Working on the next issue of About People newsletter

Meetings yesterday.

Had three meeting yesterday for interview for About People newsletter which will be out end of February.

Business Master Minds
Angelique Milojevic - Managing Director - Business MasterMinds Pty Ltd

A real inspiration to meet and talk too. I will be publishing part of the video interview next week and an article in the Who's who of women in the next issue of About People

St George Bank
One of the stories for About People will be on banking and how the banks sustainability fits with sustainability at a local community level. So yesterday I interviewed Pauline Gregg and Rebecca Warren from St George bank on how they are developing policy that works with communities. Pauline Gregg has recently taken up the position of "Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Affairs" I expressed a desire to set an ongoing dialogue and will report on St George's developments in sustainability.

I will also be interviewing other banks as well. Next week I will be interviewing Geoff Grimley who is part of the steering committee for Bendigo banks community bank in Newport.

Climate Action Steering group.
The other meeting I had yesterday was with Lindsay Soutar who is member of Climate Action Newtown and part of the steering group for the national co-ordination of all Climate Action Groups across the whole of Australia. The campaign being organised is for a 100% renewables. Climate Action groups across Australia want to have one voice on the issue of 100% renewables. This is also because in Australia we will be having a federal election this year and Climate Action groups across Australia want to be prepared for the election.

I am also a member of the Climate action Pittwater the steering group had its first meeting for the year to organise and mobilise the action plan for the year and become part of the national campaign for 100% renewables.

About People
The next issue of About People will cover a diverse rang of topics and will be of interest to broad group of people in business and people in general

Will report further over the weekend.

Ian Cleland - Editor of About People - Sustainability in business and people

Toward Sustainable Futures

This is the future.

Could we adopt this across the whole planet. This is true sustainability

Willie Smits long ago abandoned the customary role of the microbiologist. After working in the Indonesian rainforest for three decades (and marrying a tribal queen), he has taken it upon himself to regrow the delicate ecosystems ravaged by ruthless forestry, and invent a hi-tech system for harvesting sustainable ethanol from sugar palms (without even cutting down the plant, or "harvesting its organs," as he puts it).

Indonesia is now the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses and the largest producer of palm oil, a dubious substance that ends up as ethanol and cheap food additives. Smits' alternative not only produces sustainable ethanol, but dries food, pumps out clean energy and water, and offers satellite telecommunications to local farmers.

The video bought tears to my eyes in the realisation that this can and should be done right across the whole planet. We have to move away from mono-culture. This video is showing us the way it can be done


Ian Cleland
Toward Suatianble Futures