We live in a fast-paced world where people make complicated choices every day about their role as a consumer and their role as an environmentalist. Social and environmental responsibility is no longer just a “nice theory” being touted by serious fundamentalists – the “green revolution” ideas of yesteryear are gaining serious momentum in the 21^st century lifestyle. Think about it – paperless banking statements, reusable grocery bags, and resale shops are small examples of how consumers are making small steps towards lowering their environmental footprint, in addition to hybrid cars, energy efficient light bulbs, and compostable dishware. But there is a larger piece of the puzzle that is so important and comprehensive that it even gets it’s own holiday every year on November 9^th – recycling.

Consumers and professionals alike play an important role in residential recycling, from every end of the spectrum. In the recycling industry, we call this the “triple bottom line” – society, economy, and environment. RRS understands the importance of maintaining this bottom line – it has been in our blood since 1986 and today we continue to work with community officials to make sure their recycling efforts are maximized to support the triple bottom line on a local level. We know that recycling creates jobs, saves resources, and saves money, but what really matters is making it happen on a real, consistent level, and RRS believes in creating projects that deliver results now and in the future.

In December 2011, Lisa Jackson, head of EPA, was interviewed on the television show “Dr. Oz.” When asked what is her most important message to people, Ms. Jackson’s answer was simple: recycle. If the US went from a 35% national recycling rate to an 80% – 90% national rate, we could create millions of jobs and recycling would become its own supply chain. While we still have more than twice the number of landfills than material recovery facilities in the US, the US has nearly tripled the annual amount of materials recycled from 1960 to 2010. Recycling markets continue to grow for paper, plastic, glass, aluminum, and electronics, and residents in US cities are becoming more educated and more involved in residential recycling programs.

One very essential part of the recycling market in the last 2 years has been a cause very near-and-dear to our hearts at RRS – the carton – in an effort driven by the Carton Council. You may have heard of them. The Carton Council is a group of carton manufacturers working to bring carton recycling access to all American households. Since 2009, the number of US households with access to carton recycling has risen from 15% to 35%, with a 2012 goal of 40% nationwide. With a great team of support on their side, Carton Council has made great progress in their campaign towards keeping cartons out of landfills and getting them into the recycling bin, and we expect many big updates from them in the year to come.

This month, we will continue our coverage of trends and topics in this area, which will include visits to Austin, Texas; Franklin, Tennessee; and Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, for three recycling and sustainability conferences. We will also feature a select few cities that recently made headlines with the Carton Council going above and beyond to promote carton recycling in their communities.

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook and Twitter for daily updates and conversation.

While I didn’t get a chance to speak directly to Kerry, he supplied the following answers. I hope you find them as interesting and insightful as I did.

1.  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I did not have a clear vision, but leaned toward engineering type activities.

2.  What made you decide to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability? (Why do you work at Resource Recycling Systems?)

I have always been passionate about the environment and I grew concerned with the harmful activities against the natural environment.

I started out in corporate America as an engineer and quickly realized that I wanted to do something more positive for the world.  I took a stand against the risks posed by nuclear power, but found few ways to make positive contributions to the world in that role.  I then started volunteering with Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA) and ended up running the program. In an effort to take lessons learned to others, I co-founded RRS.

3.  What has been your favorite project at RRS?

Emmet County has been a lot of fun because it allows me to contribute at many levels and see the results of the efforts first hand.

4.  What do you feel is the next issue(s) on the forefront in our field of work?

An increasing push for extended producer responsibility and growing need for plastics recycling will lead to more integration of resource conservation and analysis into our work.

5.  What do you do at home to maintain a “green” lifestyle?

There are many ways you can contribute to a “green” lifestyle at home.

I minimize solid waste through compost, reuse, and recycle. Dismantle and recycle dead appliances and assist neighbors in recycling.  I minimize energy consumption from air conditioning and like, and I keep house temperature at minimal when gone.

Taking the time to enjoy the outdoors is crucial to avoid/minimize most resource intense pastime – I hike instead of drive.  I do not use chemicals on my garden and I work at home or at volunteer groups to reduce non-native invasive species. When possible I buy items with less wasteful packaging.

6. What is the most critical resource management concern you have and what should we be doing about it?

Ultimately we will run out of fossil fuels and many things that are currently made from petroleum will lack that feedstock.

If the world’s population continues to grow, we will not have enough food or potable water unless we make major changes in what we consume and how we grow food and protect water.

Climate change and the resulting flooding and impact on food production will complicate the above.

–Using less resources, reversing climate change and curbing population growth would be a good start.  Translating that into specific actions requires everyone to become a leader.  This is not happening nearly fast enough and the alternatives are not at all pretty.

7.  What tips would you give someone wanting to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability?

Try approaches that connect you to the things you want to change or contribute to.  Keep looking and trying until you find what works for you.

8.      Who is your favorite author and/or book?

I don’t have a favorite.  I’m influenced by many and my choice of literature varies with mood and needs.

9.      What is your favorite snack?

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookie usually works

10.  Who has been an inspiration to you in your life?

I find inspiration from many sources. My Mom and Dad, My Grandfather, many teachers, authors, coworkers and friends and JFK, EF Shumacher, M Ghandi, Peter Hayden, Bob Dylan, Pete Seger, Ralph Nader (in his earlier incarnation), Jimmy Carter and many of the leaders of the civil rights movement.

Below is an example of a feedstock feasibility assessment we conducted for a private client in 2010.  This case study provides a brief overview on how we conducted a feedstock and economic assessment to identify the amount of recycled wood feedstock available for a potential biomass energy project.

Project Overview

RRS prepared a scope of services for a company to assess the economic feasibility of providing a recycled wood feedstock source in our country’s Heartland.  As part of our analysis, we provided a thorough examination of available feedstock in a multi-state radius around the project site which was looking to acquire upwards of nearly 1.0 million tons of waste wood.

As a part of this project, RRS conducted the following tasks:

• Wood waste feedstock quantity assessments

• Economic trends and competitive cost of feedstock acquisition – specifically industrial wood and construction/demolition waste

• Survey of solid waste regulations in the states to identify waste wood feedstock procurement issues

• Final report outlining wood waste volumes, economics of procuring and delivering wood wastes and the regulations governing the feasibility of operating such a project facility

Baseline Analysis

Baseline waste wood supplies were estimated, competitive use as well as municipal solid waste management practices in the study area were analyzed. The study methodology relied on a combination of actual and estimated data using demographic and economic variables. Total generated urban and industrial waste wood resources were directly proportional to the population and industrial make-up of a metropolitan area.

Sources of Biomass Feedstocks

RRS evaluated sources of biomass feedstocks classified into three general categories: industrial wood wastes, forest and mill residues, and municipal solid wood wastes. Specific sources of biomass feedstocks considered in this study were:

• Industrial wood wastes including wood scraps and sawdust from target manufacturers, pallet recyclers, lumber yards

• Forest harvest and primary forest products industry wood residues and urban tree waste, including wood waste from land clearing and right of way maintenance

• Municipal solid waste wood, including wood wastes disposed or recovered from the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream such as construction/demolition debris

Factors Influencing Wood Waste Availability

The significant variations in the methods and costs of wood waste disposal and reuse were related to factors such as the levels of landfill tipping fees, access to and regulations concerning dumping/burning, public policies that promote waste diversion or recycling, and the proximity of large wood waste users (power plants, wholesale mulch operations, compost facilities and pulp and paper mills and medium-density fiberboard plants for forest products).

The presence of competing markets also influenced the availability of biomass. These competitors include low cost landfills, wood waste processors/grinders, compost facilities, recycling plants, construction/demolition processors, and other waste wood power plants.

Regional Generation of Wood Waste

One goal of our assessment was to determine the total availability of waste wood in the region of the project facilities. Our team estimated the generation of waste wood for this project by evaluating five major categories of potential wood waste: Timber Harvest Residues, Primary Forest Products Industry (Sawmill) Residues, Right-of-Way (ROW) clearing, Construction and Demolition Wood Waste, and Industrial Wood Waste. Other large potential sources include the wood available from Coal Mining land clearing operations. This assessment generated data for a region within an 89 county region surrounding potential project sites.

Wood Waste Competitive Uses

Our previous experience identified that the waste materials required for this project already attracted significant economic attention.  We identified that this material was used for a variety of uses, from production of composite materials to land stabilization and hog fuel, all competing for the acquisition of this material.  In addition, where material is being landfilled, the disposing companies in many cases have economic incentives that motivate them to continue with their practice instead of implementing programs to divert this material to the project.  We further analyzed the competitive demand for these materials within the project radius, identifying that less than 6.0 % of the material would be consumed by the following waste wood processing markets.

• Wood Fired Power Plants

• Mulch and Scrap Wood Grinders

• Landscape Processors (tree waste only)

• Compost Facilities

• Constuction and Demolition Debris Recovery Facilities

Biomass

Biomass is simply organic matter such as plants, agriculture/crop residuals, forest/forestry residuals, urban wood wastes (from construction and demolition), animal manure and the organic components in municipal and industrial wastes.  Biomass energy (or biopower as it can be called) is the energy that is produced from these materials as technologies break down the organic components to release stored energy originally captured from the sun.   Biomass is an attractive type of energy producing resource as it is renewable, it is much more evenly distributed over the Earth’s surface and the ability to collect this material is more environmentally friendly than most petroleum based fuels.

Biomass Technologies

As industries, municipalities and power producers evaluate how to generate and retrieve the benefits of biomass energy, most look to direct combustion, co-firing, biomass gasification and anaerobic digestion solutions.  In general, biomass power technologies convert biomass materials into electricity and heat using processes similar to techniques used with fossil fuels. To understand what these technologies mean, we will quickly define them:

• Direct Combustion – In this process, conventional boilers are used to burn biomass wastes.  As this material burns, steam is produced which spins a turbine activating a generator that produces electricity.
• Co-Firing – In this process, a portion of a petroleum-based fuel used in a coal-fired boiler is replaced with biomass waste.  Both fuels are burned to create electricity.
• Biomass Gasification – In this process, the biomass is heated in an oxygen-limited environment.  The biomass breaks down to form a flammable gas which is used to generate heat and electricity.
• Anaerobic Digestion – In this process, biomass is decomposed by bacteria in the absence of oxygen.  Methane and other gases are produced from this process are used for electricity and heat production.

Biomass continues to be the up-in-coming green and sustainable source of power generation.  Biomass technologies and projects have the ability to be scaled for smaller use on farms or institutions or for larger use to power cities.  With this in mind, these technologies are highly dependent on available financial resources, the risks power producers/project developers are willing to take on, and the ability of logistics including feedstocks and transportation to be fulfilled.

The Biomass Landscape

In 2010, the United States retrieved approximately 4.3 quadrillion Btu’s of energy from biomass sources producing about 5.7% of the total US energy production scene.  Biomass is the single largest source of renewable energy and by 2010, accounted for over half of all renewable energy consumption.  While a significant amount of power can be

Primary Energy Consumption by Major Fuel Source 1974 - 2010 (US Department of Energy July 2010)

generated from this technology, not too many large scale plants are financed and built.  The large financial load and siting requirements can be a burden in undertaking many direct combustion facilities.  As we look to the future, additional effort will be focused on co-firing and anaerobic digestion technologies as they assist in reducing the financial, logistical and feedstock risks of many power producers and project developers.

The Intersection of RRS and Biomass Energy

Resource Recycling Systems’ organics management activities have evolved over the years with the marketplace, but have always centered on recovery and reuse. During the last ten years, RRS has provided significant project plan expertise to some of the largest biomass power developments in North America.  Our team of specialists has experience working with a wide range of biomass sources including woody biomass, urban wastes, agricultural and food processing residuals.  Our sound technology and financial evaluations for developing biomass energy opportunities are at the heart of our expertise and experience. We excel in developing fuel availability prospects, assessment/feasibility analysis, feedstock plans, financial analysis and the acquisition of contracts for the delivery of feedstocks whether they are from farms, institutions, commercial or industrial sources.

We work for both project developers as they evaluate the feasibility of supplying biomass materials to power stations and for lending institutions as they evaluate the feasibility of funding a biomass energy project.

For more information about our services, click below.

Project Development – Evaluating Project Feasibility

Project Due Diligence –Ensuring Successful Projects

If you would like to talk with someone directly about our biomass energy services, please contact JD Lindeberg (734-996-1361 x 241) or David Stead (734-996-1361 x 234).

1.  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A lawyer or an interior designer

2. What made you decide to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability?

I liked the aspect of helping people understand the positive impacts of recycling and how their use of resources effects the environment.

3.  What has been your favorite project at RRS?

Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCCRA) because it keeps me close to my municipal coordinator roots and Carton Council because of voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

4. What do you feel is the next issue(s) on the forefront in our field of work?

Educating people about consumer product life-cycle to increase producer and consumer responsibility

5. What do you do at home to maintain a “green” lifestyle?

My green lifestyle activities include recycling, reusing, grasscycling, and using reusable grocery bags and having a mind toward energy conservation.

6. What tips would you give someone wanting to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability?

Get locally involved with your community. It will help you understand your local government and how it translates into nationwide social-economic and environmental issues

7. Who is your favorite author/book?

I love Jane Austin but Lonesome Dove is my favorite book

8.  What is your favorite food?

Pizza

9.  Who has been an inspiration to you in your life?

My grandpa

Below are snippets from a conversation Aaron and I had on January 17^th. Please enjoy!

1.  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I was really interested in robotics and neuroscience

2.  What made you decide to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability?

I had, and still have really, a fascination with the idea of transforming waste into something.

3.  What has been your favorite project at RRS?

Georgia Pacific Fiber Recovery Project and Toronto, Ontario MRF Optimization

4.  What do you feel is the next issue(s) on the forefront in our field of work?

Corporations are starting to internalize impeding resource shortages and respond to them.

5. What do you do at home to maintain a “green” lifestyle?

I sustainably manage stormwater and I recently bought a very energy efficient furnace.

6.  What is the most critical resource management concern you have and what should we be doing about it?

Producing packaging that integrates into recycling to create zero waste

7.  What tips would you give someone wanting to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability?

Don’t be afraid around heavy machinery

8.  Who is your favorite author/book?

Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

9. What is your favorite food?

Enchiladas from El Taco de Mexico in Denver, Colorado

10.   Who has been an inspiration to you in your life?

Bernard Amadei  who started Engineers without Borders

The conference is in a prime location with an abundance of of biomass resources. The region is home to dozens of biomass power plants, advanced biofuels startups, research hubs and vital industry associations.

RRS has long been involved with this particular conference and conference organizer BBI International. The conference is always an excellent opportunity for networking and sharing of new ideas, and RRS is thrilled to be a part of it again this year. Thanks to the great team at Biorefining Magazine and BBI International for hosting this important and insightful conference – we look forward to reconnecting with old acquaintances and building new positive relationships in 2012.

For more information on the BBI International publications and the Pacific West Biomass Conference, check out their website.

JD Lindeberg enjoying USCC and Austin, TX.

It’s the beginning of the 2012 conference season and RRS is gearing up for one fantastic year. We are pleased to announce that our annual debut will be at the United States Composting Council (USCC) Annual Conference & Tradeshow this week – the USCC is not only a wonderful organization, but one that is near and dear to our hearts. Nicole Chardoul and JD Lindeberg are both long-time members of the USCC and well-known throughout the industry for their dedication and excellence in the composting community.

The conference, running from January 17 to 20 in Austin, TX, marks the 20^th anniversary of the USCC. Established in 1990, the USCC is the only national organization in the United States dedicated to the development, expansion and promotion of the composting industry. The USCC advances composting and promotes compost use to enhance soils and provide economic and environmental benefits for our members and society. They work to educate policy makers and the public by serving as an advocate group to promote composting and encouraging the adoption of best management practices in composting. Their mission and vision are perfectly aligned with that of RRS and we are proud to support this important organization.

RRS’s own JD Lindeberg was involved on the USCC Board of Directors from 1995 – 1997, and we have been a member of the USCC since 1995. RRS has been attending their conference for years, and it seems as if only yesterday they were just getting started – now this is one of the most significant and widely attended events in the compost industry each year.

If you’ll be attending the conference, be sure to check out Nicole Chardoul during her session, “Festival Food Waste – City of Lansing Case Study” on January 19 at 1:45pm.  In addition to speaking, Nicole and JD will be set up in the exhibit hall among other industry vendors during the tradeshow. We have an exciting new feature as part of our display and we are excited to debut it at the USCC Conference! Please stop by to speak with Nicole or JD and make the most of this event – it is sure to be a great event and we are looking forward to being a part of it for another year. Happy 20^th birthday, USCC!

Hospitals face growing operational challenges as they balance the delivery of excellent health care services with a changing economy, tight regulations and large volumes of waste requiring proper management. Since hospitals pay for waste in three different ways – when they purchase materials, handle these materials and then dispose of these materials – best practices in waste reduction and management are essential to keep operational costs real and manageable. A resource management system can help hospitals effectively implement high-impact yet simple waste reduction best practices while also allowing for the planning and implementation of more complex or expensive initiatives. A resource management system can provide a model and framework for implementation of these best practices that ensures program visibility, waste volume reduction and regulatory compliance.

Preventive Measures

So why do we worry about waste? Preventing environmental contamination, disease transmission, and worker injury is key to maintaining a safe and compliant health system. Medical waste can carry and potentially transmit an array of diseases including HIV and Hepatitis. Regulations have been put into place to prevent this waste from harming workers, patients and the community. These regulations address the full spectrum of waste handling including waste segregation, transportation, storage and treatment.

Next, waste handling and disposal is expensive. Healthcare facilities pay for waste three different ways. Facilities first pay when the products are purchased, then in the material handling and operations (such as labor, equipment and maintenance), and finally after the product is used and thrown away (such as the transportation and disposal of the waste). These costs quickly add up simply due to the sheer volume of infectious, hazardous, and solid wastes generated. According to Practice GreenHealth, 6,600 tons of waste is produced every day in the health care industry. All of this waste requires proper management and disposal which can get quite costly for facilities.

Since hospitals and health systems are large organizations with multiple departments, facilities and additional offsite clinics and offices, it is typical for each location to have their own unique set of procedures for handling their waste and recycling materials. This unique situation makes the job of any healthcare facility, sustainability coordinator or green champion difficult for the following reasons.

• Educational messages on waste handling methods is not consistent requiring customized training for each site or department
• Risk of non-compliance is a common threat as program implementation and training often does not reach all sites or departments
• Data is usually not collected so tracking trends in volumes and costs is non-existent making sustainability goals hard to set and achieve
• Without a holistic view of what comes in and what goes out, programs are not optimized for efficiency and cost

Hospital Resource Management Programs

A ‘resource management’ program at your hospital takes all the incoming and outgoing materials as well as wastes into account and manages each waste stream as part of a system. Some examples of how this works include moving waste to recycling, removing non-regulated waste from the red bags and assuring hazardous waste is properly handled. A resource management program includes the tracking of volumes and costs as you manage for compliance. By auditing processes, tracking data, overseeing vendor services and invoices, ‘right-sizing’ carts and containers, and training waste generators and handlers, program volumes and costs can be managed. A resource management program often works with purchasing to incorporate green purchasing best practices and protocols and also works with facilities to track energy usage and implement green building and alternative energy programs.

A good resource management program will begin with a baseline waste evaluation. This evaluation will include an analysis of the following waste streams:

• General waste
• Recycling (cardboard, office paper/confidential, scrap metal, specialty plastics, single stream recycling, compostables)
• Regulated medical waste (RMW)
• Sharps
• Hazardous wastes
• Pharmaceutical wastes
• Used oil and aqueous lab waste (LIW)
• Universal wastes (batteries, lamps, mercury devices, lead, electronic equipment)
• Chemotherapy and pathological wastes
• Construction wastes

Using Evaluations to Improve Procedures

A successful baseline evaluation will accomplish several things. First, it will take inventory and assess your current waste generation volumes and costs. This can be through surveys, audits, and reviewing invoices. The inventory will help you evaluate your waste management procedures and provide a better understanding of your recycling logistics. Second, you will be able to profile the cost and environmental impacts of these waste streams in order to appropriately represent the true cost of disposal. This information will allow you to establish a benchmark for your facility allowing you to compare your data with other facilities and prioritize areas of focus.

Once your baseline is complete, it is time to review and evaluate your results. In reviewing your results, ask yourself two key questions. First, what do you throw away? The answer to this question will help you decipher the low hanging fruit – easy waste reduction goals that are very attainable – and more difficult goals that you might consider for a long-term plan. The second question, what does your waste cost? Once you look at your disposal costs, it will be very easy to identify opportunities for cost savings and track your progress.

With a good understanding of the amount of waste your facility generates and the total cost of disposal, your facility is ready to put together the project team to develop the waste reduction program goals and action plan. Involving a multi-disciplinary project team including staff from Environmental Services, Infection Control, Nursing, Safety, Facilities, Employee Education, Employee Health, Laboratory, Critical Care Areas and Clinicians is critical. This team can help develop, implement and assess facility-wide program goals and action plan. Some waste reduction and recycling goals that can be considered include:

• Comprehensive Recycling (bottles & cans, paper)
• Food Waste Composting
• Disposable Dishware and Tray Elimination
• Enhanced Cardboard Recycling
• Recycle Construction/Renovation Waste
• Durable Goods Reuse, Donation
• Medical Device Reprocessing
• RMW Reduction in the OR
• Reusable Sharps Containers
• Reusable Products (gowns, sterilization containers)
• Solvent recycling

Prioritizing Initiatives

Scoring and ranking individual initiatives (or groups of initiatives) are good ways to get started with identifying priorities. A report card by group is a nice visual to share with the leadership team and a way to track progress.

As you work to create a waste reduction action plan, make sure that your priorities, goals, timelines, costs and resources are simple to make the changes easy to implement and follow.

To ensure that your programs are successful and your goals are achieved, it is important to include the following aspects to your action and implementation plans.

• Regular audits of accumulation areas
• Audit recycling vendor processing facility
• Train and re-train users
• Provide the proper tools for employees to easily implement waste segregation
• Determine container, placement and training needs
• Develop educational information including posters, receptacle labels, newsletters and employee training
• Recruit “champions” on each units to help with monitoring

It is important to show the impact of your program over a fixed period of time including the operational benefits through cost savings, volume reduction and improved safety and compliance. You will want to monitor your waste data from vendor invoices in a “scorecard” format for each location in the program, measuring equipment efficiency and recycling rates. You can use this data to track the reductions in your waste volumes and costs, reward staff for their efforts, let the community know about your successes and share cost-savings information with leadership.

In conclusion, since we are committed to “first do no harm”, hospitals have an obligation to do all that it can to lighten their impact on their community through their waste reduction and recycling opportunities. A resource management program can help develop action plans for reducing the volumes and costs for a variety of hospital waste streams. By implementing these programs, training our staff, monitoring and reporting on our successes, we can together make a significant impact on reducing our healthcare waste impact.

About the Author

Nicole Chardoul, a licensed professional engineer, is a Principal and C.O.O. of Resource Recycling Systems. She manages the consulting operations and is a senior member of the RRS engineering team. Currently, Nicole is Project Director for RRS’ healthcare and university-based waste reduction, resource management and contract management sustainability programs and waste assessments. The goals of these programs are to review and redesign the corporate and institutional waste, recycling and organics programs to reduce costs, improve operational efficiencies and increase awareness and compliance.

I had an opportunity to chat with Marty on January 6^th.  Here is a summary of our conversation.

1.  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a truck driver; I was obsessed with trucks!

2.  What made you decide to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability?

I didn’t choose it, I feel like it chose me.  I felt a natural pull towards the political and social change associated with resource management and how it intersected with where the economy was heading.

3. What has been your favorite project at RRS?

The work we did with University of South Carolina. We were involved with every facet of the business. It was a fun, long, deep dive into University work.

I also really enjoy the work we have undertaken with the ecological mapping and zero waste efforts in the City of Flint, Michigan. It has been incredibly fascinating and empowering to watch the redevelopment of the City around a diverse resource base.

4. What do you feel is the next issue(s) on the forefront in our field of work?

Understanding material as part of supply chain

5.  What do you do at home to maintain a “green” lifestyle?

Besides composting food and yard waste and of course recycling, I am in the middle of remodeling my house with reused materials.

6.  What tips would you give someone wanting to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability?

It is important to be well versed and be able to embrace different compelling interests. Be analytical and understand numbers but also be able to think big picture.

7.  Who is your favorite author and/or book?

Inventing for the Environment

8.  What is your favorite food?

Indian or Thai

9.  Who has been an inspiration to you in your life?

My wife