Stanley Fisher: Greening The System

 

jan-1-2008-greening-the-bureaucracy.jpgGreening is great! The best part is that when you green, you are not only taking a positive step towards rebuilding our environment, when done right there is great potential to save time and money as well. One of the major goals of greening is to reach a higher level of efficiency. How can I do this with less waste? Less waste = more money.

If it takes less energy to do, you’re giving off less greenhouse gases and you’ll have cheaper energy bills. If you can use fewer materials, you are using up less of our precious resources and there are less overhead costs. If you can recycle, there is less waste, and well, there is less waste. At least in theory those are the goals.

Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, at a speech on Sunday to the Manufacturers Association, declared that Israel’s biggest obstacle to foreign investment and economic growth is it’s own government. “Israeli bureaucracy is a problematic and disturbing factor in doing business,” the Jerusalem Post reports him saying, “The government must deal with this in spite of all the difficulties in grappling with issues of this sort.”

 

We think that the Israeli government has to green itself up. By becoming more efficient it will cut back on waste. Aside from the obvious greening effect of wasting less paper, it will find that it is saving on much more than that.

Just to point out a few… On phone bills, from less calling back and forth, following the bureaucratic tape. Time, getting more done. If other people trying to work through the system can take less time doing so, the government is saving for them as well. The list could go on forever.

Gov. Fischer has another point right, as well. In business we call this the competitive edge. If the government can get over itself and become more efficient, they will out perform their competitors. If you take the top performers, in any area, and compare them against the bottom performers, in that same area, you’ll see that they learned how to do just a few things, just a little better, and on a more consistent basis.

With the government performing just a little more efficiently, they will not only be outperforming others in the economic sphere, it will be much more pleasant for its citizens and finally, but perhaps most importantly, our world.

Jack Reichert
Jack Reicherthttps://www.greenprophet.com/
As far back as he can remember Jack Reichert has been interested in the environment. In the second grade, he rallied all of his classmates to donate one recess a week to cleaning up litter from the schoolyard. That was the same year that a city councilman asked him to help with his campaign because of the letter Jack had written asking him to clean up Boston Harbor. Ever since Jack has followed the development of the international green conscience with anticipation and hope that one day we will treat Mother Earth with the respect she deserves and not turn her into another Giving Tree. For tips, feedback and prophet sightings, Jack can be reached at jack (at) greenprophet (dot) com.

Read More

TRENDING

HelloFresh’s pride prepping ad raises a bigger question: we are we still outsourcing dinner?

The backlash against HelloFresh's Pride Month marketing campaign has sparked a wider conversation about food, labor, sustainability, and whether consumers should reconnect with local farmers, butchers, and home gardens instead of relying on subscription meal kits.

Regenerative Wool or Greenwashing? Zentera Responds to Critics

Zentera responds to questions about ZQ wool, animal welfare, regenerative farming, ethical fashion and the fallout from PETA's New Zealand investigation.

The Ocean’s Hidden ‘Dark Web’ Is Being Fished Before Scientists Understand It

Deep below the ocean's surface, in a dimly lit region known as the twilight zone, millions of fish are being caught every year. Scientists say the consequences are largely unknown.

Barnacle glue could fix coral reefs, inspire new advances in building and medicine

Aalto University researchers create a protein-based adhesive inspired by barnacles and mussels that works underwater and could aid coral reef restoration.

Jaakko Torvinen finds that the next green building revolution is misfit trees

Crooked, forked and curved trees are often treated as second-class timber. They are considered less valuable, and not suitable for load bearing walls or support systems in building. If a tree trunk is not straight enough to become a saw log, it is frequently diverted into pulp production or burned for energy. Now, new research from Aalto University could help change that.

Locals From Rishon Fight IKEA

Big Box stores are a pretty new concept in Israel, and thank God that not every Israeli city wants them in their backyard. A word from someone who has see the beautiful farmland around her hometown Newmarket, Ontario stripped and converted into vulgar strip malls of big box shops: they have no place in a healthy and sustainable town or city.

The Jewish National Fund Meets An Inconvenient Truth

According to the JNF, it has transformed thousands of acres of barren land into green forests in Israel. They state that each person emits about 23 tons of carbon per year, estimating that each tree planted can absorb one ton of carbon in its lifetime. That's a whole lot of trees you'd need to be planting. Could so many fit in Israel?

How to quiet noise from construction in your office

Streets need to be resurfaced in New York but the humming and grinding noise is unsettling. Noise is environmental pollution. 

EarthX and a blueprint for sustainable investing

Trammell S. Crow, a Dallas-based businessman and father of four, is focusing his efforts on impact investing, and media that focuses on saving the planet through EarthX.

Mining Afghanistan’s Mineral Discoveries Similar to Avatar

Now that American forces in Afghanistan are commemorating the longest period of any war that America has been involved in, including the 1965-73 Vietnam War, the recent discoveries of large and extremely valuable mineral and metal deposits may finally bring to light a reason to continue the presence of US fighting forces in this war torn and backward country.

From Pilot Plant to Global Stage: How Aduro Clean Technologies’ 2026 Expansion Signals a Turning Point for Chemical Recycling Investors Like Yazan Al Homsi

The company's Next Generation Process (NGP) Pilot Plant in London, Ontario, has officially moved into initial operating campaigns, generating the kind of structured, repeatable data that separates laboratory promise from commercial viability.

Nobul’s Regan McGee on Shareholder Value: “Complacency Is the Silent Killer” 

Why the governance framework designed to protect shareholders so...

Should You Invest in the Private Market?

startustartup Unlike public stock exchanges, which offer daily trading, strict...

Popular Categories