Solar Salt, Lunar Ambitions I Bauerti The title of this paper is `Solar Salt, Lunar Ambitions'. It is
largely the result of a lack of imagination and a tight deadline. I
was seeking a catchy title to convey the image of being 'here' and
wanting to get `there', with `there' being a long way away and
our being held 'here' by powerful gravitational forces. I tried
`Solar Salt, Lunar Landings', but that implied we had already
reached `there' when, on reflection, we had not. A colleague
suggested 'Solar Salt, Luna Park' which is a fun park in Sydney
and, I must admit, there was appeal in the image of having
embarked on a wild roller coaster ride with stomach-wrenching
twists and turns and the only reward being a pair of sweaty
palms, and a feeling of nausea. That's sometimes how it feels
when you launch into change. In the end I settled for the more
sedate `Lunar Ambitions'. It contained that suggestion of hope
and continual striving which are central to the idea of best
practice. I will discuss our experiences in this area shortly, but I would
firstly like to provide some background to our business. The salt industry is steeped in history and tradition. As one
learned commentator observed, common salt is 'a substance
seemingly too ordinary to think about, yet it is the oldest of man's
raw materials and the basis of some of his newest inventions'
(Multhauf, 1978). From ancient times, salt was recognised as a
key necessity of life and it has played a role in the rise and fall of
governments throughout history. The Romans recognised its
importance when they gave their soldiers money regularly to
purchase salt, hence our modern word 'salary'. Today, while
culinary use remains important, the main consumer of salt is the
chemical industry (Figure 1).