Transformation = Individual Increments --> Radical Change

[Note: links have been left visible in this article due to comments that embedded links - usual approach - are not always easily recognizable.]

We hear of "radical shifts" and "paradigm shifts."  History books record the beginning and end of an era as if there were full stop on activities before and after a given date range.

The reality is transitions, even radical ones, are incremental.  Something led to the transition.  Ideas, technological changes, natural changes.  If end state is very different from beginning state we call the change radical.  If the end state and beginning state are relatively similar we call the change incremental.  Both are actually incremental with differing magnitudes.

And why am I saying any of this?  To make a point: radical changes are just a different order of magnitude from incremental changes.  We can chose to believe a change is possible.  We can choose to believe a change is impossible.  In both cases we will be right not because of the difficulty of the change.  If we believe change is impossible we set our brains to look for zero order of magnitude.  If we believe change is possible, the amount of change that is possible is a reflection of the order of magnitude we decide to believe is possible.

As an example: eliminate known toxins from our products. 

Zero magnitude change = there are too many toxins, too many products, too many producers, too many different standards....why bother trying?

Incremental magnitude change = we can start with the top priorities, make a big impact, then work our way down the list.

Radical magnitude change = we can redefine our production systems to toxic free.  This way we do not need to filter out because we are starting with safer designs. 

You can see the three differences in a simple daily routine: reduce salt in my diet.

Zero magnitude change: food will not taste like anything and I cannot eat food without salt.

Incremental change: let me see which foods have the highest salt content and reduce the number of times I eat these foods

Radical change: look to replace the taste of salt.  Spices that taste like salt (e.g. cumin) are one option [chemical substitution]. You can get more recipe ideas here https://naturallysavvy.com/eat/ditch-the-salt-shaker-cook-with-herbs-spices. Increasing fresh food and decreasing food with preservatives is another option [material or product replacement].  Retrain one's palate to enjoy a different acquired taste is a third option [process alteration].

The paradigm shift: we now assert our ecological and social health is as equally important as our economic health (triple bottom line)

Now let us apply this to manufacturing and agriculture.  Whether we are talking of raw materials (e.g. cotton) or food (e.g. packaged vegetables), we need farming in order to reliably produce the quantity and quality we need for modern life.  In other words, if we were to depend on naturally growing cotton or carrots, maybe 0.5% of us globally would have t-shirts or baby carrots. https://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/babycarrot.html

Our challenge: fertilizers.  We need nitrogen fertilizers, just not so much.

There are two issues to consider.

(1) What I call poundage which is the amount of fertilizer needed per square meter in order to deliver the desired yield of output. 

(2) Social factors [social wealth differences] make a BIG difference! 

Two examples to go with two factors:

China is a big country but they also have more people.  Poundage result...

"The United States, with six times as much arable land per person as China, has the luxury of planting less-productive crops that protect the environment, if people are willing to pay for them." 

Poundage is expensive...

"Fertilizer subsidies were tried in many African countries during the 1970s and 1980s but fell out of favor because they were expensive and plagued by corruption. Malawi’s current subsidy program is already in trouble: The government is running out of money to pay for it."

HOWEVER, private sector led voluntary cooperation measures can both reduce poundage costs and increase commercial activity.  Here is an example from the cotton industry.

https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10107&context=journal_articles

At the production level, we can make radical changes by focusing on nitrogen fixing crops [sustainable green global production] instead of nitrogen chemical fertilizers.

Collectively our globally accumulated efforts have radical impacts.  However, we need greater global coordination and information sharing in order to ensure we are all working in the same positive direction.  At an individual level, these are incremental changes.

"A century ago, when chemist Fritz Haber first learned how to capture nitrogen from the air, synthetic fertilizer seemed like an easy shortcut out of scarcity, delivering a limitless supply of agriculture’s most important nutrient. Yet new limits on nitrogen are appearing. This time the innovations that save us—and our planet—may not be invented in a chemistry laboratory. Instead they may come from farmers and fields in every corner of the world."

You can read more on this fascinating conundrum in the full National Geographic (2013) article: Fertilized World
https://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/fertilized-world/charles-text

Why do I give you migraines on a Tuesday?

As opposed to a Wednesday or Friday, today just happens to be Tuesday.  No I am not trying to make the brain in the above picture (or your brain) explode.  This is where my mind was rambling today.  Call it the Tuesday effect (grin).  Release anxiety and the need to immediately solve what is said.  Just let the message sit with you until something mentioned feels comfortable (however short or long it takes for this to happen)....

Regarding Global Ectropy's purpose in life, we help small and mid-sized manufacturers improve their ecological and social strategy.  This is important because strategy shapes the operations and tactics companies use to achieve high performance.

Even when we have no (as in ZERO) clue, there are always solutions to problems if we believe solutions exist and set out to look for solutions or develop solutions.

Social media networks are a great tool for dynamically managing global farming improvements.  Social media tools enable food hubs to engage with local communities in order to increase efficiency,  awareness, and, benefits.

https://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/how-the-web-can-benefit-farmers-eaters-and-communities

https://www.extension.umn.edu/rsdp/community-and-local-food/marketing-local-food/food-hub-resources/

To summarize Global Ectropy's tagline as it relates to the challenge of nitrogen fertilizers:

We work with manufacturers who deliver sustainable green global production [by examining bioremediation strategies such as nitrogen fixing crops for high yield production] and generate a thriving social wealth legacy [by developing locally appropriate implementation strategies that factor in cultural, demographic, economic and regulatory conditions].

You can learn more about our approach for toxins in our upcoming course on May 31st.

https://www.audiosolutionz.com/manufacturing/negative-behavior-toxic-contamination.html