For the London Free Press – February 22, 2010

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Industry Canada recently released four reports which explore the environmental impact of product design and supply chains. They enable businesses to understand current trends and recognize the benefits of adopting new and more environmentally friendly practices.

The reports are relevant to any business that designs or manufactures products, or is involved in shipping them to retailers or consumers. They are available on the Industry Canada website at www.ic.gc.ca

The first report – Design for the Environment: Innovating to Complete – was prepared by Industry Canada in partnership with Design Exchange and Manufacturers and Exporters to review the concept of Design for Environment. According to this report, the analysis “is intended to help Canadian product design makers understand current trends and recognize the advantages of adopting Design for Environment practices to improve business competitiveness”.

A key finding is that “firms are using several Design for Environment strategies including: design for resource and emission efficiency; design for recyclability, disassembly, and environmentally friendly disposal; and design for reduced packaging”. At the same time, however, small and medium scale businesses may lack the knowledge and resources to implement the Design for Environment strategies and are less aware of the business benefits. This report may help those businesses.

The second report — Green Supply Chain Management: Retail Chains & Consumer Product Goods — was prepared by Industry Canada in partnership with Supply Chain and Logistics Association Canada and Retail Council of Canada. It explores the concept of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM), which “is becoming increasingly important for Canadian retail chains and consumer product goods (CPG) business partners”.

One of the key findings is that “many retail chains and CPG manufacturers are seeing improvements in energy usage, waste reduction, packaging reduction, and greenhouse gas emissions in distribution activities”. This report is beneficial to those in the Canadian retail and consumer products supply chain.

The third report – Green Supply Chain Management: Manufacturing – was prepared by Industry Canada in partnership with Supply Chain and Logistics Association Canada and Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. It explores the trends and the benefits associated with adopting GSCM practices in distribution activities and is geared towards Canadian manufacturing supply chain executives.

One of the key findings is that “the reduction of energy consumption and lowered greenhouse gas emissions in distribution activities are the two main environmental improvements arising from the adoption of GSCM practices”. It is noted that “since many GSCM practices require limited investment, are low-risk, and offer short-term return-on-investment periods, businesses of all sizes are able to engage in these activities”.

The fourth report – Green Supply Chain Management: Logistics & Transportation Services – was prepared by Industry Canada and Supply Chain & Logistics Association Canada. This report “provides unique insights to help Canadian logistics and transportation services executives understand the current trends and to recognize the benefits of adopting GSCM practices”.

One of the key findings is “most logistics and transportation service providers implementing GSCM practices see improvements in energy reduction, waste reduction, and reduced packaging in distribution activities”.

For the London Free Press – December 21, 2009

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This Christmas, give a gift to the planet and use less paper.

Lawyers may be one of the worst offenders when it comes to printing things instead of reading and saving them electronically.

For the most part, we have the technology — it’s primarily a habit and mindset issue. After all, the electronic documents we create on our computers are actually the originals. Paper versions are really just copies.

Here are a few things we all can do:

- Don’t print anything unless it’s really necessary. I’ll say more on this later.

- Ask those who send us documents to send them electronically.

- Stop using fax machines. Indeed, get rid of your fax phone line, recycle your fax machines, and disable the function on multi-purpose machines. Anything that can be faxed can be e-mailed as an attachment. If you absolutely must receive faxes, set up a computer to receive them, so they don’t have to be printed.

- Stop doing paper reports. Lawyers, for example, often send clients binders full of documents after closing a deal. It’s important for clients to have those, but except for signed original documents, there is no reason why most of that can’t be done electronically.

Printing hard copies can be expensive, time-consuming and wasteful. So before you hit print, ask yourself why you’re printing:

- If it is to read the document, read it on the screen.

- If it is to save it, save it electronically. Think of hard drives as a virtual filing cabinet. Electronic storage space, storage and search utilities, and backup solutions are all inexpensive. It takes far less space than paper, and has the added advantage of making it easier to find things later.

- If it is to share it with someone else, e-mail them the document or a link to it.

- If it is a letter to mail, print it as a pdf and e-mail it instead. That preserves the look and formality of a letter for things you don’t want to just send as an e-mail.

- If it is necessary to print something for someone else to have, think about how you can summarize the important parts quickly, and provide web addresses for parts that are common or for background material.

All these things can be done without investing in new technology. Sometimes, such as when reviewing or commenting on a document, writing on it in pen is quicker and more efficient than using electronic comment tools. But even that can be reduced. Tools are available that let you write on an electronic document just as you would on a paper version.

If you use a laptop, consider a tablet version. Tablets have been around for years, but have not sold well, in part due to the premium price. Windows 7 includes good touch-screen and tablet features. And some predict that 2010 will be the year of the tablet computer.

If you use a desktop, USB-connected tablets to write on have become affordable.

Its what?  That was my reaction when I read the headline to Michael Geist’s latest column – but he makes a valid point.    

It builds on the notion I expressed a while back that the bill is a backwards step and out of touch with the reality of today’s technology, marketplace, and consumer rights and expectations.

Read Michael’s column