Top Stories
Hey green spender: The truth about
eco-friendly brands.—reliability high.
Consumers can drive companies toward greater sustainability, but only
if their perceptions of how green a supplier is correspond with
reality. "New Scientist teamed up with two companies that have
collected the most relevant data. Earthsense, based in Syracuse, New
York, has polled US consumers on their perceptions of the "greenness"
of various companies. Trucost, headquartered in London, has compiled an
unparalleled quantitative assessment of companies' global environmental
impact" "Overall, there was no correlation between the Earthsense and
Trucost scores, suggesting that US consumers have little idea about
companies' environmental performance relative to each other. And
looking within industrial sectors, the only hint of accurate consumer
awareness came for technology companies" Comments on specific
companies. More at New
Scientist. This graphic
contains the meat of the results. [No correlation?!
It's worse than we thought.]
Participants Needed to Develop a Capability
Framework for Sustainable Value Chains.—reliability high.
"United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and The Society for
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) are soliciting pilot
participants in a new project that would develop and test a capability
framework for sustainable value chains. . . . The approach complements
many existing supply chain initiatives to develop product
sustainability indices or measure Scope 3 GHG emissions by
ensuring that lower-tier suppliers have the capacity to provide
accurate data." More at Industry
Week.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
The Green Data Center Strategies of Web
Giants.—reliability medium.
"Let's take a look at how some of the biggest web firms are handling
IT infrastructure growth while bringing technology and innovative data
center design principles to bear on lowering energy costs and reducing
carbon emissions." Looks at strategies of Google, Facebook, MySpace,
Yahoo, Microsoft. From earth2tech.
Safeway looks to shrink its footprint, signs
up with carbon manager Hara.—reliability high.
"Hara’s software will be deployed across 1,800 Safeway locations, and
will be used to capture data about consumption of energy and water, as
well as the production of greenhouse gas emissions and waste. . . .
Individual stores will also be able to easily share experiences and
best practices using the platform." See GreenBeat.
[Hara has no
connection with HaraBara, Inc.]
Energy-Efficient Lighting Saves Canadian
Tire $6M in 2009.—reliability high.
"Canadian Tire is completing an energy-efficient lighting program in
361 stores. This helped save over 45 million kilowatt hours of energy
in 2009, and will help save another 85 million KWHs annually from 2010
onwards. The program also prevented the emission of over 11,500 tons of
carbon dioxide in 2009, and is expected to reduce emissions by another
20,500 tons annually starting in 2010. The lighting retrofits also
translated into energy savings of $6 million in 2009. The company
expects to save another $12 million in 2010." See Environmental
Leader.
New Corrugated Box Design -- Reusable
Packaging.—reliability high.
"an RSC style box that can easily be turned inside-out to create a
like-new shipping container. The innovative design makes reuse of
corrugated containers a practical option for the first time. 'Shipping
boxes are typically still structurally solid after their first use,'
said company president, Dennis Salazar, 'but they are thrown away or
recycled because of how they look. Our design enables the clean inside
of the box to quickly and easily become the new outside, at least
doubling the box’s life cycle. Essentially, the Reusable Box does the
job of two boxes, possibly more.'" More at Earth
Times from PR Web.
Green pressures affect trucking.—reliability
high.
"Grocery chains seeking greater control over inbound inventory and
manufacturers pursuing more sustainable shipping are making business
hotter for refrigerated freight haulers. Trucking companies that haul
temperature-sensitive freight, especially food products, may be more
recession-proof than companies that carry consumer dry goods. But
increased interest in retail inventory management and environmentally
sensitive shipping practices are placing new demands on refrigerated
fleet operators. In many cases, it’s a question of shipping more
freight with fewer trucks, as shippers and retailers look to save money
and cut carbon emissions." Examples from specific food companies. Read
more at Journal
of Commerce.
Government and
Regulation
Dairyman at odds with Pacific Power over
manure digester.—reliability high.
A tale that illustrates the complexity of dealing with utilities and
government regulators whose arcane rules can stifle innovation that
would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention manure odors.
Worth reading in the Yakima
Herald-Republic.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
