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Toyota and Honda not the only ‘Green’ conscious automakers

[Yes, I've been away for a long time. But now I'm back so proceed to the article avid, much-appreciated reader.] Subaru released a new television ad which highlights some advancements they are making in green technology. As of late Honda and Toyota have been the front-running automakers marketed as environmentally friendly. For example, the Toyota Prius was released onto the global market in 2001 as the premier hybrid vehicle. Sales started off slow and steady with some 160,000 vehicles manufactured by the end of 2003. However, everyone in the U.S. began wanting the Prius at the turn of 2005 which saw a doubling in U.S. sales from some 50,000 in ‘04 to just over 107,000 in 2005. Honda manufactured and marketed their Civic Hybrid and Accord Hybrid which didn’t come close to matching the figures that Toyota generated. Subaru is taking a different approach to ‘Green’ technology and growing concern for the environment. Factories are known to be huge powerhouses of pollution. The name, factory, itself has disregard for the environment vibes flowing forth from it. I am satisfied with their innovative and effective approach to reducing their carbon footprint and making significant contributions to recycling. I would like to see so much more from them. Treehugger blog gives a good overview of what the Subaru plant in Indiana has put into effect in order to reduce their potential pollution. Subaru says:

“SIA’s wheel supplier uses brass lug nuts to hold wheels in place during shipping. Previously, these were thrown away – 33,000 pounds of brass per year. They are now reused until they’re no longer serviceable, then they’re recycled. This is an example of recycling helping to reduce costs rather than raising them.”
“Paint sludge formerly thrown away is dried to a powder, then shipped to a plastics manufacturer that mixes the dried sludge with other plastic compounds. The manufacturer’s end products are useful devices such as parking-lot bumpers and guardrail safety blocks that absorb impact when struck by a vehicle.”
“Solvents used in the painting process are cleaned and recovered through SIA’s on-site recovery system. The paint shop then reuses the solvent.” via Drive Magazine by Subaru

I would like to see Subaru continue with their promotion of their environmentally friendly ways by having an ongoing stream of converting plants and factories. One plant in Indiana that is a little more environmentally friendly is a good thing. But isn’t many plants throughout the world a but more environmentally friendly even better. A good solution if sales are low would be to invest in marketing and advertising to promote upcoming Subaru models. Make good money to continue to convert plants. I for one gravitate towards Subaru because of their incredible customer loyalty. All Subaru owners that I know had bought their Subaru and never doubted it. To this day they still own Subaru. Continuing ‘green’ conversions speaks loud, but loyalty speaks louder.

Traditional, like stonings in biblical times

Break the boundaries of tradition. Why must everyone look at a groundhog on February 2? Where does it say that women and black people shouldn’t be president of the U.S.? [This is one is getting a run for its money.]

A recent short story I had read for my Amer. Lit. class was entitled "The Lottery" by Shelley Jackson. It described a town which drew lots each year to decide which of their citizens was to be stoned to death. The entire town was supposedly in the drawing, because that was just the way it was. No one questioned the reasoning behind stoning a citizen each year. All thought that it was merely for the benefit of the town; and every person had a chance to throw a stone. [Which may have been a motivating factor for some people.] The only moments in which someone would begin to protest was if there name was drawn as the one to be stoned. A specific scene involved a woman, a wife and mother, preparing to be stoned; her children were present with stones in hand ready to hand their mother her fate.

What struck a chord with me is that no one protested unless they were the one to be killed. It reminds me much of the citizens in this country. Most of the time we do not protest action or non-action [whatever that may be] unless we are specifically being affected by it. At what point do people realize that there may be methods to quash a wrongness before it even happens to someone else? Is it possible for fellow human beings not to feel this compassion for their own kind?

Tradition is another interesting point that pops in to mind. Numerous are traditions which serve little to no purpose. What purpose is there in killing one citizen of this fictional town each year? There is no concrete purpose. It is based upon the comfort that comes from being taught that if one citizen dies the rest of us are in a better place. Translate this idea of tradition to matters involving U.S. government and elections as mentioned above. Until this upcoming election period there has not ever been serious nominees who are of color or a woman. We can watch this tradition start to tip into oblivion from our living rooms and offices. More and more people are realizing this tradition is not needed and has no value. I wonder what other traditions can be sent off into oblivion? Maybe, groundhog day because of the intensifying dynamics of our climate. What other traditions do you see disappearing in the coming future? Might newspapers be in the mix? or reporters? or big business? or, dare I say, digital social networks?

News, via paper or pixel?

The era of the newspaper seems to be dying out. But I wonder if there is actually any real danger to the life of this industry with the onset of major news being read through an online medium. I wonder if newspapers will become extinct. Many questions arise when trying to decide whether or not the online era will replace the paper era. I ask these questions in light of a documentary that I have been following by PBS Frontline called News War. It is a 4 part series on the forces affecting news media today.

Another focus the documentary accounts is the growing disparity between our government and the press. This is also a major topic which I will make a follow-up post on as soon I can. For now lets focus on what exactly is causing newspapers to retreat and how they can remain as much a part of culture today as they have been for many years past.

First, newspapers need an audience or else they cease to exist indefinitely. The audience one would argue have been those people who want to read the news. People who want to read the news range in age from those just beginning to read to those losing their eyesight. I do not think we can accurately portray a set "class" of society to read newspapers overall. Let us rule out those who do not need, persay a newspaper to read current news. At home we use personal computers, televisions, and radios; the former of the three being the most widely accepted today. When we go to work we have our cellphones, pda’s, laptops, car radios, etc to give us live news updates by the minute. "What if I take the subway where none of those devices can receive a signal?", you ask. Well, my answer to you is to store your news on a pda, cell phone, ipod, or other mobile device with a hard drive before you leave home. At work, we now have access to a network which provides an endless stream of news via the internet and broadcasting. On the way home from work we have similar means as going to work. In our daily lives we have no NEED for a newspaper. Even on vacation there is no need for a newspaper. Increasingly the entire world is becoming networked. Now we can say that the people who NEED newspapers are the people who do not have these conveniences. That right there is a stable audience because there will always be someone who doesn’t have the means or desire to use and acquire these devices. Finally, the rest of the audience would consist of those who want to have a physical paper to read by mere preference. I know people who swear by reading pixel news and I know others who remain faithful to print news. It is similar to the contesting between cable and network news channels. There are some who are true to FOX, there are others true to CNN, there are others true to NBC, there are others true to ABC … you get the point. So there are two areas in which print news will find an audience, those who don’t embrace technology and those who just like to "read the paper".

Now that we have an audience, we can begin selling our paper. Wait! We need content for our paper. [Generally these two, audience and content, go hand-in-hand. They need each other symbiotically and you can't have one before the other.] Content. Hmm… Content entails generation, interpretation, and reproduction. Generation of the content would be the reporter, journalist, discovering what is important "news" by obtaining information from sources and observation. The next step is to interpret the information. Form it into content by giving it foundation, relevancy, and purpose. Finally the information must be reproduced in auser-friendlyfashion.

Now one question… is there any way that content would be abolished or not allowed to function? Looking at the process I do not see any method of destroying content besides allowing a dictatorshiptorestrict and regulatethe method of content. This would abolish the "free" nature of content, not necessarily content itself, implicating not only news"papers" but also news"pixels".

With a content and an audience to view it there will always be an outlet to convey news via paper medium.

The “New Now” Generation

Reading Shel Israel’s post, Global Neighbourhoods: Global Neighborhoods V4 Overview Part 2., struck a note within me to bring this out even more.

The concept of a generation of young people ushering in a time of
change is on many minds these days. I can honestly say that I am
embracing this endeavor in order to further the progression of our
world. A young person living and breathing a world of community and
innovation is key. I see this young man or woman challenging the once
stable precendents laid down in areas of medical care, social security,
immigration, and public policy as a whole. Shel states:

It
is true that this new generation has little need for television,
newspapers, magazines, and in some cases books. The internet is the new
mall, the new bowling alley, the new playground. It is where those, who
so recently have been able to influence the greatest of minds and
businesses, gather to share ideas and information. YouTube is growing
larger and larger everyday. Until a few months ago I was using YouTube
merely to view interesting videos; now I link videos to friends and
colleagues in an effort to spread a message. Social media is taking
this world by storm and the users, the "New Now" generation, are
feeding it ever more.

I can honestly say as a young person myself that I cannot help but
notice the passion and drive in my peers and even in myself to change
and progress as a community of humans. Humanity is the key and we
realize this. With the onset of green technology and policy reform, the
next step may even be a worldwide social equity reform. We are all
linked across the country and across the globe via social networks such
as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, and the rest of the
blogosphere. A growing community of diverse minds and spirits are in
store for the coming years.

Long post, I know. Leave some comments and link away. I’d appreciate it as a beginner in this blogging world. –KP

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Toyota and Honda not the only ‘Green’ conscious automakers

Traditional, like stonings in biblical times

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