Best green business and environmentally sustainable business initiatives and practices
The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them. —Paul Hawken, Environmental Activist
Europe Saves The Planet
You know all those extra cell phone chargers that you don’t know what to do with? Now these useless gadgets can go to the great charger resting place in the sky aka: the dump. Unfortunately, they are not recyclable or biodegradable. Not to mention how costly they become every time we “upgrade” our phones. A waste of money, waste of plastic, and just plain waste!
The environmentally savvy European Union has done it again and come to the rescue! Europe saves dollars and our planet on the plan for a universal cell phone charger. Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, and five other companies struck a deal with the European Union (EU) this year. The EU had been urging cell phone companies to adopt a universal charger to reduce waste. Last year 82,000 tons of chargers were generated according to the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA).
The ten European cell phone companies agreed to introduce a universal charger prototype by January 1, 2010. According to CNN’s tech news, the GSMA, an association of 750 global cell-phone providers, pledged the industry will bring a universal charger to market by January 2012.
Originally the cell-phone companies refused to comply with EU “suggestions.” The EU threatened to enforce the request by enacting laws and viola, miracle of miracles, the companies signed on!
The new charger will reduce energy consumption by 50% and greenhouse emissions by approximately 13.6 million tons (every year!).
The big five companies named above supply the entire population of mobile users in the U.S. Time to catch up America! Must we always be the last to save the planet?
Some interesting facts published by Britain's Times online... 400 million active mobile phones in Europe 72 million active mobile phones in Britain 1,712 phones are replaced every minute
Ever wonder what impact your home shopping has on the environment? You might be happy to know that both major U.S. shipping companies, FedEx and UPS, care too.
Both companies have begun using hybrid-electric vehicles for transporting packages. (Not all vehicles are hybrids.) FedEx states its goal is to “reduce fuel economy by 2020. UPS has offered customers the option of paying a small “green fee” to offset carbon emissions.
The best news is that economics are driving the competition between these two giant, massively polluting firms to become more eco-friendly and to adopt truly environmentally sustainable business practices. FedEx spokesman explains the bottom line focus, “We try not to separate the issue of green from economics. They go together.”
Kudos to both companies for practicing Good Business. May the “Greenest Shipper” win.
The search is on in the UK for the next big thing in terms of economic and job growth. Not to be outdone by China, the US, or the rest of Europe, the United Kingdom is strategizing a massive effort to develop an alternative energy industry through wind power.
The European Union has mandated that 15% of energy be derived from renewable sources by the year 2020. The UK along with its own carbon reduction plans expects to double that number by developing 30% renewable energy over the next ten years.
The British Carbon Trust estimates that $15-20bn in revenues can be generated and thousands of new jobs created by the year 2020. To date, the British government has earmarked the rather small amount of $120m to developing offshore wind power manufacturing facilities. According to the UK’s “Gov Monitor,” the British government introduced a new “banding system, where newer technologies are given additional support.” This will allow for the extra ROC kilowatts of power for wind power to be tapped.
The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) in Great Britain, however, has recommended the government become more proactive by offering full-fledged support for an “offshore wind investment scheme” marrying public funding with private interests. IPPR suggests the Brits need to offer more incentives if they wish to compete with their tech smart neighbors.
The Monitor reports that, “Countries like Denmark, Germany and Spain have employed a range of different measures to encourage local manufacturing of wind turbines, including subsidies and tax benefits, grants and ‘soft’ loans, provision of facilities and infrastructure, and in some cases, the use of local content requirements.”
In response, the UK wants to get “in” on the ground floor of what promises to be the Next Big Thing- Renewable Energy.
Watch out Continental Europe, the British are coming.
A HUGE contributor to global climate change is the deforestation of the rainforests. Brazil’s tree-rich Amazon is a center of attention for international conservation groups and climate change activists.
Saving the Rainforest has been a familiar media cry for a decade or more. Yet forests continue to be destroyed by the hundreds of thousands of acres. The situation is similar to every other polluting business in the modern world. How can businesses continue to make money without destroying the environment? In Brazil, farmers deforest land to grow soybean, corn, and herd cattle. Adding to the dangerous levels of carbon is not their agenda, but an unfortunate result of simply trying to make a living.
Saving the rainforests isn’t just for Nature Lovers. Deforestation accounts for “20 percent of the world’s carbon emissions and 70 percent of emissions in Brazil.” According to the New York Times, “halting new deforestation...is as powerful a way to combat (global) warming as closing the world’s coal plants.”
Farmers say they need an economic rationale for “not doing it.” The environmental community has come up with a possible solution: paying farmers to NOT clear the land. So far environmental groups in the Mato Grasso region of Brazil have offered farmers $12 per acre annually to leave the forests intact. Farmers claim they could sell their land for $1300 per acre. The United Nations Framework on Climate Change and the House Bill passed in July (still waiting for Senate approval) include plans for countries and companies to structure paying farmers fairly to not farm in carbon-rich forested regions.
The Japanese government initiated a stimulus program earlier this year offering consumers incentives to buy energy-efficient electronics. The program was aimed at boosting demand for one of Japan’s top industries, electronics manufacturing.
For one year through March 2010, Japanese consumers are offered steep discounts and “eco-points” to purchase 2,000 eligible environmentally friendly products. Energy-saving household appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators are available at 5% discount. Digital television sets are discounted as much as 10% of retail. The program also awards buyers with eco-points to be used for future rebates and purchases.
The Japanese government subsidy has multiple economic perks in addition to environmental benefits. The program stimulates retail sales for lagging merchants while boosting demand for the hard-hit Japanese manufacturing sector. The program also allows consumers to enjoy substantial savings and simultaneously encourages its citizenry to support environmentally sound products.
Two giant shoe and sneaker companies, Nike and Timberland, have vowed not to kill trees to make their products. Apparently, the cattle industry in Brazil is responsible for destroying 14% of the world’s forests and 80% of the Amazon rainforests.
Greenpeace reports in Slaughtering the Amazon,” The cattle sector in the Brazilian Amazon is the largest driver of deforestation in the world, responsible for an average of one acre lost every 8 seconds. Efforts to halt global deforestation emissions must tackle this sector.”
In its June 2009 expose, Greenpeace sounds the alarm for urgent reform, “Zero deforestation is a climate imperative. Forests play a vital role in stabilizing the world’s climate by storing large amounts of carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change. The Amazon is estimated to store 80-120 billion tons of carbon. If destroyed, some fifty times the annual GHG emissions of the USA could be emitted.”
Nike responded immediately by vowing that none of its suppliers would use cattle sourced from Amazon rainforests. Conservation minded Timberland quickly followed suit with a policy to eliminate Amazon leather products as well. Among Timberland’s suppliers, the large supply company Bertin along with Tong Hong Tannery Group in China and Vietnam source leather goods from the Amazon. Timberland has issued mandates to suppliers to cease contributing to deforestation.
Companies that have not yet responded to the “Save the Rainforest Shoe Initiative” are Adidas, Reebok, Geox, and Clarks.
Renewable energy in China is on the rise. Already poised to surpass the U.S. as a producer of wind turbines, China has embraced Green Energy as the wave of the future. A major polluter, not unlike the U.S., China sees the future of green energy as an economic advantage. Two years ago, the Chinese government mandated companies create more power from renewable energy. The goal is to double wind and solar power sources, and to develop a profitable state-owned industry of renewable energy near the Gobi Desert. In the vast wasteland of the Gobi Desert, six enormous wind power plants are being built. Each plant can produce more power than sixteen coal-fired power plants.
In May, Ford Motor Company announced that its Michigan Assembly Plant, home of Big SUV’s Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, will focus on building greener, smaller, more energy efficient cars. Ford plans to invest $550 million to transform this plant to deliver on its promise to produce “four new electric vehicles in the U.S. by 2012.” The company plans to begin production of a new electric-battery version of the popular and compact Ford Focus by 2011. The zero-emission Focus will have a Lithium Ion battery pack that can be plugged into a 110-volt or 220-volt outlet with a range of 100 miles. Ford also plans to have a next-generation hybrid and a plug-in hybrid vehicle by 2012.
Frito-Lay has recently started referring to its chips as “locally-grown food,” claiming that their potatoes come from several farmers in over 27 states. Green Biz journalist Marc Gunther finds this locally-grown food a bit comical. It is just one more company “jumping aboard the local movement,” says Gunther. However, Frito-Lay does take environmental issues seriously. One plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, “aims to cut its electricity and water usage by 90%, and within a couple of years, the plan will run almost entirely on renewable energy and recycled water while reducing waste going to the landfill to less than 1%.”
Even if not necessarily “locally” grown, Frito-Lay potato chips will definitely have reduced carbon footprint in the near future.
Obama announced today his plan to implement more stringent rules for the Fuel Economy. The new regulations require cars to average 35 miles per gallon and light trucks 30mpg. These standards will be phased in by 2016.
President Obama also wants to impose nationwide limits on emissions of carbon dioxide as well as other greenhouse gases. The Environmental Protection Agency will recommend greenhouse gas restrictions that work in tandem with rules already in place by the Department of Transportation.
California has agreed to abandon plans to enforce its own stringent rules if federal emission rules are adopted. Obama hopes these standards will pressure carmakers to produce energy-efficient cars. The process of creating U.S. “green” carmakers just might save the automaking dinosaurs from extinction.
Imagine never having to be beholden to oil companies again! Just plug your little battery operated car into a 220 volt and off you go for a non-polluting joy-ride in your zippy new EV-2. Lest you think the EV-2 is right out of Star Wars, Nissan has built an electric vehicle dream machine due out on the consumer market in 2010. One battery charge takes you 100 miles and the car itself will last six or more years. Word has it, the EV-2 will be affordable to the masses. Next year, GM has a Volt due out to the market and Tesla releases its first luxury electric car. It looks like a whole new smog-free world might be on its way in a matter of months! Exxon Mobil’s nightmare might just be the new American Dream.
Sony, the electronics giant, announced in August 2007, it is championing recycling of all of its US products free of charge. “This represents a challenge to the rest of the industry,” claims Sony’s VP of Environment, safety, & Health, Mark Small. Indeed it does and so far Dell and a few other US companies have jumped on board. Sony’s actions clearly show their acceptance of personal responsibility over the disposal of their own mass produced electronics.
Nike: Eco-friendly Shoes
Nike created the standard for basketball shoes over two decades ago. Now they have again outdone themselves with a state-of-the-art “green” sneaker. Production of the new “Nike Considered” basketball shoe according to Nike uses environmentally friendly materials and non-toxic chemicals. Nike is also attempting to reduce waste in packaging and reuse the waste from its factory floors.
Shopping Green
The first US shopping center for environmentally responsible and socially conscious business is set to open in Chicago in 2008. The Chicago Green Exchange's Green Mall will offer consumers over 270,000 square feet of retail space. From their own website: “Imagine a place where more than one hundred of the country’s leading green businesses share ideas, services and customers under one giant green roof. Envision a rich array of products, services and showrooms all available in an iconic, state-of-the-art green building overlooking Chicago’s most traveled thoroughfare…Green Exchange is committed to shifting the green marketplace from niche to mainstream, making green living easy and accessible for the public, and giving green businesses and innovators the national stage they need to grow exponentially.” This sounds like the start of something BIG!
The following is a sampling of corporate recycling practices listed on the EPA website. (Reprinted from the US Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov)
Ebay: Rethink Initiative provides information, tools and solutions that make it easy to find new users for idle computers and electronics, and responsibly recycle unwanted products.”
Intel: Students Recycling Used Technology (StRUT) provides technology-based education for K-16 students through the process of refurbishing donated equipment for schools.
Best Buy: Drop off old cell phones, rechargeable batteries, and ink-jet cartridges at the free recycling kiosks located just inside the door of every US Best Buy store.
Hewlett-Packard: Product Recycling (including hardware, LaserJet supplies, and Inkjet supplies). Free recycling on all inkjet products and laser printer cartridges and HP postage-paid shipping materials.
Conservation International (CI) is a non-profit conservation activist group that partners with large and small corporations to reduce their emissions and carbon footprint. CI enlists the cooperation of the global business community in efforts to preserve the natural environment. The organization states its mission as: “We believe that the Earth's natural heritage must be maintained if future generations are to thrive spiritually, culturally, and economically. Our mission is to conserve the Earth's living heritage – our global biodiversity – and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.”
The list of corporate sponsors is extensive and includes responsible corporate citizens like Sony, Starbucks, Walt Disney, Gap, as well as environmentally suspicious global corporations like Exxon Mobil, United Airlines, and Chiquita. The organization has been accused of corporate collusion by progressive journalists and some activists, however CI’s modus operandi is to try to enlist as much corporate sponsorship as possible in the fight against global warming.
Conservational International and socially responsible corporate citizen, coffee giant Starbucks, have formed an extraordinary partnership. Starbucks, far ahead of the curve on socially responsible profiting, has worked with CI for over a decade on environmental issues. In addition to investing in and supporting local coffee growers, Starbucks with the help of CI, is planting trees to offset carbon emissions in coffee growing communities in Chiapas, Mexico. CI claims that 20% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global climate change “come from the burning and clearing of forests.” Starbucks’ new Pike Place Roast coffee according to CI’s website is an “example of the company’s responsible approach to buying coffee.” Starbucks reverses its carbon footprint by protecting forests and planting trees in regions vulnerable to climate change. Pike Place Roast supports coffee farmers who grow coffee beans under the natural tropical rain forest canopy rather than contributing to carbon emissions by cutting down forests. Starbucks and Conservation International should be applauded for these valuable efforts. Now if Starbucks could only recycle its cups...
GREEN ACTION
Europe Saves The Planet
How Green is My Pasture? 
Two giant shoe and sneaker companies, Nike and Timberland, have vowed not to kill trees to make their products. Apparently, the cattle industry in Brazil is responsible for destroying 14% of the world’s forests and 80% of the Amazon rainforests. 
Sustainable Potato Chips?
