It’s no understatement to say that during human history, we have witnessed the extermination of many beautiful creatures, their lives being cut off as a result of loosing their food and their homes. In severe cases, the whole breed has been completely snuffed out from the face of our earth. What is the root cause of this devastating loss? You and me!

Because of mankind’s selfish nature and being devoid of a consequence driven attitude, we now have an escalating crisis of global warming and climate change resting heftily on our shoulders. Due to ongoing habitat loss, overhunting and very small population size, many creatures from the beloved animal kingdom will soon perish, becoming totally extinct. Popular victims up to date have been the Thylacine (or Tasmanian devil) the flightless Dodo, the Passenger Pigeon and the adorable Caribbean Monk Seal.

But you already knew all that. With constant reminders in the papers, on the TV, in books we read, in movies we watch and with pioneering environmental companies like Enigin, we can’t be anything less then concerned of our global predicament. But do you know which of our animal kingdom members are at the highest risk?

Here at Enigin, we publish and advertise with powerful images of lonesome polar bears slipping of isolated pieces of ice in the middle of the arctic ocean. We campaigns in aid of pandas, lions and chimpanzees. Of course, these dear little creatures are certainly venerable, but upon research for this article I was surprised that according to the IUCN Red List of Endangered species, polar bears and lions were only among the ‘Venerable’ group. Of far more interest to me were the groups ‘Endangered’ and ‘Critically Endangered’.

In these two groups are tigers, snow leopards and the awe-inspiring blue whale. Who would have thought that such a majestic beast, growing to an incredible 108 feet in length and weighing a heavy 172 tones, could so easily be defeated by our ravenous greedy society. Blue Whales became a much sought after species for their large amounts of blubber. They were also hunted years ago for their baleen, which was used to make brushes and corsets. But it was their size and high yield of oil that made them the target of choice for modern commercial whalers. Pollution contributes to the death of thousands of blue whales. Before mans intervention there were 228,000 Blue whales swimming the oceans of the world. After being relentlessly slaughtered for every reason imaginable, almost to the point of extinction, there is now only an estimated 10,000 blue whales world-wide. What a horrific consequence of such brutal actions.

Another animal of interest to me was the Albatross. I had no idea that they were officially an endangered species. After doing some research, I was taken aback by how unusual these birds are. Being one of the largest birds, these creatures have a wing-span of up to 11ft! That’s taller then Robert Waldow, the tallest man in recorded history. But something else that amazed me about these birds was their commitment. Dare I say that these birds demonstrate more commitment then some men and women!

When seeking a mate, the Albatross undergoes some unusual behavior, which involves synchronized performances of various actions such as preening, pointing, calling, bill clacking, staring, and combinations of such behaviors. When a bird first returns to the colony it will dance with many partners, but after a number of years the number of birds an individual will interact with drops, until one partner is chosen and a pair is formed. They then continue to perfect an individual language that will eventually be unique to that one pair. Having established a pair bond that will last for life, however, most of that dance will never be used ever again. Albatrosses are held to undertake these elaborate and painstaking rituals to ensure that the appropriate partner has been chosen and to perfect partner recognition, as egg laying and chick rearing is a huge investment. What a sensible way of approaching a relationship! And this is what really tickled me pink. The “divorce” of a pair is a rare occurrence, usually only happening after several years of breeding failure.

Who would have thought that these little creatures had such a complex yet simple approach to life? I find it heart warming to think that they form strong bonds with their partners that can last a life time. But sadly as always, humans get in the way…

The amount of plastic in the seas has increased dramatically in the last 50 years, coming from waste discarded by ships, offshore dumping, litter on beaches and waste washed to sea by rivers. It is impossible to digest and takes up space in the stomach or gizzard that should be used for food, or can cause an obstruction that starves the bird directly. Studies of birds in the North Pacific have shown that ingestion of plastics results in declining body weight and body condition. This plastic is sometimes regurgitated and fed to chicks causing premature deaths. Oil spills and other destructive pollution is a major threat to the lives of Albatrosses.

Don’t the quirky characteristics we see in abundance in our animal kingdom just melt your heart? Does it not make you want to protect and care for them? It proves that these animals should be there for our pleasure and enjoyment. They are not deserving of such brutal destruction!

At Enigin, we are not hardened to such things. Instead, it is a prime motivator in pushing us forward towards helping our environment to regain its luster. Although we can’t bring back to life those dear species that have perished, we can stop it happening again.

Not everyone can their hiking boots on and journey into the big world trying to defend and protect every living thing under threat. But by taking the initiative to do little things at home and in the office, we can all come together as one united army and win the war against our environment. This generation can redeem the careless and hazardous mistakes of the last.

Enigin gives you that opportunity. With its top of the range energy saving and 100% environmentally friendly products, you know you’ll be doing your bit, if not more to helping us improve our world, and take this planet from paradise lost to paradise regained!

Corporations often hire people to do jobs that don’t really need doing. Sometimes it’s because an executive is building an empire. Sometimes it’s the result of random corporate confusion.

Most of the time, these useless jobs pop up at the bottom of the food chain. However, some are executive positions that are both highly-paid and exist in almost every large firm - even though they’re not really accomplishing anything.

This is the final list of a list of the top 5 time-wasting and useless (but big money) corporate jobs. You may argue about the selection, of course, especially if your job is on my list:
Useless Job 5: Change Catalyst

• The Concept: Nurture teams and organizations to succeed and achieve business productivity and organizational goals by challenging paradigms of management and leadership thinking and by guiding people through to real action and research of their professional and personal work. (Note: the preceding was lifted from an actual website.)
• Typically Reports To: CEO (under contract)
• Why It’s Useless: These are the tapeworms of the corporate world. They latch onto the management fad du jour, and then suck money out of your company by setting up dopey meetings, writing unreadable reports, and providing unwanted/unneeded advice. By positioning themselves as “catalysts” they neatly remove themselves from any actual responsibility for results. On the other hand, if something good happens, they can say that it happened because they were “facilitating” the change.
• The Results: For a corporation, a really bad fiscal year is the equivalent of a thorough vermifuge. When the money disappears, all sorts of parasites get, well…, crapped out. This particular ilk is always amongst the first to be eliminated.

Corporations often hire people to do jobs that don’t really need doing. Sometimes it’s because an executive is building an empire. Sometimes it’s the result of random corporate confusion.

Most of the time, these useless jobs pop up at the bottom of the food chain. However, some are executive positions that are both highly-paid and exist in almost every large firm - even though they’re not really accomplishing anything.

Over the next few posts is a list of the top 5 time-wasting and useless (but big money) corporate jobs. You may argue about the selection, of course, especially if your job is on my list:

Useless Job 4: Product Evangelist

• The Role: Just as a religious evangelist creates converts, the product evangelist tries to get consumers to literally believe in a product or service, which they preach in an attempt to convert others, actively spreading the word on behalf of the company.
• Typically Reports To: Head of Marketing
• Why It’s Useless: The idea of having CUSTOMERS become evangelists is brilliant. Nothing could be better for a product or a company. But having an inside person (i.e. a corporate drone) trying to promote the concept is a lame idea because it’s so obviously self-serving. In most cases, the “evangelist” simply becomes an internal pain in the tuchus by constantly trying to promote his own agenda at the expense of other product groups.
• Proof It’s Useless: Think of it this way. Who is the most annoying person you’ve ever met? For most people, I bet it’s some religious nut who just can’t let well enough alone. He chases you around and keeps pestering you to become a true-believer. Well, that’s exactly what you get when you pay somebody to act like a nut case.

Corporations often hire people to do jobs that don’t really need doing. Sometimes it’s because an executive is building an empire. Sometimes it’s the result of random corporate confusion.

Most of the time, these useless jobs pop up at the bottom of the food chain. However, some are executive positions that are both highly-paid and exist in almost every large firm - even though they’re not really accomplishing anything.

Over the next few posts is a list of the top 5 time-wasting and useless (but big money) corporate jobs. You may argue about the selection, of course, especially if your job is on my list:
Useless Job 3: Chief Ethics Officer

• The Role: Responsible for assessing the ethical implications of the company’s activities, making recommendations regarding the company’s ethical policies, and disseminating that information to employees. They are theoretically interested in uncovering or preventing unethical and illegal actions.
• Typically Reports To: CEO
• Why It’s Useless: The Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed that right of corporations to be treated legally as individuals. However, if corporations really are individuals, they’re also sociopaths. Just as a sociopath will pretend to be nice in order to get what he wants, a corporation will pretend to be ethical, as long as it serves the needs of the stockholders. The only reason that most corporations don’t launch profitable ventures that end up killing children is that it might result in bad publicity. Period. Because corporations are always guided by a supreme sense of near-psychotic self-interest, there’s no need to pay somebody big bucks to publicly pretend otherwise.
• Proof of Uselessness: If the role had any real meaning or power, you’d see Chief Ethics Officers (aka Chief Compliance Officers) being promoted into CFO, COO or CEO positions. But that never happens, a clear indication that the job is a sinecure. Truth is that the real C-level executives pretty must treat the Chief Ethics Officer as a joke and use it to make their “executive ranks” look a little less all-white and all-male.

Corporations often hire people to do jobs that don’t really need doing. Sometimes it’s because an executive is building an empire. Sometimes it’s the result of random corporate confusion.

Most of the time, these useless jobs pop up at the bottom of the food chain. However, some are executive positions that are both highly-paid and exist in almost every large firm - even though they’re not really accomplishing anything.

Over the next few posts is a list of the top 5 time-wasting and useless (but big money) corporate jobs. You may argue about the selection, of course, especially if your job is on my list:

Useless Job 2: Market Strategist

• The Role: A marketing strategist is tasked with focusing an organization’s energies and resources on increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. The resulting strategy is intended to combine product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements.
• Typically Reports To: Head of Sales and/or Marketing
  Why It’s Useless: There’s no question that a company needs a strategy. However, what it doesn’t need is a person assigned full time to set that strategy over and over and over. Strategy is a long-term commitment. Once it’s set, the challenge is to implement that strategy and make it work. However, if there are strategists running around, trying to justify their existence, they will constantly try to tweak the strategy, thereby making tactical execution difficult or impossible. Worst case, they end up making the company a fail, simply because the strategic direction is always changing.
• Proof of Uselessness: Man alive, just spend some time talking to one of these types. Better yet, next time you go to a “marketing strategy” presentation, play the “marketing strategy buzzword game.” Hand out a list of buzzwords. Each time the strategist uses a buzzword, everyone has to take a sip of coffee. Make sure there’s a full pot on the conference room table, because you’re gonna need a refill. Trust me on this.

Corporations often hire people to do jobs that don’t really need doing. Sometimes it’s because an executive is building an empire. Sometimes it’s the result of random corporate confusion.

Most of the time, these useless jobs pop up at the bottom of the food chain. However, some are executive positions that are both highly-paid and exist in almost every large firm - even though they’re not really accomplishing anything.

Over the next few posts is a list of the top 5 time-wasting and useless (but big money) corporate jobs. You may argue about the selection, of course, especially if your job is on my list:

Useless Job 1: Chief Information Officer

The Role: Information technology is supposedly so important that a separate executive is need to formulate strategic goals for an organization, and manage the implementation of useful technology to “increase information accessibility and integrated systems management.”

• Typically Reports To: The CEO, CFO, or COO
  Why It’s Useless: The CIO concept dates back to the days of the mainframe data center, where the computer power for a company could be centralized in order to reduce cost. However, centralized IT bureaucracies always were notoriously lame at serving their “customers”, so even back then, department heads started purchasing minicomputers and then personal computers, just to get away from the limitations of central control. Today, there’s a massive migration to simply buying computer power over the web (i.e. “cloud computing”), which reduces the role of corporate computing to essentially maintaining a network — hardly something that requires vast strategic skills.
• Proof of Uselessness: Check out the 10K reports for Microsoft, Oracle and IBM on the SEC’s Edgar database.
  Those reports have lists of key executives, like CEO, CFO, and down to smaller roles like senior VPs, etc. Despite that fact that these firms work closely with the IT groups inside thousands of corporations, none of those three companies lists a CIO as a key player in their own firm. That tells you everything you need to know.

Schools are one of the biggest organisations to use energy, on a daily basis. With lights in classrooms, temperatures needing to be kept at a certain degree for the children, cars used by teachers, mini buses used by pupils as well as many other areas, schools need their energy monitored.

At Enigin we often work, through Enigin Distributors, with schools and educational centers to help to curtail their spiraling energy bills and consumption. Using Enigin products to control energy waste and manage energy use.

Here in Europe a Sustainable Learning program is changing set up to help schools monitor their energy use, change it and save money.

Currently this program helps to take control of energy and water costs by getting everyone involved. From the summer term currently in play the program will become bigger and better! A link up of schools across the continent and help to tackle transport and food too! Schools, teachers and pupils will become “Carbon Detectives!”.

A registration with Sustainable Learning is available, if already registered do not need to do anything as details are going to be transferred across automatically over the Easter holidays.

The current Sustainable Learning programme will be running until the end of the summer term.

What a great opportunity to encourage young ones to get involved, through their school. Why not find out what you can do yourselves at school, home or at work to become a Carbon Detective too and manage energy.

Through our Enigin Distributor network we help businesses and public sector organisation save energy and hence money. We only supply leading edge energy saving solutions but on the domestic front, and sometimes the commercial market, there are plenty of people who sell energy-saving products and are willing to take unfair advantage of you in your quest to save a buck.

As far as the domestic market, homeowners, are concerned here is some advice.

You won’t save any money or energy if you buy products from people who make false claims. When it comes to purchasing air-conditioners, insulation, roofing and even AC services, homeowners have to do our homework before they start paying out the money.

Don’t let a salesperson mislead you into spending too much - or buying an ineffective product - because you don’t have the facts.

Here are 10 ways homeowners get duped when it comes to energy efficiency because of actions by sales reps.

1. They sell you more than you need. As we gear up for another scorching Arizona summer, I’m seeing ads for companies that want to over-insulate your attic to a level of R-60, which won’t save you any more money on air-conditioning bills than the recommended R-38.

In fact, there’s a good chance you don’t need new insulation at all. Most homes have plenty of insulation, but it’s poorly installed or has been knocked out of place.

Reattaching it to the floors, ceilings and walls it’s meant to protect could save you a bundle of money - both on replacement product and on energy bills.

2. They say you need more than you do. I could scream when I see ads that offer unnecessarily thick insulation, plus ventilation, plus a spray-on radiant barrier for the attic. They promise to drop the attic temperature, reduce the heat gain from the roof by up to 50 percent and slash your air-conditioning bill accordingly.

Yet no more than 15 percent of your AC bill has anything to do with the heat coming from your attic. This is overkill.

With so much insulating equipment in the attic, it could be 200 degrees up there and have no impact on your house - and they charge as much as $6 a square foot for it (that’s $15,600 for a 2,600-square-foot house). Your attic is never going to be 200 degrees.

You don’t need this.

All you need is properly engineered ventilation and an adequate level of insulation. Period.

3. They are vague about R-value. R-value is a measure of how effectively insulation resists heat flow. Generally, the higher the R-value, the greater the product’s insulating power - up to an appropriate level, which for our climate is R-38. Some product sales reps will claim their insulation has a high R-value, but they don’t tell you how thick you have to layer it to achieve that measure. Ask this question: How many inches of insulation will I need to achieve R-38 - and how much does this product cost per inch?

4. They mislead you about R-value. The Federal Trade Commission has ruled against manufacturers who claim their radiant barriers or insulation will insulate your attic to a high R-value, when in fact, a product can’t achieve that on its own.

In most cases, the FTC found that the high R-value can be achieved only through a combination of insulation, radiant barriers and common building products like gypsum board and siding, which have some insulating properties. Before you buy, be sure the R-value claim pertains to the product on its own - and that you don’t have to buy additional products.

5. They convince you that high-tech is better than common sense. The least-expensive way to slash your energy bills is to reach for the “low-hanging fruit” in your house - small, low-cost improvements. Instead of getting hooked into buying an expensive package of multiple new systems, start your energy campaign by sealing your air-conditioner’s ducts, caulking windows and doors and checking weather stripping. Have an energy audit to determine if your attic is properly and passively ventilated and that your insulation is well-installed. That will help you more than investing thousands of dollars in optional equipment.

6. They can’t prove the claims. It’s illegal to say a product will slash energy bills, insulate your attic or reduce heat gain without tests to back up the claim. Ask for the research. If the product has passed these tests, you can be sure the manufacturer will have that information all over its website. Can’t find it? Don’t buy it.

7. They insist bigger is better. This is a common claim when it comes to buying an air-conditioner. It used to be that bigger homes needed larger AC units. Newer homes are so tight, however, that they need far less powerful systems than older homes with lots of air leaks. Find an AC rep who will get a lot of information about your house, the weather and your family’s lifestyle - and use a computer to calculate the size of your new air-conditioner. If that’s not happening, find a different contractor.

8. They misrepresent the energy savings. Before you buy, it’s important to know how long it would take to pay a product off with the money you save on energy bills. If you pay $15,000 to seal your attic up as tight as Fort Knox and it saves you $400 a year on AC bills, you won’t see an actual return on your investment for 37 years. Go with a plan that will pay for itself within three to five years. After that, the lower energy bill will put money in your pocket.

9. They trip you up with jargon. Steer clear of products touting an “equivalent R-value” and those that refer to the potential savings in terms like “nominal” or “approximately” instead of hard numbers.

10. They sell you something new instead of repairing what you already have. Example: You don’t have to replace your air-conditioner just because its ducts are leaking. Instead, have the ducts sealed.
Don’t fall for this “marketing approach” to energy savings. Trust the building scientists - and know what they say. You shouldn’t pay more for energy-saving equipment than it will ever save you in energy bills.

When they become Enigin Distributors and set up their own energy svaing businesses in their own territory, wherever they base themselves on the globe, we will do all we reasonably can to help them enjoy a successful business.

But how do we individually become successful? And that needs to be the foundation of any business success - read on:

Address your weakness. Sounds sort of obvious, doesn’t it?

But how many people really

• Know what’s limiting their success.
• Force themselves to do something about it?

It is quite likely that half the people reading this right now are saying to themselves, Wow, I should do that about [fill in the blank]. But will they … actually do it? Probably not.

The other half are in denial, blaming everybody and everything for why they didn’t get ahead instead of doing something about some fear or limitation they were almost surely aware of at one time but have since buried under layers of jealousy and anger targeted at all the wrong people.

Whichever half you’re in, we all have at least one major fear or limitation holding us back. Facing or improving that one thing will almost surely open the door to new opportunities and success. Here are a couple of stories to inspire you to do just that:    

• One of my former CEOs told a story about how, when he was younger, he was so shy that just the idea of speaking in class and, later on, in a meeting, was so terrifying that he almost passed out from fear. So he got some help, faced his fear every day of his career, and went on to become a senior executive at a Fortune 1000 company and then a successful CEO of a public tech firm.
• Another successful senior executive was, at one time, stuck in middle management - engineering management, to be specific. And while he’d become adept at presenting to groups, he marveled at the ease with which his sales people interacted and negotiated with customers. So he gave up his 10+ year engineering management career and took a step back to become a salesman and learn the skills he felt he lacked. It worked. That was over 20 years ago and now he is a sales and business guru.

So the next time you find yourself exploring the blogosphere or Amazon for your next quick-fix of advice, or feeling sorry for yourself or jealous of someone else because thay made it and you didn’t, put down the computer, simmer down, relax, and ask yourself: What’s the one thing I need to face, address, or improve to get ahead?

If you do that, three things are guranteed:

1. That you know, on some level, what that one thing is.
2. It will be the highest probability thing you can do to open up new opportunities and increase your success potential.
3. No, it won’t be easy. Yes, it will take work. But the reward will far outweigh all that. Guaranteed.

Energy efficiency and saving is an important topic and most governments, and their opposition, take seriously and get involved in promoting. Whether it is offering incentives or just shouting about it - what politicians say will impact to a greater and lesser degree on an Enigin Distributors business.

One thing to bear in mind is that Politicians often bend the truth, or rather withhold certain facts or plans.
So here we bring you the second part of our series of the top ten lies Politicians tell….

We Feel your Pain

Who Tells It: Both sides of the divide.

Politicians at the national level, are so far removed from poverty, or even from the middle-class, that it’s impossible for them to have any idea what it is actually like to try to survive in the current economic climate.

Many politicians are millionaries and multi-millionaires, with many coming from families with inherited wealth.  They are all highly paid, and lifetime job security as advisers, lobbyists, industry consultants etc.  The idea that anyone in this position can “feel the pain” is sickeningly absurd.

Supply Side Economics Really Work

Who Tells It: Right leaning politicians.

It’s been decades since George H.W. Bush gave Supply Side Economics the “Voodoo” sobriquet, and yet there are still politicians (right wing mostly) who insist that this crack-brained idea is valid, even though there is not a single shred of evidence that this is the case.

Why the persistent denial of reality?  It’s a classic case of wanting to have your cake and eat it, too, combined with a willingness to belief any old thing that makes you feel good.

It’s probably not a coincidence that the most vocal proponents of this particular brand of economic snake oil also hold other absurd beliefs contrary to history and observable reality.

Show me a tried and true supply sider, and I’ll show you somebody who believes that global warming is fictional, and that U.S. President Obama was born on the planet Mars.