We must be crazy.

As I write this post, I am surrounded and inspired by a view of trees, plants, fields and mountains and nearby, although not in view, are some of the most spectacular areas of Turkey's Mediterranean coastline. These natural surroundings are not just aesthetically pleasing but also fascinate me from engineering and managerial perspectives. I spent my early career in a design engineering environment before moving into various managerial positions. I found that my engineering training helped me tremendously in understanding commercial business from a systems perspective, particularly when trying to optimise productivity. Now productivity is the product of efficiency and effectiveness, or put another way, a measure of doing things right and doing the right things. As an example and in a production environment, if a factory is producing 100 units per day of which 20% are defective, the productivity is 80 units per day. The same productivity could be achieved by slowing down the production rate to 80 units per day but ensuring no defects. So reducing the efficiency (production rate) but improving the effectiveness (number without defects, i.e. quality) achieves the same productivity.

As I gaze through the window in my office I see natural efficiency and effectiveness in action. For example, in close proximity is a group of 20 mature trees, which collectively absorb about 400 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year and produce enough oxygen to satisfy the needs of about 40 human beings. Also, that group of trees is absorbing about 7000 litres of water each day through the root systems as well producing glucose to feed the trees! Those numbers impress me from the points of view of both efficiency and effectiveness. I can't imagine a man-made machine that could operate 24/7 in my front garden absorbing that amount of dangerous carbon dioxide, that could otherwise add to the frightening build-up of greenhouse gases, as well as produce life-sustaining oxygen for our planet's inhabitants and glucose for the tree. I live on a flood plain so it's also very reassuring to know that the trees are 'pumping' so much water out of the ground each day. Those trees are clearly both highly efficient and effective and therefore extremely productive.

But these trees and millions of others in the world are under constant threat from the very species that they are helping to survive - mankind! As I look around inside my office I see many products that are derived from trees, including furniture, printer paper, books, bills, receipts, filing boxes full of important documents, etc. so these products have reduced the amount of natural absorption of carbon dioxide as well as reducing the generation of life-sustaining oxygen. The products that aren't derived from trees, e.g. plastics, metals, concrete, glass, etc, all use fossil fuels in their manufacture and distribution, pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

So the extremely efficient, effective and therefore, productive natural processes are constantly battling against the human species' desire to plunder the earth's resources. In the case of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to greenhouse gases, there is now very strong evidence that we are creating more than is being absorbed and the climatic consequences are being felt. Yet despite our ingenuity and track record of innovation, we continue to be oblivious to our actions. The population continues to increase, economic growth is seen as a prerequisite to support the rising population and so the viscous cycle continues........ We must be crazy.