Is Going Green Nothing More Than a Marketing Gimmick

Running head: MARKETING GIMMICK 1 Is Going Green Nothing More Than a Marketing Gimmick? Ong Shi Meng MARKETING GIMMICK 2 Is Going Green Nothing More Than a Marketing Gimmick? â€Å"Marketing† has a lexical definition, which is â€Å"theory and practice of commercial selling†, whereas the persuasive definition is â€Å"the activities of promoting products or services in order to gain profits or other advantages by changing consumers’ attitudes towards a brand†. Green marketing is somewhat similar, but it is the activities of promoting products or services that are presumed to be eco-friendly.There are many perspectives on green marketing, for example, it is just a marketing strategy of a corporate and it is mainly targeting on consumers who are concern of environmental issues. To put it simply, a business is utilizing green marketing tactics when their marketing message is targeting the eco-conscious members of the target market, for example, a Web hosting provider markets itself as environmentally friendly to prospective customers by touting the fact that their facilities is run by wind or solar power.Another example would be in food marketing, where you’ll find products marketed as organic or pushing the fact that it’s from local farmers (meaning less preservatives and less waste in transporting the food). Essentially, the marketing campaign revolves to some degree around appealing to a consumer base trying to be more environmentally friendly. While my overall outlook on green marketing is a positive one, because of its consumer-driven and often altruistic to at least a degree, I do think there’s a flip-side where certain green marketing techniques are simply gimmicks.First, there’s green-washing, the false claims about environmental issues to raise concerns with the public, convincing them there’s a problem that may not even exist, and then pushing your product as a solution. In this case, consume rs who fall for the trick are committing the fallacy of inappropriate appeal to authority. According to McGraw-Hill (2012), the fallacy means we look to an authority in a MARKETING GIMMICK 3 field other than that under investigation.Similarly, consumers tend to buy green products from an authority that is not specialized or professional in environmental issues. This is just deceitful, and we’re in a day and age now where it’s very likely you’ll be caught and publicly exposed. Lie is a deliberate attempt to mislead without prior consent of the target (McGraw-Hill, 2012). I also think the premium prices for green products will eventually become a thing of the past.As people come to  expect  more products to be environmentally friendly, their willingness to pay more (looking at the items as special in some way) will diminish. However, with the demand rooted in personal convictions, I don’t think the demand for green products will fade to match that price issue – companies will find a way to go green for less. When it comes to green marketing, the real key is to be sincere. If you truly care about the environment, and are acting out of that concern first and foremost, consumers will notice.Taking actions is definitely more effective than using emotive language, language that is purposely chosen to elicit certain emotional impact in order to promote products which might be useless for consumers. Focus on building a more sustainable business beyond simply being able to increase prices or appeal to the eco-savvy markets. MARKETING GIMMICK 4 References McGraw-Hill. (2012). Think. New York: NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Applying Ecological Principles for Koala

Ecology has been defined as the branch of science that deals with the biotic and abiotic environment surrounding an organism. It takes into accounts the different types of relationships prevailing between an organism and their immediate surrounding and the environment. The study of ecology emphasizes on the significance of such relationships on sustainability of organism. Various ecological principles are set for maintain an optimum natural environment and ensure the safety of endangered species of Australia. Our current report focuses on a particular animal of Australia, the Koala, which is considered to be one of the threatened species in the country. The report elaborates the ecology of the concerned animal, the relevant ecological issues concerning the species and tries to manifest how ecological principles can be applied in order to create a sustainable environment for conservation of our chosen animal species. The scientific name of the animal is Phascolarctoscinereus. Following is the detailed taxonomic classification of the animal: Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Sub-phylum: Vertebrata; Class: Mammalia; Sub-class: Marsupialia; Order: Diprotodontia; Sub-order: Vombatiformes; Family: Phascolarctidae; Genus: Phascolarctos; Species: Cinereus(Iucnredlist.org, 2016). It is classified as Animalia because of its capability of locomotion and its multicellular and heterotrophic characteristics. Presence of Spinal cord classifies it as Chordate and Vertebrate. Koalas produce milk to feed their young ones, hence they are Mammals. Presence of pouches to carry their young ones qualifies them as Marsupials. The arrangement of their teeth on the jaw and fusion of the second and third digits in its back paw puts it in the order Diprotodontia. Koala is the only still existing member of its family Phascolarctidae. Several characteristics like type and number of teeth and digits are considered to classify it into this family. Considering the features of its urogenital tract, spermatozoa, karyotype and serology it is stated to belong to the genus Phascolarctos.Ecology of Koala Koalas are one of the few animal species of Australia that solely depend on the foliage of Eucalyptus for the source of energy and nutrient. However, specific species of eucalyptus are preferred by the animal and accordingly their population is distributed with their preferred tree species.In general Koalas have a sedentary lifestyle and are solitary animals. Most of them live in overlapping home ranges, which aid them in the process of mating. Both males and females start mating at an age of around two to three years and generally give birth each year. Over-browsing of trees has been a sustainability issue in many areas, which has led to undertaking of several actions like habitat protection, fertility suppression and translocation (Mc Lean 2003). Studies have shown that the tree species koalas use for resting are not necessarily the same species they use for feeding purposes and hence studying their feeding patterns are somewhat difficult (Marsh et al 2014).It has been reported that Koala population increased dramatically in the late 1800s and suffered a considerable decline in the late 1900s due to ecological factors. Currently Koalas are found in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia (Melzer et al 2000). In most of the regions the animal has been declared to be Vulnerable by the Australian Government. Koalas were declared to be a threatened species in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) by the Australian Government. Further the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared Koala to be a â€Å"Potentially Vulnerable† species(Savethekoala.com, 2016). Several ecological factors have been identified that have a direct impact on the survival of the animal. Loss of habitat is the most significant of all the issues in this regard. Expansion of human settlement and demands of modern life like roads, factories, agriculture and housing has caused much loss of the wildlife habitats where the animals were already found. Due to increased human population, subsequent increase in cars and dogs has turned to be a serious threat to the animal species. Around 4000 koala deaths have been reported to be caused by cars and domestic dogs each year (Cork et al 2000). It has been reported that Koalas suffer from various diseases such as conjunctivitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infection and reproductive tract infection that might lead to infertility. Chlamydia is most prevalent pathogen found to be affecting the species (Waugh et al 2016). Other threats faced by koalas are bushfires and danger from other wild animals. Ecology deals with the interactions and interrelationships at various levels ranging from populations and communities to ecosystems and biospheres. Populations comprise interbreeding groups of animals belonging to the same species and inhabiting in the same habitat. When populations of different species interact, communities are formed. Ecosystems are the abiotic and biotic components of a predefined area that influences all the populations and communities of that region. Biosphere includes all the biological and physical processes that directly or indirectly influence life on Earth. Several ecological principles play an important role in maintaining a harmony between all the components of an ecosystem. Ecological interdependence is a key factor that determines the survival of a species. Despite of dynamic changes in the ecological systems each and every species residing in a particular area are dependent on other animals and plants. This dependence arises mainly from the food chain and for obtaining energy and nutrients. Each component of an ecosystem aims at reaching goals that are beneficial for the whole and any organism that acts against this notion is considered as a disturbing factor for the overall ecological harmony. Human beings play a huge role in altering ecosystems by changing the physical environment of the same and disturbing the residing organism of the particular region. This proves to be detrimental to the human species itself on the long run. It has been already discussed that changes in the habitat is the most concerning ecological issue for koalas, where human play a significant part(Little et al 2007).Loss of habitat can cause longstanding impacts on the intera ction between the biotic components of an ecosystem. Human intervention must be stopped to conserve the Koala habitats. This can be done by forming certain legislations and laws on part of the government and thus restricting human impact on concerned regions. Koalas solely thrive on eucalyptus plants that too on certain species of the plants are preferred by the animal. Loss of habitat may lead to loss of certain species of the plant essential for survival of Koalas. Disruption of the food chain due to such losses is often life threatening for animals species. Even natural disturbances affect the population and species of an ecosystem. Natural disturbances can influence the shape size     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and distribution of ecosystems and subsequently thre animal species residing there. The intensity and frequency of forest fires have shapes ecosystems in several regions of the earth. Composition and structure of habitats need to be studied at a landscape level to get an insight about the impacts of natural disturbances. For terrestrial ecosystems the species and community composition and the patch size distribution are of utmost relevance. Bushfire have caused much harm to Koalas consistently. Certain measures are necessary to prevent such fires and deaths of the vulnerable species. Chlamydial diseases in Koalas continue to be one of the most common diseases occurring in the animal (Timms 2005). The causes of preventable disease caused by Chlamydial infection needs to be identified and preventable measures should be taken to avoid further deaths due to such causes. Koalas of Australia are already considered a vulnerable species. Several ecological factors that influence the habitat and consequently their survival of the species have been addressed. Loss of habitat being the most determining factor for the decline in the animal population in recent years needs immediate attention. The indispensible step that needs to be taken is preventing and/or restricting impact of humans on the habitat of the animal. Certain natural disturbances like diseases and bushfires needs to be studied to figure out preventive measures. The role of the government is crucial in this regard. Laws and guidelines must be set considering the significance of the alarming situation. After formulation of such laws the government must ensure effective implementation of the same in order to reach the desired goals.   Bioweb.uwlax.edu. (2016).Classification. [online] Available at: https://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2007/mundt_meli/classification.htm [Accessed 22 Oct. 2016]. Cork, S.J., Clark, T.W. and Mazur, N., 2000. Introduction: an interdisciplinary effort for koala conservation.  Conservation Biology,  14(3), pp.606-609. Iucnredlist.org. (2016).Phascolarctoscinereus (Koala). [online] Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/16892/0 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2016]. Little, G., Lau, T.A., Cypher, A., Lin, J., Haber, E.M. and Kandogan, E., 2007, April. Koala: capture, share, automate, personalize business processes on the web. In  Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems  (pp. 943-946). ACM. Marsh, K.J., Moore, B.D., Wallis, I.R. and Foley, W.J., 2014. Continuous monitoring of feeding by koalas highlights diurnal differences in tree preferences.  Wildlife Research,  40(8), pp.639-646. Mc Lean, N., 2003.  Ecology and management of overabundant koala (Phascolarctoscinereus) populations  (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Melbourne). Melzer, A., Carrick, F., Menkhorst, P., Lunney, D. and John, B.S., 2000.Overview, critical assessment, and conservation implications of koala distribution and abundance.  Conservation Biology,  14(3), pp.619-628. Savethekoala.com. (2016).The Koala - Endangered or Not? | Australian Koala Foundation. [online] Available at: https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/koala-endangered-or-not [Accessed 22 Oct. 2016]. Timms, P., 2005. Chlamydial infection and disease in the koala.  Microbiology Australia,  26(2), pp.65-68. Waugh, C., Hanger, J., Timms, P. and Polkinghorne, A., 2016. Koala translocations and Chlamydia: Managing risk in the effort to conserve native species.  Biological Conservation,  197, pp.247-253. With a decade's experience in providing essay help,

Vincent by Don Mclean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vincent by Don Mclean - Essay Example He was residing in Massachusetts in an attractive federal designed residence. This house was referred to as the Sedgwick house. The Sedgwick household included an interesting individual whom Andy Warhol had worked with in the 60s, Edie Sedgwick. McLean composed the song in his dwelling that was filled with antiques. The motivation occurred to him one sunrise while he was on the veranda going through a work on Gogh. McLean discovered that a song about the artist could be composed out of Starry Night, the painting. The song makes use of the strings, guitar, vibraphone, and accordion (Whitburn 166). This paper will analyze the song, Vincent, by Don McLean, focusing on the lyrics, symbol, context, writing technique and how the music blends with the meaning of the song. The composer’s lyrics highlight his life situations. The lyrics of the song highlight how the writer comprehends what the difficulties of an artist are like. He asserts that the society does not know the reasons tha t make artists write or paint. McLean has experienced this situation himself. The writer of the song has come across the paintings of Vincent and has comprehended what Vincent was attempting to illustrate. The writer is attempting to communicate to the listeners that no individual would pay attention to what Vincent was attempting to say, and that individuals did not appreciate the correct meaning of the paintings because they perceived him as peculiar. The composer’s foremost point is that the society should become tolerant. The reiteration of the words, ‘starry starry night’, highlights the significance of the heavens. Vincent enjoyed night time and he had the ability to paint the skies with numerous stars. In the last chorus, Mclean asserts, â€Å"They would not listen, they are not listening still, perhaps they never will.† This shows how Van Gogh was not appreciated as a painter until he died (Whitburn 166). There is the use of symbol in McLeanâ€℠¢s song. The opening phrase, Starry Starry Night, is an indication of the painting, The Starry Night, by Van Gogh. The painting of Van Gogh and the song of Don McLean signifies what it feels like when an individual is not understood. The lines, â€Å"Paint your palette blue and gray† highlight the outstanding colors of Van Gogh’s painting, and they most likely are a testimonial to Van Gogh’s behavior of biting or sucking on his paint brushes during painting. The phrases, â€Å"ragged men in ragged clothes† and â€Å"how you tried to set them free† illustrates Van Gogh’s liking for the socially banished and humanitarian events. This is also highlighted in Van Gogh’s drawings and paintings. In addition, the lyrics, â€Å"They would not listen, they did not know how† signifies the family and a number of people who were significant of Van Gogh’s compassion to those presumed to be miserable (Whitburn 166). Finally, the line, â€Å"How you suffered for your sanity† symbolizes the schizophrenic condition which Van Gogh experienced. There are a number of situations that help in composing the song. McLean composed the song in his dwelling filled with antiques. The motivation occurred to him one sunrise while he was on the veranda going through a work on Van Gogh. McLean discovered that a song about the artist could be composed out of Starry Night, the painting. In addition, Van Gogh worked on his painting when he was experiencing one of his most trying times of his existence (Whitburn 166). During this time, he was put in prison in an asylum at Saint Remy. Van Gogh

Nelson Mandela Speech to the UN Special Committee against Apartheid Essay

Nelson Mandela Speech to the UN Special Committee against Apartheid - Essay Example Nelson Mandela Speech to the UN Special Committee against Apartheid This paper refers to Mandela’s speech after the declaration and was a follow up regarding what was happening regarding apartheid in South Africa. Since then the UN passed many resolutions regarding apartheid. In 1976 the UN Centre against apartheid was created. Prior to Mandela’s speech in 1990, the General Assembly adopted the â€Å"Declaration on Apartheid and its Destructive Consequences in South Africa†. This declaration called for negotiations between all parties to end apartheid and create a democracy free from racial discrimination. Nelson Mandela is the person giving the speech to the Special Committee against Apartheid. He is giving the speech because even though the journey to stop apartheid had began through UN efforts, he believed that nothing much was happening in South Africa especially after the declaration by the UN General Assembly in December 1989. The speech was made to the Special Committee against Apartheid in New York in June 1990. The audience included the permanent representative and Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid, the President of the UN General Assembly, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Excellencies and permanent representatives of the UN and Heads and Observer Missions. The audience represented people from around the world who were member states of the United Nations. This was a forum of member states of the United Nations and a great opportunity for Nelson Mandela to explain the oppressiveness of Apartheid to the world.

Napoleon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Napoleon - Essay Example On the other hand, there are a number of other historians who consider Napoleon as a real military despot who was a tyrant, aggressor and autocrat who cared for his fame and popularity alone. This paper seeks to explore the military and personal life of Napoleon and attempts to show how criticisms and interpretations of Napoleon’s life varied from one historian (researcher) to another. Ralph Jean-Paul in his article entitled â€Å"Napoleon Bonapartes Guide to Leadership† suggests a number of reasons why Napoleon should be regarded as one of the best leaders the world has ever seen. For him, Napoleon’s leadership style included â€Å"all of the major and minor characteristics that make a brilliant leader†1. For him, Napoleon was a great motivator and charismatic speaker who could win the trust and loyalty of his generals and soldiers ‘by promising them victory and glory’, employing ‘new ways to make things work’, appreciating and awarding the achievement of his soldiers, and leading the battles from the front. However, Ralph Jean-Paul also argues that it was his deteriorating confidence after his loss to the Russians in the War of the Sixth and his lack of trust in his followers that culminated in his ultimate defeat (Jean-Paul). Similarly, Jared Stenzel tries to answer whether Napoleon was a real hero or a tyrant and he purports that Napoleon was more of a tyrant than a hero. The author argues that Napoleon was very much a tyrant as he never believed his followers and entrusted people to spy on them, either jailed or killed people who opposed him, and never offered freedom of speech and expression to his followers and the newspapers2. Justin Patterson, in this respect offers a balanced view of why Napoleon was considered to be a real French revolutionary who was a hero to his people and loved his nation so much and how he turned out to be a military despot in the latter part of his military career.

Does a cervical collar immobilization device improve patient outcomes Research Paper

Does a cervical collar immobilization device improve patient outcomes - Research Paper Example One of the reasons for such uncertainty is the lack of effective measure to evaluate and ascertain the extent of injury to the patient in the prehospital stage in the emergency scenario. Another reason is the lack of proper definition for immobilization. While some experts recommend immobilization as a routine protocol in all resuscitation protocols, a few of them question the very application of cervical immobilization arguing that it has very little impact on the outcomes of the patient. In many hospital protocols, selective spinal immobilization has been employed and the emergency medical personnel decide whether cervical immobilization, cervical collar or long spine board is necessary for the patient. It is a well known fact that early management of an individual with suspected or potential cervical spine injury begins at the accident scene. This is because of the chief concern that impairment of the neurologic function can ensue due to pathologic motion of the vertebrae that are injured. It has been estimated that 3- 25 percent of spinal cord injuries occur after the traumatic insult during early treatment or transit. Mishandling of cervical spine results in poor outcomes. Thus, spinal immobilization has become an integral part of prehospital spinal care until injury to the spine is rules out. A cervical collar, also known as neck brace, is a medical equipment which is used to support the cervical spinal cord of the patient. The collar mainly stabilizes the cervical vertebrae C1-C7. The exact definition of cervical spinal immobilization is yet unclear. In a retrospective study by Jin et al (p.401), the researchers examined the sensitivity of a prehospital protocol in which there are 5 criteria for immobilization of spine and they are presence of any neurological deficit, decreased awareness in terms of time, person and place, presence of intoxication, pain on palpation of the spine and age of atleast 65 years. This study included 238 victims of trauma. Of these, atleast 236 individuals had atleast one of the five criteria and thus received immobilization. Of the 2 cases who has no positive findings and hence did not receive any immobilization, one had a small fissure in the arch of C2 and the other had fracture of the transverse process of L3. Both the patients were discharged within 24 hours. Thus, it can be said that hospital protocols for spinal immobilization can be sensitive upto 99.2 percent. The effectiveness and benefits of immobilization of the spine depends on the perfection in application of the immobilization technique. Generally, immobilization of spine consists of a cervical collar that supports either side of the head, and the long and short back boards which have straps attached to them to immobilize the rest of the body. Mozalewski (cited in AANS, p.6) opined that unless the motion of trunk also was minimized along with motion of head, spine immobilization was ineffective. The literature review by AANS (p.6) drew som e implications about spine immobilization practices in an emergency setting. The review opines that studies pertaining to spinal immobilization are limited because none of the studies actually evaluate the full range of available devices. However, from whatever results are available, it appears that a combination of cervical collar immobilization with supportive straps on a rigid long spinal

The Cold War Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cold War Era - Essay Example The telegram was based on the need to help introduce capitalism in USSR economies with a view that it would aid in addressing democracy and end the employment of socialism devices that serve interests of reactionary capital, despite conflicts-filled capitalistic economies which generate wars; intra-capitalistic between capitalists and wars of intervention by capitalists against socialists. The idea was to reduce the strength and influence of USSR and the socialist friends, introduction of revolutionary upheavals within capitalistic societies and enhance democratic progressivism to bear pressure on capitalistic societies but in line with soviet interests (Roberts pp.2-17). The justification was that majority of the citizens in the socialist economies did not enjoy fruits of their labor, the need to revolutionize urbanization and industrialization, the need to unify capitalistic economies with socialists for a peaceful coexistence and find equilibrium of Marxism in separation of both i nternal and international powers. The significance of this telegram can be traced on the importance of destabilizing the major political western powers who at some point were considered dangerous by their military prowess, the need to advance democracy and rule of law, to financially empower citizens in the socialist economies and promote international harmony between societies. As a witness of history, many questions arise on the implementation of the international policy as stated in the telegram; whether communism as illustrated in the telegram constituted the highlighted atrocities and whether the policies could apply to all other socialist economies apart from USSR considering the weak financial backing (Schumpeter, 9). The second document is a telegram from Walter Bedell Smith, Ambassador to the Soviet Union, to George Marshall, the secretary of state, named â€Å"Top Secret† that sought to notify the realization of United States’ economic plans in the Soviet Uni on as dangerous and that the Soviet government was not to pursue aggressive aims in their foreign policy, but would desire to rehabilitate and reconstruct its own internal economy. It stressed out on the Soviet trade agreements with England, Belgium, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries with which they were willing to incorporate the United States but agitated by the United States’ aggressive economic policies and the erroneous picture by the United States’ press and public officials. The major argument and justification was that dynamism of democratic forces ought to have been more vigilant, alert and aggressive to protect liberty and the fact that it was impossible for American government or citizens to believe that coup d’etat in Czechoslovakia could have been achieved without direct support of Soviet Union (Smith, pp.71-79). The major questions on this document is whether the foreign policy of the United States at the time can be measured with todayâ€℠¢s more so on the need to stabilize economic conditions and aspire for political development (McCann, 6) in the United States? The third document was from Charles Murphy to the secretary of state, Lloyd Bell, dated July 31, 1951 which stressed out the observations of the then American-soviet relations in a bid to achieve peaceful relations between the two economies; more so guided by the fact that Soviet Union was the guiding center of the communist world in relation to the United States’