this classic dilemma could be rephrased as “Which comes first, environmental awareness or environmental action?” You could be forgiven for answering that environmental awareness comes first, because that it is how it appears to the untrained eye.
But social and behavior research often finds otherwise — small actions lead to big attitude changes, and then on to the big behavior changes. In his classic book, “Fostering Sustainable Behavior,” social marketing guru Doug McKenzie Mohr cites a number of cases where the simplest possible behavior — such as holding a flashlight for an energy auditor — becomes the first step in a journey that leads to major energy conservation efforts around the house.
I like to tell my clients that the smallest and easiest of environmental actions — replacing an incandescent lightbulb, making a $30 donation, signing an electronic petition — matter. They matter a lot if you see them as a kind of “gateway drug” for the person who does them. If you can make that person aware of how good it feels to make a little difference, some will come back looking for a bigger fix. Next time around, they might insulate their attic, make a large donation, or speak up for the environmental at a public hearing.
Here’s the second old saying, from the world of physics: “A body at rest stays at rest, a body in motion stays in motion.” In the world of behavior change psychology, that might be rephrased this way: “a body that pays lip service to the environment will probably keep doing that, but a body that takes a first step for the environment is likely to take a second.”
When we set out to just raise environmental awareness, what we often end up producing is lip service, instead. If you want that awareness to lead to some action, it helps a lot to define that action and aim for that directly.
What both of these reinterpretations have in common, is that they point to the importance of beginning with behavior for your environmental communications. Set a goal of motivating your audience to take some small action, and follow up afterwards to lavish your audience with praise and gratitude — and suggest the next, more meaningful action they can take.
Eric Eckl runs Water Words That Work, LLC., and writes a blog that provide tips on how to raise
“http://waterwordsthatwork.com/2010/03/10/environmental-awareness-paradox/” title=”environmental awareness”> environmental awareness conservation action. The company has developed the Due Diligence Test Panel, a service use to pre-test organizations environmental message materials.
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Environmental Awareness: Encouragement vs. Education (garden creatures)
No commentsBy Eric Eckl
”I can do small things every day that will make an impact on water pollution.”
It’s such a simple statement, and it’s true. So why is it so hard to send a message — over the airwaves, online, or in print — that actually evokes that reaction? Unfortunately, many environmental messages accidentally evoke an entirely different reaction, instead:
“It is hard to believe that the actions of one person can really contribute to lessening water pollution.”
I pulled those quotes from test audiences that reviewed a pair of environmental public service announcements. It’s my job to help environmental organizations pre-test their commercials and other marketing materials before they are released to the public.
The two spots had a lot in common. Both of them urged everyday citizens to do their part in their daily lives to stop water pollution before it starts. But here’s the key difference — the producers of more successful advertisement crafted their message to encouraging. The producers of the less successful advertisement crafted their message to be educational.
Tennessee Water Works produced the “Heroes” advertisement, which prompted that confident “I can do small things every day” response. Who are the “heroes” this ad is about? People like you and me, who plant trees, recycle their motor oil (instead of dumping it in the drain), and care for their lawns responsibly. This advertisement holds up the example of ordinary people doing ordinary things and tells the viewer how great it is.
In just 30 seconds, the advertisements repeatedly sends the message that these people are heroes and their small actions add up to something important. According to the test panel, this message eventually sinks in.
The government of Honolulu produced the “Water for Life” commercial that prompted the second, doubt-filled reaction. This spot is educational. It shows images that reveal how trash and pollution find their way into storm drains and out into the ocean that Hawaiians love.
Sure, it’s true. But it’s grim — bumming the viewers out with shots of murky, polluted water, garbage, and choking wildlife. According to the test audience feedback, viewers see reason to believe that solutions are within reach, or that they they have a part to play in bringing it about.
Environmental experts are often dismayed at how little the average citizen understands about their work. It’s easy to find yourself falling into the “if only they knew” trap — “If only they knew they lived in a watershed,” “if only they knew the stormdrain went to the creek.” It is our natural tendency to produce commercials, web pages, brochures, and other materials that try to cram a whole of science into a tiny amount of attention.
But the test panel reactions to these commercials underscore the shortcomings of these line of thinking. When it comes to raising environmental awareness, it turns out encouragement is even more important than education.
Eric Eckl is an expert on using marketing techniques to raise environmental awareness and encourage environmental action. He writes the water blog ” Water Words That Work.”
Environmental Funerals - Go Green after Death
By lee101
Death is a part of life and so are funeral services. But did you know how much damage we do to the earth even after we have stopped living? Did you know that 60 million trees are axed every year to build coffins? Gases released during cremation account for 16 percent of the mercury emissions in U.K. Construction of vaults for burials lead to the introduction of about 1.6 million tons of concrete in the soil. The number of people who die each year is about 56 million now and this figure is expected to increase twofold by 2040, so things will only get worse.
We don’t really stop to think of the materials that are used to manufacture items like caskets that are used in traditional funeral services. According to recent research, the quantity of metal used to make the caskets used in North America is equal to the amount of metal used to manufacture the Golden Gate Bridge. Some funeral service rituals sometimes require embalming. Since these embalming fluids are supposed to retard the process of decomposition of the body by inhibiting the growth of bacteria, they also inhibit the growth of bacteria and other important enzymes in the soil.
To prevent all this damage to the environment, we can now choose to opt for greener funeral services.
Green burial tips
One way of ensuring that a funeral is environmentally friendly is to use a biodegradable casket. If you use a coffin made of used paper, buried in a place where there are trees and shrubs, the body will slowly become a part of the environment.
Another method is to cremate the body before it needs to be embalmed. If the body is embalmed, cremating it leads to air pollution because of the toxic gases released during the cremation.
Headstones also lead to pollution because they obstruct the growth of trees. Thus you may choose to have a living memorial for yourself or your loved one in the form of a tree. If this becomes a practice then it will be easier for the survivors of the decedent to cope with the loss because they will have a living substitute for the person who is no more and also lead to the planting of millions of trees. There are more than two hundred environment-friendly burial sites in England, so you can choose the one that is close to your home.
Another novel environment-friendly option is to get your ashes mixed with reef material. This material is then placed in an ocean. Eventually it becomes a new reef. This promotes the growth of organisms that grow on reefs and restores the ecological balance of the planet.
With so many options, it is now much easier to plan a funeral service and burial that will not harm the environment.
Environmental funerals need to be considered to protect the planet. Get more funeral information at:
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What Is Environmental Tech and How Does it Impact Our World
By ArticleWriting Guy
As the fight against negative impact on our environment continues, it is even more important now than ever before to understand the importance of environmental technology and understand what it is. Find more green news and environmental technology news at the Tech News Source - Techbloq.com Always New - Always Tech
Sample Technologies
* Energy Saving Modules
* Brushless Wound-Rotor Doubly-Fed Electric Machine
* Composting toilet
* Bioremediation
* Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
* Solar power
* Hydrogen fuel cell
* Desalination Removing salt from ocean water so it’s usable as tap water
* Thermal depolymerization
The technologies include, nevertheless are not limited to, the following areas:
Recycling
Is a Global Singularity, which is a basic application towards the idea of Green Technology. It shows and encourages people to reuse things whichcan turn out to turn out to be reusable. Items for time saving Cans of food or drinks, Paper etc have been encouraged by the governing bodies around America as well as rest of the world, to be recycled so that it can turn out to turn out to be used during the upcoming for several other purposes. It can thus help protect the environment as well as cause less waste/pollution.
Water Purification
The whole theory of having dirt/germ/pollution free water flowing throughout the environment. Lots of other phenomenons lead from this theory of Purification of water. Water Pollution is the foremost enemy of this idea, as well as certain campaigns as well as activists offer been planned around the world toward service purify Water. Considering the amount of water usage that is under current consumptions, this Concept is of utter Importance.
Air Purification
With IIT, TERI, as well as learnings from NASA, it was revealed whichthere are 3 basic as well as ordinary green plants, with which we can grow every single one the fresh air needed indoors toward keep us healthy. We’ve also discovered whichyou can reduce the fresh air requirements into the building, while maintaining industry indoor air quality standards.
The three plants are:
Areca palm
Areca palm is a plant that removes CO2 and converts it into oxygen. We need 4 shoulder-high plants per human being, and in terms of plant care, we need to wipe the leaves each and every day in Delhi, as well as perhaps after a week in cleaner-air cities. We had to produce them in vermi manure, that is sterile, or hydroponics, as well as take them outside every three to four months.
Mother-in-Law’s Tongue
Mother-in-law’s Tongue, that is again a ordinary plant, and we label it a bedroom plant, because it converts CO2 into oxygen at nighttime. And we need 6 toward 8 waist-high plants per person.
Money Plant.
This is again a very common plant; preferably grows in hydroponics. As well as this particular plant removes formaldehyde as well as other volatile chemicals.
With these three plants, you can grow almost every single one the new air you need. Actually, you could turn out to be in a bottle with a cap on top, as well as you would not die at every single one, and you would not need any fresh air.
Sewage Treatment
Sewage Treatment is a theory whichis truly close to Water Purification. Sewage Treatments are very important as it purifies water in levels of its pollution. The more the water is polluted, its not used for anything, the least polluted water is supplied to places where Water is used affluently. It may lead toward vaious other concepts of environmental protection, sustainability etc.
Environmental remediation
Environmental remediation is the removal of pollutants or contaminants for the general protection of the environment. This is accomplished by several chemical, biological, and bulk movement strategies, in conjunction with environmental monitoring. (encyclopedia of medical concepts)
Solid Waste Management
The refinement, Consumption, Reuse, Disposal and Treatment of solid waste whichis looked once by the government or the ruling bodies of a city/town as well as its proper care is basically known as Solid Waste management.
Renewable Energy
Energy that can be replenished easily is the easiest way to explain renewable energy. For years we offer been using sources for example wood, sun, water etc for means for producing energy. Energy that can turn out to be produced by natural objects for instance wood, sun, wind etc is considered toward turn out toward be renewable.
Egain Forecasting
A method using forecasting technology to predict the future weather’s impact on a building. By adjusting the heat based during the weather forecast, the system eliminates redundant use of heat, thus reducing the energy consumption as well as the emission of greenhouse gases.
Find more green news and environmental technology news at the Tech News Source - Techbloq.com Always New - Always Tech
Cowboys, Conservationists, and the Hopeful Herd (outdoor animals)
No commentsBy Eric Eckl
When we are trying to make something happen, conservationists sometimes think like cowboys. We break out the rhetorical cattle prod and try to shock the public out of complacency and into action with a stiff jolt of bad news. There’s a time and place for that — but to motivate people to actually do something, you have to mix the bad news with a more positive environmental message.
Here are some examples of cattle prod messages that have crossed my desk recently: Giant corporations will spend billions to control our elections, Massive portions of the ocean blighted by plastic trash, methane entering the atmosphere threatens to accelerate global warming crisis. Yikes! Sometimes the content of my morning inbox makes me want to just go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.
Of course, these messages are true. And you have to tell the public about a problem to make the case for your solution. But if you just jolt them repeatedly with the bad news cattle prod, you might demoralize and desensitize your audience. Sure, they might agree with you but they wont do anything.
To give you a flavor for what I mean, I recently ran some conservation outreach materials past a test panel of everyday citizens. Here are some reactions to the shock messages:
Shock Messages About Bad Environmental Habits:
There was so much garbage shown and the damage was so big that it gave me pause. Would what I could do really help stop all that horrible waste?
The actions of one person alone do not really add up to much.
Shock Messages About Financial Need:
My action/donation would only be effective only if I am one of MANY who donate. Land is not cheap
I wouldnt be certain my small donation would really make a difference
Shock Messages About Government Inaction:
Being only one voice, my single opinion can hardly effect political manueverings
I realize that state representatives receive hundreds, if not thousands, of complaints and suggestions everyday. Unless this action is taken on a large scale, I am doubtful it would hold a significant impact on government policies
Not exactly the words of people poised to spring into action to save the day, are they? These quotes underscore the urgency of mixing in some encouragement and words of success. Thats what author John W. Gardner meant when he wrote, the first and last task of a leader is to keep hope alive.
So listen up, cowboy you might get a few cows moving with your trusty cattle prod, but its the herd mentality that moves society. People find hope and courage in that herd. Read how our test panel reacted to some conservation messages that evoked the sense of strength in numbers:
When Told Others Are Working Together to Change Bad Habits:
one persons acts multiplied by many thousands of like minded people can have a profound impact on the problem.
When Told Others Have Already Done Their Part to Give:
having donations matched makes my action seem like it would have a bigger impact.
When Told Others Have Made a Difference by Signing a Petition to Officials:
“a widely distributed petition can have some influence on the various representatives of the petitioning constituencies.”
So, next time you find yourself sitting at the computer to concoct an environmental message that you want to motivate your some audience to some action, remember the importance of the hopeful herd.
Moo!
Eric Eckl writes the water blog about how to raise environmental awareness and promote conservation action. His company has developed the Due Diligence Test Panel, a service that nature protection and pollution control organizations can use to pre-test their environmental message materials prior to publication.
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Waterless Printing - The Eco Friendly Printing
By paul_thomas
Making things work better around is certainly in our control. We are the ones who are responsible for any good or evil that happens around us. Just the same way, we are responsible for the good and bad that is happening in the world today. It was our mistake that has lead to a condition where the climatic conditions and the nature of our planet earth are changing towards extremities.
There is always a remedy for every thing that we do and it is in our hands to follow that and repair the damage that we did. Being eco friendly is the only possible way by which we can make Mother Nature happy and beautiful once more. Being eco friendly can start right from every home and it can happen when we dont waste electricity or any fuel unnecessarily and by avoid using personal vehicles and start using public transport. Usage of eco friendly things and avoiding the things that are not eco friendly like plastic bags and plastic items are important in saving out planet from Global Warming, pollution and Green House Effect.
Same ways a lot of manufacturing industries and factories are playing an important role in donating their share of dangerous pollutants to the atmosphere and on the land as well. One this kind of industry is printing industry but it good that we are able to see people taking initiatives to develop technology that does not hurt the environment by being eco friendly. One such eco friendly printing methods is Waterless Printing
Experts say that Waterless printing has a very effective control over being friendly to the environment. It is because waterless printing does not make use of water and alcohol like normal wet offset printing, for this reason, waterless printing is also known to be as dry offset at times.
Normal printing processes till date are known to use a lot of natural non renewable resources like paper, water and energy. A lot of trees and the forests are being destroyed for the sake of papers, a lot of fresh water is being polluted and wasted and we waste a lot of energy too. All these are giving irreparable damages to the planet and hence we are getting the trouble back by means of increasing amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
One of the biggest advantage of these modern waterless printing is that they make use of computers to plate systems and therefore the film processing doest not need the help of harmful chemicals and fresh water anymore to be used in processing. The next important eco friendly advantage in this method is that it uses vegetable based inks and this is fully supporting green printing and is surely eco friendly printing. Next we can look on to other important advantages of this system. Industry specialists have found out that the process can effectively print a larger variety and choices of stocks. Moreover, waterless printing is surely eco friendly as it is reliable for cutting back a significant amount of water and paper is made to be recyclable as it is safer with no chemical dyes over them.
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Paul Vijaythomas specializes in eco-friendly printing articles. He has authored many articles for Environmentally Friendly Printer and fsc printing. Find more packages at Green Printing
Refrigerant Leak Detection Regulations
By Carla Jack
Far-reaching International Standards and Regulations requiring Refrigerant leak Detection Still Not Generally Known
A high proportion of the users of refrigeration and air-conditioning worldwide are still simply unaware of the wide-ranging implications of prevailing Standards and the same could be said even of a surprising number of professionals in the equipment and service sectors. This was the challenging assertion by Dr Lorcan J. Maher, Managing Director of MURCO, one of Europes leading manufacturers of advanced refrigerant leak detection equipment.
Invariably the key point of these Standards is all-embracing and applies to all refrigeration and air conditioning installations, said Dr Maher. Most Standards state unambiguously that at all times, care should be taken to minimize the discharge of refrigerant to the atmosphere.
The seriousness of leaking systems was until recently if not still of comparatively little concern to the industry. Most plant operators found it easier to top up leaking systems with refrigerant, rather than to find leaks and operate tight systems. In fact historically some 70% of refrigerant has been used simply for topping up leaks.
This started to change with the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which formalized a response to the damage being caused to the ozone layer by ozone depleting substances. With the subsequent international phase-out programme for CFCs and HCFCs the replacement cost of refrigerant leaks started to become of concern but even still few operators took the positive step of installing gas leak monitors.
The ISO Standard 5149: 1993 was the response to the Montreal Protocol and updated the previous Standard and incorporated the requirement to use Leak Detectors. It applies in all member countries of the International Standards Organization in Europe, USA, and includes such major Asian countries as China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, India and Pakistan. Some countries, including the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa responded to the Protocol by introducing their own supplementary regulations or standards requiring the installation of fixed leak monitors in refrigeration and air conditioning machinery rooms based on the ISO 5149 Standard.
Europe
The European Community and CEN countries responded in 2000 by introducing Regulation 2037/2000 requiring that action be taken to prevent leakage and the new European Standard EN378 Refrigerating Systems and Heat Pumps Safety and Environmental Requirements based on ISO 5149. This requires the installation of fixed refrigerant leak monitors in all refrigeration and air-conditioning machinery rooms. Dr Maher points out that since the end of 2000 it supersedes all national standards in EC countries.
USA
ASHRAE 15-1994 and Unified Mechanical Code 1994 were introduced and again both require the installation of fixed refrigerant leak monitors in all refrigeration and airconditioning machinery rooms.
Australia / New Zealand
Introduced AS/NZ 1677.2
S.Africa
Introduced SABS 0147:1995
As well as the common requirement to fit leak detectors in all machinery rooms and to take special precautions with comfort air conditioning, each standard has particular requirements and should be reviewed independently. Brief summaries, reflecting our view, on EN378, ASHRAE 15, Unified Mechanical Code, SABS 0147, and AS/NZ 1677.2 are available on request.
As specified in the above Standards and also in the International Mechanical Code 2003, most countries in the world require the use of fixed leak detectors in all refrigeration and air conditioning machinery rooms. In addition most issue strong warnings on the dangers of refrigerant leaks into occupied spaces with direct air-conditioning systems such as VRV / VRF and they limit the charge of refrigerant allowed. Some require special precautions to be taken, including the use of fixed leak detectors. Generally if leak detectors are fitted extra refrigerant charge in the system is possible.
The major manufacturers of such systems including Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Daikin and others have identified the danger of leaks with direct systems and refer to the Standards with appropriate warnings in their technical manuals. They generally recommend extra ventilation and / or the use of leak detectors.
Safety at Work Legislation
There is also in most countries a volume of safety legislation covering occupational exposure that requires that workers not be exposed to harmful gases, including refrigerants, above the recommended limits. This should be complied with, in the interests of worker safety. But in fact failure to do so could expose the operator to compensation claims. Gas leak monitors would show compliance and minimize this risk.
Climate Change Taxes Add Motivation
Worldwide, countries are committed to honouring their obligations to minimising global warming.
The European Community and CEN countries are committed to introducing regulations to implement their commitment to the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change and these may serve as a model to other countries. The present draft Regulation is likely to be adopted in early 2004. This will be immediately legally binding and will require Owners of stationary refrigeration, air-conditioning, heat-pump equipment and fire protection systems containing 300kg or more of fluorinated gases to install leakage detection systems.
Within the EC, Denmark has implemented massive taxes on refrigerant at the point of purchase and the UK has implemented reward/punishment taxation measures that are more likely to serve as the European model.
The new UK Climate Change Levy on energy consumption adds an additional and very real cost motivation to install detectors. This is a measure aimed at ensuring the achievement of the UKs target reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Inefficient refrigeration plant, often caused by refrigerant leaks, also consumes excessive energy, typically up to 40%, and this will result in a substantial tax penalty for the operator. The balancing incentives include the Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme under which an operator can claim the full cost of an investment in specified qualifying technologies, including Murco Leak Detectors, against taxable income, i.e. 100% in the first year.
Article Submitted by Inspiration Marketing on Behalf of Murco Gas Detection, which supplies Gas Leak detection systems to UK and Europe Clients
Environmental Issue Surveys: What Are They Telling (outdoor creatures) Us?
No commentsBy Eric Eckl
A fresh environmental issue survey from CNN/Opinion Research finds that a majority of Americans believe that the economy should take precedence over the environment. It wasnt by a huge number a little more than half (51%) picked economy: and slightly less than half (45%) picked “environment.” The margin of error was 3%.
Pollsters love this question and they’ve been asking variations of it for decades. Here is how the question was worded this time around, in this particular environmental issues survey:
“With which one of these statements about the environment and the economy do you most agree protection of the environment should be given priority, even at the risk of curbing economic growth, or economic growth should be given priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent?”
Until recently, majorities of Americans have consistently responded that the environment takes precedence. Sometimes a large majority, sometimes a small one, but always a majority. It was that way for decades. Its only now, during this brutal, grinding recession, that the economy has inched ahead. And its not just this survey, its others.
These poll results are disturbing, sure, but I think they are misleading, too. Theres plenty of evidence out there that everyday citizens actually reject the basic premise of that question. When I sift through my extensive collection of environmental issue surveys, I find plenty of poll questions that explore Americans attitudes towards the environment and their wallets in more depth.
I think you can summarize the American publics general attitude towards the environment and their wallets in three statements:
#1) “Environmental regulations and protection dont burden the economy much”
As a general matter, when pollsters ask Americans if they believe that environmental regulation hurts the economy, the answer is usually “no.” Heres one example: In a 2005 study conducted by Yale University, more than 3/4 of those who responded agreed with this statement: “You dont have to sacrifice environmental protection to get economic growth. The choice between jobs and environment is a false one: we can have both.”
Remember, most Americans work in various service industries now. Only a few of us work in mining, agriculture, commercial fishing, forestry, or other industries where environmental compliance is a daily hassle or expense. The businesses that feel the pinch directly are often very outspoken about it but that is a minority view.
Statement #2: “Environmental regulations hurt some companies sometimes, but they can be good for the economy, too”
When EPA announced last week that it was cracking down on mountain top removal mining, West Virginia mining interests and politicians thumped the table, squealing about lost jobs and economic ruin. So you might be surprised that just a few years ago, almost half of West Virginians told pollsters they believed environmental protection are often good for the economy, and another quarter said they generally dont have much impact. Only one in 5 reported that environmental protections were generally bad for the economy and thats in coal mining, tree cutting West Virginia.
I think most Americans instinctively understand that people and businesses avoid highly polluted areas, that medical costs associated with pollution-related illnesses are a drag on their families economic well-being, and that wasteful, polluting businesses are less competitive in the modern economy.
Statement #3: “Environmental regulations and protections may cause higher taxes”
Americans generally see that protecting the environment is a legitimate responsibility of government, and recognize that this costs money their money. In a study conducted for Duke Universitys Nicholas Institute a few years back, researchers found that voters were much more likely to believe that new environmental regulations and protections would lead to tax increases than to lost jobs.
So if everyday citizens are skeptical of the basic premise of the “environment vs. economy” poll questions, what do their their answers to those questions tell us? Honestly, Im not sure. And if everyday citizens are skeptical of the basic premise of this question, why do pollsters keep asking it this way, anyway? Again, Im not sure.
But I think Im on safe ground here: The economy is a disaster and few of us have escaped it completely. Everyday citizens want to see our nations leaders focusing their attention on getting the economy fired up and moving forward. But there is no evidence whatsoever that voters blame environmental protections for this recession or that they believe that cutting existing environmental regulations will produce much economic stimulus, either.
Water Words That Work, LLC helps nature protection and pollution control organizations modernize their communications. The company has curated the web’s largest collection of environmental issue surveys and environmental polls.
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