NOTES FROM AN ABANDONED VILLAGE

I'm still asking: Where and why did they go? Here is the story: the Bories village is composed of seven groupings of huts, each having a very precise function: houses, stables, barns, goat shelters, tanning mills, bake houses - the whole social and economic system build laboriously from limestone, and it all was abandoned by its inhabitants about 150 years ago. Classified as a Historical Monument by the French Government, it includes an impressive collection of archived documents none of which tells WHY??? The Bories village in France isn't the only abandoned place on Earth: Brochs, Trullis, Cabanes, Cleits, Giren are scattered around the world. Wherever you spot them, you are hit by the patience and dexterity of those who created them and the enigma that surrounds their abandonment. Visiting abandoned places - ancient but also modern - is becoming more and more popular tourism nowadays. Ghost towns in the former USSR and in the US, orphaned mine sites in Canada, post-Chernobyl villages attract by their macabre beauty. As the DirJournal blog says, "There are mainly two reasons why people suddenly or little by little leave the place where they used to live for years or even generations: that's the danger and economic factors."
My blog is dedicated to
"These were thy charms - but all these charms are fled."
Oliver Goldsmith, "The Deserted Village"

Saturday, February 6, 2010

5 Stages on the Path to Becoming Sustainable: Key Questions

Dear visitor,

This article generated some questions. Any ideas, references, or suggestions? Thank you!
Questions:
1. Environmental regulations in Canada, US, Europe and in developing countries - what's out there, how are they different/conflicting?
2. What impacts these differences/conflicts have/might have on international trade?

Key points:
1. Companies are convinced that the more environment-friendly they become, the more it will erode their competitiveness; sustainability will add to costs and won't deliver immediate financial benefits; in developing countries companies don't face same pressures; customers won't pay for eco-friendly products during a recession; CSR is divorced from business objectives.
2. Solutions: more and increasingly tougher regulation and educating and organizing customers who will force businesses to become more sustainable.
3. The sustainability initiatives of 30 large corporations lowered costs (by reducing the inputs), generated additional revenues (better products), and enabled creation of new businesses.
4. Initial goal is usually create a better image.

Key words:
Products, technologies, processes, business models, emerging norms, global standards, value chain, returned products, life-cycle assessment

Examples:
GM, Ford, Chrysler - California Air Resources Board's standards; HP, Sony, Braun, Electrolux - European Recycling Platform; Cargill, Unilever - technology development (palm oil, soybeans, cacao); Wal-Mart - directives to suppliers in China; Staples - paper from sustainable-yield forests; FedEx - Fuel Sense Program, Kinko's chain; IBM, AT&T, McKesson - workplace practices; Cisco - returned products; P&G - life-cycle assessments; Clorox - Green Works Line; Green Squad - waste management practices; Calera - biomimicry; Cisco, HP, Dell, IBM, Duke Energy, SoCal Edison, Florida Power & Ligh, GE - cross-industry energy platforms.




Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)