I don’t get it. Here we are trying to get biofuel vehicles mainstream, electric vehicles are scheduled to come off assembly lines next year, and hydrogen-powered vehicles have just faltered off to the side. Now, all of a sudden, car companies are going to have a network of fueling stations ready to service hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2015? And, over 1 million miles have already been logged in the Chevy Equinox fuel-cell car? What’s going on here?

While all of this is great for emission reduction, think about some of the problems we face. If we transform too quickly to a society of electric cars, we face too large hurdles – electricity supply being well short of the demand and lack of recharging facilities. Biofuel faces the same lack of fueling stations as well as supply problems. Now, add hydrogen to the mix and neither consumers or car companies will know what to do.

Don’t get me wrong, I think hydrogen fuel cell cars are a fabulous idea too long in the making. It’s just that the cost to build the infrastructure for three different technologies will be astronomical and what it leaves is rural Americans holding the short end of the petroleum stick since they will be the last to get refueling/recharging stations for any of those technologies.

One would think that paper is one of those recyclables that is easy to recycle and should be recycled to cut odwn on the trees being used. The biggest problem is the price paper mills are willing to pay for even the highest grades of paper. And things just seem to be getting worse. As paper manufacturers continue to struggle with the economy and with people trying to cut the amount of paper they use in order to help save the environment, the need for scrap paper at the mills is diminishing. Tons of paper wanting to come in the door and yet no place to send it once it’s processed.

So, we have people screaming on one side that we need to increase the amount of paper we recycle while on the other side, we have recyclers who still need to make a dime or two and can’t do it with prices the way they are. We certainly need to rethink some of the ideas we have about the recycling of some goods and rethink our consumption habits if we are going to come up with any viable solution.

The process of building awareness and rememberability (I know, it’s not really a word but you know what I mean.) for a company or person begins with the name. Choosing a name which will be easily recalled, spelled, written, talked about, associated with something – all of those need to be considered in the process. Coolness or trendiness are the very last reasons to choose a name.

Think back to the “Artist Formerly Known As Prince” and the symbol he used to represent himself. While it might have seemed cool, it was way too awkward and he had to go back to Prince. Such is the case of  Technology Recycling Group and  National Technology Resource Group changing their name to 2trg. This name isn’t easy to write, spell, remember nor does it lead to any association with something. Are you supposed to say it “two turg”,  “two trig”, “two T R G” or perhaps some completely different way?

I don’t claim to be an expert in naming but I have read a few articles on the subject and all of them seem to agree. And, rather than just rely on expertise, I conducted a non-scientific poll around our office and didn’t have one single duplication in the attempt to pronounce it or associate it with anything. As a marketing person with almost 20 years of experience, I find very little “marketing reasoning” behind the choice of the name, which generally proves to be a hindrance to the brandability of the company.

Take a look at this. I wonder what process they use to make the pallets strong enough. If only they could ramp up their sales and production fast enough to cause a significant increase in demand for cardboard, thus freeing up the market and allowing us to ship more of the cardboard that has been accumulating in our yards. For more information about the company and their pallets, go here.

With all the bad economic news adding to our woes almost daily, we find ourselves grasping at any sign that things could be on the mend. When I first read this along with some other comments, my feet wanted to get up and do a little jig. I actually had to sit down and do some analysis in my head.

“Now wait just a minute,” I told myself. “This is just a small indicator and it’s in a country far away. Even if it is the beginning of price stabilization, it is in Great Britain and will take some time before being felt over here. And, the commodities that concern out company the most are metals and those are still floating near the bottom – except some precious metals which have gained recently.”

So, yes, the news about some items realizing significant price gains is good, however, it is just a small piece of the pie and it is in a market far away from us. Sit back down, take a few deep breaths and get back to work.