Thanks Turlough Interesting. Grey is certainly part of the problem but in my view it is more complex than this. I'd like to add some musings and thoughts whilst munching on my green salad for lunch :) 1) It is in the interests of marketers to blur the facts about products - Just look at the "made in Australia" debate, dolphin free tuna, or the contents listings of products additives and preservatives. The marketing of green products/systems and associated 'informative claims' that will feature the same circles of confusion for consumers in making their choices. The selling of dreams rarely matches the reality of the product. Fortunately, the younger generational impetus for green awareness may set attitudes and beliefs that could effectively scrutinise these circles of confusion and give some hope for the future. Education for the consumer may also give some hope. 2) When you are simply struggling with the challenges of life, paying the bills, the mortgage and raising the kids, your priorities do not and will not focus on assessing the plethora of environmental information provided by manufacturers. "No names" will be preferred to "green names". 3) Whilst ever a premium is levied on environmentally sound products, the financially stretched will not bother with degrees of choice, but degrees of cost. Market forces (demand) can change entrenched manufacturer marketing behaviours. Dramatic changes in marketing behaviour for manufacturers is usually brought about by unforeseen social/financial shocks. e.g. wall street crash of 1929, oil shock of 1973, oil shock of 2007 etc that lead to smaller cars and rejection of SUV's leaving big car makers out of step, a people living a more austere lifestyle. Also look ast the sub prime loan debacle that has investors running a mile from easy loans that they were previously clamouring for. What could possibly shock and/or disconnect the marketing strategies of big manufacturers over the public's sentiments? Well I don't believe climate change is enough of a shock at this stage to bring about a consumer driven revolution, however an exhaustion of oil reserves would bring a natural halt to most non green systems. "Political shock" could make the decisions simpler by providing incentives to business and individuals to partner in achieving mandated standards including forced price equivalence with non green products. This socio-political debate however appears endless and too rocky for most govts. We will hear cries of "save the planet but hey don't divert my taxes, increase my taxes or cost of living in that process" It really is a long road to haul and I am concerned about the burn-out of the 'climate change' genie before the social conscience and environmental awareness kicks in from our younger generations. Ted

Thanks for your comments Ted. When we all start to feel the pinch from the impacts of dangerous climate change we'll hardly be able to ignore it. I hope common sense prevails and people act to prevent this rather from happening rather than being forced to make the needed changes. Time will tell. A price on carbon in the next 18 months will be start. Turlough.

Dr Turlough Guerin,

I like the way you write and believe in your personal sincerity, but I seriously doubt the telco sector's green talk. By far, one of the largest ways the telcos and their suppliers can help minimise the effects of climate change is to boldly adopt the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" principles. I see little of the last 2 going into play.

My company operates in the telco space and sells and recycles used comms equipment. I know that there is not a lot happening out there.

The suppliers don't like to have their equipment reused and the telcos don't like to recycle or they spend far too much in transporting them back to central depots before deciding to dispose of them. I have seen pallets of decayed mobile antennas in Cairns that were road freighted to Brisbane before being "checked" and sent to the tip - no recycling. I have seen warehouses emptied of stock to make way for fresh goods and the old gear dumped into skips for the tip. Until the government takes a big stick to the sector, I do not expect much change. So far only band-aid approaches have been made and mainly because the previous government took no action on the matter in this sector.

I have sat on the Australian Mobile Telephone Association committee that organised the mobile phone recycling. I have been part of most peak industry bodies in the sector and was once Alcatel's Regulatory Manager for A&NZ 2001-2002. As such I was aware of how little pressure was placed on manufactures to perform. Since moving into the private sector my attempts to get further Green traction has been slow. With the new government, I am expecting change to happen soon and I am working with various companies and peak industry bodies to make that change happen even faster.

Where does Telstra stand on Reuse and Recycling of its infrastructure? I suspect it is only part -green (or grey) but would be pleased to hear differently. It suspect that it could do a lot better and needs to pressure its suppliers to ensure an adequate recycling and reuse initiative is in place at the time of purchase.

Keep up the "talk" and I hope that you respond by telling me that Telstra is truly doing all it can. I would be delighted.

Regards, Robert Brand

Apologies for the delay Robert.

We use Telstra’s National Waste Management System (NWMS) for most of our waste services, including the collection, transportation and processing of general waste, recyclable items, liquid waste and hazardous wastes. The NWMS covers most types of waste generated from offices, field operations and customer premises. Exceptions include the collection of scrap cable, rental phones and mobile phones, which are managed separately under individual programs.

This streamlined approach assists all employees to dispose of waste in an appropriate manner by providing a single point of contact to arrange for collection and disposal.

During 2007/08, Telstra:

* recycled 69 per cent of all solid and liquid waste across the business - an increase from 65 per cent in 2006/07;

* reduced office paper consumption by approximately 35,900 reams - a 14 per cent reduction from 2006/07;

* recycled 250 tonnes of bottles, cans and milk cartons and 2,927 tonnes of paper;
decreased the volume of our total waste for disposal to landfill or special treatment from 17,527 tonnes in 2006/07 to 15,085 tonnes in 2007/08. This decrease is primarily due to a reduction in general waste and pit water disposed to a treatment facility; and

* diverted organic waste from landfill through recycling, saving 15,727 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalent) during 2007/08, down from 22,377 in 2006/07.