Category Archive: Canada Air Quality

ISO 14001 REGISTRATION

Maverick Spring Makers Limited, a manufacturer of custom springs in Brantford, Ontario, is proud to announce their Environmental Management System has been registered to ISO 14001.

ISO 14001 provides a framework for organizations to protect the environment, to identify and control their environmental impact and continually improve their performance in response to changing external and internal factors.

Since 1996 Maverick’s Quality Management System has been registered, first to ISO QS 9000 and currently to ISO/TS 16949.  A quality management system is a collection of business processes focused on consistently meeting customer requirements and enhancing their satisfaction. Building on our ISO/TS 16949 registration, ISO 14001 registration is

further evidence of our efforts to continually improve our processes and further minimize any negative impact our business activities have on the environment.

Maverick Spring Makers Limited is committed to the practice of sound environmental stewardship and the promotion of health, safety and the well- being of our employees.

We will never knowingly permit any person, or the environment to be harmed by our actions or our products.

Maverick is committed to the philosophy of REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.

How to Stop Air Pollution in Canada, U.S.

In our last blog, we took some time to discuss the causes for the increasing level of pollution in the U.S. and Canada. Now that we understand what is filling our air with dangerous and often fatal levels of pollution, we need to look at ways we can mitigate this disaster.

As with the creation of air pollution, there is not one simple way to reduce our levels of contaminated air. In order to reverse the current trends, we will have to attack the problem on multiple fronts.

Personal Conservation

You have heard this one since childhood: If you consume less, you produce fewer emissions. Humanity can accomplish this goal by driving less, turning off lights, and recycling. On its own, these are great ideas, but it will take a revolution in human behavior to make a dent in our current problems. Then again, you have to start somewhere.

Transportation and Production Alternatives

Currently, manufacturers and industries across the U.S. and Canada rely heavily on cars, trucks and planes to transport goods over North America’s wide expanse. There is a push on to utilize transportation alternatives like trains and pipelines. Both reduce the amount of fossil fuels used, thus improving air quality. Another less popular, but perhaps equally effective idea is sourcing more goods locally. The closer you are to suppliers of goods and services, the less travel time necessary.

Pollution-Control Systems

Most current machines and facilities that use fossil fuels can benefit from advanced pollution control systems. Things like thermal oxidizers, wet scrubbers, heat exchangers, and energy recovery systems can reduce air pollution. (At Maverick Spring, we have seen a rise in orders for products used in these systems.)

Renewable Energy Sources

For many experts, this is the true future of reducing air pollution. Popular alternative energy sources include, wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower. There is still a long way to go for renewables to replace fossil fuels. They are still far too expensive and hard to install, but with each passing day, these obstacles are disappearing. In 2013, wind power contributed 4.1 percent of electricity generated in the U.S., up from 3.4 percent in 2012, so some change is occurring.

While there is no magic bullet, if both individuals and industries make a concerted effort, there is a chance that we will be able to reverse or at least slow the current levels of dangerous air pollution around the globe. At Maverick Spring, we will continue to do our best to reduce our levels of air pollution—and we’re hoping our compression, extension, and torsion springs will find their way into more products that can make a difference.

What Causes Air Pollution?

Hardly a day goes by where we’re not reading about the dangers of air pollution—because it’s growing, and the complications are evident. This scourge of the modern world is being blamed for everything from the rise in asthma rates and cardiovascular disease to poor childhood development. The problem has become so bad that a recent study claims approximately 7 million people worldwide are killed every year from air pollution.

So, what exactly is causing this life-threatening boom in air pollution? Unfortunately, there is no one simple answer, but we have broken down a few individual factors and to help identify the possible culprits.

Over Population

With one new human born every 8 seconds, the world is filling up quickly. North America alone now is home to more than 356 million people. As we become more reliant on modern technologies such as cars, computers, air travel, and even air conditioning, our demand for energy is skyrocketing. A higher demand for goods means more production/manufacturing and pollution-heavy factories. This also covers the chemicals used in food production.

Fossil Fuels

If it has a motor, odds are it runs on fossil fuels. More than 87 percent of the world’s energy consumption comes from coal, natural gas, and oil. Added to this is the recent shale oil and gas boom in North America (especially in the Northern U.S. and Western Canada) over the past decade. This has lowered fuel prices, increased usage, and introduced plenty of pollution from production. To understand the levels of production, you only need to know that Canada is now the third largest natural gas producer in the world.

Getting You from Here to There

This idea one combines the first two—more people, more jobs, and more demand mean more trucks, cars, trains, planes, factories, and power plants.

In the end, air pollution is a vicious cycle.  Modernity brings mind blowing advances in technology, which means longer life spans, more people, more products and services, and so on. The only real way to stop the damage is to find a way to limit emissions. In our next blog, we will be covering some of the ways the world is attempting to stop, or at least slow down, air pollution before it is too late.