30 is not the new 20

As many readers of this blog are in their 20's, others have 20 somethings in their care or they employ them I thought this was an enlightening talk. 

It is often thought that the 20's is a decade you can fritter away.  Meg Jay explains why this is not the case.

If you are a 20 something you should watch this.  It is not at all saying you need to settle down, just that you need to put things in place so when you are ready it will work successfully whether it be a relationship, your job, having a family or so on. 

If you are employing 20 somethings you should watch this.  Perhaps you should be helping them develop their careers and their place in employment as well as the world.  As an educator or relative of a 20 something the same goes for you too.

As I listened to this, as someone somewhat older than 20, it totally resonated with me.  I don't, by any stretch of the imagination, think that everyone needs to turn up the pschyotherapy, as seems to be common place is the USA, but I think the messages from this pschyotherapist are very simple and very true. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhhgI4tSMwc

Next week I hope to open some good discussions on the use of pharmaceuticals - watch this space

Have a great week and keep warm out there.

How knowing what your neighbours are doing can change habits

Lets use a "bus" as a metaphor for you local community, your profession or any other group of people you interact with. 

Broadly speaking there are 3 types of people on "the bus" - there are a  few at the back (the detractors) trying to stop it from moving, there are those at the front driving it (the leaders) and the other 80% are along for the ride.  They will follow the leaders.  If the followers know what everyone else is doing then they will behave in the same way too.  The detractors at the back of the bus will eventually get left behind. 

The TedTalk below shows how behavioural science can be used to change behaviours.  In this talk, Alex Laskey shows how letting people know how well they are doing against their neighbours in terms of energy consumption changes behaviour.  If they know their neighbours are using less then they will attempt to use less too.  The reality is we all know how to reduce our energy consumption, we just lack the motivation to do it - perhaps we all assume no one else is putting in the effort so we'll just do the same.  But this talk clearly shows how letting people know how they are going against others close by is a driver for change.

Alex Laskey: How behavioral science can lower your energy bill

So if this can be done for energy, what else can it be done for?  Lets think about some animal related examples:

• Taking the dog for a walk - Imagine if everyone knew how often their neighbours dogs were being walked.
• Keeping your pets at an optimum weight - Imagine if you kept a neighbouring register of the trim dogs and the not so trim dogs and without naming names you could market that to your local clientèle and help create healthier pets who require less medical treatment throughout their lives. 
• Annual health checks - If you knew that most of your neighbours took their pets for annual health checks wouldn't you be driven to do that too? 
• What about businesses competing against business - What if you knew that all the neighbouring practices had installed low-flow taps and a foot pedal in their scrub sink to reduce water use?  Would you feel compelled to do the same?  What about neighbouring practices demonstrating a reduction in waste?    

I am sure you can think of many more examples of when this could happen in our homes and workplaces. Post some of your ideas in the comments section and we can learn from each other. 

Education of the Future

Recently I had the pleasure of listening to a TEDx talk by Steve Henry from Otago Polytechnic's Centre for Sustainable Practice.  As a lifelong learner, I found this talk particularly eye-opening.

Education is changing rapidly. It is transitioning away from the haloed institutions where the teacher shalt know everything and dictate it to a classroom full of eager learners who shalt not talk, but shall take in everything the learned teacher has to say. The new educational picture is that of a world brimming with easy access information, and the advent of global communication via the internet. We are all learners whether we are newborn or in our senior years - life long learning is important and essential, and it is a part of modern life.

How will these changes effect learning in the future?

Maybe we will no longer go to "the bricks" to learn but instead will learn through "clicks" and the interactions that we get with people and on-the-job experiences.  The way we are recognised for that learning will also change.  We may still want a qualification but we may go to the institution already knowing what we need for the qualification and instead ask for that to be recognised.

Who knows what might happen, but one thing is for sure, the educational process is already changing and will continue to do so! 

Listen to Steve's talk here for more and consider how that impacts on you as a current and future learner. 

This image shows a Modern Learning Environment - an example of how all new schools in NZ are being built today. How different is this from your local school environment?

Localisation is a solution-multiplier

Recently there was a TEDx event in Queenstown and for those of you who are not yet familiar with TED talks these are when groups of inspirational speakers get up and share ideas.

At the TEDx event in Queenstown, two of Otago Polytechnic's staff gave talks. The talk I wanted to highlight this week was this one presented by Ella Lawton.  Ella has recently completed a PhD on the New Zealand Footprint Project which looks at the amount of resources New Zealanders consume, how and why they use them, and whether they can use less of them without compromising well-being. In her TEDx talk, she speaks on Helena Norberg-Hodge's concept of how "localisation is a solution multiplier".  It is an inspiring speech.  You can relate this to your own community and even your veterinary clinic (or any other business) within it.

“When we take the time to make things in our own communities we not only reduce its Ecological Footprint but we strengthen the local economy and increase the amount of social fabric upon which more local magic can happen...How we spend our time and money is a decision about the type of future we want to live in.”

- Ella Lawton @ TEDxQueenstown, April 2013

Watch Ella's TEDx Queenstown talk here

Ella refers to her leather Jandals in her speech to make a point.  

Portable solar power units

I am sure that most of you are starting to understand how solar power is an important part of our energy future.  Recycling old solar power units still holds some significant challenges, with most of this waste still going into the landfill; however, there is a lot of innovative research going on that promises some good solutions that should help solar power to be even more sustainable in the near future.

Solar power on a smaller scale is becoming common with portable solar units that can be used to power personal electronic devices.  This link leads to an article about a solar charging device that sticks on your window like this one pictured below.

I have also noticed, in numerous shops, the proliferation of solar power units, such as radios and torches, which also have USB charging ports for other electronic devices. An additional benefit of these devices is that that they also have a dynamo, so if the sun is not out, turning the dynamo a few times will give you additional power from your own physical activity.  

An example of the solar power/dynamo torch radio distributed to all households in Christchurch by the NZ Red Cross

A device available from Kathmandu



Inspiration!

Need inspiring? 

This has got to be one of the most inspiring and exhausting TedX talks I have ever listened to!

Jason Roberts from Oakcliff, Texas shows just what can be done if you just get out there and do it!  It is worth every minute it takes to watch this.  If each and everyone of us could activiate just 1% of the energy this guy has, the world would be a much better place.

http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxOU-Jason-Roberts-How-To-Bui

I want to be more like this guy! Do you? Tell me what you are thinking/feeling after watching this!

Light proof plastic milk bottles

A major milk supplier have hit the market recently with a milk bottle that is light proof claiming that the milk tastes better for longer- is this a marketing gimmick or fact? 

Just google it and you will find tonnes of feedback on this  - much of it negative.  'Obtain the milk fresh', 'stick it in the dark fridge', 'at least in a clear bottle I can see how much is in it' is some of the feedback.  You get the picture. 

Why does this topic fit on the blog - because it raises a question around how future focussed the company really are! 

1. The bottles are heavier - they must contain more plastic, therefore using more resources to produce and costing more to transport.
2. The bottles are of mixed plastic (3 different types I understand).  Although they may have a recycling triangle and number on them, this doesn't mean they get recycled.  It is notoriously more difficult to recycle plastic that is mixed so they may still end up at landfill if there is no market.  I note that Anchor are marketing this product as recyclable but there is no mention of a market for this mixed plastic bottle. 

Just go to the unpackit awards website and see how many nominations this bottle has recieved in worst packaging awards.

Is this product necessary? Does this new product help to reduce the drain on resources and create a more cyclic product? You can answer those questions for yourselves. 


What can you do?

• Choose your products carefully - avoid products that use unnecessary or wasteful packaging.  Less is more.
• Using the most professional manner, share with your friends on facebook and other social media sites your knowledge on better brands to buy and post your feedback on the product facebook page for any business that you are disappointed with by their decisions.  Remember the more professional and factual you are the more they will sit up and listen. 
• Nominate products for the unpackit awards and make sure you vote too!

Fresh milk  (Image source)