Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Disagreement is one thing but bullying is NOT ok

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

It is hard to believe but Professor Clive Hamilton says that an organised cyber-bullying campaign, including abusive emails, is targeting Australian climate scientists who speak out on climate change.
He feels that this is aimed at driving climate scientists from the public debate.

Professor Hamilton says aggressive, abusive and sometimes threatening emails are being sent to distinguished scientists each time they speak out on the subject.

Apparently it is mostly anonymous and it and looks very orchestrated.   Some have compared scientist’s actions to those of Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot and others are more personal and even directed against the children of female scientists.

Personally I accept that the vast majority of the science says that climate change is real and a threat to many species on earth and also to our children and grandchildren.   I respect other people’s right to disagree because my overriding philosophy  is that I do not care what colour or religion people are or what they believe but bullying is never OK and the new cyber bullying is so totally intrusive

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Passion

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

ast week I shared that I really enjoy working with small to medium business owners because so many of them are so passionate about their business.  There is something very attractive about passion and it raises everyone’s energy levels.

During this week someone surprised me by asking why I am so passionate about what I do and I guess there are two main reasons.

One is that I really enjoy working with business owners and watching them discover how they can benefit from becoming more efficient and also helping both their bottom line and helping the environment.

The second reason is that I am truly concerned about my grandchildren’s future.

I want them to grow up in a world full of wonder and of hope and be able to enjoy the diversity of the natural world as much as I do.

These two things drive me to want to work with more businesses to help them reduce their carbon footprint.

Why don’t you join me in helping to raise awareness of simple and practical ways you can reduce your carbon footprint at home and in your business.

Wouldn’t you like to be able to save money in your business, communicate effectively with your employees and position yourself as an environmentally friendly business by giving your staff, clients and prospects you own personalised copy of “Reduce Your Carbon Footprint” instead of a Christmas card this year?

Can you imagine having your book with a forward from your CEO or owner and your marketing being kept and read for months or years plus being handed around?  How much better than a card that just gets thrown away?

You will be surprised at how cost effective this is.  Why don’t you call me on 1300 88 3646 or 618 8311 5232 of fax 618 8311 5233 to find out about buying reprint rights.

The price can be varied so if you have a small business I can make it more cost effective for you and this is a small A5 book that cheap to print on demand and goes through the post as a letter.  It really does save money on your very next power bill as well as helping the environment.

Just get in touch with me and organise this instead of Christmas cards this year.  You will recoup the small outlay when your staff start saving your power at work and if will really be a wonderful marketing tool.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

What would you do in an emergency?

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

If your kitchen was on fire, would you:
•    Argue about who would do what and whether “Jim” was doing more that “Sue”?
•    Get depressed because it was all too hard?
•    Deny it was happening?
•    Get stuck into putting it out?

We have a global emergency.

Let me explain

Since the start of the industrial revolution we have been burning more and more fossil fuels and pouring ever increasing amounts of greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and even worse, methane, in the atmosphere.

This acts like an invisible insulating blanket wrapped around our only earth holding heat in so that it is heating up.  And the rate of heating is growing exponentially

We are melting the ice at the poles, changing the climate around the world and producing more frequent and more violent storms, droughts, heatwaves and bushfires and this is likely to cause more wars and more boat people.  We are also killing our fish stocks and our wildlife causing the worst extinctions since the end of the dinosaurs.

And the thing is that we still can turn this around if we all start to be more environmentally sustainable and in particular have more sensible energy management.

Go back to my first question about the fire in your kitchen.

……………..I do not understand why people don’t all just get on with making the changes needed

Even if there were no harmful side effects of energy wastage, it makes sense to reduce your carbon footprint so that you can reduce your power bills.

Why would you want to wait any longer and let things get worse?  The sooner we do something about being environmentally sustainable, the less it will cost us the fix the problem.

If you are a small business owner or manager I can help you with my “Green Your Business: The Do-It-Yourself Program” for only A$770.  You can take this all the way to ISO 14001 certification or simply run and environmentally sustainable green business

If you want to have additional help, this is available either by booking half hour blocks of coaching or by enrolling in one of my coached or even premium programs.

You can feel really safe because I have been working with businesses like yours for almost 12 years now and have many awards for my work so ask yourself ..

“Why am I sitting and waiting when the emergency needs to be dealt with now?”

Just get started with “Green Your Business: The Do-It-Yourself Program” now.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

When we are under stress

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

If you are a small business owner or manager you might feel “snowed under” and on a treadmill.  When this is happening, do you always do what you say or do you or your staff cut corners under stress?

If you have moved house and or office you may empathize with me at present.  I was cleaning out the last corners of cupboards and stores in my old place yesterday and wondering whether I really needed all this stuff and did I really care.  I confess that I found it really hard to take the extra steps to separate the recycling from the rubbish.

Thank heavens I had a system to allow me to keep my work functioning and to access urgent information easily.  And even so it has been a challenge – the broadband one is still not fully resolved

If you are a small to medium business owner or manager you fully understand “snowed under” and like me with my moving, you find it hard to justify putting extra time money or effort into the environment or anything else unless you can be sure that it offers you real breakthroughs in saving you time, hassle and money.

But you see that is an easy one to answer.  ……

When you add a management system to your business you will save time, reduce your hassles and risks and save money.

And you do this in three main ways:
1.    You save money when you go systematically through your business cutting out wasted energy, wasted resources, wasted human effort
2.    You save money when you build in more efficiency and you reduce the risks that you may even be unaware of.  Even the insurance companies recognize this and give discounts when you have included proper risk management
3.    Most of you will attract more customers because you are a provable green business and clearly differentiated from all those applying greenwash.

Are you aware that you are liable for legal breaches your employees make because you have not set up a system to identify and comply with the law?

You see that is easily solved………..

Let me explain……..

Part of what I help your business set up are simple and time effective ways to solve this problem and keep you and your assets safe.  The big end of town spends many thousands of dollars every year on compliance but you can do this simply.

To make sure that you and your employees are able to do this simply and easily we use a structured training approach because even when it is “done for you” you and your staff need to understand your system so that you are able to maintain it easily without needing ongoing help

You can do this easily by choosing between
1.    online group training
2.    premium consultancy where much of the work is “done for you” and
3.    ‘Do-It-Yourself” ISO 14001 which comes with a book, 8 CDs and 30 minutes of one-on-one phone coaching with me at a time that you choose.

And you are able to fully integrate other systems like quality (ISO 9001), OH&S (AS/NZS 4801) and even HACCP (ISO 22000)

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Does Carbon really matter to your business?

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

If you ever watch the news or open a paper, you are being bombarded at present with climate change politics and you must wonder at times how and whether this really affects you.

It certainly will    – let me explain

On a local small business scale, all our costs will be going up and many of us will be caught in supply chains that require carbon accounting.  This is predicted to be much more overwhelming than the introduction of the gst.

People increasingly want to buy from green businesses but want to be sure that they really are green not greenwash or false and misleading advertising.  ISO 14001 certification gives your clients proof that you do have a truly green business and it will help you to save money and access more markets.

If the nations of the world do not cooperate to reduce carbon, it seems almost certain that the climate will continue to be uncertain and we will all get increasing numbers and severity of storms, bushfires, droughts etc.  In turn this is likely to cause increased migration and also political instability.

You see….

the predictions are quite scary and unfortunately there is increasing evidence that many of the predicted changes are happening faster than was predicted.

And the politicians around the world are being forced into this like it or not with the legislation set to flow down to us all.

You will find that I can help you to take simple steps to help you to save money, time and to reduce hassle and risk.

……….and this is the case whether you decide to be certified green or not although clients tell me that they do get greater benefits from being certified. And there is even a slightly scaled down certification called Enviro Cert that is specially designed for very small businesses.  ISO 14001 and Enviro Cert show that you have an environmentally sustainable green business with good energy management

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Farmers want soil offsets at Copenhagen

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

There is lots of evidence to show that higher-carbon soil is generally more productive.   The international rules need to be changed so that primary producers can help reduce Australia’s greenhouse emissions and benefit under an emissions trading scheme (ETS).

Farmers are facing higher costs particularly for energy-related input things like fuel and electricity under an ETS, which could be offset if they are rewarded for locking up carbon in the soil.

It would also have productivity benefits, in that a higher-carbon soil is a more productive soil generally, which means better water retention and better plant growth.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

The Smart Grid is Getting Closer

Monday, October 5th, 2009

The Australian federal government is finalizing grant guidelines to oversee its $100 million smart grid project

The Smart Grid, Smart City project will see the government and energy and communications sectors working in partnership to roll out Australia’s first commercial-scale smart grid.

This will combine broadband with intelligent grid technology and smart meters in homes to allow for better integration of renewable energy sources and improved energy management.

It has the potential to improve homes’ energy ratings, cut waste and help households save up to 40 per cent on electricity bills.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Jean Cannon Wins Award for her ISO 14001 Work

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Last night I was present with a beautiful glass trophy by the Environmental Management Systems Association, which is the peak body for environmental management systems in Australia.  This was  the CGU Premier Award for sustainable business practices that are in harmony with the environment and the wider community.

What a thrill to be recognised for the work I do with businesses, with my wider outreach with the newsletter and marketing practical green awareness for small to medium business and also recognition of my own certification to ISO 14001 which was one of the criteria that was looked at.  I don’t actually know of any other consultancies that have the ISO 14001 and live the systems they sell their clients.

While I have deeply cared about the environment all my life, I am not a “greenie”.  I am a pragmatic business person who recognises that business needs to have financial as well as environmental sustainability.  I do have a green business and I put a lot of thought into planning effective energy management.  My biggest carbon footprint was the websites and I moved them to a fully wind powered provider offshore because I could not get this service in Australia.   So this enabled me to reduce my carbon footprint.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Go Green Workshop In Bunbury

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Those of you who live in the south west of  Western Australia have a great opportunity to join me in a very cost effective workshop titled “An Easy Small Steps Process to an Effective Environmental Management System” on Friday 18th September.

The workshop is being held in the upstairs meeting room at the Department of Agriculture and Food Bunbury office (Verschuer Place) on Friday 18th September.

This is the introduction to my ISO 14001 coached group training program and it will help you to save money by going green.  You will get the entire first module materials for my program on a CD and two follow up teleconferences.  And because it is part of a conference about environmental management systems, you will be getting this at a much reduced conference only price

If you live in Western Australia please join me there on Friday 18th September so that you can benefit from this really unusual bargain.

You will find that having the green certification ISO 14001 will save you money in your business. You will reduce your carbon footprint, develop good energy management and environmental sustainability.

Having a green business saves you money in three ways:
1.    you will make savings on energy, paper and other consumables as well as on your insurance costs
2.    you will be given really simple ways to improve your staff procedures and training to make you more efficient and
3.    it has been proven that people choose to buy from certified green businesses.

You will get so many money saving ideas that also save you time and effort and help the environment.  I guarantee it!

Here is the link again.  You can register online or contact me to organise it if you can’t see the link.  You need to go into conference workshop, look for post conference workshop, then login with your email so they can send you details.  The workshop is only $220 inc gst.

If you are not in Western Australia simply sign up for the next group ISO 14001 course because I have one starting next week and I know you will find it a tremendous help in your business!

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Green steps In Queensland

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

The Queensland Government says no new coal-fired power stations will be built in Queensland unless they use world’s best emissions technology.  Future coal-fired power stations must also be able to store and capture carbon.

They have also unveiled an anti-congestion plan, using a high-tech traffic management system, and programs to change travel habits and offset vehicle emissions.

Plus they have as detailed analysis of climate change projections for 13 regions covering all of Queensland to help local governments, communities and industries better understand and plan for impacts.”

And they have noticed there is great potential for rural land to store greenhouse gases underground.
They also “generously” suggest that the public can pay to offset their carbon emissions.  They propose to use this money ($9 million) to purchase biodiversity corridors across Queensland,” she said.

The concept of having environmentally sustainable green business seems to have been missed.  Personally I am very worried about storing carbon dioxide underground because of the very real danger of leakage in the future and the fact that carbon dioxide is heavier than air and will suffocate everyone if it leaks.  I suspect it is actually more dangerous than using atomic energy.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post