Planes vs. Volcano: a taste of things to come?

As planes take to the air once again across Europe, many around the world are wondering out loud whether air travel is necessary, or indeed even disireable. 

Mount Eyjafjallajeokull's eruption is a climate change disaster, releasing 150,000 tons of CO2 every day, with no signs of slowing down. Even more damaging however is European air travel, as seen in the diagram below courtesy of informationisbeautiful.net.   Unfortunately "planes or volcano" is now a moot question. How can we avoid the global consequences of planes + volcano?

Change is coming: Are You Ready?

International Panelists Agree: growth does not equal happiness. Economic experts Tim Jackson, head of an advisory body for the British government, Robert Costanza professor at the University of Vermont and Peter Victor, Professor at York University in Toronto came together today in an international podcast that challenged the western concepts of growth, progress, and quality of life.

Key points included...

Getting it right in Copenhagen

Politicians and environmentalists alike were lowering expectations in the lead up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference this week, but a few voices cut through the din.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, expects "...a list of targets from the industrialized countries, a list of commitments from the developing countries, and a list of financial contributions," according to the Reflections on Ethical Business blog.  In essence, such a deal would result in...

Can SME's be sustainable?

I'd say 50% of the people I talk to, mostly small business owners, ask this question based on two assumptions:

A) Small and medium-sized businesses don't have significant social or environmental footprints.

B) Most have neither the money nor the time to invest sustainability.

While it's true that the big boys have taken the initiative, SMEs have an incredible capacity to create meaningful change, by shear numbers alone. In Quebec for example, 85% of businesses are SME's, meaning that small actions can make a big difference when they add up.

Small and medium organizations actually have a much easier time going green for three reasons: