Author Archives: Catherine Holdsworth
If in drought … save water by going in the shower
10 October 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Lifestyle
We’re in dire straits regarding the environment. For most of us recycling has become second nature, we’re becoming aware of our carbon footprints and some of us have even seriously considered buying a hybrid car. Yet this is still not enough. The youth of today, spared from revolting about the nuclear threat as the children of the 1960s were, are now actively campaigning to save the environment.
I’m sure most of you went to university to have a great time, meet some new friends, possibly even learn a thing or two and eventually come out with a degree. However, there are others who have a different agenda. Two students at the University of East Anglia are encouraging their peers to urinate in the shower in a desperate bid to save water.
You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down’ used on desperate camping trips or in times of drought, but these students believe that this is a motto to live by every day. What next – digging pits in our gardens and hoping for the best while squatting? To be serious, it is important to make an effort for the environment, so Infinite Ideas has come up with some crafty was to save water which won’t have you looking at your shower with trepidation.
Save water in the kitchen and laundry
- One of the easiest ways to save water in the kitchen/laundry is to install a water-efficient dishwasher and washing machine and ensure that you fill them right up each time.
- If you wash by hand, use minimum detergent to cut back on rinsing, and use a plugged sink or a bowl of water.
- Use only as much water as you need in kettles and saucepans and you’ll cut your electricity costs at the same time as saving water.
- Flow-controlled aerators for taps are simple devices that you fit into existing tap nozzles, which mix air with water under pressure as it emerges from the tap without affecting the flow rate. They can be bought at most DIY and bathroom stores, are inexpensive and can halve water flow.
- Try to capture ‘warm-up’ water (i.e. the water that you run out of the hot tap while it’s coming up to temperature) for use on plants, rinsing dishes, washing fruit and vegetables, or other cleaning jobs.
- Insulate hot water pipes so that you need to run less water before it heats up. Equally, keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator so you don’t need to run the tap until the water is cold enough.
- Don’t use a waste-disposal unit. They use about 30 litres of water per day and send a lot of extra rubbish into the sewers. Compost what you can and bin the rest.
Save water in the bathroom
- Take showers rather than baths, and keep them short; use a timer if you have a large family. Power showers can use more water than a bath in less than five minutes, though!
- Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth or shaving. A running tap uses about five litres of water per minute.
- Install a water-efficient showerhead and toilet cistern.
Save water outside
- Install a rainwater tank that collects runoff from roofs and gutters for garden use, or ask your local council about getting it connected to the toilet for flushing.
- If you’re watering the garden, make sure you only water plants and lawns, not paths, paving and buildings.
- Use a broom or rake to clean outdoor paths and paving instead of hosing them down with water.
- If you have a pool, install a cover to reduce evaporation, and persuade pool users to cut back on over-exuberant splashing.
- Wash your car sparingly, reusing a bucket of water from inside rather than turning on the hose (or, even worse, the power washer), or if you don’t have to drive too far visit a commercial car wash that recycles wash water.
From Save the planet by Natalia Marshall, which has hundreds of other ideas for conserving your environment.
Top 10 management models for your business #10: The blue economy, Gunter Pauli (2010)
8 October 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in 100+ Management Models, Business and finance
by Fons Trompenaars and Piet Hein Coebergh, co-authors of 100+ Management Models.
Problem statement
How do we turn poverty into development and scarcity into abundance with what we have?
Essence
Gunter Pauli is an entrepreneur, author and initiator of the Blue Economy. His concept is about stimulating entrepreneurship while setting new and higher standards of sustainability, and also keeping associated costs down. The goal is high: to create 100 million jobs and substantial capital value through 100 innovations before 2020. This approach contrasts with the Red Economy (socialist planning, which didn’t work) and the Green Economy (which tends to require strong investments in unclear projects, benefiting only the happy few). The Blue Economy business model wants society to shift from scarcity to abundance ‘with what we have’, by tackling issues that cause environmental and related problems in new ways. The theory highlights benefits in connecting and combining seemingly disparate environmental problems with open-source scientific solutions based upon physical processes common in the natural world, to create solutions that are both environmentally beneficial and which have financial and wider social benefits.
How to use the model
The concept of the Blue Economy is supported by the methodology of the Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives network (ZERI), including the following sets of instruments:
- Five kingdoms of nature: bacteria, algae, fungi, animals, plants; a classification that is inspired by the work of biologist Lynn Margulis;
- Five design principles, to work with these five kingdoms of nature (all following the key idea that there is no such thing as waste);
- Five intelligences: emotional, academic, artistic, eco-literacy (systems thinking) and capacity to implement;
- Twelve axioms of economics: principles of purpose, growth, productivity, cashflow, price, quality, competitiveness, place, innovation, diversification, management and thermodynamics.
More information can be found at www.zeri.org.
As for combining seemingly disparate environmental problems with open-source scientific solutions, theories about innovation can be used, as well as creativity techniques like brainstorming, bi-sociation, lateral thinking and Yellow Thinking.
Results
The ZERI movement is engaged in a wide range of projects that are recorded and shared online through www.theblueeconomy.org.
Comments
For academic as well as practical purposes, initiatives like this one contribute to a better
understanding of what sustainability can mean for society in practice.
Literature
Blackburn, W.R. (2007) The Sustainability Handbook: The Complete Management Guide to Achieving Social, Economic and Environmental Responsibility, Washington, Environmental Law Institute.
Hitchcock, D., Willard, M. (2009) The Business Guide to Sustainability: Practical Strategies and Tools for Organizations, New York, Earthscan.
Pauli, G. (2010) Blue Economy – 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs, Taos, Paradigm Publications.
Nobel Prize awarded to discovery of ‘memory GPS’
6 October 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Book publishing, Current events, Lifestyle
Today it was announced that Professor John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser will share the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. The trio discovered that we all have an innate ability to know where we are and navigate to places. Modern life is made much easier with Google maps and sat navs for our cars, but hundreds of years ago, people explored the globe with just a rough map and a compass. It would seem that our brains want us to discover. The research has also paved the way for a better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and why it is that we lose our memory.
On those occasions when we have left our sat nav at home or run out of battery on our phone, we find we have to ask some helpful stranger for directions. But how good are you at remembering the directions you’re given? Darren Bridger’s book, Boost your memory has some excellent tips to ensure you’re able to anchor the instructions in your mind:
There are a couple of occasions when you’re most likely to need to remember directions. The first typically occurs when you are lost. You stop to ask someone how to get somewhere (usually as a last resort), and suddenly a stream of directions issues forth from their mouth at such a rate that you lose track of what they are saying, and simply nod and smile politely. Unless you have writing materials or a map for them to point at, you are still lost – still, that is, if you don’t use any memory techniques!
The first thing to note is the importance of paying attention when the person gives you the directions. Focus as intently as possible on what they are saying and tune everything else out. Then get them to repeat the directions.
Most directions are of the ‘left, right, straight on, left…’ variety. You can use a bit of repetition and rhythm to stamp them into your memory. For example, if the person tells you to go ‘Straight on until the next left turn, then take the next right, then the next right after that, then go straight on and take the third left’, this will become ‘Left, right, right, straight, straight, left’ (where you have a ‘take the third left’ you substitute with ‘straight, straight, left’). If you then repeat this several times, bunching the words together into twos or threes and adding a bit of rhythm, you will find it far easier to remember. You can also add any landmarks which are mentioned. So your repeated phrase in that case might be something like ‘Left, right, right, church, straight, straight, mall, left’.
Research has shown that, in general, women are more likely to use directions of the ‘left, right’ and landmark variety, while men are more likely to mention compass bearings and distances. Be aware of which system you are more comfortable with, as this is the one you are most likely to remember. If someone gives you compass directions, and you are unsure of where north is, make sure you ask them to orientate you. Equally, you may like to stand side by side with your helper, rather than opposite, as they are giving directions – the reason being that it’s very easy for them (or you) to get confused when giving ‘right, left’ directions. You may be trying to remember to go in the opposite direction than you should be.
The other occasion when you might need directions is when you are setting out on a journey and can’t take a GPS or map with you. The advantage you have here is that you typically have longer to memorise the route than when you are asking for directions. Firstly, work out your route and simplify it down to the essentials, the turning points of the journey and the approximate distances. You can then use some basic mental imagery to memorise this list of directions. Try to keep your list of essential directions within ten (ideally, within seven). If you are a visual person you can use a number-shape method, which turns each number into a visual image resembling the shape of that number, then pairs that with an image of the thing to be remembered. You might remember a list of directions as follows:
- looks like a pen. Drive until you reach the church then turn left (direction); imagine a giant pen on the left side of the church’s cross (mental image).
- looks like a swan. Take the third turning on the right (direction); three swans jump onto the cross from the right (mental image).
- looks like a pair of handcuffs. Turn left at the school (direction), a schoolchild grabs the pen from the left of the cross, and puts handcuffs on the feet of the swans (mental image).
- looks like a sailing boat. Drive past the duck pond (direction), the swans turn into ducks on a pond, with a huge sailing boat stuck in the middle (mental image).
- looks like a hook. Turn at the police station (direction), the sailor on the boat throws his fishing line into the water, and when he pulls it up, there’s a policeman attached to the hook (mental image).
If all that seems complicated, comfort yourself with the fact that it’s only new directions that tend to be so hard to memorise. Routes quickly become familiar with use.
How to make your wedding as grand as George and Amal’s
3 October 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Entertainment, Lifestyle
Yesterday Catherine purchased the latest edition of Hello! magazine and this morning we were impressed by the wedding of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin, and were particularly taken by the Oscar de la Renta dress, celebrity guests and perfect setting.
We have learnt many things from George and Amal’s wedding: tuxes never go out of style, everyone looks good in a boat, and restrained beading can work wonders. Luckily for all you lay people wishing to have a similarly memorable day, Infinite Ideas has a book, Perfect Weddings, which is filled with helpful tips on how to make it the best day of your life. One thing you have to get right is the location. So if you can’t afford to have it in the Aman Canal Grande hotel how do you decide upon your venue?
What will suit the kind of ceremony and reception you want? Your location should be a reflection of your overall theme. If it’s formal, your local grand hotel may be a suitable location (and should be licensed for civil weddings), with plenty of space for ceremony and guests. But make sure you have free rein to make your own choices – they sometimes insist on using their own favoured caterer. And check there’s enough parking space.
If you plan to hold a church wedding, you may need to book up to two years in advance for the date that you want. If you want something a little more unusual, such as a ceremony with your own vows in a ruined castle, try a quiet registry office and a second ceremony; that way you are free to make all your own style choices. Make sure you have a dry run well in advance of the big day. You must make sure that you know which door the band will use, and that they also know which one it is, unless you want everyone moving tables to allow equipment to be lugged through your reception meal. Will the fire regulations allow for the hundreds of tea lights you have planned to dot all around your tables? Is there room for you to greet your guests? Can they make sure that there is a safe place for the wedding gifts to be left, or can they be locked away and collected the following day by your parents if you are going on honeymoon straight from the reception?
For George and Amal, the theme was undoubtedly Hollywood glamour and it definitely delivered. Their location was old school Hollywood at its best, full of pomp and ceremony, completely over the top but managing to stay on the right side of ridiculous. We would have loved to have gone, but we’re guessing that the venue capacity was just too small.
As for the problem of transport, there’s no need to worry when it comes to Venice, just make sure that your guests are put into a water taxi and haven’t fallen over the side and it’s all taken care of. Venice is a great city to hold a wedding in as there’s no issue of having to delegate the designated driver. Everyone is free to get as drunk as they like so long as they watch out for the canal.
Venue: check. Transport: check. Designer dress: we’re pretty sure Oxfam has a stock of used designer wedding dresses that you can rifle through and hopefully pick up a bargain.
Port and lemon, madam?
29 September 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Wine and spirits
We’re all aware of the centenary of the First World War and the commemorations will no doubt go on for many years to come. Undoubtedly the war changed the face of Britain, and indeed the world, irrevocably. We can thank this war for the invention of tanks, the poetry of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, and women’s suffrage. It also saw a change in our drinking habits.
Once the Treaty of Versailles had been signed and the world was left to rebuild, Britain’s drinking habits began to shift. One often thinks of port as a rather old-fashioned drink; in Port and the Douro Richard Mayson draws attention to the time that port became the fashionable tipple of the day:
‘In the aftermath of the First World War, ruby Port was drunk in huge quantities by the British and became strongly associated with the archetypal street-corner pub. It was often the basis for a long drink, ‘Port and lemon’ – a shot of ruby poured over ice, let down with fizzy lemonade and served with a slice of lemon. I have to admit to being a fan of the British soap opera Coronation Street (one of the longest-running TV series in the world) where Port and lemon was a special-occasion drink enjoyed at the Rovers Return by ladies like Hilda Ogden (when she wasn’t in her curlers). The fashion for Port and lemon began to fade in the 1960s and, sadly, the Hildas of this world are now few and far between. More recently, Liz MacDonald has been known to enjoy a Port and lemon now and then but ruby Port has now given way to proprietary brands like Archers and Baileys. Port and lemon was that sort of drink!’
So as we remember the fallen this year why not raise a glass of Port and lemon to their memory – we think you’ll enjoy it.
Cultural communication tips from India to New York
26 September 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Business and finance, The Diversity Dashboard
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits New York this week to try to improve his nation’s fragile relationship with the US.
Relations between Delhi and Washington almost collapsed in 2013 when the Indian deputy consul general in the US was arrested, strip-searched and detained by police in New York on charges of fraud, prompting furious accusations of disrespectful bullying from India. In return US commentators seemed to be condescending by accusing India of overreaction and behaviour unbecoming of an aspirant future power.
Americans and Indians have different ways of communicating and both Barack Obama and Narendra Modi would do well to download The Diversity Dashboard by Deborah Swallow and Eilidh Milnes before they meet. Swallow and Milnes give striking examples of the different ways that people from the US and India communicate, such as the one below:
Cultural insight
Visitors to the United States may be surprised to find that arguments seem focused on winning, with little or no effort toward maintaining harmony or recognizing or deferring to the status or sensibilities of the others involved. US Americans may appear to use phony smiles and be too animated, and the need to always express things in positive terms may be interpreted as naiveté. They also tend to speak loudly to show enthusiasm, and feel being positive and optimistic avoids needless confrontation and gets the best results in both work and life. They tend to be animated, outgoing, use facial expressions and considerable eye contact. They are uncomfortable with silences. An overriding value is to speak up and voice opinions.
Culture crash
John, an American, was on a conference call to Prakesh in India. He said, ‘This proposal is poorly prepared. Have it re-done by 15.00 hours tomorrow, Saturday.’ Prakesh was upset and complained about John’s rudeness to his team leader, and asked for a transfer to a department where he would report to a native Indian.
Culture tip
We were called into support with cultural training. We explained the difference between straight talking and indirect communication. The latter allows the possibility for saving face, shame or embarrassment for both sides. ‘Looks like this piece of work will need to be finished during the weekend,’ is a more indirect way of saying, ‘You need to work on Saturday!’ or ‘Can you work on Saturday?’ The challenge is the mismatch of words and expectations. When a direct manager listens to an indirect employee he may think the person is taking a long time to get to the point or even being deliberately awkward and obscure. The opposite is true for indirect communicators, who see straight talking as rude and aggressive.
You see, direct communicators sound authoritarian and are often perceived as insensitive. If you work for them, they do not hesitate to tell you what to do and when to do it. Meanings are explicit and on the surface. They are driven by a strong sense of ‘now’. They are often in a hurry to get the job done. They get to the bottom line quickly and don’t have much patience with those who, in their opinion, beat around the bush. They are frequently brutally honest in their interactions. They are comfortable expressing their emotions outwardly, and do so routinely. They look people in the eye and, if this is not returned, they are suspicious, lacking trust. In western cultures communication is explicit, direct and unambiguous.
Might take Obama’s mind of the other cross-cultural dilemma of the week, the Canadian guy who smuggled 51 live turtles into the US under his clothes.
