Top Stories
Completely Confused by Green Labels? There's
an App to Fix That.—reliability medium.
"In the utterly confusing mass of green labels, there's a ray of hope.
When you head to the store and start sifting through the stamps of
"fair trade," "all natural," "organic," "certified," and so on, you
need something on hand to help you make sense of them all and decide
which are real and which are greenwash. Luckily, a new app by the
Natural Resources Defense Council is helping you stay sane while
searching for the most ecofriendly products. ... Label Lookup has a
database of everything from food to cleaning products, from paper to
personal care and the labels associated with them. Unfortunately, they
don't cover electronics." See treehugger.
[Cool.]
Guys Are Looking For Green Gals, Survey
Finds.—reliability medium.
"A new survey, sponsored by the sporting goods company Timberland,
finds that eco-friendly girls are more appealing to guys--meaning men
like women who recycle, turn off lights when they leave a room, and
drive more efficient cars. And, as it turns out, being careless with
trash is one of the best ways to turn guys off." From treehugger.
Access survey details here.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Why PepsiCo is Building Dams in India.—reliability
medium.
Guest post from Sanjeev Chadha, the chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
India, says "We launched a country-wide effort to achieve a Positive
Water Balance in India by 2009. Essentially, this means that for all
water used in our manufacturing process, we would give the same amount
of water back to local communities, through in-plant processes to
reduce our water use, as well as programs and interventions to create
greater freshwater access in local areas. ... We determined that the
creation of check-dams would be the best way to manage and rejuvenate
the water supply. As an example, in Paithan we worked with the local
Panchayat (municipality), as well as community members – mostly women –
in planning and executing the project. This was key, as they assumed
ownership of the maintenance of the 13 check-dams, or Water Harvesting
Structures." More on the projects. In Marc
Gunther's blog. [One has to ask,
however, what the communities downstream from Paithan thought when less
water got through to them.]
Softchoice 2010 Corporate Sustainability
Report.—reliability high.
"Softchoice is proud to release our second Corporate Sustainability
Report! This report is for YOU. We’re opening up our notebook, and
giving you full access to all our work in 2009. Throughout the report
you’ll find links to tools that you can use to build your own Corporate
Sustainability Strategy. Learn from our mistakes, copy our policies and
surveys, and leverage all our hard work!" See Softchoice site. [Unusual among
corporate sustainability reports in providing tools and best practices
that other companies can use. Check out the "carbon calculator for
employee commute" spreadsheet. These guys get it.]
Suzlon global headquarters 'One Earth'
receives 'LEED Platinum' certification.—reliability high.
"Suzlon Energy Limited ... accepted on Thursday, April 29, the
Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Platinum award for
its new corporate headquarters in Pune, Maharashtra, India. ...
Developed on an area of 41,000 square meters (10.13 acres) with a
capacity to house 2,300 people, One Earth ranks among the largest green
building projects in India." More on the features of the building. From
CSRwire.
Greening the
Workplace
Environmental leadership a draw for jobs.—reliability
high.
"'I would guess that within a decade the green revolution will be in
full swing in corporate Canada,' says David Litherland, managing
partner at The Summit Search Group in Vancouver. 'But it will be in
response to what job candidates want from an employer and not the other
way around. "Today what many of the job seekers we represent say they
want from an employer is a commitment to the green philosophy. But
right now that is hard to find among employers.'" Story in Vancouver
Sun.
Office buildings waste energy and people's
time.—reliability high.
"Office buildings are still in the Stone Age when it comes to IT and
efficiency, according to a survey of office workers done by IBM. Only
about one third of the people surveyed from 16 U.S. cities said their
building is "environmentally friendly" and conserves energy by
automatically adjusting lights and temperature. About 65 percent of
survey respondents would favor redesigning their workspace to be more
environmentally responsible." A few highlights of survey. From CNET News.
ConAgra Foods Recognizes Sustainable
Business Practices, Waste Reduction and Resource Conservation.—reliability
high.
"ConAgra Foods announced today the winners of its 2010 Sustainable
Development Awards, an internal awards program created to recognize
outstanding achievements integrating sustainability into business
practices while also sharing best practices across the company. In
total, these projects reduced carbon emissions by more than 27,000
metric tonnes, eliminated 18,000 tons of landfill waste and 3,400 tons
of packaging material and conserved 128 million gallons of water during
fiscal year 2010. These projects also delivered more than $28 million
in savings, clearly demonstrating the economic value of the company's
commitment to sustainable development." Examples of specific winning
projects. In MarketWatch
from Business Wire. [Company gave cash
to community charities designated by winners.]
Facilities Get Social Network To Compare
Resource Use.—reliability high.
"Lucid Design Group unveils its Web-based Building Dashboard Network
that enables users to view, compare and share building energy and water
use information in a social networking environment. The dashboard also
integrates with Facebook and Twitter to post updates to building
profile pages and feeds, sparking energy use competitions among users.
The real-time energy monitoring and display systems provider for
buildings says that companies and schools can build their own profile
pages with real-time energy and water use data, compare performance
with other buildings, and set-up energy reduction competitions across
the network." See Environmental
Leader.
Not So Green
Department
Spud Giant Closes Loop on Sustainability.—reliability
high.
A few highlights from J.R.Simplot's annual sustainability report.
"By-products from potato processing plants are fed into anaerobic
digesters to capture biogas, which is used in boiler systems at
Simplot's plants in Aberdeen, Moses Lake and Portate La Prairie. The
Moses Lake facility alone is able to reduce its annual emissions 15,000
tons a year because of this process. In 2008, Simplot began using oil
from its french fry facilities to create biodiesel that is used in its
transportation and mining equipment. The project has created more than
100,000 gallons of biodiesel." From Environmental
Leader. [The
actions mentioned seem very small and insignificant for the size of the
business ($4.5 billion, 3 billion pounds of frozen french fries a year
and the country's largest cattle feedlots). "By-products from the
firm’s food processing and fertilizer plants are used to provide water
and nutrients to neighboring farms via 'land application' that is
tailored to meet the needs of the specific crop being grown."
Translation: wastewater is spread on nearby farmland. This is one step
up from running it into the nearest river. But it's a start.]
WWL Cuts GHG Emissions by 32%.—reliability
high.
"Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), a global shipping and logistics
company, reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent in 2009,
according to the company’s 2009 Environmental and Social Responsibility
Report. Despite overall lower CO2 emissions in 2009, relative emissions
per unit carried per kilometer increased 17 percent, which is above
WWL’s goal to reduce g/tkm CO2 emissions by 10 percent compared to the
company’s average in 2005-2006." From Environmental
Leader. [Emissions
only went down because business was in the toilet. Emissions per ton
actually rose. Yet press release claims credit for reductions. Were
headline writers at Environmental Leader asleep? Company should get
points for transparency though.]
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
