The dream shower

A shower, like many dreams, is a refreshing experience many people look forward to. However, for most of us, realizing dreams isn't known to happen as often as we'd like to take a shower. In fact, many people have evolved to take showers for granted, especially if you live where water is abundant. As water use increases worldwide, questions of sustainable water uses arise. What would you do if you had water restrictions? How would you react for your shower?

If your bathroom is a retreat used to rejuvenate mind, body and spirit, you may think about more than simply using water to get clean. You seek a shower that doesn't contribute to sustainability nightmares. A shower experience can be created at home or elsewhere. People are becoming more motivated to use water wisely because of droughts and water shortages. These circumstances have fostered innovations and initiatives worthy of reflection. Which among them would you use?

1) Air-filled showerhead. Melbourne CSIRO scientists developed an innovative tech design for this simple 'air shower' device. When fitted in your showerhead, it fills water droplets with a tiny air bubbles to increase pressure. The result is the shower feels just as wet and just as strong as before, but reduces water used by almost 30%. (Average cost ~20$.) The average Australian household uses ~200,000 litres of water a year, and showers account for nearly 1/3 of this water, the 'air shower' could help the average household save ~15,000-20,000 liters a year. If you extend this across the country, that is an annual saving of about 45,000 Olympic-sized pools.

2) A waterproof 5-minute shower timer. This sticks to the wall of your shower and helps keep track of time. It’s a variation of the popular egg cooking timer found in kitchens. Shorter showers can save water and money. You can choose a humorous alarm sound too.

3) Dymaxion & burst-oriented showerhead. In 1940, Richard Buckminster Fuller invented the Dymaxion fog gun water vapor shower. It uses only a cup of water and inspires a generation of burst-oriented, super water-conserving heads.

4) AQUA-MON, an electronic Water Use Monitor and Leak Detector. This gadget constantly monitors your water use and displays it on a 10-segment red L.E.D. bargraph. When water is used, 1-10 L.E.D.'s light up, depending on the amount of water being used. Normal operation means the device lights up when any faucet is open and can be adapted specifically to showers. You know you have a leak when lights come on but don't go off.

6) Use a bucket. Forget about installing new accessories. Allow shower to fill bucket while soaping yourself over. Turn off shower and dump bucket over body to rinse. Inexpensive alternative.

7) Share the shower. Shower with your children or your partner. Use less water, get even more efficient and still get clean! This is a new way to make the best use of what you have. Make it fun.

8) Create your own dream shower. Find an outdoor waterfall. Go swimming at the beach. Devise some other eco-friendly practices that enable you to wash with minimal water use and minial damage to the environment.

Feedback as soul food

If each of us is truly honest with ourselves, we would have to admit there have been times when our behaviour has been unsuitable and even disrespectful to others.  If we refuse to acknowledge our "faux pas," or do nothing to avoid such behaviour in the future, then we refuse to learn from the past and focus on our perceived headaches.  Are you aware that a perceived mistake or sense of failure is an inappropriate basis to define your self-worth or value?

If you haven't been as honest with yourself as you could be, then you may identify more with people you think make your life difficult than admit your perception is the real issue. Supervisors will complain about their employees.  Staff will complain about bosses.  Partners will complain about each other's behavior.  Parents and children will disagree at any age. You may even disagree with your pet's actions. Do you assume everyone but you is the problem?

You may be the sort of person who can't seem to live with others yet, you can't seem to live without companionship or other relationships either.  You may engage in relationships because you're convinced you need things from them. Remember people interact for diverse reasons. Some people desire to give more than they receive.  Others don't know how to give or take. Whatever your case, you need not be hurting yourself or others in the process.  What can you do about you?

1) Remind yourself relationships reinforce your existence.  You choose how you will permit them to influence your life.  People enable you to get-to-know-yourself better and enable you to learn to work through relationships, or they can be your excuse for living an unsatisfactory life.  Consider whether you sell yourself short. 

2) Teach yourself relationships have costs and benefits. It takes time, attention and energy, yet, becoming mindful of why you engage in certain relationships and what you get out of them will show you whether your efforts are meaningful and justifiable. Perhaps you could become more or less results-oriented. Is your current mindset detrimental? Do you aim to serve others or self-interest?

3) Accept you learn from all relationships.  Not all relationships appear to be in our interest.  You may be asked to interact with people you dislike.  You may have uncomfortable tasks of firing people, mediating conflicts or often be in places with difficult people.  Ask yourself if you can learn from the process.   If you discern you have self-defeating tendencies, if you always seem to focus on what isn't working for you, can you rise above a troublesome attitude and perceive differently?

Turn away from recklessness

If you desire to change some part of yourself, nothing has to stop you.  You fuel your dreams. The road to awakening begins with you from inside.  If you didn't have tha ability or potential, then you wouldn't recognize that desire. 

Turn away from recklessness. Become concerned about the consequences of each of your actions. Stop being careless.  Cease to be indifferent.  Refuse to deny or ignore what you haven't yet done. 

Learn to recognize that each person you meet, each choice you make about how to spend your time, each food you decide to eat, each choice you postpone or tackle, all define who you are and whether or not you wish to improve some aspect of your life. It's really your prerogative.

Think of the many ways you can make you day count. Choose to be productive. Decide you'll set new goals, recruit new partners, engage new clients, serve people who's life you'll open to new options.  As you make conscious decisions to raise your awareness about yourself and how you can improve what you do for yourself and for others, you will be making the world a better place. You will be building on your personal contribution. You will be making an even bigger difference than before.

Appreciate where you are & why

Talking about your big dreams and all those things you work toward may cause you to overlook the success you experience already.  To this point, all of your accomplishments help define who you are.  This includes feelings, measurable and immeasurable experiences with outcomes.

Think about your current situation. Consider what you have had to learn and endure to reach this point in life. Consider people who have helped you, from friends, relatives, teachers or strangers you have met along the way. Maybe you think planets were aligned in order for you to recognize certain opportunities? Imagine you were offering feedback. What kinds of advice would you like to hear? You're proof that you've evolved from where you were to where you are.  Where to next?

Recognize how many people are contributing toward you future success. People you have likely never met made the paper on which you write, the computer on which you type, the car in which you drive, and clothing which you wear to make a lasting impression. How have people contributed to your endeavours and goals? What you learned in the past helped you shape vies of success. Elements and cooperation beyond your control enable you to do what you do now. Learn to value the invisible contributions.  This helps you rise above a sense of doing things alone.

Remind yourself that life doesn't have to be a source of frustration just because you haven't yet accomplished what you require to realize longer-term ideas of success.  Whenever you become focused on those things that seem to elude you, those things that motivate you, you often invite suffering and anticipation.  You also distract yourself from all the great things you've already done to get where you are. How easily we forget?

Of course, the next new thing is always just around the corner. You can permit yourself to focus on what you desire, a situation which simply continues so nothing really satisfies you. Learn to open your mind to possibilities outside your original notions of success.  As you permit your hopes to become more flexible, you will also have more energy to focus on making the most of what kinds of success you have already known and still experience now. 

11 tips for a more eco-friendly business

Widespread discussion in mainstream media stress the need to think more about the environment and how we are interdependent with ecosystems and other creatures. That's all well and good, but many people are more interested in concrete suggestions of how to take action.  At the same time, people are also concerned about their livelihoods and how they could strategically revise what they do now to be more sustainable.  Consider a comprehensive assessment of how you live and how you run your business.

1) Review energy use. Take a look at your monthly bill. Where can you cut back? Do you use energy efficient light bulbs? Do you turn off lights in areas which aren't being used? How and when do you adjust thermostat temperatures? Are you aware of the state of ceiling insulation?  Learn how to install timers which turn lights off automatically. Ask utilities about energy audits.

2) Sift through your trash. Do you know what you're throwing away? Paper can be used on both sides.  Empty boxes can be re-used for packaging or storage.  Organic waste can be composted. many materials can be recycled. You can investigate options for larger-scale office recycle programs for specific kinds of materials.

3) Evaluate office materials. What do you really need? How can you reduce monthly office supplies? Analyze your office habits.  Electronic communication like e-mail can store copies of letters and reduce or eliminate the need for paper. Do you buy pen and typrwriter cartidge refills? Do you recycle photocopier ink jets? Do you recycle computer parts and other items? If you haven't already, investigate what is possible. You have more options than you really think.

4) Go digital. Radiology departments and offices, libraries, photography shops and other companies benefit from eliminating film and replacing it with digital systems. Film materials can be recycled. Electronic versatility and storage reduces or eliminates need for toxic chemicals.

5) Explore the telecommute.  Would it be reasonable for employees to work at home part of the week?  Computers permit teleconferencing, email, intranets and other means of staying in touch.  Encouraging independent work can improve team spirit when staff get together.  Ask your in-house IT person about options of connecting people on distance systems.  Reflect on tasks that staff can do at home. This reduces cars on road, gas, utilities and other office supplies used too.

6) Tax breaks. Governments offer tax breaks to businesses for taking different initiatives to help the local environments. Are you informed about what is available and advisable in your area? This goes further than sponsoring local events in exchange for a tax deduction. You can do subsidized renovations on office buildings and make them more eco-friendly.  You can also look into partnering with government departments for mutually-benficial results. You're limited only by imagination and ingenuity.

7) Incentive for staff teamwork. Interact with your staff and suggest monthly competitions for different departments to develop more eco-friendly office practices and staff behavior. Offer them incentive for everything from changing coffee brands and cleaners to be as innovative as possible.  Encouraging self-directed accomplishments and creativeity can come back and benefit the business in other ways, such as increased energy level, enthusiasm and belief in the future. 

8) Revise technology use. How many employees are on perks like mobile phones, beepers and office vehicles? Are you aware of the best plans, leases and outsourced services possible or do you need them at all? You may be using things you really don't need. Do  a complete overhaul.

9) Sharing space. Could you share space with another company to reduce costs? If you use an office only part of a week, perhaps you'd consider renting space in another company's larger office. If you work at home, two home businesses could function in smaller space than you might realize.

10) Networking.  if you network once-a-year at an annual convention, this isn't the same as commuting to events every week or every month. Do you need to send as many salespeople as you do to each function? Could you choose to participate in fewer in-person events and develop clients and relationships in other ways? Get creative. Reduce travel time, use of energy and consider new alternatives. How could you do things differently with the same or better results?  This goes beyond increaing sales objectives. What else adds value? Forums, business journals on-line and blogs will help.

11) Set an example. Whatever you suggest to other people, remind yourself you set the standard.  It would be advisable to raise the bar as a motivator and inspiration.