Posts Tagged ‘Small Changes’

When discussing changes for the good of the environment we have to remember that people will do what they believe is best for them. This is a basic psychological principle; people make choices based on what they believe to be best for them.

If we can show people how small changes for the environment can benefit them, benefit their children, and even benefit their wallets, we will start seeing those changes take place in their lives.

Unfortunately, government leaders are guided by the same principles – they make choices based on what benefits them. I say unfortunately because many politicians become confused about what is best for them. For a politician, is an improvement in the environment best or is staying in power best?

Keep in mind that in order to stay in power a politician does not have do the right thing, s/he simply has to appear to be doing the right thing.

I find that many politicians make a career out of appearances. They make grand announcements about what they are doing when in reality their plans have little impact. In fact, often impact some area negatively, including our budgets. Those impacts divert money that could be used to improve the environment into projects that have no return.

Not all projects are this way – but a lot of them are. For instance, here’s an article about the United Nations making a big announcement about their participation in earth hour. It’s a big announcement that appears great, but is it really benefiting anyone.

As the article points out, the United Nations could make a very real improvement on their environmental impact simply by changing the vehicles they use – but unfortunately, that would involve sacrifice and it would have the same appearance as turning the lights out.

You can see the full article at Fox News.

As I’ve said before, we consume too much and we pollute too much. Turning off the lights for an hour is a great idea – if it has a real impact on the environment. If all it does is make a symbolic gesture I would rather people keep the lights on and spend the hour planning how they can reduce pollution on their own.

Let us know your thoughts.

Here’s an article about eight streets competing to reduce their energy consumption. What a great idea.

It would be nice for our own streets to receive £30,000 (or the equivalent) to make our homes greener - however most of the techniques mentioned by the winners were small changes in their behavior, not huge changes in their homes.

In fact they even state it…

Little changes can make a big difference for both our savings and for our environment. Don’t wait for a competition. Start making those changes yourself.

You can read the rest of the article at The Independent.

How do we inspire?

I have been writing a lot about telecommuting this past week. I’ve been talking about the benefits and how we could go about making it work. I’ve also been talking about at least one role within many organizations that could work well.

So the question is…. “Why aren’t we as a society taking advantage of all these benefits?”

I believe that the answer comes down to tradition -nothing more than plain old tradition.

It’s traditional for employees to “go to work”, it’s traditional for them to commute, and most all, its traditional for them to be watched.

Isn’t that really what it’s all about? Most organizations feel that they have to watch their employees constantly in order to make sure that their getting a fair day’s work.

Sorry, but I feel that attitude is just dumb.

Now I admit that there may be a temptation for some employees to take time off when no one is watch – but that can be dealt with.

There are so many better ways to inspire people about their work than just sitting over them and hitting them every time they dare take a moment to breath. People are… well they’re people – they’re not machines. If we want to get the most out of our staff then we need to realize we have to stop treating them like machines.

We need to change our traditions. Remember, by making small changes in how we do things we can not only become more environmentally friendly but also more economically sustainable. Wouldn’t people like to do business with us then?