In what ways does recycling directly impact the sustainability of the Essay

In what ways does recycling directly impact the sustainability of the environment - Essay Example Recycling is an alternative to land filling, which in any case in getting scare. In addition, the impact of global warming is much less in recycling than in landfill. Recycling is a major industry and for the sustainability of the environment, the infrastructure has to be in order. Recycling is assumed to be environmentally beneficial but even the process of collecting, sorting and processing material gives rise to environmental impacts and energy use (Postnote 2002). The impact of recycling different products is charted in the table below: Even though recycling results in energy conservation and conservation of natural resources, it does impact the environment through the greenhouse emissions, pollution or the use of finite resources. Recycling positively impacts the environment in several ways. It reduces waste going into landfills, it saves energy in producing fresh products and it reduces the amount of pollution from litter, incineration and misuse. Using three tons of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and three cubic yards of landfill (Globalimpact 2005). E-waste has become very common in most countries and particularly in China where economic development has been very rapid. It is an important waste stream in terms of both quantity and toxicity (Liu, Tanaka and Matsui 2005). Both businesses and homes discard e-waste that come from equipments like computers, televisions, refrigerators and the like. The recycling process in China is absolutely informal and this has an adverse impact on the environment. Recycling of the e-waste takes place in the villages in China and is handled by the uneducated people. These uneducated people use technology like burning or acid dipping and the waste is then dumped in the local river that has become polluted. E-waste includes several metals and chemicals and lead is commonly used in the equipments. Lead can cause chronic damage to the nervous and reproductive systems. According to

Short story examples Essay Example for Free

Short story examples Essay Narrative I swiftly glided through the night valley telling myself not to be afraid; without the noises of cars and trucks passing by, I could hear every pound of my heartbeat and every echo of my step. I felt a shiver through my spines as I increased the pace of my footsteps and noticed an increase of the echo——someone was following me! My stomach tightened and my ears buzzed at the thought when I tried to fasten my pace. I ran as fast as I could to escape from the unknown danger until I had my breath at the top of my lungs and my legs started to tremble. Then I finally fell because of the lack of strength. With despair, I looked back and I saw a faceless man dressed neatly in a suit walking towards me. My eyes widened and I could feel that this was the last moment of my life. Descriptive The faceless man stands in front of the window. His fine made Italian leather jacket that is worn out reveals his once-glory aristocratic position; his collar, sloppily lying beneath his jacket, clearly lacks care. The austere oak door behind him has gathered a great amount of ash and dust and its metallic handles are colorless from long periods of oxidation. The man lets out a silent whimper and leans to swipe the window. He lays his hand with veins like branches of ancient oak tree on the cedar frame and stares out through the window the to the vast landscapes somberly. Expository intro Identity’s literal definition is â€Å"the state of having unique identifying characteristics held by no other person or thing.† However, society suppresses people so much that they are losing their sense of identity. An important element of identity is the unique traits of oneself that distinguish him/her from other people. But nowadays, people who act or dress differently are usually treated as blasphemies. They are given scornful looks and ostracized. Thus, it is believed that indifferent trend which people are blindly following caused the lost of identification in society. Persuasive The workplace burden the world had exerted on working class is damaging their health. First, the pressure obtained from work may lead to mental stress. This stress mainly comes from their boss or clients. Deadlines in workplace sometimes also apply stress to workers. Second, the lack of sleep from getting up early to go to work may cause high blood pressure and heart problems. Many people stay up too ate to finish up their cases and wake up too early to get to their works. In this way, they lack of sleep. Thirdly, the long time sitting from the work invoke spine problems. For people who work in offices, workers sit for a long time, and spines are damaged because of that. Thus, people may gain body functioning problems due to work.

Liquidity Gap Analysis And Schedule Finance Essay

Liquidity Gap Analysis And Schedule Finance Essay The main technique used to measure liquidity position is liquidity gap analysis. Liquidity gaps are differences between assets and liabilities at present time and in the future (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010). Gaps generate liquidity risk; deficits will require funding and excess will result in interest rate risk. Gaps can either be static or dynamic. Static gaps will consider all assets and liabilities which are actually present in the balance sheet. In such case the analysis shows a reduction of the assets and liabilities as they mature. Dynamic gaps are simply the consideration of actual plus projected inflows and outflows; these depend on business uncertainties (Hampel et al 1999). A liquidity gap schedule provides an analytical framework for measuring future funding needs by comparing the amount of assets and liabilities maturing over specific time intervals (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010). Table 3 presents a sample liquidity gap schedule. Table 3: Liquidity gap schedule Less than 10 days Over 10 days but less than 3 months Over 3 months but less 6 months Over 6 months less than one year 1 to 5 years Over 5 years and capital Total Assets 10 10 10 5 65 0 100 Liabilities and Equity 50 30 15 0 0 5 100 Net outflow(Assets minus Liabilities) (40) (20) (5) 5 65 (5) 0 Cumulative net outflow (40) (60) (65) (60) 5 0 0 Source: Office of Thrift Supervision Jan 15 (2010) Sec 530 page 29 In the liquidity gap schedule, the company ranges assets and liabilities into different time intervals taking into account their remaining time to maturity. Generally, the company ranges assets and liabilities according to their effective maturities rather than their contractual maturities. For instance, a company will treat non maturity deposits as long-term liabilities rather than short-term liabilities. Negative gapping at the shorter end of the schedule increases the risk that the company will be unable to rollover maturing liabilities as they come due. While such a position is in favour to liquidity, it tends to enhance profitability over the long-term, provided the company keeps the gaps within manageable limit. However, a limitation of the liquidity gap schedule is that it does not capture projected balance sheet changes such as future loan and deposit growth. While it is important to understand the liquidity of a companys existing balance sheet, it is also essential to forecast the growth of key balance sheet components, such as deposits and loans, over time. (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010) 2.8.3 Risk Management Liquidity risk management should be vigorous with analysis and metrics that reflects a companys liquidity position and assess its options under different market conditions, such as economic stress, crisis, and collapse (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010). Liquidity risk needs to be managed once it has been identified and measured. Risk is more integral to business for insurance that it is perhaps for any other industry (Capgemini 2006). Long-run profitability will suffer when companies hold too much low-earning liquidity assets. Holding too little liquidity can lead to severe financial problems. Managing liquidity risk is not only to eliminate the risk but rather find the equilibrium between return and risk (Decker, A, P 2000). Selling some assets rapidly seems to be an easy solution, but still insurers will have to face forced sales risk. For some insurers, their projects to improve risk management evolved into the establishment or expansion of their risk management department (Henry Essert march 2010). The aim in managing liquidity is to minimize cost. The cheapest approach is to try to restructure the balance sheet in such a way to reduce gap and that the appropriate level of risk is reached (Decker, A, P 2000). 2.8.3.1 Metrics used for liquidity risk management Most financial firms such as insurance companies use various metrics to control their liquidity risk. This consists of three basic approaches which can be categorized as: the liquid assets approach, the cash flow approach, and a combination of both. (Sharma paul et al 2006) Under the liquid assets approach, the company needs to maintain liquid instruments on their balance sheet which can be consulted whenever required. (Ratios are the relevant metrics in this approach) Under the cash flow matching approach, the company tries to match cash outflows against contractual cash inflows across a range of near-term maturity buckets. This approach is mostly used by insurance companies. The mixed approach is a combination of both cash flow approach and the liquid assets approach. The company attempts to match cash outflows each time bucket against a combination of contractual cash inflows. Insurance companies place more emphasis on the cash flow matching approach. When gaps in maturity buckets are unfavorable, insurance companies would utilize the mixed approach to help ensure that they will be able to meet their obligations to provide cash to counterparties. (Sharma et al 2006) 2.8.3.2 Assets Liability Management Assets Liability Management (ALM) can be termed as a risk management technique designed to earn an adequate return while maintaining a reasonable surplus of assets beyond liabilities. It considers interest rates, earning power and degree of willingness to take on debt and hence is also known as Surplus Management (Sayonton Roy 2010). Management of liquidity consists of raising fund and invests where excess of fund is available. The managers will buy, hold and sell assets and liabilities in order to maintain a predetermined level of liquidity (Matti Peltonen 2010). This technique forms part of the Asset liability Management and thus facilitates in Funding, Investing and Hedging issues to achieve predetermined strike between risk and return. The objective is to increase profitability, while monitoring risk, as well as complying with the constraints of companies (Arzu Tektas et al 2005). 2. 9 Study in the same field 2.9.1 Estimation of Liquidity Risk Patrick Tobin and Alan Brown 2003 designed a method to model liquidity using a bottom-up approach. They calculated average size of withdrawals as, Yt=ZtNt Where, Zt is the total withdrawals for time t Nt is the number of withdrawals for time t A period of 35 weeks was considered The average values were, N=t=1TNt, Y=t=1TYt, Z=t=1TZt Then they rescaled data as follows, Mt=NtN , Ct=YtY , Bt=ZtZ Where, Mt is the mob, Ct is the clip, Bt is the bag The basic model was found and applied to product p BLt=p=1KWpBpt, Where, BLt= Business Line at time t Bpt= Bag for each product p at time t Wp= Weight for product p This gives rise to a weekly factor. The dispersion of this weekly factor was the subject of further analysis. This model tries to estimate the weekly cash outflow. 2.9.2 Measuring liquidity risk in Insurance companies In an article namely Measuring Liquidity risk in Banking Management Framework Giampaolo Gabbi (2000, p.44-58) proposed a model to implement liquidity risk within the risk management mostly used, the Value at Risk (VaR). This model also applies for the Insurance sectors since they have similar operations such as fixed deposits, loan facilities and other banking activities. Value at Risk is the largest likely lost from market risk that an asset or portfolio will suffer over a time interval and with a degree of certainty selected by the decision maker Titus Lewis, 1997. In a general circumstance five factors are considered before calculating VaR, this are: volatility of prices, interest and exchange rates probability distribution of likely return time horizon confidence interval correlation among different positions Once these elements are known, risk manager can calculate VaR in the worst case scenario for the single position (pos) VaR pos= pos.n. Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  t where,  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  t is volatility for frequency t n is the scaling factor needed to obtain the desired confidence level under the assumption of a normal distribution of market returns Modeling liquidity in a VaR framework is given by: VaR= n { Ã‚ ³Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ L)  Ã‚ 1â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¯2 + Æ’( Ã‚ ­  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ©Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã†â€™.  Ã‚ ³Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ Lâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ©Ã‚ Ã‚  +  Ã‚ ³Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ º log c â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¨Lâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ©Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ½ Where n depends on the underlying distribution,  Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ L)  Ã‚  is the expected execution log in selling the L shares,  Ã‚ ­ is the mean quality discount,  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  is the volatility of the discount and c â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¨Lâ‚ ¬Ã‚ © is the quantity discount Unfortunately all these information are difficult to access or calculate, so indicators were used to simplify the equation, leading to the following outcome COL = 12  Ã¢â‚¬ º Pt â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¨S +  Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  spreadâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ©Ã‚ Ã‚  Where COL is the cost of liquidity, Pt is todays mid price for the assets or instrument, S is the average relative defined as  Ã¢â‚¬ ºbid ask Ã‚ Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯ mid price,  Ã‚ ¡ is the scaling factor and  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  spread is the volatility of relative spread. 2.10 Overview of liquidity Risk Management in Mauritius 2.10.1 Liquidity in the Insurance Act 2005 Insurance Companies in Mauritius are governed by the Insurance act 2005 which is regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The FSC has the responsibility to ensure that Insurance companies are taking appropriate measures to manage all the risks to protect the interest of the clients and the public at large. The consequences of liquidity risk on a countrys financial system make its management become a very important issue. Section 23 of the Insurance Act 2005 considers liquidity and solvency issues. It also lists the different assets which are to be considered as liquid assets, for example; cash balances, fixed interest, equities. According to Section 24 (1)(a) of the insurance act an insurer shall in respect of its insurance business at all times have and maintain its level of liquidity as may be prescribed. It imposes Insurance to maintain an adequate and appropriate form of liquidity. At any time the Financial services Commission may order an Insurer to increase its level of liquidity, depending on risks in the Insurance operation, maturing liabilities, quality of assets and other financial resources. Failure to comply with the above will result in that Insurance not been permitted to assume any new risks of any kind, or underwrite or renew any insurance policy; unless it increases its level of liquidity to the indicated amount. 2.10.2 Guideline on Liquidity The Financial Services Commission has issued a Guideline on Liquidity in February 2008. This Guide is issued under section7 (1) (a) of the Financial Services Act 2007 and Section 130 of the Insurance Act 2005. The Guideline on Liquidity gives an exact indication of what the Financial Services Commission is expecting from the Insurers in their management of liquidity. In order to help insurance companies to foster professional standards the Commission expects all insurers to have regard to these Guidelines. These guidelines also require insurers to provide reports on its liquidity position every three months for the first year and at the end of each year afterwards. Guideline on liquidity also concerns contingency planning. A good contingency plan should be realistic, unambiguous, designed to be flexible and should indicate the responsibility and priority of the Insurance and their management team. This will enable an insurance company to withstand a liquidity crisis. Stress test is another aspect of the Guidelines on liquidity. The stress test requirement is the minimum amount of assets that an insurer should hold in excess of its liabilities. The stress test requirement is important in managing liquidity risk. Special attention should be given to assets, liabilities and off balance sheet, consider maturity of policies and their future prospects. The guideline is not intended to be prescriptive on how insurance should measure and control its funding requirement, but however, certain approaches in the theoretical review are recommended. Finally an Insurance company should manage access to fund and consider its diversification. Concentrating in few types of assets, liabilities or market may be risky. Therefore, internal limits on maximum fund engage in one type of activity should be set. The guideline also encourage Insurance to look for new arrangement and developing financial assets and market to have access to fund while reducing liquidity risk. 2.10.3 Solvency II consideration of liquidity Since the introduction of the Solvency I in the early 1970s, there has been continuous development of sophisticated risk management systems leading to its replacement by Solvency II. Solvency II has introduced a wide framework for risk management which helps in implementing procedures to identify, measure, and manage levels of risk. It is the most recent set of regulatory requirements for insurance companies and is scheduled to start on 1 January 2013. New funding sources and liquidity management techniques have been brought forward by financial and technological advances. Therefore, Insurance companies are expected to understand the liquidity levels and the behavior of cash flows in different circumstances and thus enabling them to react accordingly. Solvency II identifies the principles for a proper liquidity management. Those principles fall under the following main headings; reducing the risk that an insurer cannot meet its claims; To reduce the losses encountered by policyholders ; To enable supervisors to act spontaneously if capital goes below the level required; Increase confidence in the financial stability of insurance sector. The Solvency II framework has three major parts for the insurance sector: Quantitative requirements. Governance and risk management requirements. Disclosure and transparency requirements The Guideline on Liquidity issued by the Financial Services Commission reflects mostly the following principles; to develop a structure for the management of liquidity, to measure and monitor net funding requirements, to manage market access, contingency planning, and internal controls for liquidity risk management in improving Liquidity.

Money Can Buy Happiness! :: Happiness Essays

What is happiness? According to the dictionary, happiness is a mental or emotional state of positive or pleasant emotions. Now think closely, what does happiness mean to you? Many people say money can’t buy you happiness, some people say it can. People say, â€Å"How can you not be happy when you have a ton of money?† But people also say, â€Å"Having too much money can get in the way of happiness.† To me money is just green paper that lets you buy things you want and need. But can this green paper really buy you happiness? After reading this paper of mine, think about the question again and what do you believe is true. I am going to share with you a little story about someone that thinks money can’t buy happiness. This story is written by a seventeen year old girl named Michelle who was asked this question for an interview for New York Daily News, so read and think about her story: I never really thought the expression, â€Å"money can’t buy happiness†, was true. As an infant, just by observing the people around me, I observed when they would obtain money and a huge grin would spread across their face, the corners of their smile spreading from ear to ear. Whenever I would see that grin and a person’s face light up at the sight of a crisp, green bill it would make me believe that I had proved the famous expression wrong. Now that I’ve grown up and matured, my idea of that expression has changed. As of now, I am able to reflect on life more and look deeper into things and particularly into people more than I was able to do years ago. My ideas about this expression changed the most though because of the money situation my family had stumbled upon because of the failing economy. I remember being younger when the economy was doing well and waking up to twenty gifts for each of my three sisters and I. We used to believe that all of those presents, brought in because of money of course, were the best part of waking up on Christmas. Of course all of those toys and material items would make a child happy; however looking back it would only make them happy if it was given to them by somebody who bought it for them with love.

The Benefits of Meditation

The Benefits of Meditation The importance of relaxation and meditation cannot be overstated. Not only is it good for the individual, but for the world as a whole. iThe new world view emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependence of all phenomena, as well as the emboldens of the individuals and societies in the cyclical processes of nature (Capra 390). The systems theory provides that whatever is good for the individual, is good for the entire system of all ecology.Depak Chopra states that whatever is good for the ecology is good for the health of the universe, for all things are interrelated. He calls this quantum healing. For this reason, it is imperative that an individual takes responsibility to keep the body and mind in good health. One of the most pleasant ways to achieve this type of euphoria is through meditation and relaxation. Meditation can be achieved through yoga, relaxation techniques, Shamanic journeying, channeling, or exercise programs such as Tai Chi.The purp ose of all of these exercises is to increase the body's energy flow and to] ward off sickness and contagious disease (Weiss 352). Tai Chi is a program that moves energy through the body. It uses the idea of pushing outward, moving the bad energy out, which leaves room for the good energy to enter. If the body is not cleared of the bad energy, the good cannot enter. This is accomplished through proper breathing, as Lao Tzu stated. Proper breathing is facilitated by all of the aforementioned meditation techniques.Yoga is another style of body movement which works in the same manner as Tai Chi. Through a specific routine, the individual moves and cleanses energy, so that not only air, but blood and intelligence can flow freely throughout the mind and body. As satirist Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoon has often said, one of the best ways to achieve what one wants out of life is by writing out or stating affirmations. The process he recommends, and which he attributes to his own suc cess, is the process of creative visualization.Shakti Gawain states that the benefits to be gained from this process of seeing yourself as having completed goals, brings physical health, a healthy self-image, good relationships, forgiveness and release, and success (Gawain 122-123). The advantage of visualizing the future is that the information visualized creates a steady message to the body, mind and soul about the exact goals it wants to pursue and receive. For this reason, it is a very powerful means of achieving goals.Shamanic journeying is also a hands-on approach, which entails relaxation to a repetitive drum beat or musical score, and a conscious intent to move a specific sickness (one at a time) out of the body. Shamanic journeying, much like a transcendental meditation on another plane, can be used to undo the past and move the ties that bind from the body, or it can be used to remove psychological dis-ease from the mind. Much like a physical manifestation of psychological treatment, the mind and body can be healed by Shamanic means within a very short period of time, however .In the past, most of this work was done by a Shaman or Medicine person, but today, the individual can take responsibility for this work (Newhouse and Amodeo 48-52). The important thing to remember when journeying are these lines from a poem by Nancy Wood: iAll of my life rolled out from my feet,i and iAt the same time I made a hole in the sky (Newhouse and Amodeo 50). This epitomizes the release and intake of energy. This same type of process is involved in channeling, a quiet form of relaxation which is a 20 minute process that recognizes the seven chakras and their relationship to the earth and sky points of the body.A channel opens all seven points to let energy flow down, up and out in order to cleanse, create and love. Through the lower chakras the energy cleanses down through the stomach (yellow), intestines (orange), and reproductive organs (red). Once these are clean, t he heart (green/pink) is opened, and from there the throat/voice (blue), vision/third eye (purple), and mind (purple) can be opened to the heavens for universal information and communication. In all cases, the meeting place in the body is the heart.When love is sensed and cleansed, it can then flow outward to everyone and everything in the immediate vicinity and the universe (Stevens 224-229). Not only does this heal the body, but it heals the universe and all that receive the cleansed outward energy. All of these processes are not only for the purpose of cleansing the body, mind and soul or for creating the world that an individual wants for himself or herself. They are means to effect changes in the universe. Worldwide group meditations are held to correct all kinds of ills on this planet.They are held nightly and on specific dates. The perception experienced by the participants is a sense of complete peace and also of sensation. Works Cited Capra, Fritjof. Holistic Health Holisti c Peace. in The New Holistic Health Handbook, Living Well in a New Age. Ed. Shepherd Bliss. Lexington MA: Penquin Books. (1985). Gawain, Shakti. iCreative Visualization. ,i in The New Holistic Health Handbook, Living Well in a New Age. Ed. Shepherd Bliss. Lexington MA: Penquin Books. (1985). Newhouse, Sandy R. M. A. Amodeo, John, Ph. D. Native American Healing. in The New Holistic Health Handbook, Living Well in a New Age. Ed. Shepherd Bliss. Lexington MA: Penquin Books. (1985). Stevens, Petey. iPsychic Healing. in The New Holistic Health Handbook, Living Well in a New Age. Ed. Shepherd Bliss. Lexington MA: Penquin Books. (1985). Weiss, Shandor. Tai Chi Chuan as a Healing Art. in The New Holistic Health Handbook, Living Well in a New Age. Ed. Shepherd Bliss. Lexington MA: Penquin Books. (1985).

Human relations case study Essay

1. Chapter 7 distinguished between transformational, charismatic, and transactional leadership theories; which one of these best describes Kevin Plank? Explain and support your answer. Kevin Plank displays more of the transformational leadership theory. In each presentation that Plank presents he refers to passion, vision, and people. He had the passion to start up with a new product and to go up against a giant like Nike. He has the passion to build a great product and continue to make it better. The people, his team, are the backbone of his company. There is a trust between himself and his team members that carries over into the work that is expected to be performed. 2. What is the evidence in the case that job enrichment is a key part of the way work is done at Under Armour? At Under Armour, employees are known as teammates. They have a â€Å"get-it-done† attitude, no matter what obstacles stand in their way. Solutions to any problems are expected to be resolved with full support from the team. Under Armour has made the teammates have certain responsibilities and expectations of the work to be performed. They form natural working groups and they give the teammates more autonomy with the responsibilities that are set forth. 3. Go to the internet and look up â€Å"Good leadership traits†. In your opinion, what traits make a person a good leader? In my opinion, the traits I think of that make a person a good leader are honesty and integrity. No one can respect someone that lies and puts his or her needs first over others. It is important to have good morals and ethics. Another leadership trait that is important is communication. A leader has to know how to communicate with his or her employees. A good leader has good communication style and will recognize the need to be open to change with their style on an as need basis. It is also important to be able to listen  to others to get their insight. A positive attitude is also important. 4. Who is the best leader you know and why? The person that I consider the best leader that I personally know would be my mother. She started out at 16 with me. She has held two jobs in her lifetime and receives a great deal of respect from her supervisors, employees and peers. She worked her way up from dishwasher in the dietary department with no skills and only her GED. Now she is one of the main supervisors for Mercy Rehabilitation services. She has shown that with hard work and determination that someone can advance and move forward. She has always spoken to her employees with respect. She went to school through online courses to receive the necessary degrees to advance. She possess honest and integrity, she has her goals set and the drive and desire to attain those goals. She will work right alongside her employees scrubbing dirt off the ground if need be.