Goal For The Green

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Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category

Who or What is SAM?

Feb-4-2012 By Barbara Zak

Who or What is SAM?

SAM is an acronym, that stands for Sustainable Asset Management, while CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Sustainability, was once only a core value and concern for a few niche companies.
As few as 500 companies, back in 1999, filed sustainability reports. Today, that number has grown to about 3,500 companies, that file sustainability reports. Concern for the environment and sustainability, have gone mainstream and become a core value of the corporate sector. Therefore, there is a reward, known as the SAM Sector Mover award, and this years winner is Bombardier.

SAM- Bombardier receives award

Bombardier

Bombardier (Photo credit: ponte1112)

MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire – Feb. 2, 2012) – Following its fifth consecutive listing as an index component on both the Dow Jones Sustainability World and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Indexes, Bombardier (TSX:BBD.A)(TSX:BBD.B) was awarded SAM Sector Mover, and SAM Gold Class in this year’s SAM Sustainability Yearbook 2012.

As the SAM Sector Mover, Bombardier ranks within the top 15% of its sector, Aerospace & Defense, and has achieved the largest proportional improvement in its sustainability performance over last year. Additionally, Bombardier received the SAM Gold Class award, ranking within 1% of the Sector Leader’s score.

“These awards represent international recognition of our sustainability practices, and are a testament to our performance over the past year. These results are a significant achievement in CSR ( corporate social responsibility) at Bombardier and our commitment to continue moving forward responsibly,” said Mr. Daniel Desjardins, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee Chairman, Bombardier Inc.

SAM – documenting and assessing sustainability performance since 1999

Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), provides benchmark indicators of sustainability. SAM has been assessing and documenting the sustainability performance of over 2,000 corporations on a yearly basis since 1999, and currently holds one of the largest global databases on corporate sustainability.

The world’s 2,500 largest companies (based on the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index) are invited to participate in SAM’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment every year. The survey results determine inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. Only the top 15%, from each of the 58 SAM sectors, qualify for inclusion in the Sustainability Yearbook.

The Corporate Sustainability Assessment evaluates criteria within the Economic Dimension, the Environmental Dimension and the Social Dimension. SAM assessed 19 of the total 31 companies within the Aerospace and Defense sector.

For more information about CSR at Bombardier, visit their dedicated website www.csr.bombardier.com For more information about the SAM Sustainability Yearbook 2012, visit: http://www.sam-group.com/int/sustainability-insight/the-sustainability-yearbook.jsp

About Bombardier

A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from commercial aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, systems and services, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2011, were $17.9 billion, and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). Bombardier is listed as an index component to the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America indexes. News and information are available at www.bombardier.com or follow them on Twitter @Bombardier. With major corporations stepping up and practicing SAM- sustainable asset management, we are all working toward a better tomorrow!

Educational Opportunities For A Green Future

Educational Opportunities for a green future are out there. However, if you are frustrated and thinking about starting your life over, I’m sure you have heard of the opportunity available in North Dakota, where you can be Bringing Home the Bacon from The Bakken!

It is no longer a secret, as mentioned in President Obama’s State of the Union Speech, that the North Dakota Oil Boom is creating jobs, wealth and unbelievable growth, on a scale not seen in the last 4o years.  Now, three years into this boom, it has attracted thousands of workers, with thousands more needed.  The problem has become, keeping up with the growth and demanding infrastructure needed, to deal with that growth and new influx of people. They are, and have been screaming for help, especially if you have skills in the construction field.  New towns and cities are developing from scratch , back there in no-where land.

Wind turbines (Vendsyssel, Denmark, 2004)

Image via Wikipedia

Educational Opportunities – Construction Management

However, if the frigid climate, is not your style, or quite what you had in mind, then perhaps, you might want to consider the educational opportunities available with  a Bachelor’s Degree from Westwood College, in Construction Trades.  Westwood College, is a member of the U.S. Green Building Coucil, and can help you enhance your green future with a Construction Management Degree.

Educational Opportunities- Wind Energy Training and Solar Careers

More great educational opportunities, are offered from Redstone College, in the area of Wind Energy Training .  In as little as 15 months, you could earn your Associates Degree, and be working on wind turbine towers.  There will be a need for technicians to install and operate these turbines as the industry expands.

Then of course, there is Boots On The Roof, where you can get it all, in a solar career.  They excel in training and certification for the solar industry.  They offer various solar training bootcamps for electricians and entrepreneurs, interested in starting their own solar business, or updating their skills and becoming solar certified. You can check at my prior post, and learn more about how you can Put Your Green Boots on the Roof! and the educational opportunities offered in an energy development career.

The purpose of this post, is to give you hope and unique educational opportunities, that can lead to a profitable green future, with an energy development career.  I hope you look over these educational opportunities, and explore a green future of working toward a better tomorrow.

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MatchBooks – A Great Idea!

Jan-20-2012 By Barbara Zak

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of MatchBook for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Everyone knows, collage education is expensive these days. So,if you’re paying for college or know somebody who is, you know what I’m talking about. Paying tuition is just part of the financial strain, that forces many students to live on a tight budget. That’s not all, the financial expense can put a strain on the entire family. Then, to add to that, there is the expense of books each quarter. Textbooks can be very costly, especially when students need to spend $100-$200 for just one textbook. That’s more than $1,000 a year,  in out of pocket expense. It can definitely be a huge hit to the wallet and pain point for students on a tight budget (and their families). It can even make a difference in attending or not attending classes.

Now, you can breathe easier and keep attending those classes. Thanks to MatchBooks. Their mission is simple but powerful: Matching Your Textbooks (content) so You Can Read for FREE!

                                                     Using Myer’s PsychologyTextbook? | READ FREE!

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you are taking General/Intro Psychology (101) this Spring semester, and the assigned book is “Psychology” Myers 9th edition. MatchBooks, has a FREE “matched book” for Myers Psych, that you can read online, with NO expiration date and NO fee!  You don’t even have to go anywhere to get the information you need, when you need it.

The team at Matchurbook.com starts with a high-quality open textbook. Then, they match it to the expensive book being used in a large “intro” course, like psychology.  MatchBooks, then follows the same chapter order, covers the same topics per chapter, and includes the same key terms as the assigned textbook, giving you a “matched book” that you can read for FREE online!  In many cases, you can even take psychology classes at home online, and just go in for testing. I did!  Even better, NOW you can do it all online, the entire course.  What makes MatchBooks even better is, you don’t need to worry about getting your copy.  I can recall, having to wait for a shipment to arrive of the course book I needed, and class had already started!  Just another reason, MatchBooks is such an amazing concept.

In the example here, the MatchBook team took, Introduction to Psychology by Charles Stangor, and rearranged the content to match the order of topics in the ninth edition of Psychology by David Myers. MatchBook for Myers Psych, is the very first MatchBook created. Students, you will want to be among the first to check it out at matchurbook.com.

Early reviews by both students and professors, are very positive, with more MatchBooks coming later this year, in different subjects.

Professors always take great care in selecting the right textbook for the courses they teach. There’s no question that students need access to the assigned textbooks to do well in class. But, the good news is, if students aren’t buying textbooks because they can’t afford them, MatchBooks is there to help!

MatchBooks, represent the best of all worlds: high quality textbooks written by great authors, that are matched to the assigned textbooks. MatchBooks, are published under a Creative Commons open license, which makes it possible for students to read online for FREE!  NO catch and NO expiration date.

Matchurbook.com is a project of Flat World Knowledge on Facebook, the world’s largest publisher of free and open college textbooks. Be sure to like them on Facebook.  MatchBooks, is here to make a difference in meeting your educational goals!

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