November Newsletter

Quite often people ask me how did you start HydroTerra and why? Cynical buddies will say it was to avoid time sheets, the nemesis of consulting. There were a lot of reasons not to do it. A lot of risk. A lot of things that could go wrong. A lot of things I didn’t know, like how to run a business.  The truth of the matter is I just wanted to have a go.  The simple act of having a go is what I’d like to reflect on today.

In environmental management there are two ways to go: compliance with the status quo, or the other the path of innovation to try something new that may lead to better outcomes, both for clients and the environment. The second one relies on hope and faith. To see the potential and to have the courage to recommend a new approach. Looking at the status quo, the environment appears to be dying a death of a thousand cuts! The General Environmental Duty (GED) is, however, at its heart aspirational. It creates a harmony between compliance and having a go at improving how we do things. It demands the question, can we do things better and how?

In Australia we are very good at inventing things.  We have the intellect and significant research institutes developing solutions. However, in Australia we are pretty lousy at adoption and commercialisation of our great inventions. In short, we are not too good at having a go! It is however really quite inspiring when we do see companies and individuals consciously make an effort beyond the norm. Many of our customers are consultants.  We work closely with them to make them aware of the potential that adopting technology can have for them and their clients. There is so much low hanging fruit. It really is time for us to look again at how we do things and how we can do them better, for the sake of the environment and productivity. Recently we have been doing quite a lot of collaborative consultancy, where we work with consultants to develop new technology-based solutions for their clients. The simple act of collaboration underpinned by a conscious decision to have a go is leading to better outcomes for industry and the environment.

On a related note: Dr Matthew Askelande from ADE Group was really very inspiring in last weeks webinar on PFAS monitoring and management.  It was a last-minute decision to present, we knew it would be tricky, presenting from the airport, but Matt was up to the task and despite the odd audio challenge, the outcome was excellent. Thankyou Matt!