Observe Business

Easy Peasy Japanesey

Global Warming has received massive publicity in recent times. While there is considerable debate on the causes of the warming, or even if it is real, there is a lot of ‘something needs to be done’ going around. The ‘Kyoto Protocol’, which is a very complex negotiation that tries to deal with this. Al Gore won a Nobel prize for bringing attention to this issue. The solutions proposed are many and complex.

But according to this article from Sep 10, 2008 in the Los Angeles Times, here is one easy solution to Global Warming: Just paint all the roofs white! Roofs account for 25% of all global warming activity. If they reflected the light that falls upon them instead of absorbing it, then the earth would heat up just that little bit less.

OK, that is overstating it. I missed the whole ‘locavore’ thing, which is where people try to eat what is grown locally. The word ‘locavore’ got so much traction in 2007 that it was named the Oxford Word of the Year for 2007. The locavore movement was a big thing in San Francisco, which is where a lot of trends start.

Locavore is one of those situations that works on a case-by-case basis. Some places are better for local growing, others are better off importing. Different crops have vastly different economics. And as for meat, well, that is a whole new ballgame.

The best part of the locavore movement is that it made people think about their food supply.