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The Hirsh report published in March, 2005 discusses the peaking of world oil production & its effects on the US economy. The report was prepared by Robert Hirsh for the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. Its purpose was identification of the critical issues related to world peak oil & suggestions as to how to reduce its effects.

The report doesn’t specifically state when peak oil will happen but cites different opinions of anywhere from 2007 to 2027. The dramatic impacts of a scarcity of oil & the resulting price increases in the decade after peak oil onset could have a trillion dollar effect on the US economy. Peak oil is a worldwide energy problem that needs to be addressed massively a decade prior to onset to develop alternative energy sources.

The major problem to solve is transportation related, the liquid fuels used for cars, airplanes, trains & ships. Clear? Increasing fuel efficiency in cars & trucks in significant enough numbers to reduce demand for gasoline will take ten to 15 years. There is more. The average age of U.S. automobiles is nine years. Other energy sources, like solar, wind, photovoltaics, produce electricity but will take decades to reach widespread use in transportation.

The report states that the key to reducing the risk of peaking world oil is constructing large numbers of substitute fuel production facilities in combination with significant increases in fuel efficiency.

The report discusses the commercial options available to increase world oil supply & to produce substitute liquid fuels. There is more. These options include increasing production from existing reservoirs through improved extraction techniques by companies like Western Pipeline Corporation, extracting oil from oil sands, coal liquefaction & clean substitute fuels from remotely located natural gas. There is more. To achieve world wide contributions from these options will take ten to twenty years & a lot of effort.

The report states that mitigation will require an intense effort over decades due to the time needed to replace liquid fuel consuming vehicles & the time needed to build substitute fuel production facilities. Production of substitute liquid fuels in large amounts must be provided.

The report concludes that with adequate, timely mitigation, the economic costs to the world can be minimized. Without this mitigation, shortages will cause significant economic hardship to the world. Government action will be necessary to assist in planning, development & regulation to assure the nation’s energy supply remains stable.

Many people consider the description & analysis of the impacts, mitigation & risk management recommendations related to peaking oil production presented in the Hirsh report deserves close review by government & industry leaders in the U.S..

Bob Jent is the CEO of Western Pipeline Corporation & Western Pipeline Corp specializes in identifying, acquiring & developing existing, producing reserves on behalf of its individual clients.

As an avid fan of public transport, I got thinking the other day about the reasons why that is so. The currently fashionable idea is that we do it for the environment. This is indeed a real plus, & stands alone as reason enough. But there’re so many more reasons why forgoing the car & hopping on a train, tram or bus is the way to ‘go’.

1. It is a better use of time: Driving time is wasted time. (Unless you’re one of those tragic people who says ‘I love driving’). Imagine how much better informed & alive we’re when we spend up to an hour reading, conversing with a pleasant stranger, or just sitting & observing the theatre of life. Instead of staring with dead eyes at the bumper of the car in front of us.

2. It is cheaper: For a mere $6 I can travel all day wherever I want, whenever I want. I can just step on & step off, knowing that once I’ve bought my ticket that is all I’ll spend all day. Try running a car (and fixing it, parking it?) for that little.

3. It is faster: With few exceptions, trains, trams & buses sail past stationary queues of traffic. Depending on your mass transit of choice, the presence of priority lanes & absence of traffic lights or congestion means that you pretty much skip rush hour & accident-related disruptions. Not to mention the time spent trawling around for a carpark.

4. It is closer to the community: This one is very much a matter of personal taste. And so… Some people love to shut out the world, & the people in it, & retreat to their glass & metal box. I’m the opposite. To quote Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America, I like the stink of the streets. I think it’s good for your awareness & connection to the community to travel in the melting pot every day.

5. It is more peaceful: Commuting in a car is just so soul-destroying. Do you follow? The relentless drudgery of grinding up & down a freeway every day, knowing your life is wasting away, is matched in tragedy only by the pressure on your skull created by the aggressive, rude & irritating behaviour of our fellow driver. Nobody is immune to this. Bring up the subject of driver behaviour with anybody, then rapidly whip a blood pressure monitor around their arm & watch them blow the gauge. By comparison, there is a welcome predictability in public transport. Just sit back & let some one else worry about getting you there. Wake me when we get to my stop.

6. It is the right thing to do: One should not underestimate the wellbeing benefits of simply knowing that you’re doing your bit. Listen closely to somebody attempt to justify why they’re too lazy, busy, important or precious to take the train. There is rarely a sense of pride, a celebration of community spirit. More likely, just a stubborn assertion of their right to convenience & to do as they please. By contrast, making a choice which is aligned with our values & serves the public good fills us with good, clean energy.

Tim Cotter is a psychologist specializing in developing environmentally responsible behaviors. His consultancy, called Awake, gives workshops, on line assessment, consulting & advice for groups & organisations wishing to support people to operate more sustainably.

Climate change has a very profound effect on our day to day life. But off late we’re seeing instances where our weather patterns have changed & there is an increase in erratic climatic changes all over the world. The sudden climatic change which is occurring is mainly due to global warming. All over the world there’re many countries that have a fast & developing economy & as the countries concentrate on their growing economy our planet is being left in a very bad shape. The people have neglected the environment running behind money & the climatic changes have come back to haunt the people.

People were able to live comfortable lives as they were adjusted to the climate & environment, but our own activities have caused the climatic changes which are mostly due to global warming which has left us uncomfortable. The temperature during the summer is on the rise & some places are experiencing very harsh winters. There is more. The effects of climatic changes are affecting people, wildlife & our environment. In basic terms, Global warming is the increase in temperature of the earth’s surface & atmosphere. The major reasons of climatic change are the burning of fossil fuel, the green house gases released in the emissions of houses, factories, cars etc.

The climatic changes have been the reasons of melting of glaciers in the Polar Regions, occurrences of large number of hurricanes, tsunamis, high variations in climate, change in the rainfall distribution etc. due to the increase in temperature there have been formation of high & low pressure regions which have caused the formation of hurricanes & extreme climatic conditions. Man, by his carelessness has lead to the climatic change thereby causing destruction to our own property. Hurricanes & other changes have been devastating to both man & animals. Due to the sudden change, it has lead to destruction of property, loss of many lives, occurrence of diseases, floods etc. Floods which are caused due to the climatic change can cause stagnation of water which is perfect breeding grounds for many vectors like mosquitoes which causes diseases like malaria, filarial etc.

Another effect of global warming has been that due to depletion of ozone layer, there is no barrier to stop the harmful rays of the sun. Thus the temperature increases & also chances of skin cancer due to ultra violet rays. There is more. These rays may also create mutations which will be transmitted to next generations & can cause genetic disorders. There is more. The melting of ice has lead to slow increase in the sea level & if this continues, it will lead to complete submerging of many islands under the sea in the future years to come.

The harsh effects of the climatic changes have made people to think about the reasons for the global warming. It has caused an increase in the effort by people to reduce global warming by switching to different energy source other than fossil fuels, recycling, planting trees, electricity conservation & awareness programmes. Even the governments are signing treaties & under taking projects to reduce global warming & thus stop the climatic changes. Clear? If we want to ensure that there’re no more adverse climatic changes then we need to take steps to prevent global warming so as to ensure that earth is a place to live for the next generation.

Climate Change & global warming are crucial events that effect our lives today, learn more about Climate Change at http://globalwarmingpages.com

I usually cover topics related to the marketing of products & services in this column. However, I am dedicating this column to the marketing of An Inconvenient Truth, a movie about global warming, which is a phenomenon that is impacting our ability to continue living on earth.

Al Gore put together a brilliant plan for the marketing of his Academy Award winning documentary film that tells the real story about global warming. Mr. Gore was recently selected by Media magazine as their person of the year, because of how effectively he used the media to attempt & save the world. (Media 3/5/07).

Mr. Gore kicked off his communications plan for saving the planet during a keynote address at the advertising agencies’ media conference last March. He presented a multimedia plan for informing the public about the dangers of global warming & promoting his film. Gore called upon Madison Avenue to help him save the planet & announced a massive advertising campaign calling for the leading environmental & faith-based organizations to work together to combat global warming. He asked the advertising community to match the advertising campaign “dollar for dollar” with pro bono contributions. Gore also worked with the Advertising Council in developing public service ads. He also utilized a high impact on line campaign to get his message out. It included banners, keyword marketing, exclusive video clips, blogs & email, among other tactics. (Media 3/3/06)

Now, a year later, there’re not many people who disagree with his message, so the impact of the campaign has been significant. The world’s leading scientists recently issued a report that confirms what Al Gore has been preaching for thirty years, that with 95% certainty human behavior is contributing to global warming & that behavior is altering our ability to live on this planet. (Media 3/5/07)

Gore’s team did the research; put together an incredible presentation & a powerful movie, a compelling book & one of the most effective marketing campaigns that I have ever witnessed. He also pledged to have all the proceeds from the book & movie pay for a major advertising campaign. (Media)

I personally have experienced the impact of Gore’s efforts. There is more. TXU, a power company, was trying to build 11 highly polluting, coal-fired power plants in Texas, which would contribute 78 million tons of new global warming gasses annually. Citizens, business leaders, politicians & environmental groups banded together to fight TXU’s plans. There is more. TXU was not prepared for the fight & decided to sell the company & the new owners have agreed to scale back the project to 3 plants & to cut back plant emissions.

I’m confident that Gore’s marketing efforts built awareness among the public about global warming & contributed to TXU backing down on their ambitious plans. Clear? It is not often a great marketing plan can change world opinion, but that is what Al Gore & his team were able to achieve & I commend them for their efforts.

Peter Koeppel is Founder & President of Koeppel Direct, a leader in DRTV direct response television, online, print & radio media buying, marketing & campaign management. With a Wharton MBA & over 25 years of marketing & advertising experience, Peter has helped Fortune 500 companies, small businesses & entrepreneurs develop direct marketing campaigns to increase profits.

Peter started Koeppel Direct in 1995 & has built it into one of the leading direct response media purchasing firms in the U.S.

For more information please visit: www.koeppeldirect.com

Global warming affects negatively the environment & everything in it… There’re more than just humans that are affected by it… In actual fact, such a negative process has been hasted by the human race through pollution. While the Earth is trying its best to cool out its environment by using its natural resources such as volcanic eruptions, it can not seem to be easily able to be as effective as needed.

Several species are affected negatively by global warming, especially at the Poles. Clear? In actual fact, as these regions are the most vulnerable ones, the living beings inhabiting these areas are fighting for their own survival. Arctic whales such as Bowheads, Belugas & Narwhals are also suffering from global warming. How does global warming affect Arctic whales?

Global warming is a process affecting the temperature of the atmosphere, which gives negative effects on the environment, its fauna, its flora as well as climates. Clear? In actual fact, it has been creating such a havoc that many species either had to adapt, become endangered of face extinction.

You see, now that global warming has been responsible for melting up to 14% of the ice-capped regions at the poles since the 1970’s it has been affecting Arctic whales species such as the Beluga & the Narwhal more than any other type of whales as these species feed on the creatures living on ice-edges areas.

Also, as the water temperature is rising, other whale species that are usually living in more temperate waters are now moving up North, forcing Belugas & Narwhals to either share their food & habitat with them or retire to regions located to higher latitude regions.

Such a move may have its advantages in a way, but it can also affect the survival of numerous members of these species as open water holes are not as high in numbers which would sentence many of them to death by drowning.

As if global warning isn’t enough, the Arctic whales also have to fight off pollution, tourism, fishing as well as industrial & military activities since the opening of the Northwest Passage.

You see, the noise & carbon dioxide affecting their natural habitat doesn’t only affect the quality of life of the Arctic whales, it also affects their well-fare & their survival.

Arctic whales such as Belugas & Bowheads have been known to flee whale watching tours as far as 35 kilometers away from these ships. Humans are not just responsible for the harm done by global warming, pollution & Inuit fishing but the effects are such that it’s imperative that they take these matters into their own hands by solving or at least diminish the severity of it by taking action.

The conservation status of the Beluga whale is currently stated as vulnerable but the conditions imposed on this specie may soon put it on the endangered species list. While Bowheads are currently part of that list, if nothing is done to remediate or at least diminish the effects of the global warming on these poor marine mammals, they may soon face extinction.

As for the Narwhal, often known as a legendary creature that is in actual fact reality, its conservation status may now be of special concern but if things continue this way, in the near future, their existence may only exist between the lines of a legend printed in a book.

Don’t let Arctic whales become part of history. Put an end to global warming & pollution, making such changes, historic ones! After all, what humans started they can solve as well. Didn’t your parents ever taught you to clean up your mess before starting over?and succeeding?

My name is Sylvie Leochko. I’m fascinated by whales, which is why I like to share my acquired knowledge on them with others. Clear? If you wish to learn more about whales, I invite you to visit the following site: http://www.whales.findoutnow.org

The National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has made many determinations of late confirming what most of us already knew, 2006 was the hottest year on record & 2007 is proving to be hotter yet. Global Warming activists & environmental groups have latched onto he sudden climate change since 2004 as proof that global warming is accelerating & that human generated greenhouse gases are the cause.

The evidence for global warming is irrefutable, the planet is warmer. The increase in carbon dioxide & other greenhouse gases is also well established. What isn’t in evidence is that the greenhouse effect is responsible for the sudden change in global temperatures over the past 2 years. There is more. The greenhouse effect ignores many important factors, planetary axis shift & oceanic carbon dioxide sequestration.

Planet earth has undergone many axis shifts over human history. The best documented are the axis shift following the eruption/explosion of Krakatoa & the 2004 axis shift following the indonesian earthquake & tsunami. The most recent of these shifts is responsible for changing the latitude of the Northern hemisphere by 1/2 to 1 degree relative tot he incident angle of the sun’s rays. Clear? In plain English, virtually everyone in the Northern Hemisphere moved south 200 miles that day. I live in the Orlando area, now I’ve Miami weather.

Oceanic carbon dioxide sequestration is more hard to explain. Imagine that the deep ocean floor is a “carbon dioxide battery.” Under the right water temerature & salinity, the ocean water “charges” the “battery” by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide out of the air. As a result, greenhouse gases are reduced & global tempertures drop. Under different ocean conditions, the “battery” releases carbon dioxide which bubble or even boils to the ocean’s surface.

This sudden & explosive release of carbon dioxide has been documented on film as early as the 1930’s when a US Navy freighter sank suddenly as the ocean around it foamed & lost bouyency. It has been estimated that in the time it took for the ocean to engulf the freighter & the release to end that the equivalent of 1 year worth of human & domestic animal carbon dioxide production was released.

What does all this mean to global warming?

It means that the problem is far more complex than simply decreasing fossil fuel use. There’re global factors that move in cycles set in geological time. Events that we can no more predict than we can control have a far greater impact than all human endeavor & domestic animal cultivation combined.

On the other hand, the entire global climate system is like a household budget. In my home, I’m the long range planner, infrequently spending large sums of money on large family purchases. My wife is the short range budgeter, spending smaller amounts daily to keep the household going. We both negatively impact cash flow. I’ve big effects, but they’re rare, just like planetary axis shifts & oceanic sequestration. My wife has a constant effect, but it’s sustained & if just slightly over budget, will have a large negative impact.

Our human effect on global climate change is incrementally small, but if excessive, will yield a global catastrophe equal to the 2004 axis shift or Krakatoa.

Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is the founder & president of the consulting firm High Alert, LLC.. He serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness & healthcare surge planning with Congressional & Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine & serves the nation as a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer in the National Disaster Medical System. Dr. Ramirez has a new book: You Can Survive Anything, Anywhere, Every Time. His website is http://www.High-Alert.com

The success of the documentary cinema The Inconvenient Truth, starring former Vice President Al Gore, coupled with major weather related disasters the world over in the last few years has once again brought climate change & global warming to the fore front.

While United States has long remained the world’s largest contributor of green house gases that lead to global warming, the Bush administration has yet to sign the internationally heralded Kyoto Protocol. In actual fact, it has been caught in some blatant controversies trying to disprove a body of scientific evidence regarding the matter.

Many politicians & journalist have concluded that this has happened not because they do not believe climate change is taking place, but rather because of the powerful lobbying groups mainly from the auto & oil industry that supports them. Cars & fossil fuel use, along with coal based electricity, remains some of the biggest source of carbon emission the world over.

With recent hubbub about global warming, & polls showing immense public concern over the issue, President Bush has spoken publicly many times about slowing down the effects of global warming, mainly by using technology to cut carbon emissions.

In his State of the Union address last year, he explicitly endorsed the Hybrid car technology, one that would run not just on gas but also electricity. After the Democratic Party won control of the House & the Senate, the U.S Government has also steadily endorsed many pro-environment causes such as the development of alternative energy such as bio fuels for automobiles, & is actively drafting bills that will require Detroit to produce cars that give better mileage. This April, the Supreme Court voted 5-4, giving the federal government the authority to regulate vehicle’ carbon emissions under the country’s Clean Air Act.

While the environment has already become a major Presidential campaign agenda for elections ‘08, true leadership on global warming has so far come most effectively form local authorities across the United States. Almost two hundred cities have taken to the cause, designing & implementing their own campaigns to slow down the effects of global warming as much as possible. California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger & New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg have both take the lead & made fighting global warming a primary objective during their time in office.

While California plans to plant over 11 million trees in its urban space within the next two decades, New York recently hosted one of the world’s largest summits of the mayors with a focus on cities & local authorities taking the lead for this cause. Trees are natural air purifiers, & today there is a serious public effort across towns & cities to build greener space.

There has also been a massive grassroots campaign to fight global warming from religious groups as well as celebrities. And saving the world itself has become a financially sound decision for investors the world over. Wall Street, too, has taken to the cause, & Goldman Sachs has already invested billions in clean energy.

The people of America seem to be increasingly geared up to take responsibility for their part in causing global warming, which will affect countries that were not major contributors of the greenhouse gases the most. And it is forcing leaders in the Republican & Democratic Party, as well as the business & scientific community & religious groups to do what it takes to neutralize the global warming effect.

George Christodoulou,

If you are still asking What is the U.S. Doing to Control Global Warming?,
please visit http://globalwarming-online.com for many more information, facts, & more.

Leave Your Ideas! Please leave a comment or question that can be read by others & answered or responded to.

Landfills traditionally have a reputation as unpleasant places, but many modern landfills are shaking up & breaking that image to the extent that even pre-school children have dropped in for a tour.

These days landfills can not actually be opened unless the operator gives detailed plans which the government environmental regulatory body will ensure they adhere to. Within the list of things the operator must stop is vermin, contaminated water from leaving the site, & the presence of large flocks of scavenging birds.

The landfills have been tidied up, & miraculously the litter which once could be seen around them has gone, & trees have been planted as screens. There is more. The new environmental regulations put in place over the last few years have, it seems, brought about a surprising conversion of these land fill sites. There is more. The old slightly disreputable school of management has departed & now it’s large firms with national & international reputations to maintain, which are running these places, & they want to educate the next generation. So they have added new centers for teaching environmental respect, & a love of their natural surroundings, to all ages.

Every year each student intake will visit & be given the lessons that you (society) really can not throw anything away & just forget it… If you do, there will be bad effects on the environment from the rotting of these materials in such enormous quantities which just grow every year, & need ever more cash to be thrown at preventing damage to the environment. OK. So, by learning about waste in these centers the visitors will go away to take some responsibility for reducing the waste they produce.

Each visitor can hardly fail to leave without a much deeper understanding of the problems faced by landfill operators to stop nuisance & environmental damage. It’s not easy & the new measures do cost a lot of money… The message of waste reduction, recycling & re-use has been well-accepted by students, judging by their positive feedback.

From time to time parties of visitors from around the world also come to see the landfill facilities on these sites. Right. Without exception they inform the landfill resource centre staff of their wish that such high quality landfilling with protection of the environment be as well implemented in their own countries. Clearly, the benefit of these facilities isn’t just local, but also far reaching. It always delights the landfill resource centre staff when experts from other nations are obviously impressed by the techniques our operators use to collect & treat he leachate, & to extract & harness the landfill gas to produce green renewable energy.

It is very rewarding to the resource centre site to see all ages & generations so willing to get involved at the growing number of these centers in so many green & environmentally relevant topics.

While the work goes on inside the conservation centers, the landfill staff continue their jobs around the educational hub, on a daily basis,. So, visitors do see the landfill site staff closely monitor traffic & make arrangements to ensure it doesn’t pile up. The guide os good practice aims to have vehicles in & out of landfills within forty minutes & in at these sites for the majority of the time the delay is much less..

From landfill site owners to residents, as soon as they get over the initial surprise at the thought that a landfill site visit could be anything other than fly ridden, dusty, & smelly, a landfill educational visitor centre becomes a real asset.

Steve Symes regularly writes on Waste issues. He feels that the environmental debate is too important to leave to the boffins. Clear? If you think so too then visit his Blog at Renewable Energy News, or his main site at The Landfill Site Web Site: Everything to do with landfills & landfilling

Diamonds are forever but time is running out for our planet which is why De Beers’ heir, Nicky Oppenheimer & his wife Strilli work tirelessly for environmental conservation.

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve owners, Nicky & Strilli Oppenheimer, were recently jointly presented with the prestigious World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - Lonmin Award for environmental conservation.

The Lonmin Award was made for the Oppenheimer’s active & involved support of conservation projects aiming to foster the biodiversity of the county’s mammals, birds, invertebrates (insects), fish & reptiles & vegetation. It highlighted the establishment last May, of the Diamond Birding Route on the many conservation areas surrounding De Beers mines & on Oppenheimer properties in South Africa.

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, an exclusive luxury private, malaria free game reserve situated in the heart of the Northern Cape Province is included in the Diamond Birding Route. Tswalu offers the ultimate safari experience in elegantly simple surroundings with the swimming pool opening to the remarkable scene of animals drinking at a nearby watering hole.

To Tswalu Kalahari Reserve game stock belong lion, leopard, hyena, kudu, nyala, eland, buffalo, waterbuck, tssesebe, wildebeest, kudu, impala, black & white rhino, zebra, cheetah & many more.

Star gazing is big at Tswalu, hot air ballooning too, but Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is known across the world as an excellent place for bird watching with more than 200 species of birds some of them indigenous to the arid zone, found in the varying habitats of the reserve. Raptors & in particular, vultures, are very well represented. The most abundant species are the white-backed vulture & the lappet-faced vulture.

Tswalu gives a refuge & suitable habitat for vultures & is attracting more & more birds to the area. The game reserve participates in the monitoring programme of the Kalahari Raptor Project which was established because raptor numbers in this part of the country were dwindling due to conflict between farmers & the raptors. Over the past decade the Kalahari Raptor Project has been successful & the Kalahari area has become an important destination for bird-watchers who want to observe these magnificent birds in their natural habitat in the Kalahari.

Presenting Nicky & Strilli Oppenheimer with the Award, Dr Rob Little CEO of WWF South Africa said: “This Award is a fitting acknowledgement of the outstanding contribution the Oppenheimer family & De Beers have made to environmental conservation in our beautiful country.”

Strilli Oppenheimer, in thanking Lonmin & the WWF for recognising the hundreds of people who did so much to make the conservation work which was being recognized replied; “Changes in the environment is beginning to affect all of us. At last environmental conservation which we have inherited as custodians isn’t a subject of only specialist & activist interest; rather it’s an imperative for society as a whole to hand on a less distressed situation than that we have caused.”

The Diamond Birding Route is a partnership between BirdLife South Africa, De Beers & the Oppenheimer family company, serves as a collective & related brand for all these completely unique & different birding conservation areas, dedicated to biodiversity, environmental conservation & ecotourism which supports the development of communities.

Nine De Beers & Oppenheimer properties, situated in Gauteng, Northern Cape & Limpopo Province, have opened about 250,000 hectares of ecologically rich & diverse protected areas to the public. Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is included in the diamond Birding Route & part of the Kalahari Raptor Project.

Duncan MacFayden is the Manager of Research & Conservation at EO&Son & can be reached at +27 11 274 2184, Cell: +27 83 379 2139 or via email: Duncan.MacFayden@eoson.co.za or via Tswalu Kalahari Reserve at +27 11 274 2182

Fair trade is increasingly popular for imported goods. You may see coffee in your gourmet food store with a “fair trade” label. You may see textiles & crafts for sale on the web advertised as being “fair trade” products. But what’s it exactly? Fair trade is an approach to marketing that incorporates environmentally sustainable development & humane wages & working conditions. It’s based closely on the twin principles that the producer of a product should receive a living wage for her or his work & that commerce should be done with the intent of maintaining environmental conditions for future generations. Those goals are accomplished by working directly with small businesses, cooperatives & community-based organizations, thereby cutting out layers of middlemen. As a consequence of the elimination of middlemen, the retail prices for fair trade items are comparable to products that are not fair trade.

In determining a living wage, consideration is given to the locality in which the products are made. If the local country has a minimum wage law, the wages for fair trade products will at least match it… Sometimes, how ever, a legal minimum wage is less than a living wage. Where that is the case, the fair trade producer will receive at least a living wage. Fair trade workers are organized into cooperatives or other participatory workplaces. That way, each worker can have a say in local issues, such as working hours & safe & dignified working conditions. The cooperatives often take initiatives with respect to other worker benefits, such as health care, child care & education. Some cooperatives can provide loans & other assistance to workers as they set up their own small businesses. Fair trade cooperatives will often work to improve conditions in the community. Up to 70% the workers empowered & assisted by fair trade cooperatives are women who are often mothers & the sole wage earners for their families.

A living wage & decent working conditions are one of the two founding principles of the fair trade movement. The other founding principle is environmental sustainability. Fair trade coffee & cocoa cooperatives require their members to use sustainable agricultural methods & to grow organic agricultural products. Raw materials used for textiles & other products are produced using environmentally sustainable methods. Some fair trade cooperatives have sought out producers in geographical regions with rich biodiversity & developed products that use the local resources in a sustainable way.

In addition to a living wage for their producers & an environmentally sustainable approach to commerce, fair trade enterprises also give importance to other social issues. By example, fair trade artisans often use traditional crafts & skills in making their products. Doing so preserves their cultural identity & furthers world-wide cultural diversity. Fair trade cooperatives find it essential to be accountable to the public, so they set up review processes in which accountability & transparency are fundamental. Finally, because the concept of fair trade is dependent upon the ability of consumers to make educated purchases, fair trade cooperatives consider the education of their consumers to be one of their most important responsibilities. Best of all, fair trade products are excellent products. As important as the economic,

environmental & social principals are to your purchase of a fair trade product, the most significant reason to buy them is their quality. Fair trade clothing & accessories are beautiful, unique, sometimes exotic. The coffee & cocoa are rich & flavorful. The home d?cor items are always unusual as well elegant, whimsical & well-made. Try a fair trade product the next time you make a purchase. In addition to ensuring a living wage, sustaining biodiversity & local environmental conditions & assisting an impoverished community to establish health care, child care & education, you’ll become the owner of some very wonderful stuff!

Kathleen Hobbins is an internet entrepreneur in Chicago, IL. She is particularly interested in fair trade & other social justice issues. Visit her website at importedlinens.com