Industry Takes Up The Challenge Of Sustainability

In the success stories collected here, you can read about the impact environmental management has had on a number of companies, large and small. The links section lists the sites of these companies and others, where you can study their environmental programs and download environmental reports.

The menu box at the left lists the stories. When you hold your mouse over a link, you can read more about the story before you read it.

Shell thought they had worked out a way to dispose of obsolete oil platforms like Brent Star by dumping them in the high seas. They had weighed economic factors against some environmental considerations, but neglected to take Greenpeace into account. The resulting bad PR caused a substantial loss of market. This was only one of several instances where Shell had shown little concern for the environment or the society in which it was operating.

Learned from experience

Shell has learned from its experience, however. By using environmental management techniques Shell has evaluated its entire environmental, societal and human impact, enabling it to discover problems before they occur, to react quickly when they occur and to plan strategically for more sustainable products and production.

Shell (and several other oil companies like BP) have started to investigate more sustainable energy sources - now much more aware of the impact the petroleum industry has on all aspects of the environment - from the air pollution caused by exhaust to the depletion of resources in the future. Shell

The Danish textile manufacturer Novotex was founded on the ideological belief that it must be possible to make more sustainable textiles. Recognizing that the environmental impact of textiles lies in the supply chain, from chemical fertilizers and insecticides to various chemical treatments used in refining, spinning, dying and weaving, Novotex has been instrumental in mapping this impact and in aiding its suppliers to employ more sustainable methods. The company has worked out a "logbook" for textiles to chart the chemicals used in the production process. The logbook is now used by a number of Danish textile manufacturers. Novotex is recognized internationally in both textile and environmental management circles as an innovator and a leader in sustainable textiles.

Novotex developed the concept of Green Cotton, with strict requirements for all phases of production. The concept can be licensed to other companies who produce organic and so-called "sustainably" produced products. Novotex

Novotex was furthermore instrumental in developing the requirements for ecolabeling of textile products, such as the EU Flower and the Nordic Swan labels.

Unfortunately Novotex for a while did not invest as much time and energy in producing designer collections or marketing its products as it used in working out the supplier management principles, so Green Cotton products were often difficult to find except at specialty shops. To remedy this, Novotex and other players in the Danish textile market worked with the Danish Ministry of the Environment to produce a wide spectrum of sustainable textiles which were marketed broadly in the spring of 2002. Novotex

The consumer owned FDB chain, one of Denmark's major food chains, collaborated in 1993 with the largest, producer-owned, dairy, then known as MD Foods, (now Arla) to lower the price of organically produced milk products to within 20% of that for non-organic products. This was the start of a wave of popularity for all organic foods. Now more than 10% of all milk products in Denmark are organic; likewise, the consumption of organic eggs, vegetables and meats has increased rapidly ever since. With the growth of the market, distribution systems have improved, and a greater variety has become available.

Many consumers buy organic foods because they believe they are getting the better product - that the food tastes better, has been grown more conscientiously and is more healthful. Customers are not generally as aware of the environmental improvements brought by organic farming. The Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries has an informative official site on organic farming

Because of their work, FDB has gained great popularity among consumers while increasing the volume of environmentally correct purchases, which has spilled over to other supermarket chains. FDB won the EU prize for environmental leadership in the year 2000. FDB

The small Danish printing company Phoenix became aware of its environmental impact in the beginning of the 90's. Since then it has worked diligently to establish environmental management in all its processes, becoming the first printer ever to be certified for the Nordic Swan ecolabeling for its printed products. Phoenix works closely with its customers to convince them to use environmentally labeled print jobs. In that way they are now all able to use environmentally labeled paper for nearly their products.

Phoenix was instrumental in finding innovative methods for replacing environmentally toxic cleaning fluids with vegetable oils for cleansing printing rolls, now almost standard in the Danish printing industry. Instead of using paper towels to clean the rolls, Phoenix stated to use recyclable cotton cloths. The laundry that washes the cloths developed an environmentally friendly washing technique and is certified with both ISO14001 and EMAS.

After Phoenix made ecolabeled print work available, it became a requirement for all government printing in Denmark. As a result, other printing firms now feel obliged to become environmentally certified to be qualified to take these jobs. Thus a leader in the field forces others to follow suit. Phoenix

Rockwool has a problem. It has a product that is used extensively in Denmark for insulation, significantly reducing energy use. It is convinced that it is an environmentally friendly company. It uses its surplus to support a number of socially beneficial activities.

Nevertheless, environmentalists have not been convinced that the product is environmentally acceptable. There have been a number of health problems among construction workers using the company's insulation mats. Furthermore the production emits particles to the air and consumes a great deal of energy. Rockwool

Unfortunately it is very difficult to change the public impression of a firm once it has gotten a bad name, which Shell (and McDonald's) have also discovered. Some companies, like Rockwool, have managed to stave off problems by engaging in environmental management before being discovered by Greenpeace.

Rockwool has used environmental management to study its environmental impact, seeking ways to improve its record. The tools of environmental management have helped locate new methods to save energy, reduce particles from both products and production processes, as well as to prove the product's sustainability with arguments based on Life Cycle Assessment. Rockwool

Danish power companies are usually combined heating and power (CHP) companies that not only produce electrical power, but also hot water for the prevalent district heating systems. Midtkraft provides heat and energy for Denmark's second largest city, Aarhus, burning mostly coal and, increasingly, bio-mass (wood chips and straw). Although the company plays an important role in the country's environmental goals, any power plant has an immense impact both locally and globally.

While dealing with compliancy problems in the beginning of the last decade, Midtkraft decided to use environmental management to solve its problems. Initially company management alone undertook the process, using technical solutions such as better filters. When management decided to require behavioral change among its employees to save on internal energy consumption and improved waste management, the results were quite meager. Midtkraft

To remedy this, Midkraft's environmental engineer decided to use some techniques she had learned from another Danish company, Grundfos . She invited employees from all levels to map problems, suggest solutions and carry them out. Her groups soon got all employees to participate in the projects, not just by turning out lights, but also by suggesting other methods to save energy or reduce waste. Now Midtkraft is almost more proud of increased employee motivation than of the incurred environmental results.

The regional energy group ELSAM, of which Midtkraft is a partner, has been instrumental in developing off-shore wind farms to increase sustainable energy development in Denmark. Besides windfarms, ELSAM with Midkraft, which previously were largely reliant on coal, have introduced various forms of bio-fuels, gas fired CoProduction, as well as improved garbage incineration for heat and power. Midtkraft

Many tools have been developed to help your company work toward sustainability. Various management systems and certification, like ISO14001 and EMAS provide guidelines. Consultants have developed more specific management tools and methods to get you there.

See also the menu links to the left for more tools. Hold your mouse over the link to learn more before you click.

A major requirement of all environmental management systems is employee involvement in the process. At a minimum, both ISO14001 and EMAS require that the organization establish procedures so that all employees are aware of:

1. the importance of conformance with the environmental policy and procedures...
2. the significant environmental impacts... of their work activities...
3. their roles and responsibilities...
4. the potential consequences ... (ISO14001, 4.4.2)

However, informing employees and expecting their compliance does not usually result in the most efficient environmental management. Employees must be actually involved in the discovery and decision-making process for the system to have a real impact. Involvement

Several Danish studies have shown that increased involvement of employees in environmental work has a marked effect on environmental improvement. Where top-down management can introduce expensive technical solutions to some problems, often employees are aware of areas where a simple solution could have a great effect. Top-down management strengthens the status quo, while greater involvement - that is, a greater degree of bottom-up management - enables companies to improve though change, which can often be extensive.

Employees do not mind change, but they resist being changed. If they participate in the processes leading to change, they will "own" the change and not resist it. By using not only employees' hands but also their brains, companies are expanding their resource pool by increasing motivation not only for environmental projects but also for the job in general. Involvement

At a small plastics company where I helped with an environmental review, the person chosen to facilitate environmental management organized meetings with the entire staff (35 employees) to decide where the company could improve its environmental impact. She planned to create small groups to work with the solutions. Unfortunately the plant manager decided to solve all the problems himself, leaving the facilitator without a job. Afterwards she refused to participate as facilitator, which also means that the company has come no further with environmental management. What started as bottom-up involvement and participation ended as top-down information and data collection.

In a study of six companies, including Novotex and Midtkraft, a study I was involved in found that there are various ways of activating employees. This report, published as "Energiledelse og Adfærd" (Energy Management and Attitudes) by Jesper Løjl Hejl, Klaus Sall and Bonnie Brændgaard at TBI Forlag, Aarhus, Denmark, 1999, is one of a number of Danish projects researching employee involvement in environmental management projects. Others have studied paper production, an electronics firm, and fish and meat processing plants.

1. 
   Top-down management often goes no further than informing employees of actions taken and improvements made.
2. Often attempts are made to collect information from employees, by asking them to report where they think improvements can be made, as by using a suggestion box. In some companies these suggestions are rewarded. In others the suggestion box remains empty.
3. 
   Companies may involve their employees in pointing out key areas through courses and meetings where environmental problems can be discussed freely.
4. Bottom-up management asks employees to participate in the entire process, as seen above in the example of Midtkraft. Employees find areas to work with, study the situation, work out possible solutions and carry out the solution chosen by management. Involvement

Employees cannot participate without knowledge. Some knowledge they have gained themselves through their work experience. Other knowledge must be acquired through a specified learning process, based on relevant information.

Many companies post environmental information on bulletin boards to inform employees, often in the form of graphs and charts. The studies showed that most employees have no use for this information. If they cannot relate it to their own work, it is of little interest to them. In other words, it does not become useable knowledge. Indicators

The company has - or can acquire - the necessary data about its environmental impact. Nevertheless, data is not knowledge. Data must be organized and related to something to be useful information. A cutback in energy use in kwh is only information when related to the previous year's total or energy consumption in similar companies.

The information provided to employees must be pedagogically founded to provide a learning experience. The ISO 14031 standard for environmental indicators recommends that they be relevant, understandable, comparable and trustworthy.

When employees are involved in choosing the environmental indicators that they need in their work, the indicators are a useful input to their learning process. When information is related to the company's particular work environment, so that chosen indicators inform employees of how their actions affect the project, employees are motivated to learn how to improve their own behavior and contribution. Indicators

Dynamic organization

You can turn your company into a dynamic organization using environmental management. Management doesn't mean a lot of rules just for the sake of rules. Together with your employees identify where there are problems and make rules to prevent them. Your employees know where they are. Just ask them. Establish rules only where the lack of rules can lead to error. Too many rules diminish flexibility and ruin the dynamics of a work place.

The Danish management consultant, Jesper Løje Hejl, has developed a method for building flexible and efficient management programs in small and medium sized companies. Such a management program can be certified for quality and environmental management systems, such as ISO9001, ISO 14001 and EMAS. Dynamic management

The most important step toward dynamic management is a commitment by top management to the new program. Without their support, any dynamic system is doomed to either calcify or fade away. But management alone cannot do the job. A dynamic management program must involve the employees who know the actual processes.

Jesper Hejl maintains that it is possible to gain certification within 3 to 6 months using this method. He facilitates at 12 seminar days where the employees and management together evaluate their situation and create the necessary management program. Instead of many shelves of policies and procedures, he has found that only 25-30 pages can be sufficient for a medium-sized company. The procedures regulate only the necessary processes, relying on employees' education and qualifications to fill in the rest.

While you can organize these seminars for your company yourself, it is often a good idea to have an external facilitator for each seminar. The facilitator should know the requirements of the certifying program, if that is one of the goals of your management system. Dynamic management

Building the management program:
a plan for 12 seminars

Seminar 1. A survey of areas to improve and manage

Gather as many employees as possible-from all levels of the organization-for the initial kick-off seminar. Make sure that the entire staff feels that it is represented at the seminar. Working in varying break-out groups throughout the day ensures that different needs and opinions become well-known among all participants.

The purpose of the first seminar is to establish the focus for the entire management program, culminating with agreement on the content and direction of the system. You establish a priority list of what needs better management and what needs to be improved, based on a number of criteria. Through discussion and debate throughout the day, in break-out sessions and together, you achieve a common result for the following topics. Dynamic management

• What needs do we want to cover in our management program?
• What is our company policy on the environment and quality?
• Which of our stakeholders do we want to satisfy with the program?

• Which business processes create the values that our stakeholders appreciate?

• How can we ensure that we are managing the things that are integral for our success?
• How does our company affect the environment? Which things are important to our stakeholders?
• Which criteria should we use to determine the most important things?

• How can we establish a simple management system, combining strategy, action plans and the daily operations to advance our key values? Dynamic management

Seminars 2-11. Developing an un-bureaucratic management system with few rules and many values

Every business can be divided up into a series of business processes: procurement, sales, stock, development, etc. Establishing a management program involves analyzing your functions and then formulating the few rules that are necessary for each business process to meet your objectives. Most of the "rules" of your business should be known by everyone as a result of their education, knowledge and qualifications. The few necessary rules that need to be written in the management program describe:

• Where does something need managing?
• Who does the managing?
• How it is managed?

For many companies, the following 10 procedures are sufficient.

Important business procedures

1. Sales and contracts
2. Procurement
3. Production
4. Stock receiving and shipping
5. Communication

1. Document control
2. Education and training
3. Measurement
4. Strategy - monitoring, review and planning
5. Improvements Dynamic management

You can make the decisions needed to establish a dynamic, un-bureaucratic system at 10 seminars, one for each process. The participants of each seminar are the employees involved in the particular process as well as some of their stakeholders. Through debate and dialog, they work through the following areas to arrive at the necessary rules. The result of each seminar is the set of necessary rules that apply to that particular function.

This method ensures that environmental considerations and quality become a natural part of the daily course of business. A very important aspect of building the system in this way is the seminars result not only in a documented system, but also in the knowledge and skill, attitudes and culture that arise among the participants in the process.

The goal of the seminars where procedures are developed is thus to create a common view of the present situation and to establish agreement on the few but necessary rules for reasonable behavior in both the major and the supporting functions in the company.

It is not necessary to manage every little step that is done within the company. This is where many err with too much bureaucracy. Jesper Hejl emphasizes this principle:

Operational level of the management system

After the seminars, employees and management together can easily create the operational level of the management system, based on the procedures that they developed and agreed upon in the seminars. This level includes the support tools in the form of charts, signs, forms organizational changes, and the like that are necessary to implement the system. Often you will discover that education, training and information are more effective than bureaucracy, written rules and instructions, etc. Well-designed signs are often much more appropriate than written instructions. Rearranging the workplace may also be the solution to a problem that no rule could fix.

Seminar 12. Audit-reviewing the management system

Use the final seminar day to review the management program you have created. This internal audit checks the effectiveness and efficiency of your program. A well carried out internal audit can be instrumental in sharpening employees and management interest in quality, environmental impact and occupational safety and health within the company.

The audit can help you find the non-conformances and inefficient operations in your program, so you can correct them before you ask the ISO auditors to certify your system. Organize the audit according to the following plan: Dynamic management

Well thought out and structured planning is important for carrying out an effective audit. Make a schedule covering the points described below. Train all auditors for the job they are to do.

Inform the departments to be audited of when they will be audited and what is expected of them. Let them know that this is not an exam, but a review to see if the system is sufficiently effective. You cannot flunk an audit, but you may have to go back to rethink a procedure or provide more training for employees.

By interviewing management and employees and by checking documentation of the function, determine the level of:

• Knowledge
• Attitudes
• Tools
• Qualifications
• Culture

Organize the audit report in these 3 categories:

• Essential problems
• Small divergences
• Areas of improvement and recommended solutions

Present the audit report both written and orally at a meeting with management as well as at staff meetings, so that everyone is aware of how well the system works and where improvement is still needed.

Conclusion

A management program based on this model is tailored to fit your company, not some particular management scheme. That is the only way a system can be dynamic. It lives with you. Make sure that you ensure the dynamics of the system through regular audits and improvements. A management system that sits on a shelf has no use in the company, and can have no effect on the environment or quality impact-on satisfying the expectations of your stakeholders. Dynamic management

We take our own medicine

In the Danish EPA we are taking our own medicine: environmental management has been introduced in the Agency, and in March we were approved under the European eco-management scheme EMAS. Whether we do what we say we do is checked. This is a very healthy exercise.

EMAS registered public institution

The Danish EPA is not the first public institution to be registered under EMAS in Denmark. The environment unit of the local area Albertslund was registered under a Danish pilot scheme as early as 1999. As from 2001 EMAS was opened for public institutions, and since then key administrative units in Albertslund, and also the library, the public swimming bath, the dental care service, and one day-care institution have been registered. Also the Fredericia Hospital and the Haderslev State forestry district are EMAS registered. A display of great work. The Danish EPA is the first state administrative body registered under EMAS in Denmark. In my opinion we had to be, and we hope we can inspire other institutions like us to take the same road. We will be pleased to share our experience with them. EMAS is like spring-cleaning. Rust, cobweb, dust - the organisation's management routines are scrubbed and cleaned, to identify procedures that do not function properly. The principles are made clear, in order to facilitate their function in practice. The interaction between management and implementation becomes clear. This again benefits the credibility of the organisation. EMAS

Green Procurement

One of the key issues was green procurement. Several years ago we worked out a green procurement policy, and in several respects we have followed it in practice - e.g. environmental requirements have been set for procurement of furniture and paper, and for printed material and office supplies we have requested products carrying the Swan eco-label. In spite of that, some routines needed a thorough check. Guidelines may not be sufficiently clear, and others may be too complicated. This is now being corrected. State institutions are obliged to take environmental considerations in their purchasing, and EMAS puts action behind the words. I am quite sure that dissemination of the EMAS scheme will be a major boost of green procurement in state institutions.

Measuring environmental impact

Under EMAS you are required to manage your pressures on the environment, booth direct and indirect impacts, and to strive for constant improvement. Direct environmental impacts from the Danish EPA are caused by the consumption of paper, water and power, and by purchases, waste etc. EMAS contributes to spreading awareness among the staff - we realise that we are all responsible in our own house, just like we are in our private homes.

Indirect impact

What is most challenging is that indirect impacts of Danish EPA activities are also included in the EMAS work: environmental pressure resulting from our production, i.e. the laws and regulations we administer, the decisions we make, and the action plans and new knowledge we circulate in the world around us. EMAS supports our efforts to document the effect of environmental regulation and to constantly improve the efficiency of administration of legislation. Thus, EMAS contributes to securing appropriate relations between goals and means in environmental policies.

Manuals, policies, plans and assessments

EMAS is based on management manuals, environmental policies, action plans and environmental assessments - which all sound bureaucratic and burdensome. However, in practice it is an investment in the operation and management of the Agency, streamlining and improving the overall efficiency of the organisation. This is highly recommendable. EMAS

Integrated Product Policy (IPP)

LCA is a central tool in integrated product policy (IPP). A major part of the environmental impact of a product is inherent in the product, depending on choices taken during the product development phase, e.g. materials, processes, functionality etc.

Cleaner Technology

The basic principles known from the discipline of cleaner technology, is transferred to the IPP concept, thus, the environmental impact must be reduced throughout the entire life cycle and as close as possible to the source.

Overall Assessment

LCA is an overall assessment of all parameters, with the purpose of establishing a basis for making the right choices during the development process, thereby producing cleaner products.

Background for introducing IPP

In the last decade, sustainable development has become a key item in Denmark and internationally. We have successfully reduced the discharge of polluting chemicals from industry, but when it comes to exploration of resources and energy and the number of used products, the level is increasing, giving rise to a number of impacts:

• Global warming
• Increasing overall impact from a large and growing number of chemical substances/li>
• Photochemical ozone production/li>
• Resource depletion LCA-IPP

Diffuse Pollution

Instead of specific impacts from specific point sources, we are shifting over to general and diffuse pollution from our growing use of products of all kinds. A side effect is the increasing amount of by-products from cleaning of air and water and from handling of disposed material.

IPP Goal

The IPP concept has the stated goal of producing cleaner products with:

1. Less use of resources
2. Less use of energy
3. Minimum use of dangerous substances
4. Production based in cleaner technologies
5. Easy to recycle
6. Minimum impact from disposal and reuse

This was the background for the introduction of IPP, and thereby the focus on LCA, in Denmark. LCA-IPP

Greener procurement

Main Objectives of Procurement Strategy

The main objective for the Public Procurement strategy is to reduce the pressure on the environment, and to further the demand for environmentally friendlier products and services. This will encourage producers and importers to develop and promote cleaner products and reduce the total environmental load from production, use and disposal of products. The public sector is a significant procurer of products and services in Denmark. It may therefore impose a significant effect on the market when the public sector asks for greener products.

Background

During the last years, activities to pursue an environmentally friendly public procurement policy have been carried out within the framework of the "Action Plan for a Sustainable Public Procurement Policy", from 16 August 1994.

The major elements of the action plan are finished or are in the process of being carried out (e.g. preparation of environmental guidelines which is an ongoing activity). A few elements regarding documentation as well as education and training have been started but are not yet completed.

According to Danish legislation, all public authorities shall take environment and energy aspects into account - at the same level as i.e. quality and price - in their purchase and consumption of goods and services. An agreement between counties and municipalities and the Danish Minister for Environment and Energy of taking into account environmental and energy aspects when purchasing was set up on November 3, 1998. A co-ordination group follows and supports this work. The co-ordination group publishes information material, arranges seminars and in-service training, and also develops documentation material for mapping green purchasing. Green Procurement

Green Accounts: Danish Environmental Reporting

Danish companies are regulated by a series of environmental laws, and controlled by the county environmental agencies. The county agents make yearly visits to companies with an environmental impact, and write an agreement with the company about how the company must act in order to be compliant. Inspired by the success of ISO14001 and EMAS reporting, the government passed the law of Green Accounts in 1994, requiring specific companies to publish such accounts yearly. Others may do this optionally. Many have used this as a first step towards ISO14001 certification or EMAS registration. Note that this is in essence the only environmental reporting that companies are required to do in Denmark to be compliant. Companies with ISO14001 or EMAS mangement systems are exempt from the Green Accounts, as similar accounts are a part of the management systems.

Abstract from The Danish Green Accounts: Experiences and internal effects

Over 1,000 Danish companies have published yearly green accounts since it was made a mandatory requirement in 1995. The legislation regulating the green accounts was revised in 2001 and 2002. New requirements were added and the procedures changed. Green accounts are mandatory environmental reports accounting for the physical flows of pollutants and resource efficiency through information about use of raw materials and waste generation. The legislation is very flexible in order to suit the communications needs of different companies.

The objective of green accounts is firstly to enhance the publics' access to information about the environmental performance of polluting companies in order to promote a democratic and progressive dialogue around environmental issues. Secondly, their objective is to motivate reporting companies to look at their processes and products and improve their resource efficiency, as well as motivate them to work systematically with the environment. As such, this objective can be linked to environmental management accounting as will be described later.

Experience from the first two years shows that both economic end environmental benefits can be achieved through green accounts. Read the entire article The Danish Green Accounts: Experiences and internal effects, which I've borrowed from the Danish EPA website. Green Accounts

I have collected the links from the article arranged in categories, to which I have added more that may be of interest. There are further links of interest on my Environment webpage.

Links

The site was created to serve a number of purposes. Among these are:

1. As support material for a paper to be presented at the 50th annual convention of the Society for Technical Communication in Dallas on the topic of "What we do to affect the environment".
   The text of this site is basically the text from the paper, with a number of additions to the "tools" section. The link section provides direct links to the mentioned organizations, and adds a number of new contacts as well.
2. As a project for classes in on-line documentation at the University of California Riverside Extension.
   I have tried to consider user needs such as short box width, legible type, "information chunking" and adequate and well-placed menus. Furthermore I have incorporated techniques for accessibility and usability from other classes,
3. As a project for a class in usability at Barnes and Noble University.
   After considering various browsers, I decided to design this pages as strict XHTML since now at least 80% of all users have a 6.0 level browser required to get the full availabilty of the various techniques I have envisioned to make the site user friendly (at least for those who have updated browsers.) Since it is an easy exercise to update a browser, I hope that you will do that if you are not seeing this page optimally.
   In order to accomodate various screen sizes and resolutions, I have used relative font sizes, and sized the main text area to be relatively sized, to avoid horizontal scrolling on small screens. By limiting the size to only 70% of the screen, it is my hope that the line lengths on larger screens do not become unbearably long. However those users can downsize their window if necessary.
   In this connection, I have attempted to create as accessible a site as possible, using titles on links and alternate descriptions on images, both of which provide extra information to seeing viewers as well. By using several stylesheets, it will also be possible in the future to provide an aural stylesheet. Also in the future will be a system to enable viewers to access the site without using a mouse by tabbing through the various menu links.
4. To try out various techniques from classes in stylesheets and scripting.
   The page uses cascading style sheets (.css) for all styling and positioning, enabling different style sheets for different media. Since the page for webbrowsers contains the entire 8-page length on one screen by placing the topics in a single long layer in a smaller box, I have created a separate stylesheet for print. (You can check out the page in print preview to see the difference.) I thought you might like to see the css style sheet I used for this page as well as the print style sheet.
5. To use various XML techniques
   This page was originally conceived as an xml project, but although I have created an XML Schema and XML-coded the text, I did not have time to work out the difficulties of converting the xml to xhtml at this point. I plan to do this in the future. I have uploaded the completed xml documents, so you can study a work in progress. Note that I have corrected the xml text while working on this html page, so their are inconsistencies. The xml version is planned to be extensible, meaning that I will be able to add any number of subjects and topics to the single screen page as needed without needing more code than the initial xml code.