The Body Shop & human rights

What's happening in the US

Human rights are the fundamental things in life that every person on the planet is entitled to. Social and economic issues as health, housing, employment and the right to an education are as much human rights as the political rights such as free speech and protection from torture.

Why is a high street retailer so committed to defending human rights?

The Body Shop believes that as part of the global community, it is the responsibility of every individual to actively support human rights. Whether it's signing a petition, using our purchasing power to boycott a company, or lobbying governments, we all have the power to effect change. If enough individuals demand change - big business and governments will have to listen.

Businesses have an important part to play in effecting social change. Through having a social conscience and acting with social responsibility, businesses can help create lasting change in society.

With over 1,900 outlets around the world The Body Shop has an opportunity to raise awareness amongst millions of people. Our freedom to do so is underpinned by other more basic freedoms that others have had to fight for. It is right that we support them.

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." Martin Niemoeller

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever does." Margaret Mead, anthropologist.

how we function

kudos to our creative director for spicing up our project with this cute organisational chart

some interesting facts.. (:

Some Interesting Facts

* Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled.
* The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.
* The largest lake in the Britain could be filled with rubbish from the UK in 8 months.
* On average, 16% of the money you spend on a product pays for the packaging, which ultimately ends up as rubbish.
* As much as 50% of waste in the average dustbin could be composted.
* Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
* 9 out of 10 people would recycle more if it were made easier.

Aluminium

* 24 million tonnes of aluminium is produced annually, 51,000 tonnes of which ends up as packaging in the UK.
* If all cans in the UK were recycled, we would need 14 million fewer dustbins.
* £36,000,000 worth of aluminium is thrown away each year.
* Aluminium cans can be recycled and ready to use in just 6 weeks.

Glass

* Each UK family uses an average of 500 glass bottles and jars annually.
* The largest glass furnace produces over 1 million glass bottles and jars per day.
* Glass is 100% recyclable and can be used again and again.
* Glass that is thrown away and ends up in landfills will never decompose.

Paper

* Recycled paper produces 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials.
* 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used annually in the UK.
* The average person in the UK gets through 38kg of newspapers per year.
* It takes 24 trees to make 1 ton of newspaper.

Plastic

* 275,000 tonnes of plastic are used each year in the UK, that’s about 15 million bottles per day.
* Most families throw away about 40kg of plastic per year, which could otherwise be recycled.
* The use of plastic in Western Europe is growing about 4% each year.
* Plastic can take up to 500 years to decompose.

recycle for our environment!

Recycling is one of the best ways for you to have a positive impact on the world in which we live. Recycling is important to both the natural environment and us. We must act fast as the amount of waste we create is increasing all the time.

The amount of rubbish we create is constantly increasing because:

* Increasing wealth means that people are buying more products and ultimately creating more waste.
* Increasing population means that there are more people on the planet to create waste.
* New packaging and technological products are being developed, much of these products contain materials that are not biodegradable.
* New lifestyle changes, such as eating fast food, means that we create additional waste that isn’t biodegradable.

Environmental Importance

Recycling is very important as waste has a huge negative impact on the natural environment.

* Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from rubbish in landfill sites. Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by waste.
* Habitat destruction and global warming are some the affects caused by deforestation. Recycling reduces the need for raw materials so that the rainforests can be preserved.
* Huge amounts of energy are used when making products from raw materials. Recycling requires much less energy and therefore helps to preserve natural resources.

Importance To People

Recycling is essential to cities around the world and to the people living in them.

* No space for waste. Our landfill sites are filling up fast, by 2010, almost all landfills in the UK will be full.
* Reduce financial expenditure in the economy. Making products from raw materials costs much more than if they were made from recycled products.
* Preserve natural resources for future generations. Recycling reduces the need for raw materials; it also uses less energy, therefore preserving natural resources for the future.

Kaizen

Kaizen (Japanese for "change for the better" or "improvement"; the common English usage is "continual improvement"). In the context of this article, kaizen refers to a workplace 'quality' strategy and is often associated with the Toyota Production System and related to various quality-control systems, including methods of W. Edwards Deming.

Kaizen aims to eliminate waste (as defined by Joshua Isaac Walters "activities that add cost but do not add value"). It is often the case that this means "to take it apart and put back together in a better way." This is then followed by standardization of this 'better way' with others, through standardized work.

Introduction

Kaizen is a daily activity whose purpose goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work (both mental and physical) "muri", and teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the scientific method and how to learn to spot and eliminate waste in business processes.

To be most effective kaizen must operate with three[citation needed] principles in place:

* consider the process and the results (not results-only) so that actions to achieve effects are surfaced;
* systemic thinking of the whole process and not just that immediately in view (i.e. big picture, not solely the narrow view) in order to avoid creating problems elsewhere in the process; and
* a learning, non-judgmental, non-blaming (because blaming is wasteful) approach and intent will allow the re-examination of the assumptions that resulted in the current process.

People at all levels of an organization can participate in kaizen, from the CEO down, as well as external stakeholders when applicable. The format for kaizen can be individual, suggestion system, small group, or large group. At Toyota, it is usually a local improvement within a workstation or local area and involves a small group in improving their own work environment and productivity. This group is often guided through the kaizen process by a line supervisor; sometimes this is the line supervisor's key role.

While kaizen (at Toyota) usually delivers small improvements, the culture of continual aligned small improvements and standardization yields large results in the form of compound productivity improvement. Hence the English usage of "kaizen" can be: "continuous improvement" or "continual improvement."

This philosophy differs from the "command-and-control" improvement programs of the mid-twentieth century. Kaizen methodology includes making changes and monitoring results, then adjusting. Large-scale pre-planning and extensive project scheduling are replaced by smaller experiments, which can be rapidly adapted as new improvements are suggested.

Translation

The original kanji characters for this word are:

In Japanese this is pronounced 'kaizen'.

* 改 ('kai') KAI means 'change' or 'the action to correct'.
* 善 ('zen') ZEN means 'good'.

In Chinese this is pronounced 'gai shan':

* 改善 ('gǎi shàn') means 'change for the better' or 'improve'.
* 改 ('gǎi') means 'change' or 'the action to correct'.
* 善 ('shàn') means 'good' or 'benefit'. 'Benefit' is more related to the Taoist or Buddhist philosophy, which gives the definition as the action that 'benefits' the society but not one particular individual (i.e. multilateral improvement). In other words, one cannot benefit at another's expense. The quality of benefit that is involved here should be sustained forever, in other words the 'shan' is an act that truly benefits others.

History

In Japan, after [[World War II], American occupation forces brought in American experts in statistical control methods and who were familiar with the War Department's Training Within Industry (TWI) training programs to restore the nation. TWI programs included Job Instruction (standard work) and Job Methods (process improvement). In conjunction with the Shewhart cycle taught by W. Edwards Deming, and other statistics-based methods taught by Joseph M. Juran, these became the basis of the kaizen revolution in Japan[1] that took place in the 1950s.

Implementation

The Toyota Production System is known for kaizen, where all line personnel are expected to stop their moving production line in case of any abnormality and, along with their supervisor, suggest an improvement to resolve the abnormality which may initiate a kaizen.

The cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as: standardize an operation -> measure the standardized operation (find cycle time and amount of in-process inventory) -> gauge measurements against requirements -> innovate to meet requirements and increase productivity -> standardize the new, improved operations -> continue cycle ad infinitum. This is also known as the Shewhart cycle, Deming cycle, or PDCA.

Masaaki Imai made the term famous in his book, Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success.

Apart from business applications of the method, both Anthony Robbins and Robert Maurer have popularized the kaizen principles into personal development principles. The basis of Robbins' CANI (Constant and Never-Ending Improvement) method in kaizen is discussed in his Lessons in Mastery series.

PDCA Cycle

The PDCA Cycle is a checklist of the four stages which you must go through to get from `problem-faced' to `problem solved'. The four stages are Plan-Do-Check-Act, and they are carried out in the cycle illustrated below.

The concept of the PDCA Cycle was originally developed by Walter Shewhart, the pioneering statistician who developed statistical process control in the Bell Laboratories in the US during the 1930's. It is often referred to as `the Shewhart Cycle'. It was taken up and promoted very effectively from the 1950s on by the famous Quality Management authority, W. Edwards Deming, and is consequently known by many as `the Deming Wheel'.

Use the PDCA Cycle to coordinate your continuous improvement efforts. It both emphasises and demonstrates that improvement programs must start with careful planning, must result in effective action, and must move on again to careful planning in a continuous cycle.

Also use the PDCA Cycle diagram in team meetings to take stock of what stage improvement initiatives are at, and to choose the appropriate tools to see each stage through to successful completion.
How to use the PDCA Cycle diagram to choose the appropriate tool is explained in detail in the `How to use it' section below.
Plan-Do-Check-Act

Here is what you do for each stage of the Cycle:

* Plan to improve your operations first by finding out what things are going wrong (that is identify the problems faced), and come up with ideas for solving these problems.
* Do changes designed to solve the problems on a small or experimental scale first. This minimises disruption to routine activity while testing whether the changes will work or not.
* Check whether the small scale or experimental changes are achieving the desired result or not. Also, continuously Check nominated key activities (regardless of any experimentation going on) to ensure that you know what the quality of the output is at all times to identify any new problems when they crop up.
* Act to implement changes on a larger scale if the experiment is successful. This means making the changes a routine part of your activity. Also Act to involve other persons (other departments, suppliers, or customers) affected by the changes and whose cooperation you need to implement them on a larger scale, or those who may simply benefit from what you have learned (you may, of course, already have involved these people in the Do or trial stage).

You have now completed the cycle to arrive at `problem solved'. Go back to the Plan stage to identify the next `problem faced'.

If the experiment was not successful, skip the Act stage and go back to the Plan stage to come up with some new ideas for solving the problem and go through the cycle again. Plan-Do-Check-Act describes the overall stages of improvement activity, but how is each stage carried out? This is where other specific quality management, or continuous improvement, tools and techniques come into play. The diagram below lists the tools and techniques which can be used to complete each stage of the PDCA Cycle.

This classification of tools into sections of the PDCA Cycle is not meant to be strictly applied, but it is a useful prompt to help you choose what to do at each critical stage of your improvement efforts.

Lean systems

Lean manufacturing systems are aimed towards attaining the shortest cycle time by eliminating waste. Instead of allotting resources that would be required for future production, lean manufacturing systems focus on decreasing system response time so that the production system is able to immediately change and adapt to market demands. Lean systems are customer driven, as products are produced only for a specific customer instead of being added to inventory. This is done using One Piece Flow [1]. In One Piece Flow, a part is put through the first process and immediately handed off to the second process. The second process is completed on the part and it is given to the third process, which is then completed and so on. The goal of this type of process is that there is no batch or build-up of parts at any given stage in the process.

Lean Goals

The four goals of Lean manufacturing systems are to:

* Improve quality: In order to stay competitive in today’s marketplace, a company must understand its customers' wants and needs and design processes to meet their expectations and requirements.

* Eliminate waste: Waste is any activity that consumes time, resources, or space but does not add any value to the product or service. There are seven types of waste:

1. Overproduction(occurs when production should have stopped)
2. Waiting (periods of inactivity)
3. Transport (unnecessary movement of materials)
4. Extra Processing (rework and reprocessing)
5. Inventory (excess inventory not directly required for current orders)
6. Motion (extra steps taken by employees due to inefficient layout)
7. Defects (do not conform to specifications or expectations)

* Reduce time: Reducing the time it takes to finish an activity from start to finish is one of the most effective ways to eliminate waste and lower costs.

* Reduce total costs: To minimize cost, a company must produce only to customer demand. Overproduction increases a company’s inventory costs due to storage needs.

Steps to Achieve Lean Systems

The following steps should be implemented in order to create the ideal lean manufacturing system: [2]:

1. Design a simple manufacturing system
2. Recognize there is always room for improvements
3. Continuously improve the lean manufacturing system design

Design Simple Manufacturing System

A fundamental principle of lean manufacturing is demand-based flow manufacturing. In this type of production setting, inventory is only pulled through each production center when it is needed to meet a customer’s order. The benefits of this goal include: [3]:

* decreased cycle time
* less inventory
* increased productivity
* increased capital equipment utilization

There is Always Room for Improvement

The core of lean is founded on the concept of continuous product and process improvement and the elimination of non-value added activities. “The Value adding activities are simply only those things the customer is willing to pay for, everything else is waste, and should be eliminated, simplified, reduced, or integrated”(Rizzardo, 2003). Improving the flow of material through new ideal system layouts at the customer's required rate would reduce waste in material movement and inventory. [4]

Continuously Improve

A continuous improvement mindset is essential to reach a company's goals. The term "continuous improvement" means incremental improvement of products, processes, or services over time, with the goal of reducing waste to improve workplace functionality, customer service, or product performance (Suzaki, 1987)

if only we Malaysians actually conserve our environment..

How you can help conserve the environment

Today’s society is placing high amounts of pressure on our environment – whether it be for transport, housing, food, entertainment, or work, we are constantly impacting on our natural environment. Some of the visible forms of negative impacts of humans are:

* pollution in our waterways and on our beaches,
* litter,
* loss of native bushland,
* destruction of our marine environment,
* rapidly decreasing water supplies,
* disappearance of native animals, and
* polluted atmosphere affecting our health.

Here are some easy steps you can take to help look after our environment:

1. Ride a bike or walk whenever you can – to the shops, to school, to work. Cars are one of the worst pollutants in today’s society, and petrol is from a non-renewable source (and the exercise is good for you).
2. Save Water! Install a water-saving shower head, use mulch in the garden, use a bucket when washing the car, use a broom or rake to remove leaves from the driveway (don’t hose them down the stormwater), install a rainwater tank, if possible recycle your greywater (from laundry or shower - see the Environment Protection Australia website for further information, 'Info Bulletin 812'), and turn off the tap when cleaning your teeth. For further information on conserving water see the Melbourne Water website
3. Save Energy! Install energy saving light bulbs, turn off lights when you leave a room, purchase energy-efficient electrical goods (use the star rating system on the front of the items), insulate your home to reduce heating and cooling energy needs (and costs!). Remember to keep your car well serviced to reduce fuel and oil needs, and greenhouse gas emissions. (See the Environment Protection Authority, Victoria, website for more ideas on reducing your car’s environmental impact)
4. Remove Pest Plants many garden plants have become pests which can escape the garden, and out compete natives. Please remove any pest plants that are on your property. Some of the main pest species in Casey are:

o African Lily – Agapanthus species
o Angled Onion – Allium triquetrum
o Bulbil Watsonia – Watsonia meriana cv. Bulbillifera
o Bluebell Creeper – Sollya heterophylla
o Cape Broom – Genista monspessulana
o Cape Wattle – Paraserianthes lophantha
o English Ivy – Hedera helix
o Mirror Bush – Coprosma repens
o Monterey Pine (Radiata) – Pinus radiata
o Pampas Grass - Cortaderia selloana
o Sweet Pittosporum – Pittosporum undulatum
o Wandering Jew – Tradescantia albiflora

For more information on any of these species please refer to the following websites:

o Department of Natural Resources and Environment
o Environment Australia
o Weeds of National Significance

5. Plant native species – indigenous trees and shrubs encourage our native birds and wildlife, and reduce erosion. They are also tolerant of our weather conditions, so don’t need watering or fertilising like foreign species.
6. Double side paper when printing and photocopying – both at work and at home. Scrap paper can be used for notes, or recycled. If you have lots of single sided pages, turn them over and bind them together (staple or twine) and you have an instant scribble book you can put by the phone!
7. Try and purchase durable items - they are designed to last longer and are more readily repaired. This will reduce the amount of materials you are disposing of. Rather than throw out items you do not want any more, donate them to charities or sell them at second hand markets.
8. Donate old clothes, blankets and furniture at opportunity shops and relief agencies so they can be distributed to those in need – don’t send them to landfill. Animal shelters also willingly accept any old blankets or clothing.
9. Reuse old newspapers to control weed growth when planting trees and shrubs (reducing the need for chemicals). Composted kitchen scraps and garden waste will also help, as they act as mulch preventing weeds and providing nutrients.
10. Recycle old timber products instead of buying new products where possible. This saves energy and helps protect forests from further clearing.
11. Join a local conservation group and help improve your local environment. There are many Friend’s groups in Casey that you can join:

o Friends of Allen Street
o Friends of Cardinia Creek Sanctuary
o Friends of Cardinia Reserve
o Friends of Colley Street Bushland Reserve
o Friends of Dandenong Police Paddocks
o Friends of Eumemmerring Creek
o Friends of Harkaway Reserves
o Friends of Morning Mist Reserve
o Friends of Rivergum Creek
o Friends of Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne
o Friends of Wilson Botanic Park
o Narre Warren South Friends of Rivergum Creek Reserve

Other groups include:

* Berwick-Pakenham Bushcare
* Blind Bight Coast Action Committee
* Cardinia Landcare Catchment Group
* Kooweerup - Lang Lang Landcare Group
* Narre Warren Community Action Group
* Tooradin Coast Action Committee

Overall Review of the 5 Case Studies

From the 1st case study, we realize that the water pollution during 1992 is a very serious matter. It leads to various chaotic consequences. Deterioration of human health especially those who are staying at the coastal area is one of them. Besides water pollution, soil and air contamination due to chemical and radioactive wastes are one of the issue that were brought up in the case study.

As for the 2nd case study, it shows that at year 2007, one of the prioritized environmental issues is recycling. At that year, a brand new concept of efficient recycling model named ‘RecycleBank’ was implemented. It successfully tripled participation rates of recycling from 30 to 90 percent in a city in just a few months. Thus, it shows that the awareness of the public in recycling has increased tremendously in year 2007.

As for the remaining case studies, it’s regarding the progression of Fujitsu Group environmental protection project from the third phase to the fifth phase. During the 3rd phase which is between 2001 to 2003, they emphasize on making "Green Product" (eco-friendly product, lead solder abolition is included), thoroughgoing green procurement, expansion of product recycling, energy saving for electric power, oil, and gas, zero-emission containing domestic wastes (kitchen garbage etc.) and lastly, expansion of the kinds of chemicals to be reduced. Thus, we can conclude that on that particular period, the visible trends that can be made are green product making, product recycling and reduction in chemical usage to minimize chemical contamination.

As for the 4th phase, they put priority on three concepts which are establishment of the sustainable management based on environmental management, establishment of group governance and the provision of the green product and eco-efficiency solution in a Customer-Centric Way. Fujitsu Group realizes that in order to compete with other companies, they need to strengthen their environmental management to increase their efficiency in production of green products along with their corporate social responsibility (CSR) line. This is due to the increasing awareness of the public in environmental issues. Besides that, according to statistics, the public started to put priority on buying products from CSR-based companies. Hence, in order to have competitive advantage, Fujitsu Group needs to focus in the three concepts.

In the 5th phase of the environmental protection program of Fujitsu group, they emphasize on improving the environmental value of products and services, global warming countermeasures, reinforcing governance, reinforcing risk management and lastly, the environmental contributions to the society. From here, we notice that Fujitsu Group is still focusing in producing green products by adding environmental values into it since from the 3rd phase. All of Fujitsu’s three phases are interlinked with one another and the newer phases are the adaptations and improvisation of the previous phase. Thus, we can conclude that producing green products is the most visible trend from 2001 till 2009. However, there is a new area of focus which is global warming countermeasures. This is probably due to natural disasters like tsunami that happened not too long ago. Besides that, the iceberg at the poles is melting and the sea water level increases from year to year. This phenomenon directly affects island countries like Singapore and Japan. If no corrective action is taken, these island countries will be covered by water in the near future. Hence, global warming is one of the visible trends which are happening from year 2007 to 2009.

Overall Review of the 20 Articles

At year 2000, from the 1st article, the trend was to increase public awareness regarding environmental issues. The public was asked to step up and drive environmental improvements to accompany economic and social gains. Furthermore, implementation of environmental management was one of the issues that were brought up.

As for year 2001, there were two important issues which are water pollution and the September 11 incident. From the statistics, dwellers from the coastal or riverbank areas dump most of the waste that they generate into the sea untreated. It caused coastal erosion and destruction of beaches. Besides that, the marine habitat was seriously harmed as well. As for the September 11 incident, a lot of environmental protection programmes were affected due to the allocation of funds. But according to the news released, the public was ensured that protecting biodiversity is no less important today than it was before September 11.

According to an article from international World Environment Day (WED), we realise that nothing is impossible. We can say this because of the example of hardship shown by Chifeng City of Inner Mongolia. After 30 years of struggling and limitless effort, they manage to turn deserts into forests. Thus, from the article, the message that was been brought up in 2002 is give Earth a chance by implementing corrective action as nothing is impossible.
The most visible trend in 2003 was the importance of water as it is International Year of Freshwater. From the articles, we know that human race is facing a serious water crisis and it is getting worse from time to time. Besides that, water crisis is one of the major challenges which are facing the human race and corrective actions need to be taken in order to ensure our survival. Furthermore, this is the third time water issues have been brought up after year 1976 and 1981. Yet, the water issue still remains one of the visible trends for the following year, year 2004 but in a different perspective which is contamination of water.
As for year 2005, they emphasized on producing ‘Green Cities’. The trend is both a warning and a declaration of faith in our ability to turn the expansion of urban centre to the benefit of all. For instances, preservation and expansion of green spaces, promotion of recycling schemes and designation of environmentally friendly buildings. It can be the city of today only with the support of communities, businesses and, above all, the government.
Deserts and desertification is one of the most visible issues that have been brought up in 2006. This issue had been brought up in the year 1984 as well during the World Environment Day. The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment emphasized in the desertification of drylands. According to them, it is easier to prevent desertification than to reverse it. Population pressure and bad land management practices are the cause of degradation. Better management of crops, more careful irrigation and strategies to provide non-farming jobs for people living in drylands could help to address the problem.

There are a few visible trends in year 2007 which are global warming, Arctic shrinkage, low carbon economy and green products economy. We notice that they are inter-related with each other. Global warming is caused by the increased concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air. Due to global warming, icebergs at the poles tend to melt at a faster pace. Thus, as an alternative solution, green products economy is prioritized.

As for this year, the most visible trend so far is finding solution for climate changes. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 opened in Davos on 24th of January with calls from the co-chairs to exercise 'the power of collaborative innovation' to meet the top challenges of economic instability, climate change and equitable growth. In the meeting a lot of issues have been brought up and a conclusion is made, we need to create a precedent that would provide the lead in meeting other global challenges that will appear prominently on the horizon.

Article timeline

our LAST 5 articles

Review for the 16th article:

A new book launched today in Bali is set to serve as key reading for businesses, governments and NGOs looking for a way to reduce their carbon emissions. Crucially, the book puts the emphasis on practical 'Actions' - concrete steps that companies and governments can take to reduce their carbon footprint. It focuses on a series of key issues, including market mechanisms, energy, transportation, telecommunications and buildings. The book will also help institutional investors to analyze and compare companies that are responding to the business risks and opportunities resulting from global warming.
Following the Bali conference, Climate Action will be distributed to governments, think-tanks, environmental organizations and businesses, including the world's largest companies. It will be particularly valuable in highlighting the widespread benefits to society that will derive from reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Besides, it is the latest in a series of UNEP initiatives to help promote a low-carbon economy. UNEP is also working towards the creation of a carbon neutral network to promote climate-friendly initiatives among governments, cities, companies and organizations across the world.

Review for the 17th article:

Biofuels is a new product which can extract energy from plant tissue. For some parties, they are afraid of the dangers of seeking a quick technological solution to pressing social needs — particularly when the technology in question may not be suited to the conditions in which it is intended to operate. But, Brazil is a good example where they use sugarcane to produce fuels successfully. The country's ethanol programme has not only contributed significantly to its energy security, but has also become a major source of income, with Brazil now supplying around 30 per cent of the world's total supply of biofuels. Thus, biofuels research should now be rising to the top of the research agenda across the developing world. Such research will not necessarily produce immediate answers to the energy supply challenges these countries increasingly face. But it
will produce the information on which evidence-based answers to these challenges can be confidently built.

Review for the 18th article:

New studies show that the Antarctic ice sheet is melting faster than previously anticipated. If this jump is indicative of a trend due to global warming the entire antarctic ecology could be threatened much sooner than expected. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif is using a variety of remote sensing techniques to determine how this trend will continue and, in particular, of conducting more frequent and systematic surveys of changes in glacier flow using satellite radar interferometry. Large uncertainties remain in predicting Antarctica's future contribution to sea level rise because ice sheets are responding faster to climate warming than anticipated.

Review for the 19th article:

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 opened in Davos on 24th of January with calls from the co-chairs to exercise 'the power of collaborative innovation' to meet the top challenges of economic instability, climate change and equitable growth. In the meeting a lot of issues have been brought up and a conclusion is made, we need to create a precedent that would provide the lead in meeting other global challenges that appear prominently on the horizon.

Review for the 20th article:

Plan to benefit communities and the Environment, EPA, with state and national partners, released a comprehensive plan to reduce runoff and increase environmental and economic benefits for communities.
The strategy will help reduce stormwater runoff and sewer overflows by promoting 'green infrastructure' approaches, such as green roofs, trees and tree boxes, rain gardens, and porous pavements. Green infrastructure techniques, technologies, and practices reduce the amount of water and pollutants that run off a site. These tools have many other benefits, including cost savings, improved air quality, urban heat island reductions, energy savings, water conservation, and urban habitat creation.

Case study timeline

Fujitsu; our 3rd, 4th & 5th case study

The 3rd case study is about Fujitsu 3rd environmental protection program. The duration for this program is three years which was from 2001 to 2003. In the program, they have six major fields which is aimed in making all products "Green Product" (eco-friendly product, lead solder abolition is included), thoroughgoing green procurement, expansion of product recycling, energy saving for electric power, oil, and gas, zero-emission containing domestic wastes (kitchen garbage etc.) and lastly, expansion of the kinds of chemicals to be reduced.

They have a few targets as well which are production of all new ‘Green Products” by the end of fiscal 2002, abolishment of lead solder from products manufactured by them by the end of fiscal 2002, percentage of green materials and parts for products to be 99% or more of procured money by the end of fiscal 2002 (office supplies), 100% of procured office supplies to be green products certified by public corporation or organization by the end of fiscal 2002, reused and recycled material rate on collected waste products to be 90% by the end of fiscal 2003, sales-based energy (electricity, oil, and gas) consumption per unit to be cut 40% by the end of fiscal 2003 based on fiscal 1990 results, waste zero-emission to be achieved by the end of fiscal 2003 and lastly, the release of main chemicals to be cut 30% by the end of fiscal 2003 based on fiscal 1998 results.

As for the 4th stage of Fujitsu’s environmental protection program, they put priority on three concepts which was the establishment of the sustainable management based on environmental management, establishment of group governance and the provision of the green product and eco-efficiency solution in a Customer-Centric Way. Along with these concepts, Fujitsu Group had set six targets to be met which are provision of the super green products, provision of the eco-efficiency solution, abolition of specified hazardous substances in all Fujitsu-brand products, establishment of the recycle system in overseas, reinforcement of the environmental management based on EMS and lastly, the improvement of the environmental efficiency throughout lifecycles. Due to well planning and cooperation from all the personnel, Fujitsu Group managed to achieve all the targets abovementioned except that the utilization rate of recovered waste plastic for Fujitsu Group in Japan was not increased to 20% by the end of fiscal 2006.

The 5th case study that we have is the 5th phase of the environmental protection program of Fujitsu group. In this phase, they emphasize on improving the environmental value of products and services, global warming countermeasures, reinforcing governance, reinforcing risk management and lastly, the environmental contributions to the society. At this phase, their targets are:
• Increase the number of Super Green Products
• Achieve an improved environmental efficiency factor
• Increase resource reuse and recycling for collected end-of-life products
• Expand environmental solution offerings
• Reduce CO2 emissions from energy consumption
• Reduce greenhouse gasses other than CO2
• Reduce CO2 emissions during distribution and transport
• Apply Green Factory and Green Office systems
• Reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions
• Reduce waste generation
• Improve our environmental management system (EMS)
• Advance green procurement activities
• Organize more activities for environmental contributions to society

another 5 articles..

Review for the 11th article:

Desertification is defined by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification as “land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.” Through researches, it is easier to prevent desertification than to reverse it.

The consequences of desertification include
• diminished food production, reduced soil productivity and a decrease in the land’s natural resilience;
• increased downstream flooding, reduced water quality, sedimentation in rivers and lakes, and the siltation of reservoirs and navigation channels;
• aggravated health problems due to wind-blown dust, including eye infections, respiratory illnesses, allergies, and mental stress;
• loss of livelihoods forcing affected people to migrate.

Thus, we must fight poverty of drylands by better management of crops, more careful irrigation and strategies to provide non-farming jobs for people living in drylands.

Review for the 12th article:

There is a fine line between dryland and desert - one which once crossed is hard to return from. It is vastly more cost-effective to prevent dryland degradation than to reverse it. It is therefore essential to focus on policies and technologies that will protect the world’s arid, semiarid and dry subhumid areas.
To raise public awareness about desertification, and to help to preserve dryland and desert communities, and the biological diversity on which they depend, the UN General Assembly declared 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
The degradation of drylands is a growing problem that needs imaginative, collaborative and multi-sectoral action. It is both a result of and a contributor to climate change; it is both the cause and the consequence of poverty. If left unchecked it threatens the future food security of humanity’s steadily growing population and the stability of communities and countries in all regions.

Review for the 13th article:

The year 2007 fits into a pattern of steadily increasing global average temperature, with the eight warmest years on record all occurring in the last decade. The impact of the exceptional warmth in 2007 was especially apparent in the Arctic, where several feedback mechanisms amplify the effect of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Summer sea-ice extent in the Arctic Ocean shrank dramatically to a new low, 23 percent below the previous 2005 record. This opened the Northwest Passage for the first time in recorded history and prompted a scramble to claim large swaths of the newly exposed Arctic.
Intense rainfall events and flooding will only become more common in the future, as climate models show that warmer temperatures will cause a greater share of total precipitation to fall in extreme events. This means that there will be more heavy rainstorms but also more dry periods, producing both more severe droughts and more frequent, more intense floods.
The temperature record for 2007 shows that we have now fully entered into what some are calling a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human activities are the main driver of the global climate system. The many effects of warmer temperature, which we are already beginning to see, will only become more severe and more costly to society if greenhouse gas emissions are not cut quickly and dramatically.

Review for the 14th article:

In support of the internationally coordinated campaign of research marking a new era in polar science, the International Polar Year has been established for 2007-2008. Coinciding, the theme of World Environment Day 2007 is Melting Ice Hot Topic?. Through the campaign, it will strengthen the resolve of people to act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put in place the medium to longer term strategies necessary to avert dangerous climate change.

Review for the 15th article:

This publication calls for public policies that make the best use of the forestry sector’s carbon profile and carbon cycle. It proposes six key points that those responsible for devising forestry and carbon policies need to know, and it highlights the carbon opportunities and challenges facing the sector.

RecycleBank

This case study is about a brand new recycling model called RecycleBank. Prior to Wilmington's citywide rollout, RecycleBank piloted its program in two distinct neighborhoods of Philadelphia, in order to test its plan. The first stage of the pilot was for 1,200 residents in Chestnut Hill, a relatively fancy, upper-middle class neighborhood of Philadelphia. RecycleBank successfully tripled participation rates from 30 to 90 percent in a matter of months. The second area of the pilot was in West Oak Lane, a lower to middle class area, which quadrupled participation rates to 90 percent (West Oak Lane had a lower initial participation rate). These successes helped establish RecycleBank's potential, with experience to back its ideas.
According to Scott Lamb, Senior Vice President of RecycleBank, three powerful strategies have led to the company's success in curbing waste disposal habits. First, the collection carts are large (often 64- or 96-gallon), allowing for more capacity than a normal recycling bin to avoid overflow that ends up in the trash. Second, it provides a single stream recycling environment, allowing everything to be placed in one container, which couldn't be any easier. Last, and perhaps most important, are the financial incentives, which make recycling more than just an environmentally friendly action.
Each cart has a radio frequency identification tag (RFID); the cart is weighed on the collection truck, and the RFID tag associates that weight with the individual household. The more a resident recycles, the more rewards or credits they receive, which can then be redeemed at over 300 local and national retail partners (a number that rapidly increases), for recreational pleasures (like movie tickets and lattés), as well as for basic staples (at grocery stores). RecycleBank has a single source vendor that provides McNelius equipment, and subcontracted with Avery Weigh-Tronix, which developed equipment for the scale, RFID reading, data collection and the communication and control box.
On the materials recovery side, single stream requires expensive and sophisticated machinery at the recycling plant, capable of sorting the mixture effectively and efficiently. Blue Mountain has made these investments, but reports that occasionally there are problems, such as with paper fiber - the increasing public obsession with identity protection has led to more shredding of documents, which are difficult to separate from glass. Because RecycleBank strives to break down barriers and rules that will restrict people from recycling, single stream collection remains the best option, with or without shredded paper. The company's primary objective is to dramatically increase household recycling, reducing the human footprint by diverting recyclables from the landfill.

our FIRST case study! - Black Sea pollution & tourism

The 1st case study is about pollution of the black sea. Due to the pollution, it directly affects the tourism sector and the occupants that are staying at the bordering coastal states at 1992. Besides the tourism sector and the occupants that were affected, the ocean habitat was seriously threatened. From an article, a journalist noted that 90% of the black sea can be declared dead and by the year 2040, it will be totally destroyed if no corrective action is taken. Ukraine contributes the most to the environmental issue but at the same time they suffer the most among all the countries from every aspect including water pollution, soil erosion, chemical contamination and serious air pollution which is ten times higher than officially permitted rates. However, Ukraine has not taken any effort in involving themselves in cooperating with other CIS states in cleaning up the region for their own benefit in terms of pollution and tourism.

second batch of articles

Review for the 6th article:

This article is about HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, also named as the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, describes on how the International Year of Freshwater 2003 can provide an opportunity for governments and individuals to take stock of what they can do to resolve the global water crisis. He mentioned that water is a scarce resource and scarcity of water per capita is increasing from year to year in many parts of the developing world. Thus, in order to control and solve this problem, not only depending on the governments, but from all of us who use water – and abuse it, must set goals and work towards the goals as ‘Water is life’.

Review for the 7th article:

The article is about the speech by Kofi A. Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General on World Environment Day 2003. He mentioned the jarring fact that many in the world do not receive ready access to fresh water and sanitation. Many people die under such conditions, and making it all worse, the realization that this all could be avoided if they had access to fresh water and sanitation. Mr. Kofi A. Annan also believes that together with a supply of fresh water, fresh thinking is also vital in making a change. With fresh thinking, we would be able to find a cheap and simple solution which would be truly applicable for all that need help. In the end he urges us to help our fellow human beings who are in need of water and sanitation.

Review for the 8th article:

Human race is facing a serious water crisis and it’s getting worse from time to time. There are various causes which are poor water governance, polluted natural environment and poverty. Water crisis is one of the major challenges that are being faced by the human race and corrective actions needs to be taken in order to ensure our survival.

Review for the 9th article:

The article emphasizes on the living conditions of the slum dwellers. The major cause of death, disease and lost productivity for the slum dwellers is environmental factors such as unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, poor air quality and burning refuse.

Review for the 10th article:

Urbanization is gaining great momentum these days. Some may say it is synonymous with progress but yet, urbanization today has brought with it instead, decline in many areas of life. Many of the cities in the world now are beds that spread pollution, disease and poverty. But it need not be that way, through proper city planning and clean energy technology; cities will not be the cause anymore but will be part of a solution to all these problems. The ultimate goal being that the idea of ‘Green Cities: Plan for the Planet!’ be a reality.

first 5 articles

Review for the 1st article:

In the year 2000, World Environment Day (WED), established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 and considered by many to be the most important event on the environmental calendar, inspires action by governments, individuals, non-governmental organizations, community and youth groups, business, industry and the media to improve their environment, including clean-up campaigns, tree planting, street rallies, exhibitions, green concerts, essay, painting and photographic competitions, recycling efforts and much more, emphasized on the public awareness about environmental issues. It was very vital as many do not know about their role and the consequences of it. Besides being aware of environmental issues, the public was asked to step up and drive environmental improvements to accompany economic and social gains. Furthermore, implementation of environmental management was one of the issues being brought up. The strongest argument that they have stressed on is to ensure that the next generation will not suffer in the not far future.

Review for the 2nd article:

After the incident on the 11th of September, President Bush has been under-fire from many fronts. But not from major environmental groups in the United States such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club which have chose to withhold from publicly criticizing the policies of the Bush government. This is to show support for the administration, placing importance on unity in the wake of in such an event. Even so, these groups have not forgotten their ultimate goal of protecting the environment.

Review for the 3rd article:

According to experts from United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) from Mexican capital, nearly 60 percent of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean live in coastal or riverbank areas dump most of the waste that they generate into the sea untreated. Studies shows that the level of contamination of coastal waters throughout the region has risen sharply due to the increase in volume of municipal waste flows. This phenomenon contributes to coastal erosion and the destruction of beaches. Thus, it will threaten the tourism industry and no denying that the marine habitat and human health will be at the stake as well due to the contamination of water.

Review for the 4th article:

After the September 11 attacks, many environmental conservation organizations, especially those that are smaller and less well known, are worried that their efforts may be badly affected. Amongst the top reason are the shortages of funds and also the fear for the safety of its personnel. Some fear that these would slow down or even cripple the momentum of such conservation efforts which had took years to build up. This would affect the well being of the environment which in turn would cause many whose livelihood depends on the environment to suffer. But despite of all the speculation, those involved are ready for the challenge because at the end of the day, protecting biodiversity is no less important than it was before the devastating day of September 11.

Review for the 5th article:

The 2002 World Environmental Day award winners are two Chinese cities, one Princess and five Organizations.
The first city involved is the Mongolian city of Chifeng, awarded for their successful fight against the spreading of desert land mass they call ‘Desert Warfare’. The next city awarded is Shenzhen for it’s impressive achievement of marrying rapid and astonishing economic growth with the environmental protection.
Royal Highness Princess Basma binti Ali won an award for her outstanding effort in raising awareness regarding environmental issues in the Middle East.
Juventude Ecological Angola (JEA) based in Luanda won an award as a leading force in promoting environmental education and awareness through regular columns in newspapers such as the Journal of Angola, Actual, Humbi-Humbi and its own newspaper Little Green.
Fondo Ecuatoriano Populorum Progressio (FEPP) headquartered in Quito, Ecuador, earned an award for dedicating itself to restoring and conserving the land and wildlife often by working with local farmers.
The Tabigat Ecological Union, founded in 1991, is one of the first environmental NGOs in Kazakhstan. Winning an award for creating ecological standards for industry, introduce advanced, non-polluting technology in the industrial sector and promote sustainable development in the region.
The Eco-Walk Children of Baguio City of the Philippines, which has won a Global 500 in the youth category, was set up in 1992. It has established a series of children-oriented hikes to Busol - Baguio's main and endangered watershed which the children have since then turned it into a laboratory and playground for experimental learning.
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), based in Arlington, Vermont, was awarded due to its role as a creative and effective organization devoted to protecting native cultures and ecosystems in the American tropics.

bummer

After a month, finally we have completed the project. But, the bad news is when we printed out a hard copy of our project outcome to show to Jasmine during the tutorial section, we realized that our 1st component and the digital poster is in the wrong direction.

As for the 1st component, we din't use any charts and graphs. This leads to a boring and dreadful outcome for the trends mapping. According to a coursemate, it is like a long-winded thesis which can make anyone, in fact everyone to fall asleep which is a bad sign. Thus, we have decided to 'colourise' our project by adding as many charts as possible, as well as inserting some mind maps.

As for the digital poster, we did a totally wrong poster. We did a normal poster where there is only one slogan and a huge image in the poster. Luckily we have asked Jasmine and she led us to the right direction. We didn't know that it's something like an informational kind of poster which is our biggest mistake because we didn't understand the task properly.

So, basically, we need to re-do and improvise our project outcome as an A in the project is our target and we will do anything to achieve our target.

THE company

Title's intriguing aint it? Kidding. For the component two for our project, we picked The Body Shop as the company to be addressed in our case study. We have been searching for information about CSR-related programs they have been done and are still in progress. From there, by using the textbook and some other good benchmarks, we want to improve The Body Shop's CSR-related program. For instance, we will be applying lean system in the company to reduce their waste as it will cause bad consequences to the public, even worse to the environment.

Eventhough The Body Shop is one of the best CSR-based company that can be found, yet, there are still spaces of improvement that can be made. Our aim in this section is to improvise their CSR systems so that The Body Shop will be the best CSR-based company and it will then be the benchmark for other companies and it will lead other companies to the right direction. Hence, a better environment managing will be formed and our group believe that this is the main purpose of this section.

And another week has passed..

The aim for the week is to map the trends for the five case studies chosen. The five case studies are pollution at the black sea at 1992, a brand new recycling program at 2007, and 3 phases of Fujitsu Group's environmental protection program from year 2001 till 2009.

From all the case studies, we can conclude that the visible issues that have been brought up in 1992 is pollution and chemical contamination. Whereby from the year 2001 till 2009, the visible trends are product recycling and reduction in chemical usage (from 2001 till 2003), environmental management(between 2004 till 2006), recycling, global warming (between year 2007 till 2009) and green product making (from 2001 till 2009).

As for the trends mapping of 20 articles, we are still in progress because we are not only focus on the trends from 2000 onwards, we also put emphasis on the issues that have been brought up before year 2000. For instance, desertification and global water crisis.

Second week of our project progress..

Another week has passed and our group has found all the articles needed. Since this week is Chinese New Year which is a very important festival for all of our group members, and also due to public holidays, our group did not have time to meet up for group discussion. But we have chatted through messenger and a few decisions have been made.

Every member needs to do trends mapping, digital poster and further research about the case studies by their own. Then, we will discuss, compare and select the best arguement during the next group discussion. The result of the group discussion will then be typed out and we will check, proofread and improve the quality of our project.

The birth of our project..

One week has passed and our group has started to collect necessary information for this project. Although we have other assignments and are in the midst of our midterm examination, our group pace is not slowing down. Our group managed to get some journals and articles from the internet and newspapers.

From the journals and articles, our group has managed to identify a few trends in year 2007 and year 2008. The most obvious trend is that the awareness about pollution and environmental contamination is increasing all over the world be it in the life of individuals, corporations or organizations. Besides that, organizations are also putting emphasis on the issue of corporate social responsibility by minimizing harm to the nature in their own selected ways. Most companies realize that in order to fulfill their trade and to earn profit, they have robbed nature of its wealth and now they are taking a conscientious step to give back a little to the environment by taking preventive or restorative measures. However, our group will work to find even more articles and then only pick the best 20 in order to see the most obvious trend throughout year 2007 and year 2008. After deciding on the trend, a comparison will be made to further exemplify on the manner of the study that we have obtained from the articles.

Besides articles, our group has found four solid case studies which are related to environmental medicine, sea pollution and tourism, sustainable recycling behavior and human performance problems in environmental management. We are still searching for another good case study. Our group has not started to review five companies because we are still planning on it. If everything goes according to the right track, we might be interviewing the five companies which are situated in different locations around Malaysia. We might be selecting companies from our group member’s hometown which is Kuala Lumpur and Penang. This also enables us to get a broader scope especially with the mushrooming of organizations all around these two major development states.

As for component II, we are still in the process of picking an organization. The delay is due to the lack of time and we are trying to address our family, relatives or friends who are in the corporate world or are business people. However, we do have a few options in our hand as coincidentally, we have obtained some contacts in a few companies. However, most of the companies are located in Kuala Lumpur which might prove to be a problem as it is quite far and inconvenient because we would like to gather every group members participation in this component fully. Nonetheless, we will still be selecting a company which is best suited in this project to offer a new operational-based model of solution within its product-service offer.

Meanwhile, in the third component, each group member will be submitting a draft of a poster that will address the environmental issues that are being faced after the Chinese New Year break. The Creative/Presentation Manager will then select the best draft and begin designing and creating the digital poster. The digital poster will be implemented as the background of our weblog as well. As for the weblog, we have created our own account at blogspot.com where the url is http://grouprendezvous.blogspot.com/. We will be posting entries every Friday about the progress of our project until this project is completed.

Basically, our group has planned the outcome of the project and we are aware of the unforeseen circumstances of time limit. However, we believe that the outcome of the project will be highly successful due to the cooperation of all our group members and the dedication that they have given into researching and sourcing for articles and case studies. We will ensure that our argument and our report will be of substantial information with concise argument that will be required. We will do our best to ensure that this project will be fulfilled to your standard.