January 2009 Archives

Cellphone recycling is beginning to take off and that's great news for the environment and ultimately for all of us.

The latest such move is Recycle My Cell, a new Web-based nationwide initiative launched by Canada's wireless industry that lets users find out where and how to properly dispose of their cell phones and other wireless devices - regardless of carrier, brand, or condition. 

The free program in the country that brought us the BlackBerry incorporates numerous existing cell phone recycling initiatives is being organized by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) in conjunction with cell phone service providers, handset manufacturers, and recycling companies.

Recycle My Cell can be adopted by provinces and municipalities as part of their initiatives to manage e-waste. Nova Scotia, on Canada's east coast, is the first province to have done so.

Canadian retailers are already on board with cellphone recycling. BestBuy in Canada, through a partnership with Greentec, allows consumers to recycle their unwanted wireless devices, along with MP3 players, batteries, ink cartridges, and CDs by visiting a Best Buy store and dropping their items into their recycling stations. Best Buy doesn't accept computers (desktop and laptops), TVs, DVD players, and speakers.

The CWTA, the province of Nova Scotia, and retailers like Best Buy deserve praise for their actions to curb harmful e-waste through their recycling programs. Yet shouldn't the wireless and other electronic equipment manufacturers do their share to address this issue at the source by:

--Using less harmful substances 

--Making products repairable and easily remodeled i.e. taking a page from the automotive industry and change the casings to reflect fashion shifts rather than the guts

The wireless carriers, telcos, and ISPs are in a position to insist on such standards. Make these goods right or we won't buy, sell, or support them.  With the economic downturn manufacturers will have little choice but to go along. 

The hard truth is that bandwidth and services i.e. 3G, 4G, data, video, IP over wireless, and web services like mobile CRM matter more to consumers than the boxes they are carried on. 

The same goes for computers. As Microsoft demonstrated over 20 years ago by 'becoming the dog' in its relationship with IBM, it's not about the hardware, it's about the software and what it can do that matters. And with more software going on the web i.e. hosted/SaaS rather than in boxes, the less often nasty stuff there needs to be in those compartments, which means ultimately less e-waste and pollution.

 

 

In an exchange on contact center employment, Group Publisher Rich Tehrani expressed skepticism about the numbers of new American jobs, estimated by some sources at 5+ million that going green will produce.

No one has explained to him why the U.S. will make better green products than the Chinese or Japanese if the U.S. can't make better cars, etc.

Rich has a point, and it is illustrated in the mass transit industry. Every commuter, light rail, or subway car and a large percentage of transit buses that have been ordered or put in service in the past 15 years or so has been designed, engineered, and substantially built outside of the U.S., leaving the assembly and testing in the U.S. to comply with federal Buy America laws. 

Look at the nameplates of the buses and train. Chances are good that they will read Alstom, Bombardier, Breda, Dennis, Kawasaki, KinkiSharyo, New Flyer, Nova, Orion, Rotem, Siemens, and Stadler, to name a few. KinkiSharyo and Siemens have cornered the light rail market while the lozenge-shaped commuter rail cars that are found on nearly every system west of Chicago come from Bombardier. 

The last true American railcar builder, Budd, went belly up in the field; Boeing's venture into building light rail cars: for Boston and San Francisco was a disaster. GM got out of the bus business that it had long dominated. It nearly accomplished its mission of wiping out mass transit but foiled at the last minute by the energy crisis, and the need to clean up the environment and revitalize communities with public transportation.

The lesson is this: yes, the green revolution will create jobs, but the products have to be well-designed-and engineered, competitively priced, and supported, especially if the buying and financing comes from the public sector.

In short American manufacturers especially have to get back to quality and value-for-money that once made their goods the best in the world if they want to compete for their share of new green market.
 

I have long been skeptical about electric or other alternative-fueled vehicles as truly green technologies because they all consume vast amounts of life-giving open space to transport comparatively few people and goods, drives more sprawl, which does likewise, and incurs air-killing construction and upkeep and requires hydrocarbon-based paving materials.

Peter Foster, a columnist in Canada's National Post, along with associated commentators have come up with a few more points to consider, in his column Wednesday subtitled 'Today's alternative vehicles are all profit graveyards or subsidy pits'.

Mr. Foster correctly pointed out one of the fallacies behind assuming that people will buy electric vehicles (EVs) and that is it isn't the average amount of driving per day that matters but the farthest that one usually wants to go.

"Apparently, Americans on average drive their cars less than 35 miles a day, but to suggest that this supports the viability of short-range electric cars is like suggesting that a five-foot tall person should be in no trouble if forced to spend alternate one hour periods in water six feet deep and two feet deep. After all, the average depth is only four feet. What is critical is not the average but the farthest distance you want to travel.

"With gasoline-powered cars or hybrids there is no distance limit, since there is a vast network of gasoline stations at which you can fill up in minutes. With electric cars, you have to plug in for a matter of hours. Battery exchange depots are an obvious idea but likely an impractical one.

I can attest to Mr. Foster's point. I work from home and the farthest I drive is 15 miles and that is on those days when I have to pick up my wife late at night from her part-time job, when the buses stop running. Yet we live in a small city in a rural area, so when we need to do shopping or conduct other business in a larger metro, or to just get out of town for something to do, our journeys are 100 miles to 150 miles round trip.

Mr. Foster's column also points out about controversy over ethanol whose fuel-driven demand has sparked starvation and food riots. And one of the commentators said that they had once read that a Prius has 37 pounds of copper wiring.  A standard gas powered vehicle has 25 pounds of copper.  "Did copper start growing on trees or is it ok for us to feel green while some guy works in a hole in South America?" asked the respondent.

What would be handy is to have a reasonably objective report from a well-respected organization (by environmentalists and industry alike) that cuts through the greenwash and the charges and PR and compares the total direct and indirect green impacts of transportation and transportation alternatives: i.e. private vehicles, transit, and telework. That way consumers and government decisionmakers spending their money would have a fair basis on which to choose the greenest option, weighing that factor against cost, need, and convenience.

 

The Canadian federal government is taking the axiom of 'think globally, act locally' to heart by financing over a dozen local green transportation programs that range from cycling to shared-ride home, public transit, walking to school, and to telework.

Here is the release and the backgrounder:
 
Federal government delivers green transportation initiatives  
 
    OTTAWA, Jan. 8 /CNW Telbec/ - Canada's Transport Minister, John Baird,announced today that the Government of Canada will invest in 14 projects across the country that support environmentally friendly transportation.
 
    The projects will receive a total of almost $3 million under the ecoMOBILITY program. Fourteen municipalities will receive funding for projects that respond to their individual needs and circumstances.
 
    "This is a good example of what our government is doing to keep our economy  moving, create new jobs and deliver results for the environment," said Minister Baird. "These projects will promote greener transportation alternatives for Canadians, contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate our economy."
 
    The ecoMOBILITY program works with provinces, municipalities and regionaltransportation authorities to help develop initiatives that encourage commuters to choose public transit or other alternatives to personal vehicles. Through the program, the government is taking action to find ways to meet transportation needs, reduce costs to Canadians and protect the environment.
 
    The ecoMOBILITY program is part of the Government of Canada's ecoTRANSPORT Strategy, which has three goals: 1) improving the health of Canadians and the environment by reducing the environmental impacts of transportation; 2) contributing to Canada's future prosperity and competitiveness by making critical transportation infrastructure sustainable both economically and environmentally; and 3) promoting an efficient transportation system that supports choice and the high quality of life Canadians expect.

                   PROJECTS FUNDED UNDER THE ecoMOBILITY PROGRAM
         
    The Agence métropolitaine de transport in the Greater Montreal Area will receive a contribution of up to $125,000 for a project to enhance the delivery of its Allégo program that provides tool kits to private-sector employers wishing to put in place green transportation options for their employees.
   
    Calgary Economic Development will receive a contribution of up to $800,000 for a project to foster teleworking in the business community. The implementation plan will include awareness and public engagement; professional development; telework program planning, impact assessment and reporting; telework "living labs," or local work centres; and the development of policies to promote community buy-in.
   
    The City of Edmonton will receive a contribution of up to $260,000 for a community pilot project that aims to promote flexible work hours and alternative modes of transport, such as walking, cycling, public transit and carpooling in a "demonstration neighbourhood" in the city.
   
    The City of Guelph, Ontario, will receive a contribution of up to $127,100 for its Bicycle Friendly Guelph Initiative. This project will deliver a wide variety of educational programs and events to encourage more people to ride bicycles safely and conveniently.

    The City of London, Ontario, will receive a contribution of up to $120,000 for a project that will develop green transportation programs in both a suburban residential area and an industrial area in the city. These initiatives will help increase understanding of local transportation at the neighbourhood and business district level.
   
    The City of New Westminster, British Columbia, will receive a contribution of up to $120,000 for a series of related initiatives aimed at reducing the number of personal vehicle trips taken in the city by municipal employees, as well as by employees of the city's four main employers; promoting Safe Routes to School for nine elementary schools; enhancing green transportation components of the city's transportation plan; and creating a coordinator position to promote green transportation options.

    The City of Peterborough, Ontario, will receive a contribution of up to $350,150 for a project that will expand green transportation outreach and education for workplaces, secondary schools and the general community. There are also plans to expand the current IWALK program to include elementary schools.

    The Corporation of the City of North Bay, Ontario, will receive a contribution of up to $50,000 for a project to develop an outreach program to encourage local secondary school students and those with physical disabilities to use public transportation.

    The Halifax Regional Municipality will receive a contribution of up to $50,000 for its Guaranteed Ride Home Program, which is an 18-month pilot project to provide guaranteed rides home for participants in green transportation programs. The Halifax Regional Municipality will also receive a contribution of up to $55,000 for a project to study the feasibility of developing a dedicated municipal fund to encourage transportation choices that will create a greener transportation network.

    Metrolinx (the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority) will receive a contribution of up to $405,000 for a project at elementary schools in the Region of Peel and the City of Hamilton to pilot, test and monitor new concepts and initiatives that encourage students to walk to school. It will also promote green transportation alternatives for faculty and staff.
   
    The Region of Peel, in Ontario, will receive a contribution of up to $120,000 for a project that will implement green transportation marketing programs at six employment sites, reaching an estimated 9,500 employees. The campaigns will aim to reduce single-occupancy vehicle travel.

    The Region of Waterloo, Ontario, will receive a contribution of up to $180,000 for a project that will promote the use of new transit services in a suburban residential community; demonstrate the effectiveness of a transferable transit pass; and help area municipalities develop parking management tools that support the use of green transportation alternatives.
   
    Saint John Transit in New Brunswick will receive a contribution of up to $210,000 for a project to increase ride sharing and the use of public transit in the local area.
 

 

A well-timed (day after Christmas) article in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper pointed out the obvious--that today's gadgets are meant to be disposable--but also at one part of the solution to curb the consequences i.e. e-waste  that is already in play, which are growing numbers of repair shops.

The paper cited Jesse Hirsh, a Toronto-based technology analyst, who is amazed at what he calls a "boom" in the past couple of years of iPhone/iPod fix-it shops. They allow people to get eight, 10, 12, 18 more months out of products that are really designed to last a year, maybe two at tops."

Even so fixing last year's iPod goes against the grain of consumer technology, which has morphed the masses into a disposable gadget society. 

"There is a tragedy to that," Hirsh told the newspaper. "It makes it more difficult, and sometimes more expensive ... to fix it. So clearly there is interest there [to fix older technology] but at the same time a lot of this stuff is junk - and is designed that way."

To illustrate the Canadian newspaper's point I have a Lexmark X2650 printer that was priced so low it cost less to buy the unit than to purchase the replacement cartridges--which are practically impossible to find, and the original ones can't be refilled. The printer now sits waiting for me to chuck it out on the street; I have since then purchased an HP J6480 that uses refillable cartridges (a Canadian company, based in Courtenay, British Columbia called Island Inkjet runs a great chain of refill kiosks, with over 230 locations across North America).

The other part of the solution is for manufacturers to get it together to create common standards on commodity components that do not add user/market-distinguishing features to make hardware repairable and parts interchangeable. These can include AC and car power supplies and cellphone plugs and receptables to avoid the search for the (expletive deleted) cord, plus keyboards, screens, rollers, and cartridges.

The upshot is making items repairable also provides domestic i.e. onshore/local skilled employment. At the same time it increases affordability of technology, enabling more people to benefit from these tools.

How about it? Let's be part of the solution rather than a contributing cause to the problem...