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THE GREENING RETAIL NEWS ARCHIVE
June 7, 2011 By Becky Kramer, The Spokesman-Review SPOKANE - Tests done on reusable shopping bags in Washington showed that most are within state limits for heavy metals. Thirty-one reusable bags from name-brand retailers were tested in the state and in Iowa. In Washington, the liner in a Sears bag and a wine carrier for Western Washington grocer Top Foods exceeded lead limits of 100 parts per million. In Iowa, the insert in one reusable bag failed to meet the threshold for heavy metals. Reusable bags from Walgreens, Kmart and QFC tested within the limits. Top Foods immediately pulled the wine carriers, said Kathy Davis, a spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Ecology's hazardous- and toxic-waste reduction program. Sears also committed to pulling its bags, only 3,000 of which were in circulation, Davis said. Read more: seattletimes.nwsources.com Grocers Encouraged to Increase Supply of Sustainable Soya June 6, 2011 By BusinessGreen staff Businesses must accelerate efforts to supply sustainable soya or face the prospect of plantations continuing to destroy delicate savannah habitats at a faster rate and on a similar scale to clearances in the Amazon, the WWF will today warn. The campaign group is calling on supermarkets, producers and farmers to sign up to schemes like the Round Table for Responsible Soy (RTRS), which sets strict environmental and social standards for soya production. Read more: businessgreen.com Retailers Are Reducing Plastic Packaging and Saving Money June 3, 2011 By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD, in teh New York Times The Pyranna, the Jokari Deluxe, the Insta Slit, the ZipIt and the OpenIt apply blades and batteries to what should be a simple task: opening a retail package. But the maddening - and nearly impenetrable - plastic packaging known as clamshells could become a welcome casualty of the difficult economy. High oil prices have manufacturers and big retailers reconsidering the use of so much plastic, and some are aggressively looking for cheaper substitutes. "With the instability in petroleum-based materials, people said we need an alternative to the clamshell," said Jeff Kellogg, vice president for consumer electronics and security packaging at the packaging company MeadWestvaco. Companies are scuttling plastic of all kinds wherever they can. Target has removed the plastic lids from its Archer Farms yogurts, has redesigned packages for some light bulbs to eliminate plastic, and is selling socks held together by paper bands rather than in plastic bags. Wal-Mart Stores, which has pledged to reduce its packaging by 5 percent between 2008 and 2013, has pushed suppliers to concentrate laundry detergent so it can be sold in smaller containers, and has made round hydrogen peroxide bottles into square ones to cut down on plastic use. At Home Depot, Husky tools are going from clamshell to paperboard packaging, and EcoSmart LED bulbs are about to be sold in a corrugated box, rather than a larger plastic case. Read more: nytimes.com New Scorecard Rates Organic Eggs June 1, 2011 By Lesley Lammers, triplepundit.com Next time you're at the grocery store aisle picking out eggs, you might need to think twice before assuming one organic brand is interchangeable with another. According to the Cornucopia Institute (CI), a non-profit which promotes economic justice for family scale farming, all organic eggs are not alike. They recently released the report Scrambled Eggs: Separating Factory Farm Egg Production from Authentic Organic Agriculture. The report contains an Organic Egg Scorecard that rates 70 name brand as well as additional private label organic egg producers based on 22 factors that the organization deems critical to the typical organic consumer. The main rating criteria include outdoor access, outdoor management, indoor quality of life and welfare, and organic principles of farm interdependence and ecological sustainability. Read more: triplepundit.com Ignoring Sustainability in Business is Becoming Risky May 30, 2011 By Gregory Unruh In a Harvard Business Review article I called the sustainability standardization process a"greening frenzy," because it's a bit like a feeding frenzy in the wild. The definition of what is sustainable, like a carcass, is up for grabs, and numerous contending voices are trying to claim the prize. How the process plays out will have competitive implications for almost every business. Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com How Seafood Fraud Hurts Our Oceans, Our Wallets and Our Health May 27, 2011 From: Editor, Oceana, Seafood fraud is the practice of misleading consumers about their seafood in order to increase profits. Along with ripping off shoppers, these actions can have negative impacts on marine conservation efforts and human health. A report, titled, "Bait and Switch: How Seafood Fraud Hurts Our Oceans, Our Wallets and Our Health" outlines the problems associated with seafood fraud and the steps that can be taken to ensure that consumers know where their seafood comes from and be able to trace it all the way back to the sea. Read more: enn.com New Development in the Quest for Sustainable Packaging May 26, 2011 By MATTHEW ENIS Expanded Polystyrene foam was a revelation when Dow Chemical began manufacturing it in the 1940s. The lightweight, insulating, moisture-resistant plastic was great for making everything from pipe insulation and bicycle helmets to coffee cups and meat trays. Unfortunately, the material is also very difficult to recycle, and it can take centuries to decompose. Since many of the products made from Styrofoam and other brands of EPS are highly disposable - restaurant takeout containers, packing material and one-use dinnerware - they have become a symbol of waste to environmentally conscious consumers. And, a growing number of municipalities, including San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., have enacted restrictions or bans on EPS products. Whether responding to customer concerns or a localized ban, doing away with Styrofoam presents a unique problem for supermarket meat and seafood departments. EPS is simply very well-suited to use as a meat tray. While there have been significant advances with compostable alternatives, such as trays made from polylactic acid resin, a plant-based biopolymer, PLA is also difficult to recycle, and few shoppers have access to a home compost heap or commercial composting program. Some companies, such as Whole Foods Market, have experimented with trays made of bull rush fiber, which will degrade quickly, even in a landfill. But, as Jim McConnell, store supplies and services specialist for Whole Foods' Rocky Mountain Region explained in a blog post last fall, these trays can start breaking down too soon when exposed to moisture. Last month, D'Agostino's Supermarkets began working with Murray's Chicken and Eco MV, a packaging supplier, in the latest attempt to solve this problem. On Earth Day in April, D'Agostino's debuted a new line of Eco MV's meat trays, which are made from 100% wheat stalks - a fully biodegradable, compostable agricultural by-product - making the company the first chain in New York City to offer meat packaged with a fully-biodegradable tray. Nick D'Agostino III, the president and chief executive officer of the New York-based 17-store company, said the new trays have been working out well so far. Read more: supermarketnews.com Should Grocery Stores Stock Imperfect Fruit and Vegetables to Reduce Waste? May 25, 2011 By BusinessGreen staff Supermarkets have been criticised for stocking only the best-looking fruit and vegetables, after a major new study found that about a third of food produced annually is lost or wasted. The UN-backed report, published by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, also found that consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food, 222 million tonnes, as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa. Fruit and vegetables, along with roots and tubers, have the highest wastage rates of any food, the report said. Food losses and waste in middle-income and high-income countries stem largely from people buying more than they need. This is often caused by poor planning, supermarket promotions, oversized ready-to-eat meals, or fixed price buffets in restaurants. But the Swedish study also said that large amounts of food are wasted because of retail quality standards that over-emphasise appearance, despite surveys which show that people are willing to buy imperfect produce if it is safe and tastes fine. Read more: businessgreen.com Collaboration for a Sustainability Can Reap Benefits for Retailers, Suppliers and Consumers May 24, 2011 By MARK HAMSTRA DALLAS - A company's sustainability initiatives need to make sense for the bottom line, cautioned Michael Hewett, manager of environmental services at Publix Super Markets, during a presentation at Food Marketing Institute's Future Connect conference here. "A practice is only sustainable if you can at least break even, if not get a [return on investment]," he said. Hewett cited in-store bottle and can collection as an example, noting that partnering with outside entities to promote such collection is a more practical way to approach sustainability for retailers. In addition, he said that although Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix would like to find a suitable alternative to Styrofoam packaging for some prepared foods, the company has not yet been able to find a cost-effective replacement that fulfills the requirements. He also noted that Publix has reduced packaging on some items, and has not received any negative feedback from customers. "Customers are more likely to say, 'Why aren't you doing more?'" Hewett said. Publix has had a lot of success promoting its reusable shopping bags - he said the company now calculates that it has saved 1.5 billion plastic bags - and has also partnered with non-government organizations to promote sustainable fishing. The company began to make more progress on green issues when it added sustainability to its corporate strategy map, Hewett explained. "We created an internal network of advocates" from across multiple departments, he explained. "Once you start collaborating internally, then you can collaborate externally." Publix has trained its category managers and buyers about sustainability so they can look for opportunities in that area to work with their suppliers, Hewett said. "As retailers get more engaged, it's an opportunity for manufacturers to collaborate in some way, shape or form," said Bob Branham, director of customer sustainability at General Mills, who presented with Hewett as a part of a discussion on retailer-vendor collaboration. While opportunities for collaboration among retailers and suppliers in the area of sustainability could take many forms, Branham said one of the key areas for collaboration is in waste reduction. Other areas of retailer-vendor collaboration discussed in the presentation included multicultural marketing, and health and wellness. "It has to be a three-way win," said Subriana Pierce, senior vice president of sales and merchandising in Supervalu's Albertsons chain, noting that retailers, suppliers and consumers all have to benefit. Read more: supermarketnews.com Green Brand? Why Not Just Be A Good Brand? May 20, 2011 There's no shortage of stories heralding the death of green brands. If you've lived through the ups and downs of nascent trends (remember the online bubble?), you know this RIP is certainly overstated. All the same, it might be a good time to take a breath and reassess the fundamentals - things every successful green brand needs to remember. Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com Amazing New Energy Efficient Bulbs on Offer at LIGHTFAIR May 19, 2011 By Noah Horowitz The world's largest lighting tradeshow, LIGHTFAIR International, is occurring this week in Philadelphia. While I was unable to go to the show this year, I have been glued to my computer reading about new product launches, each more amazing than the one I just read about. Without a doubt, the theme of the show is new energy efficient bulbs. The new technologies are coming from leading manufacturers of lighting products that are showcasing bulbs in every shape, brightness level and price point imaginable. Read more: greenbiz.com Conservationists Advise Retailers on Selling Sustainable Fish May 17, 2011 By Emily Beament of AP Retailers are not giving consumers enough information on labels to allow them to make the choice to buy sustainable fish, conservationists say. The UK's Marine Conservation Society (MCS) issued the warning as it launched its new website aimed at consumers and published comprehensive updated advice on buying fish caught from sustainably managed stocks. The latest advice shows improvements in the management and status of stocks in some fisheries, including cod from the eastern and western Baltic and the northeast Arctic, and anchovies from the Bay of Biscay. But the situation for other fish has worsened. Dover sole caught by the destructive method of beam trawling in the western English Channel, the Irish Sea and southwest and west Ireland is now listed as a fish to avoid. Consumers should also now avoid yellowfin tuna caught using purse seine nets or long lines in the Indian Ocean. But eating skipjack tuna caught using poles and lines in the western Atlantic has the green light thanks to improvements in data on the stocks. The conservation organisation has launched a Good Fish Guide website, complete with advice and recipe ideas, to make it easier for people to shop for sustainable seafood in supermarkets and restaurants. The straightforward guide aims to complement the more comprehensive Fish Online website used by the public, chefs and industry, which has also been updated. The MCS has also produced the latest version of its Pocket Good Fish Guide, which offers traffic light advice on fish to eat, think about and avoid, and says the public now has no excuse not to make choices that ensure fish stocks remain healthy. However, the MCS said labelling by retailers does not give enough information on exactly which fisheries species are coming from, preventing consumers from buying fish from well-managed areas and avoiding unsustainable fisheries. Information that is more detailed than the species, the ocean it comes from and the fishing method is needed to help people discriminate between sustainable and unsustainable seafood. MCS aquaculture and fisheries program manager Dr Peter Duncan said it could also provide incentives to fisheries to promote better management which could then become a selling point for them. "If supermarkets could get their produce from well-managed fisheries and label it as such, it opens up new opportunities for the public and fishermen. It's a win-win." Read more: insideretailing.com 7 Predictions for Sustainable Packaging May 16, 2011 A tough question addressed at the Sustainable Packaging Symposium 2011, organized by Greener Package and the AIChE's Institute for Sustainability, is the issue of balancing population growth and finite resources. Speaker Tony Kingsbury, executive-in-residence, Center for Responsible Business, UC Berkeley, and an executive with Dow Chemical, shared seven packaging-related predictions for a resource-scarce future, among them: 1. The most resource-efficient package will win. 2. Functionality will be king. 3. Bio-based packaging materials will grow, but not necessarily biodegradable. Read more: environmentalleader.com Sustainability Needs to At Least Break Even: Publix Speaker May 13, 2011 By MARK HAMSTRA DALLAS - A company's sustainability initiatives need to make sense for the bottom line, cautioned Michael Hewett, manager of environmental services at Publix Super Markets, during a presentation at Food Marketing Institute's Future Connect conference here Thursday. "A practice is only sustainable if you can at least break even, if not get a [return on investment]," he said. Meanwhile Publix has trained its category managers and buyers about sustainability so they can look for opportunities in that area to work with their suppliers. "As retailers get more engaged, it's an opportunity for manufacturers to collaborate in some way, shape or form," said Bob Branham, director of customer sustainability at General Mills, who presented with Hewett as a part of a discussion on retailer-vendor collaboration. Read more: supermarketnews.com Putting the Right Price on Green Products May 12, 2011 By Freya Williams Price is the number one reason more Americans are not going green, according to OgilvyEarth's recently published study, "Mainstream Green: Moving Sustainability from Niche to Normal." At first we at OglivyEarth weren't too surprised by this finding; years of consumer research have taught us that consumers will always claim price is the biggest barrier to purchase, but the picture is usually more complicated than that. However, as we dug deeper into the green gap - the gap between people's stated intentions and their actual actions when it comes to living and purchasing sustainably - we realized that in this case, price really is a major barrier to a mainstream green movement in the U.S. for a whole host of reasons. Our study looked at the green gap across the U.S. population and found that, of the 82 percent of Americans who say they have good green intentions, only 16 percent are fully acting on them. The other 66 percent, the Middle Green, otherwise known as the mainstream consumer, is failing to convert their intention to action. We set out to understand what was keeping the gap propped open and how we might begin to close it. Read more: greenbiz.com Survey About the Term "Biobased" Shows Mixed Results May 11, 2011 Most consumers say that biobased products are green - even though only a minority recognize the term "biobased", according to research by a biotechnology company. According to the Genencor Household Sustainability Index (pdf), 72 percent of U.S. consumers and 70 percent of Canadians said biobased ethanol fuel for vehicles is definitely, or is likely to be,"green". When asked about biobased laundry or dishwasher detergents, 79 percent of U.S. and 83 percent of Canadian consumers said those products are probably or definitely green. But despite consumers' confidence in assessing the environmental credentials of biobased products, the survey found that just four in ten American consumers and about a third of Canadian consumers have heard of the term "biobased" to describe products. And while consumers may be confident that biobased products are green, they have "a noticeable degree of skepticism" about whether products claiming to green actually benefit the environment, the report found. Over a third of consumers surveyed - 37 percent in the U.S. and 33 percent in Canada - said they were "not very confident" or "not at all confident" that green products were better for the environment. The poll also asked consumers what makes "green" products better for the environment. "Few or no toxic materials/ingredients" was the top answer for 22 percent of Americans and 36 percent of Canadians. Other popular choices were "breaks down naturally when disposed of", "generates less pollution from manufacture or use", and "can be recycled or reused". Some of the least popular answers were "fewer phosphates", "no harmful health effects" and "made from biobased materials". And a whopping 34 percent of U.S. consumers, and 32 percent of Canadians, said either "other" or "don't know/not applicable". "The findings indicate that consumers are prepared to actively choose biobased products, especially those consumers who are familiar with green products and are generally confident about their environmental claims," said Tjerk de Ruiter, CEO of Genencor, which makes enzymes used in nearly 400 consumer and commercial products, including many green household materials. Read more: environmentalleader.com Retailers Shown Advantages of Sustainability at 'Sustainable Buildings in 2030' May 10, 2011 The event 'Sustainable Buildings in 2030' which took place at Cambridge University this week, has demonstrated the important role that sustainable buildings have to play in reducing CO2 emissions in the retail sector. Speaking at the event, Sir Terry Leahy demonstrated that building zero carbon stores was a key factor in Tesco's drive to become a zero carbon business by 2050. The first of these stores was at Ramsey in Cambridgeshire which, as well as using natural ventilation, natural lighting and natural refrigeration gas, also generates its own energy using biofuels. The excess electricity generated is actually exported back to the grid which, as Leahy comments, "in effect makes the store carbon negative". Leahy also said: "The developed west needs to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions of 60%-80% by 2050 - this means that pretty much everything has to become zero carbon. Tesco has a crucial role to play in tackling climate change and we intend to lead by example. "Conservation of resources is not only good for the environment it is also good business management. In one year alone Tesco reduced its emissions by 20% and saved £150 million." Read more: talkingretail.com
Guide for For Influencing Sustainable Consumer Behaviour Launched May 9, 2011 In March 2011, as part of its Responsible Business Convention in London, Business in the Community (BITC) launched a new piece of collaborative research: Influencing Consumer Behaviour - A Guide for Sustainable Marketing. The guide brings together consumer insight and marketing experience from six major UK and global companies - B&Q, Kraft Foods, EDF Energy, Marks and Spencer, Unilever and Waitrose - as well as conversations with 50 marketers, and an extensive review of existing work in this area. Produced in partnership with Insight Exchange and RKCR/Y&R, the guide describes how businesses can identify their own 'Area of Opportunity' to influence consumers - the space in which consumer priorities, business action and brand values are aligned. It also features 'learning by doing' case studies on each of the participating companies. Read more: bitc.org.uk Eco-friendly Products Winning in Australia May 6, 2011 Consumers are voting with their wallets and opting for eco-friendly laundry products, consumer research shows. The latest Canstar Blue independent consumer survey of 2500 Australian consumers reveals that Aldi, which recently committed to banning phosphate detergents, has the most satisfied laundry powder customers. "Consumers are undoubtedly becoming more aware of their eco-footprint and consumers are starting to vote with their wallets by choosing products that are kinder on the environment," said Canstar Cannex head of research Steve Mickenbecker. Mickenbecker said brands are responding to the demand, with Aldi banning phosphate detergents across their entire range by the end of 2013. Coles and Woolworths, the two major supermarket chains, quickly followed Aldi's lead. Read more: insideretailing.com Examining the Full Life Cycle of Plastic Bags May 5, 2011 by daniel goleman On a visit to India a while back I came upon a fenced empty field that was practically buried in flimsy white throwaway plastic bags, the kind you carry your purchases home in from the store. The locals joked that this was "the garden where plastic bags grew." But when I returned to India last month, I was pleasantly surprised to find that now when you shop in New Delhi, no store will give you a plastic bag for your purchases. They're illegal there, as well as in many other Indian cities and states. That puts India well ahead of most of the world when it comes to this particular ecological issue. Most everywhere in the U.S., for instance, the throwaway plastic bag remains the ubiquitous way people haul their stuff home from the local store. But those bags never biodegrade into anything that nature can use again. Worse, the vast majority of such single-use plastic items never get recycled, and even "degradable" plastics may not degrade all that well. On top of that, product life-cycle assessments, which are on the verge of becoming more commonly available and used in the marketplace, do not include either litter or biodegradability as factors. The news on some once-promising plastic alternatives is not so encouraging. A review published last month in Environmental Science and Technology by a group of scientists - one at the polymer science division of the Indian Institute of Technology - finds that "degradable polyethylenes," used in one type of "recyclable" plastic bags, do not really disintegrate back into nature. The polyethylenes in the plastic bags studied are made by adding metals like iron and cobalt to the mix of ethylene polymers, to speed up their oxidation. But while such hybrid plastic bags once discarded do, indeed, break into fragments relatively quickly, those shreds seem to persist for a long time. No one knows just how long - the number of long-term studies is zero. Perhaps the most dramatic example of how oil and water don't mix can be found in the middle of the planet's great oceans and seas in the form of litter gyres, rotating currents laden with countless bits of floating debris, mainly plastic and Styrofoam, all of which were pushed to the middle of these great bodies of water by the currents that circle them. Read more: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/facing_the_dirty_truth_about_recycled_plastics/2400/ 6 Retailers Recognized by EPA as Leaders in Energy Efficiency May 4, 2011 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honoured 111 Energy Star partners who have demonstrated leadership and commitment in protecting American's health and the environment through energy efficiency achievements, including six retailers. organizations are recognized in one of three award categories: Sustained Excellence, Partner of the Year, and Excellence. Last year alone, Americans, with the help of the Energy Star program and its 20,000 partners, saved approximately $18 billion on their energy bills while preventing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the annual emissions of 33 million vehicles. To date, nearly 1.2 million new homes and more than 12,600 office buildings, schools, hospitals and public buildings have earned the Energy Star. Since 2000, approximately 3.5 billion Energy Star qualified products have been sold. Below is a list of the six retailers who were recognized by the EPA, with a description of their accomplishments. Food Lion Family, Bloom and Bottom Dollar Food received ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence recognition for its consistent reductions in energy consumption and strong commitment to strategic energy management practices. Key accomplishments include:
J. C. Penney received ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence recognition for incorporating ENERGY STAR into all aspects of its energy management program and has achieved impressive results year after year. Key accomplishments include:
Lowe's received ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence recognition for its continued leadership in integrating ENERGY STAR across all its strategic marketing efforts and customer and other stakeholder touch points. Key accomplishments include:
Kohl's received ENERGY STAR's Partner of the Year recognition for its continued commitment to maximizing energy efficiency and for communicating the value of environmental stewardship to customers and the general public. Key accomplishments include:
Sears received ENERGY STAR's Partner of the Year recognition for its leadership in merchandising a broad selection of ENERGY STAR qualified products and promoting ENERGY STAR through a variety of customer channels. Key accomplishments include:
Staples received ENERGY STAR's Partner of the Year recognition for its commitment to and success in increasing the energy efficiency of its buildings and its dedication to promoting the importance of energy efficiency to employees and customers. Key accomplishments include:
Source: EPA web site Company Designs Greener Gift Cards May 2, 2011 By Susan Reda While tech-savvy types are still trying to figure out how to leapfrog from plastic gift cards to digital versions that can be sent to smartphones and redeemed at the point of sale, another company has come up with an environmentally friendly product that offers plenty of benefits -- not to mention the chance to circumvent IT involvement. Monadock Paper Mills recently introduced a new durable paper stock, the "Un-Plastic"; it's designed to replace the estimated 2.5 billion plastic gift cards currently produced and land-filled annually. The new material, Monadock Envi Card Stock, is wood fiber-based and unlike even bio-plastics, is completely recyclable. In addition, the new card stock is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, and is manufactured using 100 percent renewable electricity. Envi Card Stock can accept all of the treatments needed for gift cards including bar codes, holograms, foil stamping, magnetic stripes, scratch-offs and signature panels. Read more: storesnews.org Green Chemistry Supply Chain Strategy Released April 29, 2011 By Jonathan Bardelline LOWELL, MA - The growing demand for safer products - whether from customers, manufacturers or governments - has led to more pressure on suppliers to reveal details about the chemicals they provide and to bring cleaner goods to market. With the likes of Nike, Johnson and Johnson, HP, Method and Herman Miller demanding more of their suppliers, the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council put together a guide explaining why companies want more information and how it can benefit the entire supply chain. The guide, "Meeting Customers' Needs for Chemical Data," is peppered with input from major companies about how they interact with chemical suppliers, with methods varying by what kind of business they are and what industry they're in. Walmart requires vendors of chemical products to disclose any chemicals they intentionally add though a third-party system, which then gives Walmart any information it needs on handling and transporting products. The Green Chemistry and Commerce Council is a project of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Read more: greenbiz.com Consumers Have Never Liked to Pay More For Green April 28, 2011 On Friday, the New York Times breathlessly declared in a cover story that during the recession, "As Consumers Cut Spending, 'Green' Products Lose Allure." It's a nice headline and makes it sound like the green product and business movement is in trouble. But the story, while interesting, doesn't really change the reality for business. First, consumers never liked to pay more for green and, second, consumer pressure is not the biggest force driving the greening of business. Here's the story. The Times story focuses on the rise and (sort of) fall of Clorox' Green Works cleaning products. Launched with much fanfare in 2008, Green Works quickly became the biggest player in the niche green cleaning space, hitting $100 million in sales before falling to $60 million in the recession (which is still a very respectable number in this market space). The Times crows that "As recession gripped the country, the consumer's love affair with green products, from recycled toilet paper to organic foods to hybrid cars, faded like a bad infatuation." So green cleaning products are on their way out, right? Not quite. First, as the next sentence points out, "sales at farmers' markets and Prius sales are humming along now" (fyi, Prius sales jumped 70% in February as oil prices rose). So two of the three categories the Times uses to make its point are actually growing, not fading. Second, at the end of the article, a fascinating chart shows the "green share" of household products holding steady at about 2 percent over the last few years. The conventional brands like Clorox have flattened out - even as Clorox sales dipped, the total number of entrants has continued to grow. The niche brands, such as Method and Seventh Generation, have continued to nibble away at market share and actually grew during the recession. To the extent that the premium-priced green products named by the Times have taken a hit, consumers' disdain isn't news: Recession or not, mass consumers never loved paying extra for green. Read More: http://blogs.hbr.org/winston/2011/04/consumers-never-liked-to-pay-m.html Brands And Retailers Pile On Earth Day Innovations April 27, 2011 by Sarah Mahoney, Earth Day may be over, but we didn't want to turn the calendar page without noting that while most retailers at least nodded at making a greater green effort, a few took us by surprise with announcements and innovations that cut through the clutter: --Timberland Keeps It Simple. Leave it to pioneer Timberland to create a back-to-basics Earth Day party. The Stratham, N.H. company -- one of the earliest champions of the cause -- lassoed 7,200 volunteers in 130 communities around the world, who got their hands dirty providing 50,000 hours of service. They planted 350 trees in Beijing, 20 community vegetable beds in the Bronx, and 5,000 trees in Santiago City, Dominican Republic. The efforts, which included 750 volunteers from Timberland's headquarters office, are part of the company's ongoing pledge to plant 5 million trees in five years. (So far, it has planted 1 million.) --Macy's Redesigns the Hanger; Adds Charging Stations. Each year, the Cincinnati-based chain goes through 300 million clear hangers for its clothing. The retailer says this fall it will begin asking vendors to use black matte hangers, which can be made from recycled materials, rather than the petroleum-based resins used to make clear hangers. Macy's expects the transition to be complete in spring 2012. Additionally, it plans to build two electric vehicle charging stations outside each of six Macy's stores in the San Diego metropolitan area. --Staples Builds a Recycled Calculator. The Framingham, Mass.-based chain says its customers recycled more than 61 million ink and toner cartridges last year, which helped divert more than 30 million pounds of plastics and metals from landfills. What to do with it all? Using a plastic casing made from recycled cartridges, it's built the Sustainable Earth by Staples Calculator. Staples rewards customers who recycle through its Rewards program, and offers free recycling for rechargeable batteries and personal electronics. --Lowe's Gives A Million Trees To Customers. In a partnership with American Forests, Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's handed out 1 million saplings to its customers on Earth Day. Each tree was bar-coded, so tree-lovers could see where other trees were being planted around the country, and also get a mobile app that gave planting advice. Source: mediapost.com
Retailers Boost Profits by Saving Energy April 26, 2011 Retailers are using energy efficiency measures to make savings that compensate for narrow profit margins. The spike in oil prices undoubtedly has piqued consumers' interest in energy-efficient products. When they visit retailers to make such purchases, however, the venues in which they shop are notorious for their energy waste. Lights are often left on 24 hours a day; refrigerators do a good of a job chilling shoppers as well as products; and packaging is often excessive. Furthermore, most consumers simply do not have an appreciation for how much energy is used transporting products from factory to warehouse to store. Yet, as the retail sector becomes even more competitive, thin margins make it incumbent on these companies to invest in initiatives that can both reduce energy consumption and maximise profits. Walmart has won plenty of recognition for its energy efficiency initiatives. The world's largest retailer's trucking fleet delivered 77 million more cases in 2009 while driving 100 million fewer miles (161 million kilometres) in 2008. More stores boast everything from white roofs (which reflect sunlight), LED lighting installations, and additional energy-saving features that are specific to local climate conditions. Walmart's success, however, has not gone unnoticed by its competitors. Minnesota-based Target also has aggressively worked on reducing its carbon footprint. Like Walmart, the chain partners with the US government's "Energy Star" coalition, and 150 of Target's stores and facilities have met the program's strict standards for energy efficiency. Low-wattage light fixtures illuminate most stores' floors, and enclosed refrigerated cases have sensors that only light them up when shoppers traipse by them. In addition, Target reduces its overall energy consumption by boosting recycling efforts at stores, which decreases the amount of waste sent to landfill. Meanwhile, at its headquarters, the central office has done its share to save electricity by installing an automated system that nudges computers into standby mode after business hours. Just as Walmart's focuses on energy efficiency in its stores abroad, European retail chains with extensive global operations work on reducing their utility bills, too. Ahold, the Dutch conglomerate that operates both the omnipresent Albert Heijn in the Netherlands and Giant supermarkets along America's east coast, has incrementally reduced its CO2 emissions per square metre of sales area in the last few years. Design is a large part of Ahold's energy efficiency agenda. At Albert Heijn stores, integrated heating and cooling systems use wasted energy from cooling systems to heat the stores, eliminating the need for natural gas for heat. Across the pond, Ahold removed many unnecessary lighting fixtures in its Giant and Stop & Shop stores, reducing energy waste. Other stores benefit from daylight harvesting, a system in which photosensors reduce light fixtures' illuminance during daylight hours, which not only make the stores appear more airy, but reduces energy consumption. Finally, Ahold has given its stores the flexibility needed to experiment with alternative energy systems, from fuel cells to solar arrays to the purchase of renewable energy credits in places where renewable energy technologies are not feasible. The investment in energy efficiency goals is not cheap. France-based Carrefour, for example, spends 30M euros (US$42.3M or GDP£26.4M) annually on energy efficiency programs, a tiny sum compared to its worldwide revenues (90 billion euros) but 3% of its net profit. But just as making small changes within a home can reduce consumers' energy bills, retailers' can reap sizeable dividends by attaching freezer doors, streamlining trucking fleets' delivery routes, and installing cost-effective lighting systems. Automation also can add to the bottom line by the quick detection of refrigerant leaks and shutting down information and communication systems when they are not needed. While solar panel and wind turbine installations make for great public relations campaigns, they are at a pilot stage. Not only is this large equipment expensive to install, but retail stores face numerous constraints when they attempt to do so, including the fact that they often lease, not own, the land and buildings on which the equipment operates. With their vendors already supplying them with consumer products at the thinnest of margins, retailers will continue to invest in energy efficiency programs and experiment with renewable energy pilot projects. Cutting energy use is not only about good public relations, but - while economies are still weak and as energy prices are on the rise - about staying competitive. Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Poll Finds Green Consumerism on the Rise April 21, 2011 By Bart King There is a larger appetite for green products than there was two years ago, and brand loyalty plays a key factor in these buying decisions, according to a new poll. Green consumerism is on the rise, with 78% of consumers believing more than ever that buying green is a way to shop with their values and ethics (up 9 points vs. two years ago), according to a new Green is Universal poll. The poll was originally conducted in 2009, and was just re-fielded to measure the change in consumer sentiment around green. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of consumers say it's worth paying more for a green product or service if it is a brand they trust (an increase of 8 points vs. 2 years ago). The poll also reveals that an overwhelming majority of consumers feel they have a personal responsibility to take care of the earth (93%), and believe that if we don't do so, there will be negative consequences for future generations (91%). "These findings underscore that consumers are increasingly shopping with their values, particularly when it comes to the environment," said Beth Colleton, Vice President, Green is Universal. "This is an enormous opportunity for marketers to communicate their brand's commitment to green, as a way to build both loyalty and returns for their business." Not only do consumers hold themselves accountable when it comes to protecting the earth, but they believe companies should be held to the same standard. Nine out of 10 consumers say companies have a social responsibility to protect the environment, and three-quarters (77%) say they have a more favorable impression of companies that promote environmental causes. Putting their money where their mouth is, findings show substantially more consumers who say they have boycotted a company/product in the past year, because it had policies and practices that were not environmentally responsible (27%) (up 8 points from 2009). Additional highlights from a related but separate Green is Universal poll on re-use, "From Trash To Treasure," include the following: 62% say they are making a conscious effort to purchase products made by environmentally responsible companies 68% say they are paying more attention to whether products are made from recycled materials 84% appreciate companies who make it easier for them to recycle 78% appreciate companies who make using recycled materials a priority because it provides them with an easy way to help the environment 57% say they are likely to encourage others to buy products that are made from recycled materials Source: sustainablelifemedia.com How to Close the Green Marketing Gap April 20, 2011 By Bart King According to a study released this week by consultant group OgilvyEarth, green marketers are "missing the mark" when it comes to motivating the mainstream American consumer to act on sustainability issues. The study, "Mainstream Green: Moving sustainability from niche to normal" provides insight on how to close the Green Gap that persists between what consumers say and what they actually do around sustainable living. To close the Green Gap, the study found, leading organizations should find ways to normalize sustainable behaviors. The twelve recommendations provided include: Make it Normal:The great Middle Green is not looking to set themselves apart from everyone else. They want to fit in. Eliminate the Sustainability Tax:The high prices of many of the greener products suggest an attempt to limit or discourage more sustainable choices. Make Eco-friendly Male Ego-friendly:Sustainability must strike a chord with male consumers by considering what works in traditional marketing. For example, automotive brands with alternative fuel vehicles are finding success by sticking to what has been shown to work - sleek ads with an emphasis on speed and design. Lose the Crunch:Just because a product is green doesn't mean it must be packaged in burlap. For green marketing to succeed, it must be liberated from the traditional stereotypes to emphasize the most compelling personal benefits. Hedonism over Altruism:The emotional tenor of sustainable marketing to date has been focused on appeals to Americans' altruistic tendencies, but our research shows that this is to deny human nature. Wise brands are tapping into enjoyment over altruism. The Mainstream Green study included global comparisons between China and the U.S., revealing that China has a more pronounced base of motivated green consumers who are hampered by broad access to sustainable products. Read more about the Chinese Green Gap or view comparisons between U.S. and China here. Source: sustainablelifemedia.com Supermarkets Save Energy and Money from Refrigeration Technology Improvements April 19, 2011 By MICHAEL GARRY Advances in refrigeration technology are helping retailers run their equipment more efficiently and bring down energy maintenance costs. Unlike other retail sectors, food retailers face the enormous challenge of running refrigeration systems, which account for more than half of the electricity costs in their stores. While these systems are notably fragile and complex - and have a nasty tendency to spring refrigerant leaks - the good news is that advances in technology are helping retailers operate them more efficiently, with significant benefits to their bottom line. Over the past several years, a few pieces of technology - the electronically commutated (EC) motor and LED lighting - have enabled refrigerated and frozen cases to experience marked decreases in energy consumption. But in just the past year, several new refrigeration systems have emerged to drive a further dent in energy costs, including a "hybrid" condenser, a pressure controller and a device that mimics food temperatures in cold cases. Read more: supermarketnews.com Research Reveals the Confluence of Sustainability and Social Media April 18, 2011 By Thomas Miner Authenticity and transparency have become key benchmarks for companies operating in today's economy - an economy which demands that businesses carefully manage their internal and external reputations by actively engaging stakeholders in meaningful ways. This new benchmark is being driven by the confluence of two of our economy's most significant culture shifts; the wildfire-like adoption of social media as a communications tool by both consumers and the world's largest companies, and the integration of sustainability into the very fabric of corporate operations. For some companies such as Patagonia, authenticity comes naturally. It emanates from their founding principles; they have invested fully in being as sustainable as possible, making it natural for their social media assets to fully leverage their commitments. But most companies sit somewhere along the path on their journey toward sustainability, and managing brand reputation in today's social media environment is trickier. Nearly all, though, consider the degree to which they are able to successfully and authentically engage stakeholders and manage brand reputation in today's online environment as a key indicator of company health. It is for this reason that SLM, along with our research partner Zumer Interactive, is proud to launch our latest report: Sustainability 2.0: Current Trends at the Confluence of Social Media and CSR. Our goal for this report was twofold; to understand how the current intersection of social media and sustainability is being managed by successful brands, and to provide executives, brand communicators, and all those involved in social media execution the insights necessary to make informed strategic decisions in this space. We analyzed the activity of Fortune's 50 most admired companies list on the three major social networks and supplemented those findings with interviews from almost 50 of the world's largest brands. Together, these pieces create the most complete look available today at the intersection of social media and sustainability. Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com How CSR Affects Buying Behaviour April 15, 2011 Submitted by: Network for Business Sustainability LONDON, O.N., Apr. 12 /CSRwire/ - The following is a list of the world's best research findings related to CSR and consumer buying behaviour. Taken from top-tier journals such as the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Consumer Research, these research insights help marketers and sustainability managers asses and adapt their CSR-based marketing strategies. 1. Know When Green Is Bad : Leila Hamzaoui Essoussi and Jonathan Linton (from the University of Ottawa) find consumers are willing to pay more for some green products but less for others. When consumers question the performance of an eco-product - in the case of re-treaded tires, for instance - companies have to prove that their eco-product performs as well as competing products. 2. Put Quality First, CSR Second: Pat Auger (Melbourne Business School), Tim Devinney (University of Technology, Sydney) and colleagues show that consumers care about ethical features - as long as they don't compromise quality or function. 3. Add CSR to Innovation to Attract Customers: Xueming Luo (University of Texas) and C.B. Bhattacharya (European School of Management and Technology) show that innovative firms engaging in CSR have more satisfied customers than innovative companies that don't invest in CSR. 4. Appeal to Herd Mentality to Prompt Green Action: Noah Goldstein (University of Chicago), Robert Cialdini (Arizona State University), and Vladas Griskevicius (University of Minnesota) discovered how to maximize consumers' participation in environmental programs, with the test case of reusing hotel towels. Instead of making a "do good" appeal, they told consumers that other people in the same situation reused their towels. The researchers saw a 10% increase in the number of people reusing their towels simply by appealing to the herd mentality. 5. Your Reputation Precedes You: Remi Trudel (Boston University School of Management) and June Cotte (Richard Ivey Business School) find that a credible reputation enables you to charge higher prices for ethical products. Read more: cswire.com Report Shows Consumers are Split Between Convenience and Sustainability When it Comes to Packaging April 14, 2011 By Jonathan Bardelline NEW YORK, NY - Consumers are about evenly split between favoring convenient packaging over environmentally-friendly packaging, an issue that will only get more muddled without a clearer understanding of what green packaging really is, says Thomson Reuters. "There are many labels saying that packaging is green, but not much guidance on whether these labels actually certify a real improvement," says the information company's intellectual properties business in its "Convenience v Conscience" report. "Consumers need real assurance that they are spending their money for real improvements that not only are green, but also preserve and protect food just as well or better than the old options." Many consumers clearly favor greener packaging, the company found through a survey of 1,011 people in March. Consumers were asked if packaging that makes life easier or packaging that is good for the environment is more important, and 47 percent went with convenience while 49 percent chose greenness. The report also compiled information on 14,000 invention patents and 10,000 trademarks that were made between 2004 and 2009. In looking at them, the report notes, it was "virtually impossible" to identify which ones are green since there is no clear definition of what green packaging is. Read more: greenbiz.com Greenpeace Releases Sustainable Seafood Rankings April 13, 2011 Safeway has surged into first place in Greenpeace's rankings of major seafood retailers, surpassing last year's winner Target. Target and Wegmans now tie for second place on the Supermarket Seafood Sustainability Scorecard (pdf), pushing Whole Foods from third to fourth. The top 15 supermarkets in the rankings all get passing grades from Greenpeace, but Giant Eagle, Publix, Supervalu, Winn-Dixie and Meijer all get failing grades. None of the five responded to Greenpeace's request for information. These results stand in stark contrast to the scorecard from three years ago, when all 20 retailers assessed got failing grades. "The fact that we have now seen such a wide variety of retailers lead the pack - from organic specialty retailers and high end stores to big-box retailers to one of the biggest national chains in the country - just emphasizes that sustainability is not a niche luxury trend, but an important response to customer demand and responsible retailing," Greenpeace senior markets campaigner Casson Trenor said. Source: environmentalleader.com Do Multi-buy Deals Create Food Waste? April 12, 2011 Charlie Wright, thegrocer.co.uk Multi-buy deals have come under fire again after new data laid bare the extent of the UK's food waste mountain. Food worth £13.7bn was binned in England last year - equivalent to each household throwing away £520 of food. The Local Government Association, which calculated the estimate, said supermarket multi-buy deals were to blame for the scale of the problem. "Way too much food is being brought into homes [and] retailers need to take a large slice of responsibility," said the body's environment chief, Clyde Loakes. He called for supermarkets to offer discounts on individual items and scrap bogof deals designed to "transfer waste out of retail operations and into the family home". The British Retail Consortium criticised the report and said local councils should improve rubbish collection services to prevent food waste going to landfill. "There's a simple solution to the problem of food waste going to landfill - local councils need to collect it separately so it can be turned into compost or helped to biodegrade." said BRC head of environment Bob Gordon. "With people's disposable income shrinking, supermarket special offers are more valued than ever. Forty per cent of groceries going through the tills are currently on promotion or special offer. "Customers are smart and they know how to make the most of the deals that work for them. There's no evidence the food ending up in landfill is a result of promotions." Source: thegrocer.co.uk Is Corporate America Ahead of Its Customers in Going Green? April 7, 2011 It's been another action-packed day at FORTUNE's Brainstorm Green conference on business and the environment. Lively conversation about the future of coal (it's not going away), sustainable seafood (about which more another day), geoengineering and marketing to the green consumer. The "green consumer" panel featured SC Johnson's CEO H. Fisk Johnson, Steve Wenc of UL Environment and marketing guru Suzanne Shelton. It was moderated by my friend and colleague Joel Makower, the founder and editor-in-chief of GreenBiz.com. They all agreed that much of corporate America has moved ahead of its customers when it comes to embracing green products. Wait, it gets worse: Joel and Suzanne argued that consumers fool themselves about their green behavior. They buy a CFL bulb or green cleaning product or perhaps a Prius and then decide they've done their part for the planet. They tell pollsters that they consider sustainability factors in their purchasing decisions and describe themselves as "conscious consumers" but the reality is quite different. They're greenwashing their own behavior, Joel noted. Is this bottle necessary? Fisk told a story that illustrates this sometimes-depressing reality. SCJ has come up with a concentrated form of Windex that it sells in a small plastic pouch. Customers can snip off the top of the pouch, pour it into a refillable bottle and add water to get the equivalent of a 32-ounce bottle of Windex. The company saves money on packaging and energy, less carbon is emitted into the environment, less waste goes to landfill and a few pennies of savings can be passed along to the consumer. Everyone wins. Everyone, that is, is the developing world where this Windex concentrate is sold. It's not sold in the U.S., Fisk said, because Americans don't care about saving a few pennies and they don't want to deal with the inconvenience of mixing a small package of concentrate with water. They won't make a small change that has a significant impact. Read more: greenbiz.com First 60 Products Accepted for USDA "BioPreferred" Label April 6, 2011 By Bart King Biobased cleaning products, engine oils, and even biobased fiber spun into carpet and clothes are among the first products granted the new USDA BioPreferred label. Green Products Group Drafts Eco-Labelling Guide April 5, 2011 By BusinessGreen staff 04 Apr 2011 Businesses and policymakers have been urged to comment on new anti-greenwash guidelines designed to bolster the credibility of eco-labelling schemes put forward by a group of product manufacturers, buyers and certifiers. The Green Products Round Table, operated by American NGO Keystone, published the guidelines late last week in an attempt to help businesses and consumers understand claims made by companies using eco-labelling. The proposed Preferred Practices for Organizational Credibility manual (PDF) covers a range of organisations and stakeholders involved in eco-labelling, including institutional buyers, standard developers, eco-label issuers, certifiers, government and accreditation bodies. It recommends that manufacturers and retailers meet a range of established ISO environmental standards and develop transparent communications policies, while standard setters are urged to collaborate with other standard-setting organisations to avoid the risk of duplicating existing labels. Governments are similarly advised to help businesses and consumers find legitimate standards and eco-labels, while all stakeholders are urged to encourage best practice and standardisation among eco-labelling organisations. The round table is now calling for further input from interested parties over the next six months ahead of the publication of a final manual in December. Read more: businessgreen.com Grocery Companies Planning Packaging Reductions April 4, 2011 By Jonathan Bardelline WASHINGTON, DC - Packaging changes by food and consumer product companies have avoided 1.5 billion pounds of packaging in the past decade, and are expected to avoid an additional 2.5 billion pounds in the coming 10 years. A Grocery Manufacturers Association report, based on two surveys of the trade group's members, says all of the companies have more packaging reductions planned. One survey, by McKinsey & Company, found that 19 companies avoided 1.5 billion pounds of material from 2005 to 2010 by implementing more than 180 projects and changes. Efforts by the companies, which represent $225 billion in yearly sales in the U.S., range among a sauce maker switching to 100 percent post-consumer recycled glass, a canned food company eliminating 700,000 pounds of PVC and shipping 25 percent more products on trucks due to packaging redesigns, and a consumer goods company replacing almost all of its shipping cartons with ones made entirely of post-consumer recycled material. As one would expect, most reductions have occurred in plastic and paper, with companies cutting out 800 million pounds of plastic and 500 million pounds of paper since 2005. And changes are being done across all product categories, with no one category sticking out as making the biggest dent in material use. The second survey, which asked for companies' plans from 2011-2020 and was conducted by Georgetown Economic Services, found than 21 companies with $200 billion in annual U.S. sales plan to avoid 2.5 billion pounds of packaging material. Fourteen companies had responded to both surveys. Read more: greenbiz.com Runway to Green: Fashion Show Promotes Green Design April 1, 2011 By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL - AP Fashion Writer NEW YORK -- Organic cotton and reusable bags are steps toward the greening of the fashion industry, but organizers of the Runway to Green project say considering the size, scope and celebrity of players such as Gucci, Burberry, Stella McCartney and Tommy Hilfiger, it can do much more. The project kicked off with 29 top-tier designers staging a runway show to raise money for environmental education and awareness programs. The designers also have agreed to participate in the Natural Resources Defense Council's Clean by Design program, which will teach them how to integrate greener practices into many aspects of their businesses, from raw materials, fabric finishing and production, to packaging, recycling and shipping. Read more: sunherald.com P&G Partners with Grocers to Launch C-Footprint App March 31, 2011 CINCINNATI - Procter & Gamble here, in partnership with grocery retail partners, is providing shoppers the opportunity to get a better understanding of their personal impact on the environment with a new iPhone, iPad or Android-enabled application, dubbed "My Carbon Footprint." It will become available on Earth Day, April 22. Users will be able to generate their own "personal planet" based on their responses to simple multiple choice questions like, "What is the gas mileage of the car you drive in most often?" Once their planet has been established, users will be able to enhance (or reduce) the quality of their ecosystem by answering a question of the day. They will also receive tips to help them make sustainable choices. Users will be able to post those tips to their Facebook walls. "Our goal is to help our partners at P&G spread the word that the little changes we make every day can have a big impact on the environment," said Stanton Kawer, chief executive officer, Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, Northbrook, Ill., which developed the application for P&G. "Hopefully this app will make us all a little more future-friendly." Read more: supermarketnews.com Report Finds Environmental Drawbacks to Biodegrable Packaging March 30, 2011 SAN DIEGO, Mar. 29 /CSRwire/ - Today at the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) Spring Meeting, the coalition released its report on biodegradation in landfills and the resulting greenhouse gas impacts, a key issue for the packaging industry given increasing marketing claims that biodegradation in landfills is a benefit due to the growing use of methane-rich landfill gas for energy. Assessing the Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Biodegradation in Landfills explores the generation of greenhouse gases in landfills and the natural and engineered strategies used to mitigate their effects, including soil oxidation, flaring, and landfill gas for energy. The report was intended to present the latest understanding on how materials behave in landfill environments and the mechanisms that influence biodegradation, and to provide an objective comparison of the greenhouse gas benefits of energy recovery relative to the harm of unavoidable landfill emissions. The report concludes that biodegradation in modern landfills is not to be encouraged, as on net the harmful greenhouse gas impacts of landfill emissions are likely to outweigh the benefits of energy recovery. "We are seeing more companies position biodegradation as a benefit, even for materials likely to end up in landfills where biodegradability is not a desirable trait," said GreenBlue Project Associate Adam Gendell, who led the SPC research project and authored the report. "The growing use of landfill methane as an energy source is a commendable mitigation strategy, but it has created a false sense of optimism. Energy recovery only puts a dent in the greenhouse gas profiles of landfills; overall, they are still a tremendous contributor of greenhouse gas emissions." Read more: csrwire.com Eco-conscious or Money-Conscious? March 29, 2011 Carly Weeks Globe and Mail Update Canadians are increasingly choosing eco-conscious lifestyles, but is it because we want to save the environment, or money on our heating bills? Nearly two-thirds of Canadian households lower the thermostat in winter before going to bed. Yet, less than half of us always bring reusable or recycled bags to the grocery store. We are increasingly opting for energy-efficient - and money-saving - appliances. But only a fraction regularly purchase green cleaning products, which are often more expensive than traditional cleaners. It seems like contradictory behaviour. But look at these stats another way and they make perfect sense. Canadian consumers, while wanting to help the environment, are also highly motivated by another kind of green: money. A new report from Statistics Canada, published last week, reveals the majority of Canadians have adopted environmentally friendly behaviours, a dramatic shift from two decades ago. For instance, the new Statistics Canada report found that nearly two-thirds of Canadian households were using low-flow shower heads in 2009, compared to just 28 per cent in 1991. Similarly, 42 per cent of households were using low-volume toilets in 2009, compared to 9 per cent in 1991. Source: the globeandmail.com Study Looks at How Markets Respond to Environmental Initiatives March 28, 2011 Many firms have undertaken proactive environmental initiatives in recent years -- consider Wal-Mart's efforts to increase energy conservation and, more recently, their sustainable supply chain initiatives. But, does the market see these activities as good value relative to other investment options? Research in the Journal of Operations Management reveals share price drops when firms commit to voluntary emissions reductions. However, share price goes up when firms announce ISO 14001 certification or corporate donations to environmental causes. Significantly, the markets ignored all other announcements about new recycling programs, eco-friendly products, or LEED certification. Researchers Brian Jacobs (Michigan State University), Vinod Singhal (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Ravi Subramanian (Georgia Institute of Technology) analyzed how environmental performance affects shareholder value through stock market reactions. Their work builds on previous research examining the market's reaction to specific types of announcements. Jacobs and his collaborators looked at two types of announcements of environmental performance appearing in 14 daily business publications such as Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal between 2004 and 2006. These included 417 firm announcements of initiatives to avoid, mitigate, or offset the firm's environmental impacts, and 363 third-party announcements of awards and certifications. The researchers hypothesized the market would respond positively to both types of announcements, but that third-party awards and certifications would lead to a greater jump in share price than announcements by the firm because of the credibility offered by third parties. The market reaction to self-reported announcements did not differ from the reaction to third-party announcements. In fact, researchers found the market reacted only to three types of announcements: philanthropy, voluntary emissions reductions, and ISO 14001 certifications. Read more: greenbiz.com Study Finds Americans Have Too Much Confidence in Green Marketing Claims March 25, 2011 Many Americans believe products to be better for the environment than they actually are, according to research by strategy and communications agency Cone. Consumers continue to misunderstand phrases commonly used in environmental marketing and advertising - such as "green" or "environmentally friendly" - giving products a greater halo than they may deserve, the 2011 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker found. A growing number of Americans (97 percent in 2011, as compared to 90 percent in 2008) believe they know what these terms mean, yet their interpretations are often inaccurate, Cone said. More than two in five Americans (41 percent) erroneously believe these terms mean a product has a positive impact on the environment. Only 29 percent understand that these terms more accurately describe products with less environmental impact than previous versions or competing products, Cone said. Despite their misunderstandings, most Americans will punish a company for using misleading claims. The survey found that 71 percent will stop buying the product if they feel misled, and of those, more than a third (37 percent) will go so far as to boycott the company's products entirely. Yet three-quarters of respondents said it is OK if a company is not environmentally perfect, as long as it is honest and transparent about its efforts. "It's telling that three years after Cone first conducted the Green Gap survey, not much has changed," says Jonathan Yohannan, Cone's senior vice president of corporate responsibility. "Consumers continue to be confused about environmental claims, often without realizing it. This creates a huge risk for consumer backlash." The results appear to be in contrast to those of a Carbon Trust survey, which found that only seven percent of consumers in the U.K. take companies at their word on their actions to reduce climate impacts. But the Cone study also found that a majority of American consumers are distrustful of companies' environmental claims (57 percent) and are overwhelmed by the amount of environmental messages in the marketplace (51 percent). The U.S. government is working to update green advertising standards through proposed revisions to its Green Guides, which advise advertisers on sustainability claims, but the revised guidelines have yet to be finalized. Read more: environmentalleader.com BBMG: "New Consumer" Will Bring Sustainability to the Mainstream March 24, 2011 New multimedia study examines the marketplace's most powerful segment; illustrates how they will revolutionize branding and drive green innovation NEW YORK, Mar. 23 /CSRwire/ - Brand innovation firm BBMG today releases a comprehensive study, Unleashed: How New Consumers Will Revolutionize Brands and Scale Sustainability. The multimedia booklet (available for download here) draws on three years of research and introduces brands to New Consumers: shoppers who unite pragmatism and purpose with an unmatched level of brand participation. This increasingly important group--currently 30 percent of the U.S. population--is poised to help sustainable brands enter the mainstream, while forcing large brands to accelerate their pathways to sustainability. Their influence will be so great that BBMG identifies 2011 as the dawn of a new economy with unlimited opportunities for innovative, values-driven, authentic brands. "For brands to take sustainability to scale, they can no longer rely on the dark green consumer. Instead, they need to engage New Consumers, who are just as concerned about the environment but also realistic about factors like price, performance, convenience, health and safety," said Raphael Bemporad, BBMG's Chief Strategy Officer. "Our study is the first to take a deep look at the implications of the New Consumer on the marketplace, identifying their core values and purchasing priorities, and how brands can engage them to drive innovation and positive social impact." BBMG's study makes the case for embedding a deeper sense of social and environmental purpose into every business decision; and, for wiring consumers' values and ideas into each business model. Finally, the study highlights five key insights that will help brands reach, engage and unleash the power of the New Consumer: 1.Deliver Total Value: New Consumers Want It All 2.Paint a Bigger Picture: New Consumers Are Asking "What's In It For We?" 3.Be Their Champion: New Consumers Are Taking Control 4.Make More Out of Less: New Consumers Want Simplicity, Meaningful Experiences 5.Invite Them In: Participation Is the New Consumption "Consumers are now driving business, instead of the other way around, which means the disciplines of branding and innovation are converging like never before," said Bemporad. "Tomorrow's most successful brands will recognize this, and will establish very clear pathways that allow them to constantly listen, engage and drive innovation--and, ultimately, change the world." Read more: csrwire.com Report Finds that "Greenwash" Could Cost Two Per Cent of Sales March 23, 2011 Carbon Trust commissioned research finds customers are reluctant to trust the word of companies that claim to be tackling climate change. By BusinessGreen staff Businesses which take action on climate change can boost their sales by two per cent, but only if they offer customers credible evidence that they are improving their environmental impact, according to new research commissioned by the Carbon Trust. A survey of 1,000 adults carried by by Vanson Bourne on behalf of the Carbon Trust, revealed that 90 per cent of people want businesses to commit to the emissions reductions required for the UK to meet its 2050 climate change targets. In addition, the report found that this support for environmentally responsible businesses translates into increased revenue. According to global analysis from branding consultancy BrandZ, which also contributed to the Carbon Trust research, an average of 20 per cent of sales are directly linked to corporate reputation, of which two per cent can be attributed directly to environmental reputation. However, the survey also revealed only seven per cent of people believe the word of firms who claim to be tackling climate change and taking action to reduce their environmental impacts. The greatest concern was that firms simply make one-off improvements to win publicity, and then return to business as usual. Peter Walshe, global director of BrandZ, warned that despite customer scepticism businesses which fail to implement a credible climate change strategy risk losing sales. Read more: businessgreen.com Grocery Companies Reduce Packaging March 22, 2011 By Jonathan Bardellin WASHINGTON, DC - Packaging changes by food and consumer product companies have avoided 1.5 billion pounds of packaging in the past decade, and are expected to avoid an additional 2.5 billion pounds in the coming 10 years. A Grocery Manufacturers Association report, based on two surveys of the trade group's members, says all of the companies have more packaging reductions planned. One survey, by McKinsey & Company, found that 19 companies avoided 1.5 billion pounds of material from 2005 to 2010 by implementing more than 180 projects and changes. Efforts by the companies, which represent $225 billion in yearly sales in the U.S., range among a sauce maker switching to 100 percent post-consumer recycled glass, a canned food company eliminating 700,000 pounds of PVC and shipping 25 percent more products on trucks due to packaging redesigns, and a consumer goods company replacing almost all of its shipping cartons with ones made entirely of post-consumer recycled material. Read more: greenbiz.com Retailers Offer Paperless Receipts March 21, 2011 By Thomas Grillo Paper or plastic?" is giving way to another checkout query, "paper or paperless?" More stores are offering the option of "paperless receipts" for environmentally conscious consumers who don't mind giving out their e-mail addresses. "It's all about finding ways to be more environmentally friendly and making it more convenient for shoppers," said Liz Burkhhart, a Whole Foods spokeswoman. Major retailers such as Apple, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Nordstrom already give customers the option to go digital while the Container Store and Best Buy are participating in a pilot program with Intuit, the software maker of Quick Receipts, and Whole Foods is piloting a paperless option in the mid-Atlantic region that could spread nationwide. Read more: bostonherald.com Rewards Help Green Consumer Behaviour March 3, 2011 David Wigder Senior Director, Marketing Strategy I believe that the idea of rewards in the green space have the potential to change consumer behaviour without necessarily changing attitudes first. I first wrote about this in a 2007 blog post. Today, it remains a powerful way to expand the appeal of green. As every marketer knows, it is expensive, time consuming and downright difficult to change consumer attitudes. By contrast, rewards can reframe the dialogue by creating a financial incentive for consumers to engage, regardless of interest or attitude. The result is that rewards can expand the target audience to those motivated less by altruism than by financial gain. Suddenly, consumers that did not make the environment a priority are willing to take action to earn rewards. Marketers should be fine with this as long as it helps achieve business objectives in a cost-effective way. Interestingly, rewards can be a critical tool for companies looking to enhance their marketing efforts. Rewards can be a tool to:
Read more: environmentalleader.com Retailers Join Coalition to Set 'Green Score' March 2, 2011 By TOM ZELLER Jr. With just a few clicks on Google Maps, anyone can call up a satellite image of blue dye and other chemicals washing downriver from textile mills in Xintang, China - the world capital of blue jeans production. A fabric dyeing factory in Mumbai, India. A group is creating sustainability scores for clothes. But American shoppers in a typical department store encounter no obvious connection between those polluting plumes of dye - or really any other environmental impact - and their favorite pair of designer blues. In many cases, the company whose name appears on the label is only marginally better informed. But a new and prominent assemblage of retailers, clothing manufacturers, environmental groups and academics plans to change that. Calling itself the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the group intends to announce Tuesday that it is developing a comprehensive database of the environmental impact of every manufacturer, component and process in apparel production, with the aim of using that information to eventually give every garment a sustainability score. Later, the coalition hopes to produce a label that would share some version of that score with shoppers, giving them a much more detailed view into the supply of fabrics, zippers, dyes, threads, buttons and grommets that come together to form the clothing they buy, as well as what impact the creation of that clothing has on both people and the planet. The coalition includes middle-market companies like Wal-Mart, J. C. Penney, H&M and Hanes, along with more traditionally environmentally minded manufacturers of rugged outdoor clothing like Patagonia and Timberland. The 30 founding members also include Duke University, the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, the labor rights group Verité, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Read more: nytimes.com Green Desires Don't Always Translate Into Green Actions at the Checkout February 25, 2011 Australian shoppers harbour plenty of green intentions - but the commitment wanes at the checkout according to new research. The study, by Macquarie University, was commissioned as part of the Panasonic Chair in Environmental Sustainability initiative, and concluded there is "a weak link" between customers' intent to purchase eco-friendly products and their actual purchasing decisions. The study found while 75 per cent of consumers considered environmental features ahead of buying goods, only 20 per cent actually purchased goods with eco credentials. The study looked at purchasing behaviours across key electronics categories - including televisions, air-conditioners, washing machines and digital cameras. Some 2000 consumers were surveyed as part of the study. Professor Tim Flannery, Panasonic chair in environmental sustainability with Macquarie University, said getting consumers to buy green, as well as think green was critical to improving environmental outcomes. "Awareness of environmental issues is extremely high and our next challenge is to turn that into everyday action," Flannery said. Panasonic estimates it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions from a household by 65 per cent in three-to-five years by increasing the energy efficiency of devices and reducing the power consumption of the entire house. "The single best thing we can do to encourage more businesses to adopt better environmental behaviour is to make it more commercially attractive. We simply have to work out what is stopping consumers from buying green and overcome it." Read more: insideretailing.com The Plastic Bag Debate Continues February 24, 2011 James Murray The debate over the environmental credentials of supermarket carrier bags was reignited yesterday with the release of a major study from the Environment Agency that confirms reusable bags have a lower carbon footprint than single-use plastic bags, but only if they are consistently reused. The British Retail Consortium seized on the report as evidence that the environmental impact of single-use carrier bags has been overblown and has provided a "damaging distraction" from more important environmental issues. However, a spokesman for the Environment Agency argued that the report confirmed that the high-profile campaign against single-use carrier bags was justified and had a positive effect in encouraging retailers to cut down on single-use plastic bags. "You can spin it [to show single-use plastic bags have the lowest impact], but the conclusion is that it is more sensible to use reusable bags and then reuse them," he said, adding that the report did not take account of other environmental impacts associated with single-use bags, such as litter. "Plastic bags are still a huge issue and consumer behaviour towards bags has changed positively in recent years... [the focus on bags] makes people think about other impacts and has led into the debate about packaging." Read more: businessgreen.com British Retail Consortium (BRC) Says Plastic Bags a "Distraction" from Bigger Issues February 23, 2011 A report by the Environmental Agency called, "Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags", shows how many times different types of shopping bags need to be re-used in order to have less greenhouse gas impact than a single-use shopping bag. For instance, it showed that a cotton bag need to be re-used at least 131 times in order to have less greenhouse gas impact. Working with customers, retailers virtually halved bag use between 2006 and 2010. But, reacting to the report, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) says the continuing focus on plastic bags is a damaging distraction from more important environmental issues. British Retail Consortium Sustainability Director Andrew Opie said: "We're pleased to see the Environment Agency's report acknowledges single-use carrier bags can have less impact than the alternatives. Yes, the plastic bag has become symbolic but this report confirms it is not the great environmental evil some would have us believe. "Agonising over bags misses the point. There are much bigger targets supermarkets are helping customers to work on, such as reducing food waste. To obsess over bags distracts consumers from making bigger changes to their habits which would do more to benefit the environment. "Retailers and customers cut bag use by 4.6 billion a year between 2006 and 2010, despite sales increasing during the same period. Handing out bags-for-life and encouraging customers to re-use them is a big part of that. Efforts to cut down bag use will continue but they must not be the only focus." Source: theretailbulletin.com Study Examines Life Cycle of Various Types of Shopping Bags February 22, 2011 By Tiffany Holland Almost 60% of people reuse all carrier bags, while more than two thirds of single-use carrier bags were reused, according to a study carried out by the Environment Agency (EA). Primarily determining the carbon impact of different types of carrier bags on the environment, the report called Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags, found that bag reuse was key to determining the impact of carrier bags on the environment. Read more: mrw.co.uk (subscription may be needed to see full article) Canadian Retailers Get Ready for Lightbulb Efficiency Standards February 18, 2011 The lights of incandescent bulbs won't be completely out come January 2012, but they will be dimmer. While Ottawa announced in April 2007 it would ban the sale of inefficient light bulbs by 2012, don't expect to find store shelves stripped of all incandescents any time soon, says Donald Dodge of Conserve Nova Scotia. What will come into effect Jan. 1, 2012, Dodge said, are minimum energy-performance standards that all light bulbs must adhere to. "While that will certainly mean that some incandescent bulbs will disappear from the market, it doesn't eliminate them completely," he said. The packaging of those incandescent bulbs still on store shelves come Jan. 1, however, likely won't look familiar, nor will their advertised wattage. Bulbs will no longer be rated as 60 watts or 100 watts, but will instead be rated for its brightness in lumens. "It's going to require a real change of thinking for people. And because of that, a lot of the work that's been going on behind the scenes on this is on labelling and packaging," he said. Dodge said since Ottawa announced the ban, light bulb manufacturers have argued against it saying they are on the verge of creating incandescent bulbs that meet the energy efficiency standards the federal government requires. Read more: halifaxnews.ca Asking Customers What They Want in Sustainability Doesn't Always Work February 17, 2011 By Chris Sherwin It's no secret that engaging consumers on sustainability is a really tricky challenge for companies. They often prove to be anywhere on a scale of confused or disinterested, to downright dismissive and contemptuous. But a recent innovation project by eBay Europe offers a window on how to more effectively engage consumers on sustainability. Companies often approach this using traditional marketing tools like surveys, polls and consumer segmentation to gain ‘insights’ that steer communications and innovation. But this often fails to capture the latent, intangible, indirect nature of sustainability needs that consumers find hard to express. Hands up anyone who ever left a consumer research debrief feeling utterly depressed about consumers’ failure to support your product idea or business case? Recently I was fortunate enough to be a fly-on-the-wall (ok, behind a two-way mirror actually) in some focus groups as part of an ambitious innovation project with ebay Europe, looking at opportunities from ‘sustainable commerce’. Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com Eco-Fashion: How Green Became the New Black February 15, 2011 Lida Hujic With London Fashion Week just around the corner, Lida Hujic, author of The First to Know, charts eco-fashion's journey from naff to hip to even-sold-at Tesco. Not so long ago, eco-fashion was so insignificant that it simply wasn't on the style map. It was either a non-issue or, at best, the preserve of so-called 'tree-huggers'; a tiny proportion of the population who wore Birkenstocks, ate lentils and voted Green. In short, eco-fashion was hemp-based, hippyish and nowhere near the mainstream. Of course, that doesn't mean questions about sustainability in the fashion industry hadn't been raised before. Read more: theecologist.org The Paradox of Sustainable Innovation February 14, 2011 By Adam Lowry It is relatively easy to imagine a fully sustainable product, one that has no negative impact on the environment or the social condition. So why does no fully sustainable product exist yet? The answer lies in the most crucial aspect of innovation that people usually forget: people. Innovation is not an activity that happens in the absence of human beings. It's created by human beings, and more importantly, for human beings. And it is the human element that we most often forget. In order for an innovation to truly be innovative, people must use it. A lot of people. Nothing is more frustrating than to hear a product being called innovative that only a few privileged people can use. That's not innovation, that's obscurity. Technology or creativity are not the most important components of innovation, adoption is. Consider two ideas that have been brought to market in the world of cleaning products and what they teach us about how innovation creates change. Read more: greenbiz.com UK Grocers Looking into Refill Technology for Milk February 11, 2011 Ruth Faulkner, The Grocer The plastic milk bottle could soon be consigned to the bin as the UK looks set to enter a refill revolution. The Grocer has learnt that Eziserv, the company that supplied refill technology to Asda for a recent Wrap-funded dispensing trial involving laundry detergents, has been in talks with one of the UK's big three milk suppliers about using the same technology to sell milk in supermarkets. Until now the system has only been used for non-food but there was no reason why it could not be adjusted for milk, said Eziserv MD Richard Garnett. "The important change would be around hygiene and cleaning, so we would look at the machine having a cleaning function not dissimilar to those used in some coffee machines. "Read more: thegrocer.co.uk Some consumers resist 'green' light bulbs February 10, 2011 By Jayne O'Donnell and Wendy Koch, USA TODAY | Faced with a U.S. phaseout of incandescent light bulbs starting next year, some consumers are taking pre-emptive steps: They're stockpiling the bulbs. Under a 2007 energy law, manufacturers must start phasing out incandescent bulbs in favor of more-efficient bulbs such as compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs. While CFLs use at least 75% less energy, some consumers complain the lighting is dimmer, doesn't look as warm and doesn't come on right away. Some also worry about the disposal requirements because of the bulbs' tiny mercury content. The American Lighting Association's Larry Lauck hasn't seen "statistical signs" of stockpiling but has heard anecdotal reports. WHY BOTHER? Compact fluorescents get better. Ilse Metchek of Los Angeles tried to convert to CFLs but was so unhappy she squirreled away about three dozen incandescents, so "I will be able to read in bed without squinting." Most Americans plan to switch to more-efficient bulbs, according to a recent survey by lighting company Osram Sylvania. Yet, given that cheaper incandescents are still in plentiful supply, some consumers can't resist stocking up. Sue Larkin of Tulsa has hundreds: "I can't see a thing with the new bulbs and can't afford them anyway." Says Susan Drake of Marietta, Ohio, "I have stocked up on enough incandescent bulbs to last for the next 50 years." Such reports are common whenever a new standard is introduced, says the Natural Resources Defense Council's Noah Horowitz. He says consumers will still be able to buy incandescents, but new ones will have more-efficient halogen capsules. Read more: usatoday.com Five Retailers Named for Green Energy February 9, 2011 By MICHAEL GARRY ARLINGTON, Va. - The Retail Industry Leaders Association pointed out that three RILA members that are food retailers - Whole Foods Market, Wal-Mart Stores and Safeway - were named by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as being among the top 50 users of green power in the EPA's Green Power Partnership program. These are companies in the partnership - a voluntary program that supports the procurement of green power - who are using the most renewable electricity to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Whole Foods, third on the list, used 817.7 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (solar and wind) on an annualized contract basis, covering 100% of its total electricity use. Wal-Mart, 12th on the list, used 263.5 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (biogas, solar and wind), encompassing 8% of its electricity usage. Safeway, 42nd on the list, employed 97.4 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (solar and wind), covering 3% of its electricity use. Among the top 20 retail users of green energy were Whole Foods (2nd), Wal-Mart (5th), Safeway (8th), H.E. Butt Grocery (10th) and Giant Eagle (13th). H-E-B uses 63 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (biogas and wind), which covers 5% of its electricity use; Giant Eagle uses 20 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (wind), which accounts for 3% of its energy use. "Purchasing green power is yet another way that retailers continue to reduce their carbon footprint while building robust businesses for the future." said Adam Siegel, RILA's vice president of sustainability and retail operations, in a statement. Source: supermarketnews.com "BOYCOTT THE BAGGIE" ENCOURAGES CONSUMERS TO TAKE THE PLEDGE AND GO GREEN February 8, 2011 Each year, it is estimated that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. That comes out to over one million per minute! It is also estimated that one plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. That means that if King John of England was snacking on a baggie full of jelly beans at the signing of the Magna Carta, that same little piece of plastic would just now be finishing its decomposition. All it takes to significantly reduce environmental damage is to get a whole lot of people talking and taking one small step! For ideas, consumers can pledge to "Boycott The Baggie" (www.boycottthebaggie.com), for simple, easy-to-follow ways to reduce waste and go green! "Boycott The Baggie" is a campaign that CEO/Founder of OneSmallStep.com, Renata Bodon kicked off after she started collecting trash to show what one school year of lunch trash looks like. She partnered with The Sippy Cups* to create the song "Who Needs the Junk?"; the resulting video challenges viewers to re-consider their choices. Source: enn.com How to Spur Behavior Change to Promote Sustainable Consumers February 7, 2011 By Matthew Wheeland The final morning session of Day 2 of the San Francisco State of Green Business Forum brought together Andrew Williamson, the director of venture capital firm Physic Ventures; Samantha Skey of RecycleBank; and Glyn Roberts, the Director of Disruptive Sustainability at Unilever, to talk about how ways that end-users are the key, as well as the obstacle, to ramping up sustainability. Part of the challenge that both of these groups face is that the only way the world can achieve its needs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and averting the worst of climate change is by changing consumer behavior. And with another billion people expected to be added to the world's population by 2020, the importance -- and urgency -- is all the more obvious. Read more: greenbiz.com
What's Next for the Sustainability Consortium February 4, 2011
By Tilde Herrera SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The idea behind the Sustainability Consortium first surfaced publicly when Walmart announced that it aspired to rate the sustainability of its products. The world's largest retailer made a donation to launch the Consortium, but the organization has evolved to include some 90 government, business and NGO members and partners with the goal of creating the scientific standards with which companies can evaluate the life cycle environmental impacts of consumer products. Since its launch, companies such as Alcoa, Best Buy, Disney, HP, P&G, SAP, Tyson and Waste Management have joined. Now the Consortium is entering a new phase, according to Kevin Dooley, senior advisor to the Sustainability Consortium and a professor of supply chain management at Arizona State University. In a workshop at the 2011 State of Green Business Forum in San Francisco Wednesday, Dooley gave an overview of the program and offered an update on its progress. Read more: greenbiz.com Defra Publishes Anti-Greenwashing Guidelines February 3, 2011 Long-awaited guidance to help businesses better communicate authentic environmental credentials and banish 'greenwash' has today been published by Defra. The new Green Claims Guidance toolkit, which updates previous guidelines released in 2003, provides best practice advice on how to ensure environmental claims are relevant, accurate, and capable of being substantiated. Based on research it commissioned, Defra found that phrases such as 'recycling' and 'energy efficient' were better understood by consumers than more nebulous terms such as 'negative carbon footprint'. The guidelines advise firms to avoid vague green terms and also warns that confusion surrounding various green labelling schemes can be compounded by businesses keen to harness customers' rising environmental awareness to promote their products. Read more: businessgreen.com Global Firms Find Sustainable Supply Chain Savings February 2, 2011 More than half of large businesses and a quarter of suppliers have seen cost savings as a result of carbon management within procurement, according to a report published by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Sustainable supply chain practices are becoming more common, according to the survey (pdf) of 57 multinational CDP members and 1,000 of their suppliers. The percentage of businesses that track and report supply chain emissions more than doubled in 2010, to 45 percent. And carbon management criteria are increasingly a part of supplier selection, up from 11 percent to 17 percent in 2010, the report said. The research was carried out by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. Read more: environmentalleader.com
"There's Lead in Your Lipstick" - New Book Examines Chemicals in Personal Care Products January 28, 2011 As a breast cancer survivor, Gill Deacon takes the issue of toxins in bodycare products to heart. Her book is a friendly, informative and meticulously researched guide to more considered options for personal care, showing how to navigate misleading labels and greenwash, and ultimately arrive at safer choices, for a healthier family and a healthier world. Source: gilldeacon.ca Group Finds Lead in More Reusable Bags January 27, 2011 By MARK HAMSTRA WASHINGTON - A group here that campaigns against what it describes as government infringement on free choice said it has found high lead content in several types of reusable bags offered by food retailers, including Safeway, Bloom, Piggly Wiggly, Giant Eagle, Brookshire Brothers and Stater Bros. The Center for Consumer Freedom, which also campaigns against such things as soda taxes and other anti-obesity efforts, said it undertook the testing after seeing local reports about the lead content in some bags and after several local governments have taken steps to discourage the use of disposable plastic or paper bags through taxes or bans. For this study, the CCF tested reusable bags - primarily those made from non-woven polypropylene - from 44 retailers, and found that 16 of those retailers carry bags that had lead levels of 100 parts per million or more, either in the bags themselves or, in many cases, in the plastic inserts used to provide stability in the bottom of the bags. The 100 ppm threshold was used because it is a maximum allowed by several states for lead content in consumer packaging, Wilson said. Other retailers whose bags tested positive include Walgreens, CVS - which recalled some of its bags in November - and Staples. Previous studies found high lead content in the reusable bags of other food retailers, including Wegmans, Publix, Winn-Dixie and King Kullen. Read more: supermarketnews.com More big names sign up to environmental pledges January 26, 2011 By Emily Smoucha Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Barratt are some of the latest signatories to UK voluntary environmental pledges to reduce packaging and waste. The not-for-profit company Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is in charge of the responsibility deals involving grocery retailers and construction companies. It announced today that three new grocery companies had signed the Courthauld Commitment to cut package and increase rates of recycling and use of recycled materials. In the construction sector, Barratt Developments and Hanson UK have agreed to the Halving Waste to Landfill responsibility deal. "One of the biggest challenges society faces over the next decade is reducing the environmental impact of the things we buy and build," said Liz Goodwin, ceo of WRAP. "These responsibility deals bring about changes which deliver both commercial and environment benefits." Courthauld Commitment In the retail sector, British Foods, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Proctor & Gamble join nine other companies that have signed up to the Courtauld Commitment 2 since July 2010. This brings the total number of signatures to 48. The Commitment's goals are for grocery stores to lessen their carbon impact by decreasing packaging by 10 per cent, increasing rates of recycling, increasing the use of recycled materials in grocery packaging, reducing household food and drink waste by four per cent and a five per cent reduction in grocery product and packaging waste in the supply chain. Source: Green Wise Business
U.S. Launches Official Label for Bio-based Products January 25, 2011 By Jonathan Bardelline WASHINGTON, DC - Products made with renewable materials in the U.S. now have a label they can carry to show their bio-based content. A new program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture allows companies to certify how much bio-based content their products and packaging have, and show that on a special label. The voluntary labeling program is an extension of the department's BioPreferred program, which previously focused just on highlighting bio-based products for preferential government purchasing. The BioPreferred program has so far identified 5,100 bio-based products for preferential purchasing, and the addition of the label program is expected to make it easier for federal buyers to seek out bio-based goods. Products can carry the label if they contain a minimum of 25 percent content that falls under the wide swath of renewable plant, forestry, animal and marine materials. Read more: greenbiz.com Detroit Grocers Cut Energy Costs January 24, 2011 DETROIT - DTE Energy, a gas and electric utility, received an Efficiency Innovation Award from the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) for introducing energy-efficient solutions to independent food retailers here. DTE Energy's program to help these grocers reduce their energy costs and keep produce fresher dovetailed with the city's efforts to make more fresh foods available to its local residents. "DTE Energy's independent grocers program was truly groundbreaking," said MEEA Acting Executive Director Jay Wrobel, in a statement. "It not only helped small businesses save money and cut energy use, but also helped to improve everyday life for Detroit residents." As a market segment, Detroit's independent grocers represented a high potential for energy savings. Their extended hours of operation, combined with energy-intensive equipment such as coolers and walk-in freezers, have traditionally resulted in high energy bills. Also, compared to big box competitors such as Walmart, independent grocers tend to have older, far less efficient equipment. However, despite their potential for energy savings, Detroit's grocers had proved to be a hard-to-reach segment in previous energy efficiency initiatives. DTE Energy discovered that not a single independent grocery store had participated in its "Your Energy Savings" energy efficiency program for commercial and industrial customers. In order to develop a custom, easy-to-use program, DTE Energy performed energy audits on three local independent grocery stores and then used their findings to develop a prescriptive à la carte program for use by all the area's grocers. "We performed a deep dive and came up with some really interesting and useful information we would not have been able to obtain otherwise," said William Clemens, DTE Energy's manager of energy efficiency & business services and the program's chief architect. "As a result, we were able to develop a completely prescriptive application for program participants. You fill out the application, enter in the equipment you're using, and it immediately provides your potential energy savings." Typical energy savings per store increased by more than 18%, with an average of 107,000 Kilowatt hours saved. Participation levels also reached 25%, exceeding the program's initial goal of 20%. Additionally, the program was able to make local businesses more financially stable by helping them save money on energy costs, and identify ways to keep foods fresher for customers. Source: supermarketnews.com Looking for The Greenest Label January 21, 2011 By Lauren Cox Even conventional grocery stores are full of products that claim to be "green," "carbon neutral," "eco-friendly," or the big one-"natural." But as environmentally friendly labels have proliferated, the meaning of those claims has become increasingly vague. Now some large companies are trying to better define such terms to create something like the environmental equivalent of standard nutritional information. There's no evidence, however, that more environmental information will get consumers to change their buying habits. Walmart, DuPont, and General Electric, among other companies, have joined international consortiums that aim to develop a single metric for measuring carbon dioxide emissions associated with a product. They hope that if there's a single up-front method, it will be easier to distinguish companies that make substantial environmental strides from those with merely a green spin. "If we have a competitor out there making claims, and we're making claims, we really want to make sure that there's a standard," says Robert ter Kuile, senior manager of energy and climate change with PepsiCo International. Read more: technologyreview.com Environmental Trends in Electronics Surveyed by Greenpeace January 20, 2011 This report, the third annual survey from Greenpeace, scores 44 products across seven categories of electronics for their environmental impacts. Across seven categories -- desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, televisions, monitors and smartphones, Greenpeace noted three main trends from this year's report.
Read more: greenbiz.com Environmental Trends in Electronics Surveyed by Greenpeace January 20, 2011 This report, the third annual survey from Greenpeace, scores 44 products across seven categories of electronics for their environmental impacts. Across seven categories -- desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, televisions, monitors and smartphones, Greenpeace noted three main trends from this year's report.
Read more: greenbiz.com Environmental Trends in Electronics Surveyed by Greenpeace January 20, 2011 This report, the third annual survey from Greenpeace, scores 44 products across seven categories of electronics for their environmental impacts. Across seven categories -- desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, televisions, monitors and smartphones, Greenpeace noted three main trends from this year's report.
Read more: greenbiz.com BC Retailers Start Saying Goodbye to Incandescent Bulbs January 19, 2011 By Randy Shore The Green Man The most popular sizes of incandescent light bulbs will disappear from most store shelves in B.C. within the next few weeks and the most common replacement lights cost up to 10 times more to buy. Ikea stopped ordering incandescent bulbs last August. Canadian Tire stores have no more than a two-month supply of 75- and 100-watt bulbs, while the London Drugs warehouse is already empty. "The stores might have up to a three-month supply," said London Drugs administrator Maury McCausland. Then again, maybe not. "We've seen a spike in sales of incandescent bulbs with some of our older customers coming in and stocking up," he said. "But the younger people really want the energy savings." "Compact fluorescent lights [CFLs] and halogen lights have absorbed 60 per cent of the light bulb market in just the past two years," McCausland said. The province ordered retailers to stop restocking the two most popular incandescent bulbs by Jan. 1 as part of the transition to more efficient lighting technologies required by the federal government's new standards. In 2012, all of the common sizes of incandescent bulbs will be banned for sale in Canada, as they are, or will be, in many western nations. For simple light bulb replacement, consumers usually opt for compact fluorescent lights that match the general shape of a common light bulb and screw into the medium base used in most overhead lighting. "We have clearly seen CFL sales trend up over the last two-three years," said Glen Gillis, manager of the Cambie Street Canadian Tire. "Over the last few years, the CFL line of products has grown far beyond the twisty style bulb ... customers are becoming aware of the increasing options in CFL products and we expect sales to continue to be very strong." CFLs use only 25 per cent of the energy that a regular light bulb draws to produce the same amount of light. But prepare yourself for a sticker shock. CFLs cost anywhere from five to 10 times as much as a regular light bulb, ranging from $5 to $12 each. On the upside, they tend to last about eight times as long. Read more: communities.canada.com Retail Locations Adding Electric Car Charging Stations January 17, 2011 By Jeff DeLong, USA TODAY RENO - When Steve Reimer opened his Einstein Bros. bagel shop here in December, he decided to tap into something more than people's taste for a bite of breakfast. Installed outside his restaurant was Reno's first charging station for electric vehicles. The device isn't getting much use yet, but Reimer sees the move as a responsible step toward a greener future. "There weren't any retail charging stations in the Reno market so it was a chance to become a leader," said Reimer, 53. "It just seems like the right thing to do from an environmental standpoint." From the Reno bagel shop to one of the country's largest shopping malls, retail stores around the country are installing EV charging stations. Some charge for the service - the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., has a $3 per hour fee - and others offer it free. One way or the other, retailers agree it's a needed move to serve owners of an emerging fleet of electric cars, bikes and scooters. In Austin, the Whole Foods Market opened two stations last April, said company spokeswoman Rebecca Scofield. Whole Foods also installed charging stations at stores in Connecticut, Denver and near Dallas in 2010, Scofield said. Use of the Austin stations is limited, but "we expect it to go up," Scofield said. "Time will tell, but if the excitement is any indication, we'll definitely see a big explosion in the use of these cars." In Bellingham, Wash., a charging station was opened at The Market at Fairhaven in January 2010, said Sue Cole, spokeswoman for The Markets, a chain of 18 Washington supermarkets. It was the first grocery store in the country to install an EV charging station, Cole said. "People can pull in, plug in and during a shopping trip they can get enough juice to go another 10 miles," Cole said. With the state already installing charging stations along busy Interstate 5, The Markets is considering putting in more at strategically located stores along the interstate, Cole said. Read more: usatoday.com Website Promotes Composting by Grocers January 14, 2011 By SN STAFF YARMOUTH, Maine - A new website, HelpMeCompost.com, is targeting food retailers with free access to a searchable national map of composters and collectors that locates nearby facilities and services. The site also provides grocers and sustainability coordinators access to experts who can teach them how to prepare their waste for recycling and find collection and compost facilities for them. "Groceries and other organic waste generators need to know that they have alternatives to land filling - good, cost effective options," said Melanie Solmos, co-founder of the site. "Operating in a sustainable manner is just good business in 2011. Both consumers and industry are moving past the 'just throw it away' mentality." The website's strategy is to "let the market decide," said Solmos. "When customers (waste generators) discover that they have alternatives, it's a powerful tool for change." U.S. grocery stores generate an average of 3,375 pounds of compostable food and paper waste for each employee every year, contributing to the 32 million tons of food waste generated in the U.S. every year, said the site, adding, "Unfortunately, 98% of it is wasted through disposal into landfills." Source: supermarketnews.com Blog Contribitor Notes That Natural Retailers On the Move January 13, 2011 Bob Vosburgh January 11th, 2011 In this day and age, bigger, "something-for-everyone" stores are not necessarily better. Smaller operators - with their stronger identities, more authentic message and closer connection to their customers - seem to be filling in marketing and geographic gaps as they continue to expand their reach and influence. In other words, 2011 is not even a month old but already it's apparent that this will be the year of the small format. Take a look at Earth Fare, for instance. The Fletcher, N.C., chain of healthy supermarkets is really stretching from its current market area (comprised of six states in the Southeast) to open a store in Ohio. The retailer will take over a space left vacant after CompUSA was re-organized in 2007 in the town of Fairlawn. If that store is a success, let's see if the company begins back-filling the gap between that state and its base. Then, there's Fresh Market, also in North Carolina (Greensboro). The company is just coming off a hugely successful initial public offering in November, when it raised nearly $300 million. Shares were offered at $18 to $20, but closed that day at $32.11 on the Nasdaq exchange. That's a lot of excitement. Other players in the natural space - including Whole Foods Market and United Natural Foods - closed out the year on strong terms, with their own stock trading at or near all-time highs. In fact, Providence, R.I.-based UNFI raised just over $138 million in an offering of 4.4 million shares back in October. Move to the West Coast, and you'll find Sunflower Farmers Market is poised to open its first store in California, just north of Sacramento. Like Earth Fare, Sunflower is entering new territory outside of the six Southwestern states where it currently operates. Indeed, these are heady days for the value-priced natural retailer, since it also just snagged additional rights from Supervalu on using the Sunflower name. Not to be outdone, there are reports that Sprouts Farmers Market is planning to expand in Northern California as well, opening its second store, also in April. Sprouts, headquartered in Phoenix, is on its own growth spurt and said to be making a pitch for Henry's Farmers Market, currently owned by Apollo Global Management/Smart & Final. There are about 50 Henry's stores scattered throughout Southern California. These might be different retailers in various parts of the country, but compared to their conventional competitors, these companies are roaring. They share some common elements - all are wellness-focused, all are regional operations and all are well-capitalized. And one more thing: All of them are growing - fast. Source: Refresh: A Whole Health Blog New Campaign to Highlight the Benefits of Organic Products January 12, 2011
By Stacey Wright The organic industry is launching a high profile three-year campaign that is set to deliver sales growth by increasing consumer demand for organic food in the UK. Match funded by the EU, the aim of the £2m 'Why I Love Organic' campaign is to invite consumers to discover what organic means, by challenging their perceptions and discovering their own reason for loving it. Launching in January 2011 under the banner 'There are lots of reasons to love organic - discover yours', the campaign consists of press advertising, PR and digital marketing and aims to democratise organic by using everyday people to talk about their reasons for buying and loving organic. Chairman of the Organic Trade Board, Huw Bowles said: "We know that people want to eat natural and great tasting food which is exactly what organic is. Research has shown that when it comes to buying food, issues such as naturalness and restricted use of pesticides are important to consumers however they don't always realise that this is exactly what they would get if they were to buy organic. A new website (www.whyiloveorganic.co.uk) has also been created that will showcase the benefits of organic food, feature up to date news and recipe suggestions. Read more: talkingretail.com National Retail Federation Convention: Sustainability Still Searching for the Why January 11, 2011 By Tom Ryan With the eco-movement at retail steadily building for years, it's surprising that nearly all of the Sustainability Sessions at Sunday's NRF convention touched on the motivations for going green. The unasked question: If the majority of consumers still aren't 'demanding' it, what's driving the movement? Speaking at one session, Kevin Hagen, director of social responsibility at REI, the outdoors chain, listed reasons why retailers and brands must have proactive plans for product stewardship. One is activists -- he showed a sign outside a Disney store exclaiming, "Stop Selling Toxic Pajamas to Kids." Second, government agencies are holding firms accountable to know what's in their products and where they come from. Third, consumers are asking for more detailed social and environmental information behind products. Finally, it's comprehensive programs across retail, particularly Walmart's. But another reason is retail's reputation. As an example, Mr. Hagen encouraged the room to view "Story of Stuff," a 20-minute film attacking America's culture of consumerism by activist Annie Leonard that has been viewed over 1.3 million times on YouTube. Read more: retailwire.com Radio Show Explores Green Marketing January 10, 2011 Terry O'Reilly, host of CBC Radio's "Age of Persuasion" looks at the ever-changing world of Green Marketing. He looks back at how the green movement started, how it's evolved, how marketers navigate the shoals of green marketing today - and what it all means to everyday consumers. One thing for sure... it's not easy being green. Listen on-line at: http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion Sustainable Fisheries Certification Scrutinized January 6, 2011 By Lewis Smith Certification granted to controversial fisheries has prompted severe criticism of the sustainable fisheries organization. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) manages the labelling system that tells consumers which species of fish they can buy safe in the knowledge they aren't destroying stocks. It recently celebrated the 100th award of its eco-label - to the Barents Sea cod fishery - but a series of decisions allowing controversial fisheries to be granted the prized MSC label has prompted severe criticism of the organisation. Among the most controversial rulings is the award of an MSC label to the Ross Sea Antarctic toothfish fishery which is still regarded by scientists and the industry as an exploratory fishery. The species is so little understood that researchers still do not know even basics such as where the fish spawns. James Simpson, of the MSC, insisted all assessments were "scientifically robust" and said they are designed to ensure the "biological and ecological" components of each fishery are not compromised. Moreover, it introduces better levels of protection to stock levels than might otherwise be found in fisheries. He recognised, however, that "for some of our critics, the MSC test of sustainability is not high enough." Read more: businessgreen.com Green Consumers Grow Wary of 'Natural' Labels January 5, 2011 By GreenBiz Staff COLLINGSWOOD, NJ - Eco-conscious grocery shoppers say they remain committed to their green purchasing habits, but they've grown wary of "natural" labels and say there should be standards for products bearing that description. The findings are among the results of a poll conducted by Mambo Sprouts Marketing to gauge the buying habits and the outlook of 1,000 consumers of organic and natural products. Mambo Sprouts is releasing its results in a study that will be available for purchase in January. According to Mambo Sprouts:
Read more: greenbiz.com Italy Bans Plastic Shopping Bags January 4, 2011 By Thomas Miner The government of Italy has become the first in the European Union to outlaw the use of plastic bags by all retailers, signaling a large shift in a country which uses over 20 billion bags per year (400 per person) – an amount equal to 25% of the total produced and used in the entire EU. The Italian environmental organization Legambiente estimates that the ban will save 180,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year and help save many of the 100,000 marine mammals that the UN Environmental Program estimates are killed every year by improper disposal of the bags.
Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com Ethical Consumer Spending Grows by 18% in the UK January 3, 2011 By Rebecca Smithers, the Guardian Consumer spending on "green" goods from Fairtrade food to eco-friendly travel grew by almost a fifth over two years despite the economic downturn, figures revealed yesterday. The ethical market in the UK was worth £43.2bn in 2009 compared with £36.5bn two years earlier - an increase of 18 per cent - according to the Co-operative Bank's annual Ethical Consumerism Report. The annual report has been compiled since 1999 and analyses sales data for sectors including food, household goods, travel and ethical finance. Some sectors enjoyed huge growth, including Fairtrade goods, which pay a premium to farmers and producers in poor countries to help them work their way out of poverty, while sales of organic food dwindled . Fairtrade food grew by 64 per cent to reach sales of £749m, while sales of the RSPCA-backed Freedom Food products tripled in two years to reach £122m. But sales of organic food slumped by 14 per cent to £1.7bn as cash-strapped shoppers opted for cheaper options. Ethical personal products, including clothing and cosmetics, was the fastest growing sector, increasing by 29 per cent to reach £1.8bn. The market for green home products such as energy-efficient appliances grew by eight per cent in two years to reach £7.1bn. Tim Franklin, chief operating officer of Co-operative Financial Services, said: "This annual report clearly shows that the growth in ethical consumerism continues to outstrip the market as a whole. I have no doubt that this will come as a surprise to those commentators who thought ethical considerations would be the first casualty of an economic downturn. "However, whilst the rapid growth in areas such as Fairtrade and ethical finance, which we have witnessed in previous years, continues, other areas such as micro-generation and renewable electricity have unfortunately failed to make significant progress. We welcome the introduction of feed-in tariffs for household renewable generation and would hope to see the impact of these come through in future years' reports." Source: businessgreen.com UK Supermarkets Rated on "Green" Scale December 21, 2010 By Rebecca Smithers, The Guardian The Co-op and Marks & Spencer are today named as the UK's "greenest" supermarkets in a new survey which rates retailers' progress in areas such as sustainable and ethical sourcing. Tesco, Asda and Netto were identified as the three worst performing companies. As households stock up for the festive season, Ethical Consumer magazine urges shoppers to cut the environmental cost of Christmas by shopping from retailers with a proven track record of pursuing "green policies". The environmental and ethical performance of 19 of the country's leading supermarkets and convenience stores were scrutinised in the survey, included detailed analysis of the companies' corporate social responsibility reports. Read more: businessgreen.com A Sneak Peek at the New Rules for Supply Chain Footprinting December 20, 2010 By Ryan Schuchard, BSR The art and science of carbon footprinting is about to take a step forward: The long-awaited launch of guidance for managing network and product lifecycle impacts is just around the corner. If that's news to you -- and you have anything to do with managing a business with a significant supply chain -- here's your chance to get up to speed. First, a little background. Carbon footprinting took off in 2001, when the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) established the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. This standard outlined a practical way to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced from materials and energy use in business operations. It did this by offering an accounting framework with three GHG emissions "scopes:" Scope 1 is a sum of emissions from fuel, refrigerants, industrial gases, and other materials combusted or used at sites the company owns or controls; Scope 2 adds up emissions linked to electricity used by those facilities; and Scope 3 encompasses all other emissions in the business value chain. Measurement of the "internal," or "operational," emissions of scopes 1 and 2 has always been straightforward, and thus those standards have been rapidly adopted. Today, a significant majority of the Global 500 companies report on operational emissions. Scope 3, however, has incited many debates over interpretation. Originally referring to emissions from supply chains, including products, waste, distribution, and travel, Scope 3 outlined a much larger and more complex set of issues than those that characterize emissions from internal operations. While Scope 3 has always been recognized as important, and indeed reporting has been growing, companies have been clamoring for more detailed guidance. Many companies have focused on addressing more easily measured Scope 3 activities, such as business travel and employee commuting. Also, business networks, such as the Clean Cargo Working Group and the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition, have begun developing shared approaches for issues very focused on their industries. But there has not been a common language for measuring Scope 3 impacts in detail across industries. That's about to change. By summer 2011, WRI and WBCSD will finalize the Scope 3 standard and the related Product standard. This will be the result of a three-year project involving more than 1,500 diverse stakeholders from governments, research institutions, businesses, and civil society, all contributing to various discussions and drafts. BSR and many of its member companies have been represented in a technical working group. Read more: greenbiz.com
Scorecards Rate Retailers on Green Scale December 17, 2010 Sometimes buying Christmas gifts is headache enough, let alone thinking about the carbon footprint of the retailers themselves. Fortunately, there are several consumer guides that rank companies on their environmental efforts, and one offered an updated list Tuesday of big box retailers. Many of these large retailers showed substantial improvement from earlier lists, but Ikea was the only one to receive a perfect score, reports California-based Greenopia, which rates companies on sustainability practices. "We encourage consumers to do their holiday shopping at retailers that are making a strong effort to be environmentally-conscious," said Greenopia's founder Gay Browne in a statement."Many consumers don't realize that there can be huge environmental differences between the various big box retailers." The ratings, based largely on data from the companies themselves, look at their use of renewable energy, transportation, materials, consumer take-back programs and green-building initiatives. Another guide, by the non-profit group Climate Counts, rates toy companies based on how their business practices affect climate change. The group was launched with support from Stonyfield Farm, Inc. In Newsweek's Green Rankings 2010, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM are the greenest U.S. companies, and IBM is the top one globally. Tech companies accounted for eight of the top 10 greenest U.S. companies because they make products with a relatively small environmental footprint and are devising ways to save energy and reduce waste, Newsweek says. Read more: usatoday.com
Sustainability Goals are "Dreams with a Deadline" December 16, 2010 Jonathan Wootliff Sustainability reporting has mushroomed within the past several years, gaining acceptance throughout the world and serving as a means for companies to build public trust. While only issued just a few years ago, the publication of a regular account of a company's sustainability performance has become common practice. News from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) - architects of the world's most widely used sustainability reporting framework - of plans to begin work on a new version of the guidelines for release by the end of 2010 will inevitably provoke further discussion about the direction of sustainability reporting. Right now, I am finding that much of the debate centers around sustainability goals, with many reports reflecting increased ambition with the inclusion of robust objectives. There is no doubt that one of the most important advances in sustainability reporting has been the growing preparedness of corporations to publicly state what they aim to achieve. I was recently impressed by hearing goals described by the phrase "dreams with a deadline." Goals provide observable and measurable results that need to be achieved within a timeframe. There tends to be a relatively 'yes' or 'no' answer to the question, "has the goal been achieved?" Given that this field is about continuous improvement, with companies striving to do better by deploying the right practices without any absolute end point, sustainability goals should arguably be seen more as intentions with targets, as opposed to boxes that need to be ticked. The best sustainability reports deliver significant internal management benefits. They provide a valuable tool for corporate leadership to negotiate realistic ambitions with its managers to secure enhancements across all areas of the operation. Goals are a central part of business management. They provide a compass to managers who need clear, benchmarkable targets that can steer them in an agreed direction. A corporate sustainability strategy without goals would be like a ship without a rudder. There clearly has to be a shared vision within any company as to where it intends to go. This increased focus on publishing specific objectives is surely good news for the credibility of sustainability reporting. To read Jonathan's "10 Golden Rules" for setting sustainability goals, go to environmentalleader.com
CEOs Can Embed a Culture of Sustainability Beyond their Departure December 15, 2010 By Matthew Wheeland LONDON, ON - At times it seems like nearly every company is engaged in sustainability initiatives large and small, long-term and short, a promising sign for the global environment. But what will happen when today's leaders are just tomorrow's legends? A new report from the Network for Business Sustainability looks at the ways that executives can ensure their companies remain innovative long after they depart. The report, "Embedding Sustainability in Organizational Culture," looks at over 13,000 academic and industry publications to create what the NBS calls a Systematic Review of existing best practices and research, synthesized into a tool that even the busiest business leaders can use. "This research takes a large and sometimes confusing body of information and synthesizes it into a holistic -- yet practical -- framework for building sustainability into a business," Karen Clarke-Whistler, Chief Environment Officer for TD Bank Group and a member of the Network's Leadership Council, said in a statement around the report's release. The report, authored by Dr. Stephanie Bertels on the faculty of the business school at Simon Fraser University, groups the practices that can embed sustainability into an organization into four categories: Fostering commitment; clarifying expectations; building momentum for change; and instilling capacity for change. Read more: greenbiz.com Global Organic Food & Drink Sales Approach $60 Billion December 14, 2010 The global market for organic food & drink is recovering from the economic slowdown, with revenues projected to approach $60 billion this year. Although growth has slowed from previous years, revenues have expanded over three-fold from $18 billion in 2000. In its new Global Organic Food & Drink Market report, Organic Monitor finds that global sales increased by just 4.7 percent in 2009, compared to previous years of double-digit expansion. The European market was the most affected by the financial crisis; major food retailers rationalised their organic product ranges as consumer purchasing power declined. The UK organic products market contracted last year, whilst the German market stagnated. In contrast, the market in some countries – including Sweden and France – showed resilience, reporting growth rates in excess of 15 percent. The North American market for organic food & drink continues to show healthy growth. It has overtaken the European market this year to become the largest in the world. Although the US has shown a large rise in organic farmland, organic food supply continues to fall short of demand; organic products are imported from various regions. Latin America has become a major source of organic fruits, vegetables, meats, seeds, nuts and ingredients. The market for organic products in other regions is also showing healthy growth, especially in Asia and Latin America. Growing consumer awareness of organic agriculture and increasing distribution are the major drivers of market growth in these regions. Organic foods are becoming widely available in large food retailers, with some launching private labels. Organic Monitor projects global organic food & drink sales to expand at higher growth rates from 2011 onwards. Consumer expenditure is rising as the world economy comes out of recession. With food inflation looming again, prices of organic products are envisaged to increase. In anticipation, leading organic food companies are locking in supply of organic ingredients; some by investing in ethical sourcing projects in developing countries. The report finds the price premium remains a major barrier to wider adoption rates. High prices of organic products restrict demand to affluent consumers. A major challenge is to overcome the expensive perception of organic products. Even though some organic products have price differential of just 15 percent, the premium perception of organic foods is dampening consumer demand. Future growth projections are given for the organic food industry. Read more: triplepundit.com Food Marketing Institute Offers Sustainability Cheat Sheet December 9, 2010 By MICHAEL GARRY The new Food Marketing Institute document, "Sustainability on the Shelves: A Guide for Category Managers & Buyers," includes a "cheat sheet" intended to help jumpstart a dialogue between the supermarket executives and suppliers on the sustainability component of products. “It’s a challenge getting the attention of category managers,” said Harriet Hentges, vice president, corporate social responsibility, Ahold USA, and chair of FMI’s Sustainability Education and Communication Work Group, during a workshop Wednesday at the FMI/GMA Sustainability Summit here. “They want to [address sustainability] but they’re busy and overloaded.” In addition to the cheat sheet, the guide has more detailed information and hot links to other sources. It is designed to help buyers include sustainability as an element in their evaluation of a product, along with price, availability and service. The guide is free for FMI members and $300 for non-members. “Category managers and buyers are on the front lines of making shelves more sustainable,” said Hentges in a statement. “This guide is a great tool to strengthen their capability to make more informed and confident choices.” Webinars on the guide, focusing on specific categories, will be held as follows: fresh, Jan. 12; beverages, Jan. 26; general merchandise, Feb. 9; and seafood, March 2. All webinars will begin at 1 p.m. EST. Source: supermarketnews.com Green Still Sells: Mintel December 8, 2010
By MICHAEL GARRY ARLINGTON, Va. - Despite the economy, consumers are still willing to buy products that are marketed as environmentally friendly, but only if the price is right. "More consumers say they will buy green only if price, quality and convenience are equivalent to competing products," said Lynn Dornblaser, director, CPG trend insight, Mintel International Group, Chicago. "They are more focused on price than in the past." Dornblaser spoke here Tuesday at the FMI/GMA Sustainability Summit, sponsored by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Dornblaser said 25% of all new products in the U.S. bear some kind of sustainability claim. Source: supermarketnews.com US Federal Trade Commission Tightens Green Marketing Claims December 7, 2010 By JENNA TELESCA WASHINGTON - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing revisions to its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims - or "Green Guides" - that focus on bridging the gap between environmental marketing claims and consumer assumptions. The proposed changes would modify the current guidelines for claims such as environmentally friendly, degradable, compostable, ozone-safe/ozone-friendly, recyclable, and free of certain substances or nontoxic. Shoppers currently place a lot of trust in these terms. The FTC found that consumers tend to believe claims of environmental benefits extend beyond most products' actual environmental benefits. As a result, the agency hopes to tighten its guidelines, so that marketers promoting products claiming to be "green" or "eco-friendly" will have to avoid broad, unqualified statements that mislead consumers. Many of the revisions clarify existing restrictions on green marketing terms or provide narrower environmental definitions based on how most consumers perceive the terms. For example, in its proposal summary, the FTC states that a product claiming to be "compostable" should "break down in approximately the same time as the materials with which it is composted." Previously, the guides did not specify an exact decomposition time. Similarly, the new rules would require items that claim to be degradable to completely decompose within one year. The FTC warns marketers to avoid making degradability claims on "items destined for landfills, incinerators, or recycling facilities because decomposition will not occur in one year." New guidelines drafted for claims dealing with carbon offsets and renewable materials and energy - which hadn't previously been mentioned in the guides - emphasize accountability and transparent practices. One of the new proposed restrictions asks marketers to have scientific evidence for carbon offset claims. Another proposed restriction advises marketers to "qualify claims with specific information" about renewable material, including sourcing information, what material is renewable and why. Source: supermarketnews.com Chinese Ban on Free Plastic Bags Has Cut Consumer Use in Half, Study Says December 6, 2010 Researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden conducted surveys that found that consumers in Beijing and Guiyang used an average of 21 new plastic bags weekly before the bag-fee ordinance was passed in June, 2008, and rarely used the same bag twice. But after the law was imposed, consumption dropped 49 percent and nearly half of the bags were re-used. While that represents a significant reduction, researchers say there is much room for improvement, especially when it comes to enforcement. Months after the law was enacted, the researchers say, nearly 60 percent of all plastic bags were still given away free. "What's most important is to make sure that the ordinance is complied with," said Haoran He, the lead researcher. Similar ordinances have achieved major success elsewhere, including Ireland, where the average consumer now uses only 20 plastic bags each year compared to 330 bags annually when the bags were free. Source: e360.yale.edu Consumer Goods Forum Declares Green Pledges December 3, 2010 PARIS — The Consumer Goods Forum here Monday announced two climate change initiatives, one aimed at ending deforestation, and the other focused on phasing out the use of refrigerant gases with high global-warming potential. The forum, which comprises 400 CPG global manufacturers and retailers, pledged to mobilize its collective resources to help achieve, by 2020, zero net deforestation, which currently accounts for 17% of greenhouse gases. The consumer goods industry, through its growing use of soya, palm oil, beef, paper and board, creates many of the economic incentives that drive deforestation, it said. “We believe that our industry has a responsibility to purchase these commodities in a way which encourages producers not to expand into forested areas,” said Terry Leahy, chief executive officer of Tesco, and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, in a statement. “Our task is to develop specific action plans for the different challenges of sourcing commodities like soya, palm oil, beef, paper and board sustainably.” On refrigeration, the organization agreed to begin phasing out hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants as of 2015 and replace them with non-HFC refrigerants. HFC emissions are projected to represent between 9% and 19% of projected greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. “This is the first time that the entire sector has aligned around the importance of taking action to accelerate the move to climate-friendly refrigeration,” said Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola and Lars Olofsson, CEO of Carrefour, in a statement. “The technologies exist today for our sector to significantly reduce the direct and indirect emissions of the refrigeration equipment we use.” Kent and Olofsson are co-chairs of the board of the Consumer Goods Forum. The team of forum-member companies charged with delivering the deforestation and refrigeration pledges is co-chaired by Tesco and Unilever and also includes Ahold, Barilla, Carrefour, Coca-Cola, Delhaize, General Mills, Henkel, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, Kraft, Kroger, L’Oreal, Metro, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, S.C. Johnson, Sobeys and Wal-Mart Stores. Source: supermarketnews.com Eco-Friendly Choices: On a Roll November 30, 2010 By JEFF WELLS SALES OF PAPER PRODUCTS MAY HAVE matured, but that doesn't mean retailers and manufacturers are happy staying the course. On the contrary, they're pushing natural lines harder than ever and coming up with clever innovations to liven up the category. According to market research firm Mintel, Chicago, paper product sales grew by 9.1% between 2005 and this year. Since 2008, however, market growth has slowed considerably - to 1.3%. That's encouraged companies to shift their focus, and naturally, many of them have turned to eco-friendly lines of napkins, toilet paper, paper towels and tissues. "There are a couple of categories that are top-of-mind when it comes to sustainability, and paper products is one of those," said Laurie Demeritt, president of the Hartman Group, a whole health consulting firm based in Bellevue, Wash. This summer, Wal-Mart Stores began stocking Seventh Generation products in more than 1,500 of its stores - a move viewed throughout the industry as a sweeping acknowledgement of the popularity of environmentally positioned brands. Started 20 years ago, Seventh Generation has grown from a cottage industry into a multimillion-dollar company that offers a wide range of paper and household cleaning products. In addition to expanding it distribution, Seventh Generation will also leverage its "green" marketing expertise by partnering with Wal-Mart on sustainability promotions and research. Paper products were pioneers of the sustainable product movement, Demeritt noted, and so have built up wide distribution throughout the industry. Nowadays, most traditional supermarkets carry 100% recycled, dye-free toilet paper right next to the standard ultra-soft double rolls. Read more: supermarketnews.com Retailers Lead on Country of Origin Labelling November 29, 2010 New guiding principles on country of origin labelling, announced today formalise measures that Britain's grocers have already agreed - to provide consumers with clear, accurate information on the origin of their food. The guidance, titled "Principles on Country of Origin Information", has been developed by retailers' organisation, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), in association with representatives of food manufacturers, commercial caterers and the hospitality trade. Based on the labelling practices of the best performers in the food chain, it aims to bring others into line to ensure a higher quality and consistency of origin - information everywhere that consumers buy food. The Principles apply to meat, processed meat products (sausages, bacon, ham etc.) and milk, fresh cream, cheese and butter. They ensure that the term "British" can only be used for meat from animals born and reared in the UK, and dairy products made from milk produced here. Many British grocers already use this approach to origin labelling, with the overwhelming majority committed to going one step further, providing country of origin information on the meat in all "composite" products - such as soups and ready meals. Source: British Retail Consortium (BRC) Read more: talkingretail.com The Future of Green Retail: Clean Energy Now Available in Aisle 4 November 26, 2010 By Lynn Jurich, President & Co-founder, SunRun Now that top retailers like Wal-Mart and Starbucks embrace green practices, "green retail" is more than just a Google trending topic. In September, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) held its annual environmental sustainability conference in San Diego, where executives shared best practices in establishing environmental programs and integrating green practices into their companies. But as companies continue to go green, they must also think about how they can make green services more available to their customers. Green retail has indeed come a long way. Back in 2005, when Wal-Mart announced its new environmental standards, critics were skeptical. Was Wal-Mart going green or just greenwashing? While the company surely realized going green meant some positive press, the environmental benefit of many of their new initiatives was legitimate. A Fast Company article in January 2010 covered 11 ways Wal-Mart was changing retail, including deploying more fuel-efficient trucks and implementing innovative recycling policies, such as sandwich bales. A closer look at Wal-Mart practices also reveals a focus on internal sustainability, i.e. how the companies themselves act sustainably. This is more or less what "green retail" has signified until now: which company has the most fuel efficient fleets or solar panels on its stores? However, green retail is in the midst of a radical shift, redefining how retailers participate in the green economy. Retailers can now pursue internal sustainability initiatives AND bring green practices and services to the consumer. Clean energy is now for sale in aisle 4. For example, retailers can offer clean power services in stores to change the way green energy is delivered. Solar power, traditionally complicated and expensive for homeowners, can be accessible, easy, and even mainstream in popular stores. In fact, solar power service is now available through select Home Depot stores in Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. With this service, homeowners can switch to solar power for little or no cost, and simply pay monthly for the solar electricity. This can save customers up to 15 percent on their utility bills. One of the major barriers to mainstream solar is lack of awareness. Green retail no longer means only adopting environmental practices within the company. Now it's about helping others adopt environmental practices to grow the green movement, not to mention saving consumers money. Read more: environmentalleader.com Cambridge University Finds Keeping Door Open Doubles Energy Use November 25, 2010 By Will Nichols So it seems Larry Grayson was an environmental visionary all along. New research has today confirmed that shops that shut their doors while the heating is on could save up to 10 tonnes of CO2 and cut their energy bills in half. The study, commissioned by campaigners Close The Door and carried out by engineers at Cambridge University during last winter, found that the average shop that leaves its door open emits 91kg of CO2 each week - the equivalent of a return coach trip from London to Glasgow - despite installing so-called 'air curtains' over doorways. Some retailers had argued that they did not need to keep doors shut as 'air curtain' devices served a similar purpose, locking warm air in the building. But the researchers argued air curtains were having little impact on energy use and carbon emissions as a typical device uses 24kWh per day, making them one of the biggest users of energy in store.. Read more: businessgreen.com Sustainability: The Start line November 24, 2010 By Joanna Perry Retailers taking part in a sustainability summit say there are many areas where they should work together rather than compete. Joanna Perry reports Marks and Spence'rs Plan A director Richard Gillies admitting that its eco kettle was "bug-ugly" was the unfortunate aside that made the news following the IBM Summit at Start. But the more serious point that retailers including M&S and Waitrose were trying to make at the event was that they must collaborate to create sustainable retail business models for the future. The nine-day summit brought together business leaders, the public sector and academics to discuss the economic, societal and environmental impacts of sustainability. Designed to be more than another feel-good talking shop, the objective of the summit was to start conversations that would lead to action. Start, the initiative set up by HRH The Prince of Wales, is designed to promote and celebrate sustainable living. Founding partners for Start include Asda, B&Q, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and IBM, and they all came together with the Prince at the event in September. Read more: retail-week.com (You will need to register.) Analyst Advises to Plan 'Sustainability Communications, Not Green Marketing November 23, 2010 Jim Nail Principal Analyst, Verdantix I hear from lots of companies that they don't do much to promote their sustainability initiatives, citing either fear of being accused of greenwashing or the fact that they are doing it for the "right" reason, not for the publicity. PR firm Cohn & Wolfe has a great name for this: "green muting." This fear and shyness is becoming costly to companies. Increasingly, sustainability ratings from organizations like Newsweek, Climate Counts.org, and Greenpeace establish a company's sustainability credentials, perhaps accurately, perhaps not. As a career marketing guy, the idea of someone else defining a key characteristic of my brand's identity or corporate reputation makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The fact that companies are conflicted about publicly discussing their sustainability programs is a sign that the usual tools - corporate philanthropy, social responsibility or sustainability reports, cause marketing and green marketing - have proven themselves inadequate. So as companies lay the groundwork for their 2011 sustainability strategy, they need to embrace a new discipline I call "sustainability communications." What's the difference? First: Don't market. Communicate. Read More: environmentalleader.com Industry Responds to Desire of Shoppers to Cut Waste November 22, 2010 IGD consumer research shows 29% of shoppers think reducing waste should be one of the main sustainability priorities for the industry. The findings come as 33 leading food and grocery companies have announced they are voluntarily committing to prevent 75,000 tonnes of waste being created by the end of 2012. All signatories are IGD members and leading retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and foodservice operators. They have signed up to the target to totally remove this volume of waste from their supply chains. The industry has made great strides in recovering waste, rather than disposing of it. To drive this progress even further the companies have pledged to meet an extra target. They have challenged themselves to divert a further 150,000 tonnes of waste from disposal, mainly from landfill and sewerage, to more productive outputs such as anaerobic digestion. Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive, IGD, said,"Food and grocery businesses are striving continually to reduce waste from their operations. This has resulted in the majority of the product and packaging waste from their supply chain being recycled or recovered, rather than disposed of. "The industry is now strengthening further its emphasis on supply chain waste prevention. This includes not producing the waste in the first place or redistributing it to alternative markets and charities, such as Fareshare. "IGD is providing support to our members to help meet these targets by bringing the industry together and sharing case studies and spreading best practice." Simon Bailey, customer service director, Unilever UK & Ireland, said: "The companies who have promised to meet these targets are fully committed to reducing the amount of waste we produce as an industry. Our working group has been galvanising support from all parts of these businesses to ensure preventing and managing waste becomes second nature." Gavin Chappell, supply chain director, Asda, said: "Consumers these days hate waste of any kind, therefore as retailers, manufacturers, foodservice operators and wholesalers we all have a role to play in ensuring the supply chain is as efficient as possible. "Our end goal should be to eradicate waste and ensure everything that leaves the factory door gets to its final destination in the same mint condition as when it left." Both waste pledges were announced at the IGD Supply Chain Summit Thursday 18 November. A new IGD Supply chain waste prevention guide is also being launched at the summit. This is an online guide providing practical hints, tips and case studies. It will help companies prevent and better manage their waste, and so meet the targets. Source: theretailbulletin.com Los Angeles County Moves Toward Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags November 19, 2010 By Danny Bradbury Los Angeles County could become the highest-profile region to date to ban the use of plastic bags, after an initial ordinance restricting the use of single-use plastic bags was passed this week. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed the ordinance with a 3-1 vote, after receiving an Environmental Impact Assessment report on the potential ban. The law would prohibit the provision of single-use bags by supermarkets, and also impose a 10 cent fee on the sale of recyclable paper bags. The ordinance still has to be drafted in its final form but, if passed, the ban could be implemented in some stores as early as 1 July next year, with the remainder covered from the beginning of January 2012. Only the non-incorporated parts of the county are covered, meaning that larger cities, including Los Angeles itself, will not be subject to the ban. However, the legislation is still expected to cover around 1.1 million residents. Moreover, in the board meeting the supervisors agreed to try and enrol all the cities in Los Angeles County to adopt policies in keeping with the county's ordinance "to coordinate local action to reduce the regional environmental impact resulting from single-use plastic bags and litter attributable to their use". The ban is the latest move in a trend sweeping across the US, which has seen a number of regional and city governments impose bans on single-use bags. In Santa Cruz, the city is leading the move to ban plastic bags ahead of the county after the Santa Cruz Public Works Commission voted to recommend a single-use ban ordinance that implements the same measures as Los Angeles County's. Santa Cruz County is also mulling such a measure, but has not yet voted. Source: businessgreen.com Ban on Lead in Reusable Shopping Bags Proposed November 18, 2010 By GreenBiz Staff WASHINGTON, DC - Tests of reusable grocery bags in Florida found that some plastic bags contain more lead than will be allowed in kid's toys. Coupled with previous cases of lead found in bags, the federal government is being called on to investigate and ban lead in bags. The Tampa Tribune commissioned tests of bags from the Winn-Dixie and Publix grocery chains, finding both companies' bags had more than 100 parts per million (ppm) of lead, the federal limit for the chemical in kid's toys starting in August. The amount of lead also exceeds the federal limit for paint on consumer products. The tests, conducted by Thornton Laboratories, found that bags with elaborate illustrations, particularly with yellow and green colors, were more likely to contain lead. A nylon bag from Target, and bags with simple illustrations from Sweetbay, Walmart and Publix, were found to contain little lead. The presence of lead, though, does not present an immediate danger. The lead appears to be in a form that is not easily extracted or leached, [Hugh] Rodrigues [owner of Thornton Laboratories] said. It is not in a form that would rub off on food simply by touching the bag, like wet paint, he said, but over time, bags wear down and paint can flake off and threads can fray, releasing the lead. The matter has put others on the defense, with Envirosax issuing a statement explaining its polyester bags are lead-free and tested down to the 10 ppm level. Read more: greenbiz.com Greener is Better? November 17, 2010 Consumer demand for sustainable food and drink continues to grow, and companies are increasing the supply, as the Mintel Global New Products Database has tracked more than 13,000 new sustainable food and drink products since 2005. While 84 percent of consumers say they regularly buy green or sustainable food and drink, some are unaware of what the claims actually mean. "Packaging claims such as 'recyclable' or 'eco- or environmentally friendly' are fairly well known to consumers, but sustainable product claims such as 'solar/wind energy usage' or 'Fair Trade' have yet to enter the mainstream consumer consciousness," said David Browne, Mintel senior analyst. "They may have heard of the terms, but they'd be hard-pressed to define them." Of those surveyed, 40 percent have never heard of the solar/wind energy usage claim. The 37 percent that have say they've never purchased food or drink bearing the claim. Reduced carbon footprint/emissions is another lesser-known claim, as 32 percent have never heard of it. Thirty-four percent say they've never heard of the Fair Trade claim. According to Mintel research, 45 percent of sustainable food and drink users cite a perceived belief in superior quality as the reason behind their purchases. Meanwhile, 43 percent say they buy sustainable food and drink because they're concerned about environmental/human welfare and 42 percent say they're concerned with food safety. Mintel is a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence, with offices in Chicago, New York, London, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo Read more: progressivegrocer.com Retail-Supplier Sharing Seen in Sustainability Conference November 16, 2010 By MICHAEL GARRY ARLINGTON, Va. - The Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association expect to show next month that sustainability is a topic that lends itself to a combined trade conference that both retailers and manufacturers can mutually leverage. The Sustainability Summit, taking place Dec. 6-9 here at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, is being sponsored by the Trading Partner Alliance, a joint industry affairs-industry relations leadership group that was formed by GMA and FMI in January 2009. The Sustainability Summit was previously sponsored separately by GMA (in 2008) and FMI (in 2009). "We all have a lot to gain by sharing our collective knowledge base on sustainability initiatives," said Bob Braham, director of customer sustainability for General Mills, Minneapolis, who is co-chair of the conference. The other co-chair is Tom McIntyre, director of R&D, energy and environmental for Supervalu, Minneapolis. Braham believes that sustainability in the food industry can be advanced through collaboration between retailers and manufacturers. "We are now at a time where collaboration will be a great way for both manufacturers and retailers to move their mutual objectives forward faster," he said. He cited waste management, including packaging and food disposal, as an area where trading partners can collaborate and share strategies. "For those companies interested in speeding up their own waste management programs, this will be a great conference to hear new ideas and have a discussion on moving forward." Read more: supermarketnews.com Retailers Put to the Eco Delivery Test November 12, 2010 By Charlotte Hardie Last month, a member of the Retail Week team practically staggered out of the office's courier room with an enormous cardboard box. After rummaging through the hundreds of tiny protective cardboard strips that it contained, she eventually fished out her online order from Origins: a 3cm-high bottle of skin lotion. This beauty brand is not alone in the excessive amount of packaging used to deliver online orders. Retail Week decided to put retailers to the test and the results were very mixed. At a time when costs are scrutinised more than ever, packaging is one way to save serious cash. And while retailers often pile the pressure on their suppliers to reduce packaging, this mystery shop shows that many retailers themselves are falling at the last hurdle. Despite this all retailers have made huge efforts to reduce packaging usage in-store. There is still room for improvement, often through simple measures such as better staff training. The CSR agenda is a huge and complex area for retailers, but there are steps that could be taken that would help the environment, please customers and save money. Read more: retail-week.com (subscription may be necessary) Grocery Groups and Others Sue EPA Over Ethanol Decision November 11, 2010 By Alan Bjerga The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the American Petroleum Institute and other groups filed a lawsuit challenging the EPA's decision to allow more corn-based ethanol in gasoline. Lobbying organizations representing companies that include Tyson Foods Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. are part of the lawsuit filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The groups, including the American Meat Institute and the Snack Food Association, said the EPA lacked the authority to make the decision and will result in higher food costs. The EPA's decision "will increase the amount of corn being diverted to our gas tanks and away from meat and poultry production," J. Patrick Boyle, the Meat Institute's chief executive officer, said in an-mailed statement. The AMI includes Tyson, Smithfield Foods Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc. among its members. The EPA last month granted a request from ethanol producers to increase concentrations of the fuel in gasoline to as much as 15 percent from 10 percent for vehicles made for 2007 and later. The agency may make a decision affecting model years 2001 through 2006 later this month, after further testing. Read more: bloomberg.com 7 Tips for Creating a Sustainable Biz Model November 10, 2010 Here are seven ways that businesses can start transitioning toward a sustainable business model, according to Dr. Sally Uren, deputy chief executive, Forum for the Future, in a contributed article for The Guardian. The Forum for the Future recently held its second Business Network event, which looked at sustainable business models in practice. Here are Uren’s seven tips for starting on the path toward sustainability. 1. Try new financing mechanisms. 2. Aim for profitability. 3. Integrate sustainability thinking into the business. 4. Change the value proposition. 5. Start shifting to a more sustainable product portfolio. 6. Create a roadmap. 7. Innovate. In the U.S. alone the sustainable business market will double over the next four years, reaching $60 billion in 2014 up from $28 billion in 2010, according to a new report from analyst firm Verdantix. Read more: environmentalleader.com Sustainability Guide for Supermarkets Unveiled November 9, 2010 ARLINGTON, Va. - The Food Marketing Institute on Monday announced the availability of a new guide to help supermarket category managers and buyers understand sustainability in the retail sector. "Sustainability on the Shelves - A Guide for Category Managers" offers an overview of sustainability and provides a framework to help executives respond to demands for more sustainable products. The guide was developed by the FMI Sustainability Executive Committee, Five Winds International and Ecos Corporation with funding from the U.S. Soybean Board. "Consumer demand for more sustainable products is growing and category managers need to identify their company's priorities in this area and integrate them into the decision-making process," said Jeanne von Zastrow, senior director of industry relations and sustainability at FMI, in a statement. "Sustainability is not an exact science but it is a strategic decision." The guide is designed to help category managers identify sustainability issues in five categories: Grocery - cereal, boxed goods, canned goods. General Merchandise - home cleaning, personal care. Fresh - meat, dairy, produce. Beverage - bottled water, soda, alcohol, non-perishable juice, coffee, tea. Seafood - fresh, frozen. The document will be discussed at a workshop during the FMI/GMA Sustainability Summit Dec. 6-9 here. It is available www.fmi.org as a free download for FMI members, $150 for associate members and $300 for nonmembers. Source: supermarketnews.com
Supply & Demand Chain Executive Announces Its 2010 Green Supply Chain Awards November 8, 2010 Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine, the executive's user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, today announced the recipients of its 2010 Green Supply Chain Awards, recognizing companies that are making sustainability a core part of their supply chain strategies. Read more: sdexec.com Businesses Stay the Course on Sustainability November 5, 2010 More than eight in 10, or 84 percent, of survey respondents are somewhat or very optimistic that global businesses will embrace corporate social responsibility (CSR)/sustainability as part of their core strategies and operations over the next five years, despite an uncertain global economy, according to a poll released by BSR. The report also reveals that 94 percent of the 377 survey respondents, drawn from a majority of BSR’s global network of more than 250 member companies, believe their companies plan to maintain or increase their budgets for CSR/sustainability programs in the year ahead, and nearly 75 percent expect to increase the amount of internal and external CSR/sustainability communications as well. The report, “BSR/GlobeScan State of Sustainable Business Poll 2010” (PDF), also finds that climate change, workers’ rights and human rights are top priorities. Climate change remains an important focus of these efforts, with 63 percent of respondents selecting it more than any other issue as either a “significant” or “very significant” priority, says BSR. Read more: environmentalleader.com Studies Reveal a Quarter to Half of Food Wasted in US November 4, 2010 By TARA PARKER-POPE How much food does your family waste? A lot, if you are typical. By most estimates, a quarter to half of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten — left in fields, spoiled in transport, thrown out at the grocery store, scraped into the garbage or forgotten until it spoils. A study in Tompkins County, N.Y., showed that 40 percent of food waste occurred in the home. Another study, by the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, found that 93 percent of respondents acknowledged buying foods they never used. And worries about food safety prompt many of us to throw away perfectly good food. In a study at Oregon State University, consumers were shown three samples of iceberg lettuce, two of them with varying degrees of light brown on the edges and at the base. Although all three were edible, and the brown edges easily cut away, 40 percent of respondents said they would serve only the pristine lettuce. Wasted food also takes an environmental toll. Food scraps make up about 19 percent of the waste dumped in landfills, where it ends up rotting and producing methane, a greenhouse gas. “It gets frustrating when you forget about something and discover it two weeks later,” Mr. Bloom said. “So many people these days have these massive refrigerators, and there is this sense that we need to keep them well stocked. But there’s no way you can eat all that food before it goes bad.” Then there are chilling and food-storage problems. The ideal refrigerator temperature is 37 degrees Fahrenheit, and the freezer should be zero degrees, says Mark Connelly, deputy technical director for Consumer Reports, which recently conducted extensive testing on a variety of refrigerators. The magazine found that most but not all newer models had good temperature control, although models with digital temperature settings typically were the best. A version of this article appeared in print on Nov. 2, 2010, on page D5 of the New York edition of The Times. Read more: well.blogs.nytimes.com
Welsh Shopping Bag Charge To Be 5p November 2, 2010 By Stacey Wright The Welsh Assembly Government's (WAG) decision to lower the compulsory carrier bag charge from 7p to 5p will help it avoid what would have been an embarrassing environmental blunder, according to The British Retail Consortium (BRC). The BRC has consistently campaigned against compulsory bag charging and remains opposed to its introduction. The WAG is determined to press ahead with charging despite the significant reductions in bag use which retailers have and continue to deliver without it. The BRC has worked with WAG to ensure the charge does not lead to unintended environmental harm. The WAG will introduce compulsory carrier bag charges in October 2011. The 7p charge it initially planned would have made single use carrier bags 2p more expensive than some bags-for-life. The BRC pointed out that, while such a move would increase take-up of bags-for-life, an unintended but inevitable consequence would be a massive increase in the number of customers taking the thicker, heavier bags-for-life but treating them as single-use bags rather than re-using them. This would be bad news for the environment because each bag-for-life contains up to eight times as much material as a single-use carrier bag. The BRC welcomed the WAG's decision to delay the introduction of the compulsory carrier bag charge from April to October 2011. This will give retailers much needed time to implement the scheme. Source: The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Read more: talkingretail.com Retail Outlets Can Now Profit from Customers Needing Electricity Access for e-Bikes and Laptops November 1, 2010 LINCOLNSHIRE, IL and KITCHENER, ON, /PRNewswire/ - Retailers across North America can now offer a revolutionary new service to customers whose cell phones, iPads, computers, e-bikes, e-scooters and other electronic devices need a charge. 2D2C, Inc.'s new SafePlug(R) Model 1200-P3 pay-per-use electrical outlet makes it safe and easy for retailers to provide pay-per-use electrical outlet access to the public. "Customers will be able to purchase a pre-paid card that entitles them to a number of charges. They will simply touch the card to the SafePlug electrical outlet to have access to power for a set period of time to use or recharge their electronic device," said Steven Montgomery, Chief Operating Officer at 2D2C, Inc. "In today's world, recharging electronic devices and vehicles anytime, anywhere is going to be a necessity." Everyone can relate to the frustration of running out of battery charge on computers or handheld devices prior to taking a long flight, or being stuck in a remote location with no means to recharge. Montgomery anticipates high demand for the SafePlug outlets in convenience stores, airports, hotel lobbies, malls and more. The device received eager interest on October 8, 2010 from retail store owners at the NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) trade show in Atlanta. Source: prnewswire.com Plastic Ban Sought by Ontario Member of Parliament October 29, 2010 An Ontario MP will introduce a private member's bill Monday that will seek to ban plastic shopping bags across the country. London-Fanshawe New Democrat Irene Mathyssen said many Canadians have already switched to reusable bags or leftover shipping boxes made from recyclable cardboard. "I can remember a time when there weren't plastic bags and we managed very well," she said, then described a recent trip to Europe where she saw people using portable shopping carts instead of plastic bags. "It works for them, and I think it could work for us too, because we've become addicted to plastic, or our society has, but it hasn't always been there," she said. San Francisco and the Manitoba community of Leaf Rapids trashed the plastic bag three years ago. Parts of India banned the manufacture, sale and use of all plastic bags, saying they choke drainage systems during monsoon season. Toronto has imposed a five-cent charge per bag, and many clothing stores have since cut out the plastic in favour of paper bags. Read more: cbc.ca
E-Waste Recycling Report Card Hands Out Poor-to-Middling Marks October 28, 2010 By Matthew Wheeland SAN FRANCISCO, CA - A new effort to grade computer, television, printer and game console companies on their efforts to take back and recycle their old products finds most firms struggling to succeed -- news that comes to no surprise for anyone following progress on e-waste in the United States. In the rankings, created by the Electronics Takeback Coalition, Dell and Asus score the highest, with B and B- grades, respectively. Samsung also earned a B grade, but was simultaneously dinged with a "dishonorable mention" by the group. According to its report card: Samsung has made tremendous strides with its takeback program over the last two years and has earned a B on this year's report card. However, this report must also include a Dishonorable Mention because of serious concerns about Samsung's occupational health record at manufacturing plants in Korea, where many young workers have been diagnosed with blood cancers and several have already died. Overall, the highest grades were earned by computer companies -- Dell, Asus, and Apple -- while the lowest grades were earned by printer manufacturers. Hewlett-Packard was the company with the highest grade in the Printers category, with a C-, while all the rest of the companies graded in that sector -- Brother, Epson, Lexmark, Kodak and Canon -- all earned Fs. "If you don't offer physical collection sites or events, you are not serious about your takeback program," Barbara Kyle, National Coordinator of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, said in a statement. "With so many cheap consumer printers being practically disposable these days, the printer companies should be doing a lot more to make sure they get their old equipment back. Most of the printer companies simply offer mailback recycling programs, but statistics show that people won't mail back larger products like printers Read more: greenbiz.com Greenwash-Free Products More than Double in Latest 'Sins' Report October 27, 2010 By Tilde Herrera NORTHBROOK, Ill. and OTTAWA, Canada - Greenwashing still plagues the marketplace, with the vast majority of products that claim to be green -- more than 95 percent -- are actually stretching the truth in some way. Yet despite the dismal statistics, there are also signs of optimism: Marketers are getting better at making truthful green claims and the number of products being accurately marketed as green is rising, according to the latest research from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, the firm behind "The Sins of Greenwashing: Home and Family Edition." "For three years in a row, we've found that greenwashing is a problem and a persistent problem, in that there is a lot of it around," said Scott McDougall, TerraChoice president and co-author of the report. "This year we have some good news to report: Consumers are clearly and literally changing the world for the better. They're demanding green products, and again this year we've seen the number of green products on offer go up dramatically." Read more: greenbiz.com Consumers: Sustainability Equals Product Quality October 26, 2010 By Thomas Miner Source: sustainablelifemedia.com Retailers Ranked Among Green Companies October 22, 2010 The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) said Thursday that 56 retailers were listed on the 2010 Newsweek Green Rankings list, which recognizes commitment to sustainability. According to RILA, of the 56 retailers listed, 30 are members of the organization, including Wal-Mart, Nike, J.C. Penney and Sears. The Newsweek survey works with three environmental-research organizations to analyze the 500 biggest publicly traded companies in the United States to compare actual environmental footprints, policies and reputations. Read more: chainstoreage.com The FTC's New Green Guides Protect Consumers October 21, 2010 The FTC's long overdue update of the Green Guides [PDF] will help protect consumers from vague green marketing claims. Among other proposed changes, summarized by the FTC here [PDF], the Guides will bar unqualified claims of "green" and "eco-friendly," further clarify how companies can use "compostable" and "recyclable," and require specifying what attributes of a product an eco-label applies to. ?? There are shortcomings in the proposed revisions. For example, they do not offer guidance on claims involving a product's life cycle or hidden tradeoffs (e.g., a product that saves consumers 50 gallons of water but consumes 5,000 to produce). They also don't address claims relating to Cradle to Cradle design or green chemistry, as Joel Makower points out.?? Perhaps the biggest problem with the guides, however, is that they may merely yield greater compliance. Without a doubt, companies should comply with the new guidance, but merely doing so will not help them differentiate their products -- especially as green claims continue to proliferate. ?? Read more: greenbiz.com
Guidance for Grocers to Save Water October 20, 2010 The guide, dubbed 'Understanding, assessing and managing water in grocery supply chains', aims to help food companies of all sizes assess the impact of their water use and manage it more efficiently. Launching tomorrow (21 October) at the IGD's 'Water in your supply chain' conference at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London, the document offers a range of easy-to-follow solutions for companies in the sector. Read more: thegrocer.co.uk Plugging Leaks October 19, 2010 By MICHAEL GARRY In-store refrigeration leaks have long bedeviled the supermarket industry, leaving environmental and financial damage in their wake, but advances in technology as well as collaborative efforts made in an Environmental Protection Agency program are bringing leak rates down to historic lows. Executives from five of the supermarket retailers participating in the EPA's GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership discussed some of the technologies and strategies they are employing to limit refrigerant leaks at a Refrigeration Roundtable meeting held last month in Baltimore. Hosted by SN and Contracting Business.Com - both published by Penton Media - the meeting also included representatives of five contractors who install and maintain refrigeration systems in retail stores. The supermarket panelists agreed that the GreenChill program, which focuses on reducing refrigerant charge and leaks, as well as on testing advanced refrigeration systems, has helped their companies address the leak issue. "[GreenChill has] done a good job of promoting dialogue among members and they've been a good source of data, specifications and other trade information," said Dinsmore. "I'm real glad that we signed on to it," added Horning. On the other hand, the contractors noted that they have not been eligible to join GreenChill, to the detriment of some of the smaller retailers they service. "Maybe there's an opportunity for us to participate with GreenChill, so we can collectively pass the knowledge on to [retailers]," said Steffen. The roundtable panelists delved into the myriad reasons behind refrigeration leaks, including technical weaknesses, the demands of overnight installations, poorly maintained motor rooms and budgetary restraints. "It's not uncommon for our technicians to walk into motor rooms that resemble dark caves with water and obstacles looming behind every corner," said Steffen. Improvements in technology were seen as bolstering retailers and contractors. Farm Fresh's Perry, for example, has been using a cutting-edge hydrogen leak detector that has enabled the chain to "find some pretty tiny leaks." Other chains such as Giant Eagle have had success with infrared leak detectors. Remote monitoring also helps keep leaks at bay. Sometimes, though, it comes down to basic maintenance, checking and neatness. "You still have to get your eyeballs into that store and look at things," said Perry, who is also a strong advocate of "keeping the motor room clean." The first portion of the roundtable can be read at supernarketnews.com. Future articles in SN will cover later sections of the roundtable. Mazimizing the Benefits of an Eco-Label October 18, 2010 By Joshua Saunders Recently, Thomas Lyon wrote a rebuttal to one of my posts on the proliferation of ecolabels, in which he argues that ecolabel competition and non-NGO labels lead to increased environmental damage. In my original post, I pointed out that competition and the consolidation of ecolabels will lead to less confusion and better certification programs. But Thomas brings up a point that I did not discuss in my original post: The performance of ecolabels and what type of labeling ecosystem maximizes performance. First, it is important to define what I mean by performance. Very simply, I am referring to the total net environmental (or health or social) benefit that occurs as a result of an ecolabel in the market. Thomas points out that NGO labels tend to be more stringent and set a higher bar than industry-led or for-profit labels. However, what I don't agree with, is that this always leads to maximized performance. Let me give a hypothetical example. An ecolabel creates a very difficult standard that really moves the needle for companies if they can meet the requirements. Let's say the net impact reduction is 80 (in whatever units you like) for every label that is achieved. But because the standard is so difficult to achieve and so costly for companies to change their practices to comply with the requirements, over time only five companies are able to be issued the label. This results in a net impact reduction of 400. Then a competing label comes along and they create a standard that is not as stringent, but still has a net impact reduction of 40 for every label that is achieved. However, this standard is a bit easier and cheaper for companies to achieve, so many more companies are inspired to attempt to achieve it. Over time, 20 companies are issued the label for a net impact reduction of 800. As you see, in the end, the total net benefit is greater when a label gains more acceptance, even when the standard isn't as stringent. It's a matter of taking many more small steps instead of taking a few very large steps. I am not advocating to create watered down, easy-to-achieve standards, but it is important to create a balance of something that does lead to reduced impacts and can gain wide acceptance in the market. There are two reasons for this. Source: greenbiz.com UK Retailers Begin to Use Carbon Labelling October 15, 2010 BusinessGreen.com Staff Around £2bn worth of goods sold each year now carry carbon footprint information, according to new figures from the Carbon Trust, but critics have been quick to point out that the majority of retailers have been slow to support the new standard. Today, the Carbon Trust hailed the results of a new survey showing that nine out of 10 households in the UK bought products bearing its Carbon Reduction Label over the past year, surpassing its expectations when the scheme was launched in 2007. It added that the inclusion of business-to-business sales would bring the value of goods bearing the label up to £3 billion. However, the figure is dwarfed by the approximate £200bn UK shoppers spent on food and drink last year. And although figures from the Centre for Retail Research predict the market for labelled products will increase rapidly to £15.2bn by 2015, this would still only equate to around 7.6 per cent of total spend in 2009. However, the Carbon Trust remains upbeat about the prospects for the scheme and urged other retailers to begin calculating the carbon footprint of their products. Source: businessgreen.com Shopping Centre Developments Catching Up With LEED Certifications, Conference Told October 14, 2010 Shopping centers and retail stores seeking LEED certification through the USGBC increased this year over last year, Rudolph Milian, SCMD, SCSM, ICSC senior staff vice president and director of professional development services told attendees at the ICSC RetailGreen conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., yesterday. Moreover, it was the only sector that saw an increase in applications, he said. Milian said that the trend was to be expected as the retail real estate sector had been far behind the curve in regard to seeking LEED status. In 2005, there was a lack of understanding in the shopping centre industry as to what sustainability and the whole green building movement was all about, Milian added. "The green building movement was really progressing everywhere else, on the residential side, in the office sector, but not as much in the retail arena." It's only been over the last five years that shopping center developers and retailers, who are the customers of shopping center companies, have been engaged in "some pretty strong tactics in order achieve sustainability efforts," Milian noted. " Read more: icsc.org Clearing up Misunderstandings About the "Triple Bottom Line" October 12, 2010 By Dave Stauffer The so-called "triple bottom line" has become sufficiently widespread that misconceptions about it must be corrected, and the way we talk about it must reflect a consensus about what it is. These things must happen because current discussions of the triple bottom line may be doing more harm than good. Before I get to how this is happening, a quick review: A company is said to be targeting the triple bottom line (I shorten it to TBL) when it addresses the environmental, social, and financial consequences of its actions. This three-pronged concern is popularly expressed as "people, planet, profit." The TBL is tied very closely to - and for some people is indistinguishable from - sustainable business operations. The greatest flaw in the formulation of the TBL as "people, planet, profit" is its implicit proposition that profit is somehow distinct from people and planet. That isn't just wrong, it's harmfully wrong, because it perpetuates a misconception that is held by business leaders (as one might expect) and also by environmental and social activists and commentators (as one should not expect - but is very real and, in fact, rampant). The misconception is two-fold:
Read more: triplepundit.com Tests Show Grocers Benefit From Doors on Cases October 8, 2010 By MICHAEL GARRY One of the enduring questions in the supermarket industry is whether open refrigerated dairy and other medium-temperature cases should have doors. Retailers save energy by enclosing these cases with doors, but some chains, especially in their operations and merchandising departments, fear that doors would deter impulse sales of refrigerated items. But speakers at the Food Marketing Institute's Energy & Store Development Conference in Minneapolis last month presented evidence that stores would benefit from refrigerated cases with doors. In one session, Bryan Becker, professor, mechanical engineering, and Brian Fricke, assistant professor, mechanical engineering, both with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, presented the results of their study of the door question. The study was funded by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute. They found that while an open display case consumed about 1.3 times more energy than a doored display case, there was no significant difference in sales between the two cases. Doored cases "had no effect" on the sales of both dairy products and beer, said Becker. They also concluded that the doored cases exhibited less product temperature variation within the case or due to store conditions, resulting in increased food safety. Becker and Fricke conducted their study from January to June of last year at two independent grocers, Moon's Hometown Market, Osawatomie, Kan., and Dyer's IGA, Wamego, Kan. At Moon's Market, an old open case selling dairy products was replaced with a new glass-doored case selling the same products; at Dyer's, an old open case selling beer and other alcoholic beverages was replaced with a new open case selling the same products. Moon's Market also replaced an open beer case with a doored beer case. Read more: supermarketnews.com 3 Ways to Improve Your Retail Bottom Line with Sustainability October 4, 2010 By Joshua Saunders Last week the Retail Industry Leaders Association had their annual environmental sustainability conference in San Diego. The conference was excellent and there were some really great sessions from leading brands, retailers and service providers. We heard an update from Walmart and Best Buy on the progress of the Sustainability Consortium, and through presentations and individual conversations with attendees, learned about many of the challenges retailers are facing. Nearly every retailer has begun doing something in terms of improving their sustainability. Generally, they include efforts around their store footprint and the built environment: reduce waste, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, etc ... And while these early efforts should be commended, most activity to date is centered on large visions that will take five or 10 years before a verdict is in on their success. There are many things retailers can do now that will lead to quick wins in terms of reducing their footprint, engaging employees and their organization in sustainability and demonstrating how sustainability can be used to improve financial performance. One major challenge retail sustainability executives face is that they need to get buy-in from other parts of their organization in order to make anything happen. And in an increasingly competitive market, buy-in for sustainability activities will not occur unless you can show results that cut costs or increase revenue. As such, here are three ways to integrate sustainability for retailers that will not only improve environmental performance, but also financial performance. 1. Integrate Sustainability for Your Buyers While a large part of a retailer's footprint is the built environment, arguably an even larger part is the millions of products they sell every day. So what better way to impact sustainability within the retail environment than to focus on the products that are going on store shelves? A key starting point is to identify just a few critical sustainability hotspots within product categories and educate the buyers about these sustainability issues so that they can talk to their vendors about them. However, the key to integrating sustainability into the buying organization is not to solely tout the sustainability impacts this will have, as the results are likely to be largely intangible. Moreover, the buyers are already extremely preoccupied with reducing costs, improving quality, and ensuring availability. The key is to tie sustainability to the goals that buyers already have and to show how incorporating sustainability can actually help them achieve their goals. For instance, strategies such as packaging reductions or developing more concentrated product formulations can help reduce costs and staying on top of consumer risk factors like heavy metals in toys and jewelry, BPA in plastics or melamine in food can help reduce risk of lost category sales. Read more: greenbiz.com Report Addresses Recycled Content in Packaging October 1, 2010 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a project of GreenBlue here, has released a report on the opportunities and challenges for using recycled content in plastic packaging applications. "Guidelines for Increasing Post Consumer Recycled Content in Plastic Packaging" addresses common issues and strategies for increasing recycled content in common beverage, dairy, electronic, household care and laundry, pharmaceutical, personal care product, and snack plastic packaging. The report was intended to facilitate better communication between retailers and brand owners on the one hand - who have seen an increase in consumer demand for packaging using recycled content - and converters who must grapple with technical, regulatory and aesthetic challenges in making packaging with recycled content. Read more: supermarketnews.com Green My Parents - Youth Movement Challenges Marketers to be Authentic September 30, 2010 GreenMyParents, a global movement aimed at empowering youth to play leadership roles in building a sustainable economy, shows us through their latest video manifesto that as brands play an integral role in shaping a sustainable future they will find their greatest champions in today's youth. In the video manifesto titled "You're Welcome!," youth champions invite brands to join in their movement as an integral piece of the sustainability puzzle. They challenge the notion that brand marketing and authenticity are opposed - for them it is not an either/or equation. By aligning their efforts with the passions and causes of youth, brands can create communications that are transparent, authentic, and truly resonate. The video reflects a significant shift in the way not only youth, but all demographics are responding to and consuming advertising and other communications. Brands are realizing that content based communications such as video and editorials that showcase a company's personality and puts their values and causes into the open connects with audiences in a much deeper way. This shift is the basis for a new contest announced by TED yesterday called "Ads worth Spreading," which is searching for searching for truly forward-looking video campaigns. This model is what sets GMP apart - challenging the typical marketing and sponsorship tactics used by many brand marketers, they recognize the relationship between brands and youth and offer a different path to longevity. By supporting the causes that youth care about and working toward a sustainable future, brands can communicate authentically and create a deep, lasting connection. This connection is what Leads to authenticity and alignment, and keeps the brands relevant. As Jordan Howard, 18, editor of GreenMyParents and featured in the video below puts it, "We aren't cool because we wear a particular brand of jeans - that brand of jeans is cool specifically because we wear them!" By connecting global environmental challenges to financial savings through simple personal actions, GMP empowers youth ages 11-17 to change their own, as well as their families, actions to build sustainable economies and communities. The release of GMP's latest video is timely given the announcement of TED's "Ads worth Sharing" contest yesterday. For many reasons, it is certainly an Ad worth sharing. Source: sustainablelifemedia.com Supermarkets Work on Refrigerant Emissions Through GreenChill September 28, 2010 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership has continued to attract major new members from the supermarket industry this year. This spring, Hy-Vee and Buehler's became the latest companies that have vowed to reduce refrigerant leaks, adopt green refrigeration technologies and strategies, and require that all of their new and remodeled stores use environmentally friendly refrigerants. In exchange they've been given access to a growing group of 50 companies that shares ideas and best practices for achieving those results. About 70% of supermarkets in the U.S. currently use direct expansion refrigeration systems to cool display cases and walk-in coolers. The challenge with these traditional units is that they force synthetic HCFC and HFC refrigerants at high pressure through thousands of feet of copper piping throughout a store. HCFC refrigerants are particularly damaging to the atmosphere's ozone layer, and the hundreds of valves and fittings on all that copper piping are one factor that leads to an average emission rate of 15% to 30% for these DX systems, according to EPA estimates. Several systems have helped retailers significantly curb those emissions. Distributed systems, for example, place multiple small compressors closer to the display cases and coolers they service. The result is less piping than a traditional DX system, a smaller refrigerant charge for the smaller systems, and less pressure and fewer leaks as a result. Newer technologies include secondary loop systems. These systems are similar to DX systems in that they employ a rooftop condenser and a single set of compressors - which may use traditional refrigerants - in a supermarket's machine room. The difference is that the machine room compressors are used to cool a second, more environmentally-friendly coolant, that is then circulated throughout the supermarket's refrigeration system in a "secondary loop." There's fewer opportunities for leaks of the more harmful refrigerants, and the secondary fluid can be sent at lower pressure through the secondary loop, making leaks less likely. Read more: supermarketnews.com For Retailers, Tackling Climate Change on Training Agenda September 21, 2010 This week sees the launch of a unique approach to increase awareness of climate change in the retail sector. Vocational qualifications awarding body EDI and Home Retail Group have worked in partnership to develop the first qualification to improve understanding of environmental sustainability in the sector. The nationally-recognised qualification addresses the common environmental challenges faced by retailers, informed by research from Urban Mines, an environmental consultancy and charity specialising in waste management. Retail staff will have the opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge to deal effectively with environmental legislation, manage waste responsibly, conserve water and reduce energy consumption. Nearly a fifth of employers have reported that their organisations lack the specialist skills and knowledge needed to reduce their carbon footprint. Laurence Singer, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Home Retail Group, explains: "Climate change is a mainstream issue for business and as retailers we have an important role in engaging our staff. "Many colleagues are keen to reduce their environmental impact at work and at home. However our discussions with Skillsmart Retail, the Sector Skills Council for Retail confirmed that there was no national environmental training programme which covered the needs of retailers although some of the multinationals had developed their own internal training. We were therefore delighted to fund the development of this accredited training programme which can be adapted to our needs whilst fulfilling a wider sectoral role." Read more: theretailbulletin.com UK Retailers Halve Waste To Landfill September 20, 2010 By Sian Barton A report published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has revealed that retailers in the UK have managed to halve waste sent to landfill from 48% to 23% since 2005. The report, which was carried out to monitor the organisation's Better Retailing Climate initiative, a pledge made by retailers to reduce the environmental impact of their business by 2013, found that retailers had met their target to reduce waste to landfill to below 25% by 2013 two years early. The report looked at the retail sector's efforts to reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfill The report explained that retailers were managing their waste in a number of ways, including: re-using material; finding partners to re-use material; recycling; using energy recovery technology, such as AD, for organic wastes; reducing consumer food and packaging waste; and, providing recycling information. It said that retailers were also trying to help their consumers waste less by providing consumers with information to help them understand 'best before' dates and storage requirements better and offering recipes that help make use of leftovers. The report noted that retailers have also signalled their commitment to reduce their environmental impact by signing up to the Courtauld Commitment (see letsrecycle.com story) with the majority of large grocery retailers in the UK established as signatories. Specific retailers were also singled out for praise in the report. It said Homebase had fitted out 80% of a new store using fixtures and fitting from other stores and John Lewis recycled much of the construction waste from building its new store in Cardiff. The work of Waitrose, for sending waste from its head office to an EfW facility, Next's in-house recycling centre, and Tesco's claim of diverting of 100% of waste from landfill, were also praised. Read more: letsrecycle.com LEED for Retail Webinar Series Begins September 21 September 17, 2010 LEED for Retail has been approved and will soon be added to the suite of available LEED Green Building Rating systems developed by the USGBC. LEED for Retail provides retailers and their real estate, development, design and construction departments with an internationally recognized third-party certified benchmark to verify environmental improvements in the built environment. Despite the varying opinions around the platform, LEED has become one of the most powerful voluntary market transformation tools to emerge in the environmental arena. How will it impact retail? How will it change the way you spec, plan for entitlement and report to stakeholders? Chances are, dramatically. It is imperative for the retail market to make informed decisions on LEED for Retail in the development of green building and construction with the set benchmark for their company. Retailers must understand what LEED for Retail is, how to implement the guidelines, and how the system can work for the benefit of their organization. Together, ICSC, Chain Store Age and Ecoxera have developed this exclusive three-part education series to provide valuable insight on the LEED for Retail rating system. All three webinars feature Ecoxera co-founders Justin Doak, LEED AP and Lisa Russell, LEED AP, GPAP as co-presenters. Go to http://www.ecoxera.com/leed-retail-webinar to register. Study Finds Demand for Sustainable Products September 16, 2010
By Thomas Miner September 16, 2010 - 41% of Americans claim that they have purchased a product within the last 12 months due to the brand's affiliation with a social or environmental cause and 83% of consumers say that they want more products that they use to benefit causes that they personally care about, says a new study issued this week by Cone. The "2010 Cone Cause Evolution Study," which is surveyed yearly and started in 1993, shows that over its 17 year history , consumer appetite for brands associated with causes had more than doubled, from 20% to 41%. The report found that the two demographic groups most likely to demand more cause marketing from their favorite brands are mothers and millennials. A staggering 95% of mothers surveyed find cause marketing acceptable, with 92% wanting brands to support some type of cause (vs. 81% average). This group is also the most likely to switch brands based on the issue, and report to have actually purchased more cause-related products in the past year than any other demographic group surveyed (61%). Millennials are not far behind, with 53% purchasing a cause-related product in the past 12 months. Other overall findings include: 88% say it is acceptable for companies to involve a cause or issue in their marketing 85% have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about 80% are likely to switch brands, similar in price and quality, to one that supports a cause 61% of Americans say they would be willing to try a new brand or one unfamiliar to them 46% would try a generic or private-label brand; and Nearly one-in-five consumers (19%) would be willing to purchase a more expensive brand. Source: sustainablelifemedia.com Green Seal Unveils Pilot Certification for Sustainable Companies September 14, 2010 By GreenBiz Staff WASHINGTON, DC - Green Seal, a nonprofit organization with 20 years' experience in developing eco-labels, has expanded its scope with its a new pilot standard that seeks to certify the sustainability of an entire company. The group's new GS-C1 certification is aimed at consumer product manufacturing firms, and aims to speed the greening of the consumer market -- which makes up about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, Green Seal said in an announcement of the standard. As the public comment period winds down for GS-C1 -- comments from the public will be accepted through September 30th at GreenSeal.org/Standards -- Green Seal is hosting a free webcast walking through the certification on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Read more: greenbiz.com Is Local Food Better? September 13, 2010 By Bernice Hurst, Contributing Editor, RetailWire With concern growing about food insecurity, shortages and price increases, there is less resolution than ever about the relative wisdom of where and how our food should be produced. At one end are those who prefer supporting local producers. At the other are those who appreciate the critical mass that can be achieved by factory farms. Monica Eng, food writer for the Chicago Tribune, attempts objectivity, explaining both sides of the case while pointing out, "for many, the benefits of local produce extend well beyond measurable issues of efficiency." The one thing all contenders have in common is the power of conviction. Multiple studies provide statistics claiming to repudiate any and all opposition. Historian Stephen Budiansky, in the New York Times, offers lengthy arguments about the impracticalities of locally produced food being sufficient to feed the world. But he also exemplifies the emotional side of the argument, claiming that "the local food movement now threatens to devolve into another one of those self-indulgent -- and self-defeating -- do-gooder dogmas." Mr Budiansky says that "arbitrary rules, without any real scientific basis, are repeated as gospel." He adds that "words like 'sustainability' and 'food-miles' are thrown around without any clear understanding of the larger picture of energy and land use" and emphasizes that "the total land area of American farms remains almost unchanged from a century ago ... even though those farms now feed three times as many Americans and export more than 10 times as much as they did in 1910." Mr. Budiansky recommends that "the best way to make the most of these truly precious resources of land, favorable climates and human labor is to grow (foods) ... where they grow best and with the most efficient technologies -- and then pay the relatively tiny energy cost to get them to market." Steven Morris, writing in The Guardian, demonstrates how distribution "complications" can mean products travelling hundreds of miles from their point of origin to reach a store just two miles away. But Tim Lang, the professor of food policy at City University London, who coined the phrase "food miles", blames "the reality of modern logistics ... based on cheap oil, the motorway system and mass production. If people don't like it they are going to have to be prepared to pay more for a more sustainable system of logistics." Spokesmen for large chains such as Tesco and the Co-operative Group as well as suppliers such as Cornish pie and pastry maker Ginsters, agree about distribution impracticalities. Speaking to the Guardian, Ginster's spokesman claimed "there would be 'mayhem' if every producer tried to deliver to every store in the country," leading to vast increases in the number of vehicles on the road, emissions and congestion, and adding "consumers would have to come to terms with very limited choice if producers delivered only locally ... there would be no fresh fruit, no fresh vegetables out of season." Read more: retailwire.com (You will need to sign in.) EcoAware' Moms Have Buying Power Worth $1.45 Trillion September 9, 2010 The "EcoAware Moms" market, which includes more than 51 million women, 69 percent of moms, has more than $1.45 trillion in buying power, according to a new report from EcoFocus Worldwide. The report, "Are You Ready for EcoAware Mom?," indicates that parents are starting to regard eco-friendly choices as opportunities to improve their own quality of life, to set good examples and teach important behaviors to their children, and to leave a legacy for future generations. These mothers are reducing waste, avoiding chemicals and toxins, saving resources and making responsible choices, according to the report. "EcoAware Moms are a receptive target market for sustainability. They are rethinking their decisions and often making new choices, creating unprecedented opportunities for businesses offering sustainable solutions for everyday living," said Linda Gilbert, CEO of EcoFocus. The report also shows that EcoAware Moms are far more likely to believe they have a great deal of control over how healthy their home is compared to other mothers. Eighty-eight percent agree or strongly agree with the statement compared to 62 percent of other moms. The report finds that EcoAware Moms believe that the little changes they make are adding up to big improvements for the environment, and most are changing the way they do some things to make choices that are better for the environment. Read more: environmentalleader.com How to Design a Sustainability Strategy in Six Steps September 8, 2010 Robert Nuttall, who played a key role in the development of Marks & Spencer's 'Plan A' sustainability campaign shares six tips on how to design and communicate a consumer-focused sustainability strategy with MyCustomer.com. Nuttall also was a managing partner at CSR consultancy Clownfish before founding Green Mandate Here are the highlights from the article. Step1: It's critical to have senior leadership engaged in sustainability to help address the issue of responsibility. Step 2: Nuttall says you can't develop a strategy until you understand what impact - good or bad - your current processes have on the environment, communities, and employees. He adds that the core element of any communication in this area has to be transparent, verifiable and measurable, otherwise there is no robustness or authenticity to it. Step 3: Strike the right tone, Nuttall says. Research shows that consumers are skeptical about company claims about what they're planning to do so your sustainability messages must be supported by facts and figures including past reporting and future intent, and it has to align with the master brand, he added. Step 4: Identify your audience and then guide them. Companies should highlight the sustainability measures that an investor might be interested in, as well as consumers, experts and the passersby who want to get a bit of a flavour of what the company is doing, said Nuttall. Step 5: Employees can play an important role as testbed and advocates. Nuttall says engagement with employees is critical since that is where many of the ideas for innovation and savings are going to come from. Step 6: NGOs can lend weight and credibility to your message. Nuttall says third party endorsement or accreditation from an NGO is likely to carry far more weight than whatever the company is saying. Source: environmentalleader.com Don't Think in Green Silos When Marketing September 7, 2010 By Andrea Learned Who'd have thought my background marketing to women could be so helpful in understanding the mistakes many brands are now making in the sustainability realm? Take the "green silo" versus integrated sustainability topic, for one. Within a recent Inspired Economist post by Emili DeMasi about green MBA programs, specifically, lies what I see as a broader truth. In most cases, brands and organizations -- like colleges -- are displaying their green label, rather than actually integrating sustainability throughout. Just as was the big point in "Don't Think Pink," the book I co-authored on marketing to women, I could now write a book called "Don't Think Green." With both titles, and upon first bookstore glance, readers might think: "Well, that's counter-intuitive. Why's a sustainability (marketing to women) expert writing about NOT thinking green (pink)?" Because these are cultural transitions, not just static situations that will never change. Think about it: Most businesses have gone from seeing women as this separate, oddly "new" or "emerging" market (!) to understanding that they are the market for the most part. Now companies are a lot better at transparently reaching them. Women expect that brands will serve their needs and ways of buying without a pink or "for women" label. We now seem to be reaching that same historic point in the sustainability realm, whereby the consumers most brands want to reach are savvy to "greenwash"( a la special packaging or corporate reports that talk, but don't necessarily walk sustainability). Instead, these folks may soon expect sustainability from brands, and from all angles (product design and marketing to facilities, fleet management and community relations, etc). That being the case, rather than helping a brand, hypervisible "look at me" green marketing may actually hurt it. If you need to shout about it, will your customers believe you are taking steps to fully integrate sustainability throughout your corporation? Maybe not. A squeaky green wheel does, initially, help call attention to your company's shift and let sustainably minded consumers know they've been heard. Still, at some point the wise brand oils that wheel, stops the shouting and makes sustainability a fluid and integral part of their every function. Read more: greenbiz.com Eco Index Could Spread to Other Industries September 3, 2010 Posted by Scott James The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA, home to such brands as Adidas, Levi's, and Nike), recently launched its benchmarking Eco Index worldwide, hoping to cement it (and itself) as the leading sustainability measurement tool for apparel and more. In fact, this group clearly has its sights set on taking this tool beyond its own industry boundaries. Although the site is gaining momentum while still in beta, it is not moving fast enough for some. The folks at Timberland have a competing rating system called the Green Index they launched in 2007, complete with a snazzy website and social media-friendly branding. Getting end purchasers to recognize and use the index is crucial. I discussed this with Tom De Blasis, Global Design Director for Nike Soccer, while he was on a road trip recently. He observed "the third party nature of the Eco Index can cut through the corporate noise and terminology clutter that has lead to consumer confusion." The products within the OIA are diverse, from footwear to filters for water, all aimed at getting us out from behind our desks and into the great outdoors. But when you dig deeper into this toolset, you can see how it could be applied to a number of different industries. I asked Kim Coupounas about it. She's the Chief Sustainability Officer of GoLite, past chairman of the OIA board, and a current member of OIA's Eco Working Group, which launched the tool. Coupounas explained "the Eco Index is completely open-source and available for use by all companies, not just those in the outdoor industry. While it's rooted in the outdoor industry, it has the ability to be applied within most other industries and sectors." While companies can score points for fairly dubious "improvements" - Levi's gets points for telling me to wash my jeans in cold water to save energy (duh) - the majority of the categories for scoring points are environmentally solid. For many companies, the Eco Index will become a serious motivational tool, applicable to everyone from the CEO to the unpaid intern. Dan Marriner, a designer for Element Skateboards, commented, "for companies that have been performing well in terms of environmental sustainability, the Eco Index is a positive motivation to continue fine tuning the way products are made. For others it is a kick in the pants that will either motivate them, or separate them from an increasingly conscious market." But the version 1.0 of the Eco Index falls short is one major area, when looking at the human rights aspect of our supply chains. As we all know, you measure what you want to improve. The Eco Index is the best collaborative effort I've seen to date that measures eco-related areas ranging from land use intensity to how the chemistry of the products interacts with human beings. But it falls short of measuring additional impacts on the humans involved in the production process. If one defines true sustainability as having components related to profit, planet, and people, then the Eco Index is well on its way. For the next version of the Eco Index, I'd love to see the human rights impact better measured, perhaps by marrying it to an existing system such as Transfair USA's Fair Trade certification or an updated version of OIA's own Fair Labor measurement system. Then we could truly call this index "sustainable" for the profit, planet, and people. How do you define "sustainability" in your industry? Source: blogs.forbes.com California Lawmakers Vote Down Ban on Plastic Shopping Bags September 2, 2010 California lawmakers have rejected a bill seeking to ban plastic shopping bags after a contentious debate over whether the state was going too far in trying to regulate personal choice. The Democratic bill, which failed late Tuesday, would have been the first statewide ban, although a few California cities already prohibit their use. The measure offered California an opportunity to emerge at the forefront of a global trend, said Sen. Gil Cedillo, who carried the measure on the Senate floor. "If we don't solve this problem today, if we don't create a statewide standard, if we don't provide the leadership that is being called for, others will," the Los Angeles Democrat said during Tuesday evening's debate. Discouraging plastic bag use through fees or bans first gained traction outside of the U.S. in nations such as South Africa, Ireland, China and Bangladesh. In January, Washington, D.C., implemented a 5-cent surcharge on disposable paper and plastic bags. A handful of California cities already ban single-use plastic bags, after San Francisco became the first to do so in 2007. Read more: cbs8.com Is Consumer Confidence in Brand Sustainability Regressing? September 1, 2010 By Thomas Miner A study conducted in July of this year by Gibbs and Soell found that only 16% of consumers surveyed believe that a majority of businesses are committed to sustainability - and only 48% believe that "some businesses" are committed. The numbers are not drastically different for exec's - 29% and 54% respectively. The report, conducted by Harris Online and titled "Sense and Sustainability", sampled 2,605 U.S. adults online in July of this year. The poll also contacted 304 Fortune 1000 Executives, whose opinions mirrored those of the U.S. consumers. Many of the executives cited an insufficient return on investment (ROI) and consumers' unwillingness to pay a premium for sustainable products as their primary obstacles to moving toward sustainability. An interesting finding from the study is that almost half of all the executives surveyed report that difficulty in evaluating sustainability across the entire lifecycle of a product a as barrier to moving into sustainability - representing a huge opportunity for Lifecycle Analysis to gain a foothold. Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com 10 Questions to Answer When Thinking About Third-Party Certification August 31, 2010 By Melissa Schweisguth My colleague Natalie Reitman-White shared a valuable comment after reading my recent article on choosing third-party labels. She stressed the importance of a point referenced only briefly there -- determining whether to pursue certification or implement independent initiatives, which may bring greater benefits for people, planet and business. She is certainly well versed in this arena as the sustainability manager at Organically Grown Company, which is engaged in Certified Organic, Fair Trade Certified, Domestic Fair Trade Certification and Organics Unlimited's GROW Bananas. In some cases, certification is clearly preferable. In other cases, well-designed in-house initiatives, such as purchasing guidelines, supplier engagement and producer capacity building may yield equal or better returns for all involved. GBX insetExternal agencies and consultants can help fill internal gaps to ensure high-integrity programs. Transparent communications can give efforts credibility. Many companies combine both approaches across broader needs. It's important to understand your requirements, impacts and capacities and compare outcomes of each path. Go to greenbiz.com to read 10 questions to help you focus. What Next in War on Plastic Bags? August 27, 2010 As new figure sreveal, [UK] supermarkets have again failed to hit a target for cutting plastic bag use - Jessica Shankleman asks if it's time for the government to legislate. Jessica Shankleman, BusinessGreen When is a target not a target? When it's voluntary. The government-backed Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has today attempted to paint an upbeat picture of British supermarkets efforts to curb the use of plastic bags, highlighting figures that show the total number of bags used has fallen by 41 per cent since 2006. But while supermarkets have clearly made headway in slashing the number of bags handed out, a closer look at WRAP's statistics reveals that efforts to cut bag use have all but stalled. Back in May 2008 supermarkets signed up to a voluntary agreement with the government and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) that saw them promise to halve within a year the number of "single-use" bags given out compared to the 2006 baselines. The agreement was trumpted by the supermarkets and the then government as a proportionate and pro-active response to the Daily Mail's high profile "Banish the Bag" campaign, urging the government to legislate to eliminate carrier bags. Gordon Brown was able to write an opinion piece in the Daily Mail promising to get tough with the supermarkets if they failed to hit the target, while the supermarkets were allowed to demonstrate that they were acting voluntarily to improve their environmental credentials. Under the watchful eye of WRAP, supermarkets undertook a huge year-long effort to cut single-use carrier bags, finally reporting in May 2009 they had " all-but-met" the 50 per cent target, achieving a satisfactory 48 per cent cut in bags distributed. But annual figures released by WRAP for the first time this year show that in fact supermarkets cut the number of single use bags in 2008/2009 by just 37 per cent compared to 2006, well below the 48 per cent figure welcomed last year by then environment secretary Hilary Benn. Moreover, with the voluntary target consigned to the history books to be replaced in July 2009 by a much vaguer agreement containing no set targets, it appears that progress in the war against plastic bags has all but halted. The retail sector is keen to see the plastic bag issue buried once and for all, pointing out that other areas that they are addressing such as energy and water consumption have a far bigger impact on the environment, while the government also appears reluctant to reignite the debate. Read more: businessgreen.com Sustainable Consumption: Opportunity or Oxymoron? August 26, 2010 By Marc Gunther Imagine that you're the chief sustainability officer of a Fortune 500 company. During a meeting with your CEO, you say, "We need to talk to consumers about using less." Improbable? Sure. Impossible? Perhaps not. An important conversation to start? Absolutely. So, at least, says Aron Cramer, the CEO of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), a non-profit association of companies, whose mission is to promote a just and sustainable world. Read more: greenbiz.com British Supermarkets Cut Number of Plastic Bags to Customers by 4.6 Billion August 25, 2010 By Lisa Berwin The number of carrier bags being handed out by supermarkets has fallen by 4.6 billion over the last four years. According to the BRC 43% fewer bags were given out in the year to May 2010 than in 2006 which it said was particularly impressive as sales volumes have risen over 6% in the same period. BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: "This is a tremendous achievement by supermarkets, customers and staff. The sustained reduction shows that customers are permanently adopting the habit of re-using their bags. "The continuous decrease in total annual bag use demonstrates the voluntary approach continues to make good progress through individual retailer initiatives that take customers with them." He added: "Retailers are working hard on a range of other environmental measures, such as reducing food waste, reducing and redesigning packaging, as well as providing customers with recycling information through the on-pack recycling label." Source: retail-week.com Report Reveals Business Opportunities in Tackling Sustainable Consumption August 23, 2010 BSR's latest report examines the newest frontier of sustainability, outlining the opportunities for companies to deliver value to customers, society, and the planet by promoting sustainable consumption--an economic and social system that allows all individuals to meet their basic needs without disrupting the planet's healthy ecosystems. "For years, sustainable consumption has been framed as a limitation on business," said BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer, who recently led a workshop on the subject in New York with BSR member companies from the agriculture, apparel, food, retail, personal care, and beauty sectors. "But in a world where our consumption patterns outpace the planet's ability to regenerate resources by 30 percent, businesses that figure out how to deliver enhanced value by radically reducing material inputs and engaging consumers on product use will be well-positioned for success." BSR's report, "The New Frontier in Sustainability: The Business Opportunity in Tackling Sustainable Consumption," moves beyond "first generation" sustainability efforts focused on sourcing of materials, processing and assembly, and distribution, and identifies opportunities for companies to tackle sustainable consumption through three key parts of the business value cycle: -- Product design: Design choices about things like material weight and
packaging have direct impacts on transportation costs and fuel use,
while choices about energy efficiency directly impact energy
consumption in a product's use phase. In some cases, a focus on
sustainable consumption may result in the radical redesign of familiar
products, and in other cases, there may be an opportunity to deliver
the same value through services (such as car-sharing) rather than
products (such as car sales).
-- Consumer engagement and use: Consumers may be in the driver's seat when
it comes to choices about products and use, but companies can give
consumers the keys to more sustainable behavior by embedding
sustainable options into products and giving consumers simple,
accessible information about how to use their products in a more
sustainable manner.
-- End-of-use: Companies are setting targets to eliminate all waste from
products' end-of-life. This focus allows business to incorporate waste
prevention into the design phase of products. Some companies are
drawing inspiration from nature by implementing "closed-loop systems"
that mirror the natural life cycles of living plant cells.
Read more: newswire.ca Engaging Customers on Sustainability August 20, 2010 By Amy Skoczlas Cole I've spent the last 15 or so years following what might appear to be a quixotic passion -- to engage mainstream consumers in making more sustainable choices. As co-founder and vice president of Conservation International's Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, I had the privilege of partnering with many of the early adopters of corporate sustainability thinking, such as Starbucks and Walmart. My universal take-away: It is hard to build sustainability thinking into a mega-brand's DNA. And it is infinitely harder to help a multinational company figure out how to connect with their customers and influence behavior. Now, as the head of environment and director of the eBay's Green Team, I realize that the conventional wisdom that it is hard to change consumer behavior might not be as true today as perhaps it once was. Look at how consumers have changed the way they shop in the last decade. Going to the mall is being replaced with online shopping, while mobile commerce through smart phones is the new trend to watch. Tapping into these moments of change, and building sustainable thinking into them, could hold the key to affecting change at scale. But to do so, the sustainability community will have to be savvy both in spotting these inflection points as well as in connecting with consumers through them. Read more: greenbiz.com CSR Takes a Seat at the Board Table: New CSR Governance Guidelines August 19, 2010 Boards of directors are increasingly recognizing that effective management of social and environmental risks can improve business performance. Recent environmental and financial crises illustrate the importance of increased CSR oversight by Boards as part of their fiduciary responsibility to protect long-term shareholder and stakeholder interests. In response, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility's Andrea Baldwin and Coro Strandberg of Strandberg Consulting worked with leading Canadian companies to produce CSR Governance Guidelines. The Guidelines are informed by CBSR's experience with member companies, Ms. Strandberg's previous CSR governance research, consultations with board directors, and international research into global trends and best practices. Industry Canada and Environment Canada provided funding for the development of the Guidelines. The Guidelines address five areas that require Board of director attention and focus. Specifically, boards need to ensure that:
Corporate boards, senior management, and CSR professionals are encouraged to use the Assessment Tool to obtain a fuller picture of their current CSR governance performance and the Roadmap Towards Good CSR Governance to get started or continue advancing. Canadian examples of leading practice in CSR Governance from Cameco Corporation, Gildan, Loblaw Companies Limited and PotashCorp are also included. Join CBSR for a post-Summit workshop on governance on October 22: "Assessing Ownership and Accountability of Sustainability in Your Organization." More information at: cbsr.ca Cutting Out the Waste in Fashion Design August 17, 2010 By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM YOU wear organic T-shirts. You hang your clothes to dry. You recycle your unloved suits and dresses But frankly, that's just the tip of the green iceberg. Today's truly fashion-forward have a more radical ambition: zero waste. That may sound more like an indie band than an environmental aspiration, but it's a new focus of top fashion schools. Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it's a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Apparel industry professionals say that about 15 to 20 percent of the fabric used to produce clothing winds up in the nation's landfills because it's cheaper to dump the scraps than to recycle them. A small but impassioned coterie of designers has spent the last few years quietly experimenting with innovative design techniques, and some of their ideas are starting to penetrate the mainstream. Next month, Parsons the New School for Design - which inspired a generation of would-be designers through the television series "Project Runway" - will offer one of the world's first fashion courses in zero waste. The book "Shaping Sustainable Fashion: Changing the Way We Make and Use Clothes," by Alison Gwilt and Timo Rissanen, zero-waste pioneers, will be published in February by Earthscan. And an exhibition of zero-waste fashions, curated by Mr. Rissanen and another zero-waste designer, Holly McQuillan, will be held in New Zealand next spring and in New York the following fall. Also in March, an exhibition, "No Waste/Zero Waste" will open at the Averill and Bernard Leviton A + D Gallery in Chicago, part of Columbia College Chicago. "Clearly this is an idea whose time has come," said Sandra Ericson, founder and director of the Center for Pattern Design, which studies and educates about historical and current trends in pattern making, in St. Helena, Calif. Read More: nytimes.com Walmart Canada's Sustainability Challenge Bears Fruit August 16, 2010 By GreenBiz Staff VANCOUVER, Canada - In February, Walmart Canada convened 300 of the country's largest corporations for a green business summit to challenge those firms to set tough new goals for reducing their environmental impacts. The CEOs of 24 companies signed a commitment to launch a "major sustainability project" in the course of the next year to meet Walmart's challenge. Now, six months later, seven firms across a range of industries from consumer packaged goods to home improvement stores have posted updates on their progress in meeting their self-imposed sustainability commitments. The updates, published on ShareGreen.ca, offer an impressive slice of the ways that companies can save significant money while at the same time reducing their greenhouse gas emissions or other environmental impacts. Read more: greenbiz.com Can company certifications save eco-labels? August 13, 2010 By: Charles Redell With a morass of eco-labels threatening to clog consumer goods, Leonardo Academy launches an attempt to certify companies. Madison-based Leonardo Academy is trying to bring some order to the chaotic world of eco-labels by developing a suite of ANSI-accredited sustainability standards. Most recently, it announced its intention to develop a Standard for Sustainable Organizations (LEO-1000). The standard would define what makes a company or organization sustainable and how to measure and document the level of sustainability achieved, according to Leonardo Academy. "Providing a third-party metric for measuring sustainability achievements ... will generate competition just as the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Rating System has energized competition among companies and organizations on the relative levels of sustainability of their buildings," says Michael Arny, President,Leonardo Academy. Other planned and proposed standards in Leonardo Academy's suite of sustainable standards include a sustainable events, sustainable vehicles and sustainable agriculture standards. Read more: sustainableindustries.com LED Bulbs Under $20 August 12, 2010 By LESLIE KAUFMAN A 40-watt-equivalent bulb sold online at Home Depot. The retail giant began selling one of the light bulbs in its highly energy-efficient lineup at a surprisingly affordable price of just under $20 online. Bricks-and-mortar stores will follow in September. While $20 hardly sounds like a deal at first blush, such bulbs are expected to last as long as 30 years. Not long ago, such bulbs were not expected by most experts to cost less than $30 until 2012. That's the year, of course, when a federal law takes effect requiring that all bulbs sold in the United States be 30 percent more efficient than current incandescent bulbs. Even with improvements, incandescent bulbs are not expected to meet those standards, so many manufacturers are working on pushing their LED bulbs. Read more: green.blogs.nytimes.com Selling Green Products to Skeptics, Worriers, and the Apathetic August 11, 2010 By Jeff Dubin It has been well documented that an increasingly vocal minority of Americans (British too according to a recent New York Times article) think that the threat of global warming is overblown, nonexistent, or at the very least, not manmade. Then you have the many Americans that believe global warming is happening at an alarming rate, and those who think it is happening but who are not that worried about it. It appears that lately the arguments of global warming skeptics have been winning new believers as Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway describe in the blog Yale environment 360 : "In recent months, as the U.S. Senate prepared to consider climate and energy legislation, there has been a stepped-up effort on a broad front to belittle the overwhelming evidence of human-caused global warming...In the case of global warming, there is strong evidence that this contrarian campaign is enjoying success, with recent polls showing that more than half of Americans are not particularly worried about the issue and that fully 40 percent believe there is major disagreement among scientists about whether climate change is even occurring." Still, things have to be kept in perspective. Green Meridian's Sustainability in the Mainstream study found that only 9% of women solidly agreed (i.e., 6 or 7 rating on 1-7 scale) with the statement, "Global warming is not really a problem. And another 6% mildly agreed with it. Not exactly an avalanche of doubt about global warming. In addition, a new survey by the Political Psychology Research Group found that "huge majorities of Americans still believe the earth has been gradually warming as the result of human activity and want the government to institute regulations to stop it." Should green marketers be concerned about climate change skepticism? Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com Getting Green into the Mainstream August 10, 2010 By Drummond Lawson Editor's Note: Founded in 2000 by Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, Method is a Cradle-to-Cradle certified maker of green personal and household cleaning products. Drummond Lawson, the company's director of greenskeeping, writes about Method's method for success and shares lessons from the firm's decade in business with GreenBiz.com to help mark our 10th anniversary. 1. Sustainability must be an element of product quality. For green products to be relevant to the broader population, sustainability should become part of the definition of a high quality product. In other words, green should be a starting point and not an end point. 2. First, focus on making a product better. Then make it green. If your product isn't better than what is already out there, it doesn't matter if it's green. Look at how people use products or services, what defines a positive experience, and find a way to build a greener product that enhances this experience. 3. The paradigm of sacrifice must end. For green products to appeal to more people, performance or other aspects of user experience cannot be sacrificed in the name of sustainability. Read more: greenbiz.com Retailers Strive for 'Conscious Capitalism' August 9, 2010 By MARIA HALKIAS / The Dallas Morning News The first couple of times Rob Holmes met with Kip Tindell about putting the Container Store on the market in 2007 he couldn't get away fast enough from the co-founder of the chain of 50 organization stores. That's not how you might expect an investment banker to react to the prospect of offering what was considered an industry jewel to more than 100 interested buyers, an unusually high level of suitors. But Tindell wanted Holmes, a J.P. Morgan managing director and co-head of the firm's retail industry investment banking, to enlighten experienced investors about the quirky Coppell-based retailer, including "conscious capitalism and how Gumby is their mascot." It was Tindell's way of telling would-be suitors they had to promise to preserve the corporate culture, keep the current management in control, offer stock to employees and pay a premium value without burdening the company with too much debt. It was a tall order, Holmes said. And after four, five, six lunch meetings, he finally got the conscious capitalism part. As a state that tops most best-places-for-business lists, Texas might seem like an unlikely place to birth a movement that challenges capitalism's most basic tenet of putting profits first. Yet that's what They offer it as an approach that can mend today's rampant mistrust of business. Perhaps there was something in Austin's drinking water in the 1970s. That's when Tindell and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey shared a house with three roommates for a year while attending the University of Texas. Decades later, the two reconnected and discovered they were using similar core values and foundation principles to lead companies that had developed and conquered two retail categories: organization and storage products, and organic groceries. Simply put, they believe profits come from balancing the needs of all stakeholders - employees, suppliers, customers, community and investors. A business has to have a purpose other than profits in order to achieve profitability. Under conscious capitalism, the shareholder isn't No. 1. (Sorry, Milton Friedman.) In the case of the Container Store, the employee comes first. At Whole Foods, it's the customer. "Paradoxically, the best way to maximize profits over the long term is to not make them the primary goal of the business," Mackey said. Read more: dallasnews.com
Levi's, Outdoor Industry Create Footprint Tool August 6, 2010 By Jonathan Bardelline OAKLAND, CA - How much water went into making your jeans? How much energy was used to manufacture those hiking boots? What's the carbon footprint of a windbreaker? A new tool developed by the outdoor gear industry hopes to answer those questions and more to help companies understand what goes into their products and then improve any stage, from sourcing raw materials to recycling clothing. The Eco Index, a project of the Outdoor Industry Association's (OIA) Eco Working Group, is being launched this week at the Outdoor Retailer trade show for beta testing by any company that's interested. It's intended for a range of products, from clothes to backpacks to camp stoves. "It helps you identify the holes in the sustainability of your product and the impact your product is having," said Beth Jensen, OIA's corporate responsibility manager.
Read more: greenbiz.com UK Stores to Advise Government on Energy and Emissions August 5, 2010 Juliette Jowit, the Guardian After the easyCouncil and John Lewis local authority, comes the Marks & Spencer ministry. The high-street giant, along with Tesco, B&Q owners Kingfisher and HSBC, has been asked to advise national government on saving money. The companies have been given a special role in helping ministers meet their pledge to cut energy use across government by 10 per cent in their first year in office. The pledge was one of the very first promises of the new coalition and was announced against a backdrop of banners for the 10:10 climate change campaign, which is supported by the Guardian. The initiative is "inspired by 10:10". Perhaps the most important lesson from M&S - famous for its Plan A campaign: "because there is no Plan B" - has been the importance of ongoing leadership from the top, said Barker. "It's not enough to just have a campaign, it has to be constantly lead from the top, and has to be continued, month in and month out," said Barker, citing the PM's involvement, and the decision to give the Treasury joint ownership of the 10 per cent target. Read more: guardian.co.uk Retailers Target Zero Waste August 4, 2010 Retailers are taking a two-pronged strategy of reducing their own waste while encouraging their customers to recycle more too Zero waste to landfill is the target many retailers are setting themselves. Minimising product waste, creating partnerships and generating energy from waste is helping them to achieve this. And efficient waste management processes not only cut costs but can allow retailers to make money from recyclables. Asda's target is to reach zero landfill by the end of this year. Marks & Spencer's commitment as part of Plan A is to reduce its operational waste by a quarter and construction waste by half by 2012, and eventually reach zero waste to landfill. Waitrose is working towards its goal of diverting 95% of operational waste away from landfill by 2013. The [British] Government isn't allowing any new landfill sites to be commissioned. And with the costs of sending waste to landfill increasing year on year - due to the landfill tax and rising costs of fuel - it is no wonder retailers have begun to set themselves such tough targets. So what are they doing? Read more: retail-week.com Eco-Conscious Promote Closing Doors on Air-Conditioned Stores August 3, 2010 By Leslie Tamura Washington Post Staff Writer Christopher Moline was spending a sweltering afternoon with his son Nicholas at the Bowie Town Center mall when he noticed that the doors of Rave clothing store were wide open. The cold air rushing from the store was refreshing, but it also made his temperature rise as he thought of all the wasted energy. "I don't know about most folks," said the 42-year-old Bowie man, "but my father always told me to close the door so we wouldn't be heating or cooling the outdoors." Leaving the doors open while running the air conditioner can increase electricity use by 20 to 25 percent, according to one power company's estimate. The amount wasted depends on location, weather and humidity. "The equipment is working extra hard to condition a space that'll never be conditioned," said Sarah O'Connell, energy outreach coordinator of the Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions. "Businesses are paying extra to condition the outdoor air." Moline made videos of the wide-open doors throughout the mall and posted them on YouTube. With his camera phone, he taped his conversations with managers, who often said it was the store's general practice to keep their doors open. Open doors made it easier for parents with strollers to get inside, one associate said. When Moline revisited the mall a few days later, one of the shops he had visited had a broken air conditioner. "That is not a coincidence, man," said Moline, who said the broken system was probably a result of the store overworking it earlier in the week. In addition to being a father of three, a husband and a small-business owner, Moline has trained to be a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional, so he can recommend and implement green-building practices in commercial interiors. "I'm not a sandals-and-granola guy," Moline, a former Marine, added. His interests are primarily clean air and energy independence, he said. In New York, retailers who drain the grid by air conditioning city sidewalks can be fined. Moline and others would like to see a similar policy in the Washington area, or at least a public awareness campaign. "We need to . . . get the word out: A closed door is a good thing," said Joan Kelsch, Arlington County's green buildings program manager. The county's Environment and Energy Conservation Commission discussed the issue during a public meeting Monday. "It is a pet peeve of mine," Bob Coyne, 50, a biologist from Arlington, told the commission. "It's a terrible and unnecessary waste of energy when air streams out into the street." The commission decided to write to the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and to the county, advising them to start outreach campaigns and include closed doors as a criterion in county recognitions of energy-efficient retailers. "We can't fine them as of now," Kelsch said, "but we can encourage, incentivize, educate." When Kelsch sees "irksome" open-door retailers, she goes inside and tells owners and consumers about the wasted energy. "The more electricity we use, the more coal we have to burn, and that creates a lot of air pollution," Kelsch said. Read More: washingtonpost.com Global Standardization Around Sustainable Packageing July 30, 2010 Published in Packaging World Magazine, July 2010 , p. 48 A movement toward globalization and harmonized standards around sustainability initiatives is coalescing within the international community, spurred on by standards-writing organizations across the world. Each national entity has interests in controlling the amount and type of packaging entering its communities and the effect it will have on its local environment. Each entity has its own way of dealing with these effects and thus has taken a parochial view of how to control packaging and packaging waste within its borders. However, international commerce can be hindered if companies are forced to comply with multiple regional regulations and standards. In an effort to encourage trade and minimize the burden of conducting business on a global basis, the "movement" has recently come together within the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) to begin the work of harmonizing standards related to packaging and the environment. The European Union has regulated packaging through its Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive for many years. Annex II of the Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste lays down Essential Requirements, and all packaging placed on the market in the European Economic Area must comply with it. Member states may not impede the placing of packaging on the market that meets these requirements. These Essential Requirements can be summed up as follows:
Read more: packworld.com
Retailers Go With Smart Trucking July 29, 2010 By MICHAEL GARRY Kroger, Wal-Mart, Smart & Final and others are investing in advanced trucking systems to gain efficiencies, cut costs, comply with regulations and help the environment. Food retailers in recent years have paid a great deal of attention to controlling the energy consumption of their stores, investing in new lighting and refrigeration equipment and energy management systems, among other technology. But another ongoing user of energy - private trucking fleets - has been the subject of considerable scrutiny as retailers seek to control costs and lessen their impact on the environment at the same time. Retailers may need to rely more on their private fleets because of the reduction of third-party trucking capacity and driver availability caused by the recession. With that greater reliance, a number of major retailers are taking steps to upgrade the efficiency of their fleets. Last month, Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. released its 2010 Sustainability Report, in which its transportation efficiency efforts were described. Overall, Kroger's fleet, which includes 1,800 tractors (60% owned by Kroger) and 8,200 trailers (90% owned), improved its efficiency by 7% last year. The company intends to improve fleet efficiency by more than 25% by 2014; this includes an increase of 15% in cube (trailer maximization) efficiency and a 20% gain in miles per gallon of fuel, as well as a 10% reduction in empty returning trailers. Kroger is one of several food retailers participating in the SmartWay Transport Partnership, the Environmental Protection Agency's program to help companies use the newest technology to reduce their fleets' fuel consumption and emissions. All of its new trucks are fully SmartWay-compliant, including 40 multi-temperature trailers for Ralphs that have airfoils on the sides and use 8% less fuel. Kroger said in its Sustainability Report that its newest trucks are "quieter, 99.9% cleaner, and 16.6% more fuel efficient than our older trucks." Because of these features, each new tractor-trailer saves about 900 gallons of diesel annually. Among the new trucks are 125 Freightliner Cascadia trucks with near-zero-emission Detroit Diesel engines and greater fuel efficiency. Another SmartWay participant, Meijer, Grand Rapids, Mich., also recently purchased 75 Freightliner Cascadia trucks with Detroit Diesel DD13 engines and BlueTec emissions technology, which meet EPA's 2010 emissions guidelines. According to Daimler Trucks North America, Portland, Ore., parent of Freightliner, compared to an average EPA-compliant 2007 truck - and over an average vehicle lifetime of 1 million miles - the new Cascadia truck will reduce fuel consumption by nearly 11,500 gallons of diesel fuel, cut fuel costs by nearly $30,000, trim carbon dioxide emissions by 124 U.S. tons, and slash nitrogen oxides emissions to near zero. Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark., another SmartWay participant, has long been a leader in taking actions to cut its logistics and supply chain costs. In May, Bloomberg News reported that Wal-Mart was seeking to take over U.S. transportation services from its suppliers - in what would be a major expansion of backhaul shipments - with the aim of reducing the cost of transporting goods to its warehouses. Analysts quoted by SN pointed out that Wal-Mart may meet resistance from suppliers whose own logistics efficiencies would be adversely impacted by the plan. But backhaul is just one of the strategies Wal-Mart is applying to improve the efficiencies of its fleet, which includes 7,200 tractors, 53,000 trailers and 7,950 drivers. According to its website, Wal-Mart's goal is to double its truck fleet efficiency - roughly measured in cases delivered per gallon of fuel used - by 2015 compared to a 2005 baseline level, having increased efficiency by 38% at the end of 2008. To that end, the company is employing better delivery routes, loading its trailers more efficiently, and testing or deploying "a suite of clean technologies" designed to save diesel fuel and generate fewer air pollutants. Read more: supermarketnews.com Retailers Committed to Ensuring Effective Waste Diversion Program in Ontario July 28, 2010 Retail Council of Canada (RCC) supports today's government announcement of the reversal of eco-fees and a 90-day reassessment of Phase II of the Ontario Municipal Hazardous and Special Waste program (MHSW) introduced on July 1, 2010. RCC commends Environment Minister Gerretsen and the Government of Ontario for acknowledging the confusion in the marketplace around this new program and their move to correct the issue. The retail sector looks forward to working constructively with government, consumers, the industry-funded not-for-profit organization administering the program, and other stakeholders over the next 90 days to ensure that clarity, transparency and accountability are central to this laudable program moving forward. "Clearly there were some issues with the roll out of the new program that caused some confusion and frustration among consumers and retailers. We believe the government has responded appropriately by taking a step back from the program for 90 days and reassessing, with engagement from all stakeholders, how this important initiative can be better delivered to Ontarians," said Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO. Immediately following this morning's announcement by Minister Gerretsen, retailers across the province have been working diligently to adjust their systems as quickly as possible in order to comply with the Minister's directive. Retailers in Ontario have embraced waste diversion and acknowledge the essential part they play in the process. Retailers are proud of what they have achieved with the support and participation of consumers. Last year, Ontarians diverted 18 million kilograms of waste from landfills and waterways, and Ontario is on target to divert some 27 million kilograms of hazardous waste by the end of 2010. "Our hope is that we can take the next few months to work with the government and Stewardship Ontario to build on the successes of other waste diversion initiatives already in place in Ontario," adds Brisebois. "This is an opportunity to get all of the stakeholders together - consumers, retailers, manufacturers and others - to create a workable program that will ensure hazardous materials are not ending up in Ontario landfills and waterways." About Retail Council of Canada Retail Council of Canada (RCC) has been the Voice of Retail in Canada since 1963. We speak for an industry that touches the daily lives of Canadians in every corner of the country - by providing jobs, career opportunities, and by investing in the communities we serve. RCC is a not-for-profit, industry-funded association representing more than 43,000 store fronts of all retail formats across Canada, including department, specialty, discount, and independent stores, and online merchants. RCC is a strong advocate for retailing in Canada and works with all levels of government and other stakeholders to support employment growth and career opportunities in retail, to promote and sustain retail investments in communities from coast-to-coast, and to enhance consumer choice and industry competitiveness. RCC also provides its members with a full range of services and programs including education and training, benchmarking and best practices, networking, advocacy, and industry information. Source: retailcouncil.org
Compost Conundrum Muddies Market July 16, 2010 by Charles Redell SEATTLE The number of compostable dishware products available in the Seattle market has grown 900 percent in less than three years thanks to a new law requiring restaurants to use only recyclable or compostable single-use items. The law, which went into affect July 1, 2010, aims to reduce the more than 6,000 tons of plastic dishware that hits the landfill each year, according to the city. But the lack of a unified standard for compostable dishware products is creating a rift through the relatively nascent compostable-packaging industry. In the Seattle area, for example, compostable products have to be certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) as well as meet additional requirements set by Cedar Grove Composting, the Northwest's largest composting facility. But in San Francisco, which has been collecting food scraps and compostable packaging citywide since 2001 and last year mandated that all properties compost, requires that compostable products be tested and certified by BPI. "Earlier on we had our compost facility run their own tests, but the stuff that met the standard did break down in the process," says Jack Macy, commercial zero waste coordinator for San Francisco's Department of Environment. Susan Thoman, Cedar Groves' director of corporate and business development, says the BPI tests, which are lab tests, don't address the specific conditions in Cedar Groves' facilities. That's why Cedar Grove takes a product and puts it through its actual composting process to measure what remains at the end. The Everett, Wash.-based company is not alone. A new survey of 40 facilities nationwide that accept food waste found that 37.5 percent require certification by BPI, while 20 percent indicated that onsite testing was also conducted prior to accepting compostable products or packaging, according to the report released by Sustainable Packaging Coalition called "Compostable Packaging: The Reality on the Ground." For a company such as Cedar Grove, which receives all of Seattle's yard waste and food scraps, as well as food scraps from numerous commercial facilities including the Portland International Airport, its relatively fast throughput results in more than 200,000 yards of compost it sells through retailers such as Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Fred Meyer. Read more: sustainableindustries.com The Big Difference Between Energy Efficiency and Sustainability July 15, 2010 By Seth Scott A misunderstanding of the difference between sustainability versus energy efficiency is preventing practitioners from reaching their goals of helping the environment. Roughly 10 years ago, corporations woke to the realization that energy is expensive. Prior to that, energy was a tool, worth any cost, to power economic growth (a perception that continues today in the halls of Congress). Using more fuel to power a delivery truck to drive faster to save time was well worth whatever fuel costs incurred. The sustainability movement showed companies how they could save money. In this case, a slower delivery vehicle saves enough on fuel to offset what it loses in time. Sustainability practitioners have a litany of similar low-hanging fruit that is currently saving corporations millions of dollars each year, but that has had an unfortunate side effect on our industry. Sustainability currently consists of 99 percent cost savings and 1 percent environmental savings. That 1 percent is really only PR value or employee buy-in. It's the incentive that keeps sustainability practitioners working hard. A focus on energy efficiency has distracted our industry from the original goal -- an impact on the environment. Read more: greenbiz.com 10 Tips for Savvy Shopping in the Certification Marketplace July 14, 2010 By Melissa Schweisguth In the face of surging skepticism around social and environmental claims, sellers and buyers alike are demanding verification. Sustainability certification has become a booming industry with over 400 in use and new ones emerging almost weekly. This, in turn, has led to scrutiny and public criticism of apparent shortcomings. Understandably, the net result has been mounting confusion and uncertainty about what particular certifications deliver and their relative value. To help consumers and businesses navigate this landscape, the Consumers Union launched its Greener Choices database several years ago, providing basic information on over 300 labels. Realizing greater breadth and depth were needed, the World Resources Institute recently launched its more detailed Global Ecolabel Monitor. Equipped with this intelligence, businesses face the question of how to use it to determine what designations to pursue and ask of suppliers. Strategic selection is key. Given the resources involved, it's not practical to stamp every admirable trait. Nor is it necessary or beneficial, given that businesses can improve many practices and ensure positive outcomes with their own resources and supplier engagement, and the reality that claims lose their value with saturation. To this end, there are several factors to take into account: 1. Relevance This is among the first aspects to consider and will help identify potential areas for labeling. Determine what's pertinent to your mission and key impacts, real-world issues, suppliers and stakeholders. If you have an existing sustainability strategy or materiality analysis, it's a perfect starting point to ensure alignment across business activities. 2. Relative Priority Pare down relevant certification areas to what matters most-your biggest impacts, responsibilities and stakeholder concerns. Overlooking these and highlighting trivial issues can invite criticism for greenwash. You're likely to end up with multiple focal points, given the diverse factors and stakeholders involved. 3. Recommendations Ask peers, suppliers, field experts and key stakeholders what options they would suggest, any they would advise against, and why. Scan the market to see what comparable businesses are doing and inquire why they selected that path. Close competitors may choose one program over another simply to maintain differentiation, so ask several colleagues for representative input. 4. Governance Research the ethics behind each label's development and implementation. Look for independence, regular efficacy assessments and direct audits, 3rd party verification, periodic updating of criteria, broad stakeholder involvement in governance and standard setting, organizational and process transparency, public reporting and the like. Alignment with the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practice is a good indicator here. 5. Real Impact Consider measured, positive outcomes for workers, suppliers, end users, your business, the environment and other stakeholders. Many certifiers produce annual reports and all should be able to produce data demonstrating how their offerings leave people, planet and commerce better off than the status quo. For a balanced, unbiased view, review assessments from 3rd parties and solicit input from directly affected stakeholders, such as workers in supply chain verification programs. Read more: The importance of rigor, requirements, ROI and more. greenbiz.com Green Plus: Winning Over Consumers By Emphasizing Other Benefits July 13, 2010 Share.Greener products are now available within every industry and are a part of our everyday lives. But they didn't get to be so ubiquitous just because they are better for the planet. Whether they were promoted as such or not, sales of green products grew because they were appreciated by a growing chorus of consumers for the value they provide-expressed as safety, comfort, good taste, or simply convenience. By Jacquelyn Ottman Despite some lingering misperceptions that "green products don't work as well" (leftover from the days when the natural laundry detergents left the clothes dingy), many of today's green products actually work better than the alternatives they are designed to replace. Indeed, thanks to advances in technology and design, green is now becoming synonymous with quality, and can often command premiums because of it. Consider that a compact fluorescent light bulbs not only save money, they are more convenient since the bulbs don't have to be replaced as often. "Organic" is the new gourmet. Drivers line up to buy a Prius with its quieter ride and fewer fill-ups. Sensing the opportunity, many green products are now promoted with messages that lead "beyond green" and underscore such primary benefits as health, superior performance, good taste, cost effectiveness or convenience. Tide Cold Water for instance, underscores how much money consumers can save on energy bills. Similarly, the Energy Star label grew to be the most recognized eco-label because consumers made the connection between energy efficiency and saving money. AFM claims their Safecoat brand is 'The only paint that is doctor recommended.' The Toyota Prius was launched on the premise of a quieter ride, and later when gas prices spiked, stressed superior gas mileage. This central message of primary benefits is critical to winning over the mainstream consumer, and it is associated with the potential to drive growth as well. Consider the success of Clorox GreenWorks, a line of natural cleaning products. The name "Green Works" supported by the well-established Clorox brand name assures consumers that the product does its job, while the natural ingredients provide proof of safety. Testament to its success, Clorox GreenWorks has helped to expand the market for all greener cleaning products, even the deep green ones. Further evidence of the success of green products has been their resilience in the current recession. Everyone is pulling a little tighter on their money belts, yet sales and purchase intent of green products have remained strong because of the perceived value of many greener brands that lead with the messages of primary benefits. Moreover, many brands are not only competitively priced but saving consumers money, either in the short or long term. Despite these successes, many deep green as well as mainstream marketers do not stress primary benefits, likely for two reasons. In the past, many of the products offered by deep green companies didn't work as well as their "brown" counterparts, so messages to the consumer tended to be a simple: "our product does everything your current brand does but in a greener way". Over time, mainstream companies entering the market espoused what I call the "planets, babies and daisies" approach (despite doing otherwise on established brands) mostly likely believing such imagery represented a price of entry into a market they didn't understand and were not quite comfortable playing in. Now such brands as GreenWorks or Tide Coldwater are realizing that the name of the game is doing what they do naturally-leading with messages of primary benefits, while bringing in environmental messages as secondary. This emphasis on primary benefits is sure to continue. This trend will bring more sophisticated attempts to integrate primary benefits with the environmental ones. An example of this is a current Lexus print advertisement: On the left side we see a stylish new car with the headline, "Indulge your senses," and on the right side we see a leaf with the headline, "Respect the Planet." The key takeaway delivered in a simple yet sophisticated way: we can have our cake and eat it, too. This article is excerpted from Jacquie's soon-to-be-published book, due out in 2010. Learn more and sign up to be notified of its release by clicking here. JC Darne contributed to this article. Read More: sustainablelifemedia.com Shutting the Door on Wasted Energy July 12, 2010 By Ailsa Chang NEW YORK, NY July 05, 2010 -As the heat wave continues to pound New York City, stores are blasting their air conditioners as a way to lure in overheated customers. Councilwoman Gail Brewer of the Upper West Side says her office hopes to conduct surveys during this week's heat wave to see if stores are complying with the city law requiring large stores to shut their doors if they have the air conditioner running. The law only applies to stores larger than 4,000 square feet or chains that have at least five stores in the city. But Brewer, who sponsored the law last year, says all stores should care about conserving energy. "Even smaller stores -- if they're thinking about the environment and carbon footprints -- should be closing their doors, in my opinion, when they have the air conditioning on," says Brewer. Brewer says she'd like to see a stronger law that applies to all stores, regardless of size. The city's Department of Consumer Affairs is charged with enforcing the law. Brewer says one main problem the department is having right now is that a lot of stores still don't know about the law, so violations continue all over the city. That was certainly the case at the clothing store French Connection in SoHo, which had its door wide open as the sidewalk sizzled outside. According to the Long Island Power Authority, leaving store doors open while air conditioners are operating can increase electricity use by 20 to 25 percent. Read more: wnyc.org Study Makes Recommendations on Using Right Amount of Packaging July 9, 2010 A new report by the Global Packaging Project (GPP) states that the environmental risks of excessive packaging reduction can be greater than excessive packaging. The report, A Global Language for Packaging and Sustainability, summarizes the work of the GPP to date, and consisted of input coming from projects taking place in ECR Europe, EUROPEN, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). The study reports that by reducing packaging excessively, manufacturers can do more harm than good. Though many companies focus on reducing packaging waste as a reasonable proxy for reducing energy intensity and excessive material production, this focus can have negative consequences if it leads to packaging that is too fragile to protect the products it is shipping. This can result in an increase in products damaged in transit, requiring additional product manufacturing in order to replace the lost originals. Ironically, by trying to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging, companies may simply be shifting, and potentially increasing, the impact of their manufacturing operations. The purpose of the report is to create a language and set of metrics to enable a more informed dialogue between trading partners about the relationship between packaging and sustainability. The study also explains the importance of taking a Life Cycle approach, covering the consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to final disposal. This can also be referred to as a cradle-to-grave process. It sets out a series of guidelines for maximizing sustainable package design, including holistic product design to optimize overall environmental performance, ensuring that packaging is made from responsibly sourced materials, its ability to meet market needs for performance and cost, that it be manufactured using clean production technologies, be efficiently recoverable after use, and sourced, manufactured, transported and recycled using renewable energy. Europen hailed the study and urged its adoption by regulators and industry participants. The GPP is a partnership between several organizations and companies in packaging and manufacturing, including Wal-Mart, Tesco, Unilever and Nestle. Unilever recently released its sustainable paper and board packaging sourcing policy that clearly defines the company's paper sourcing goals over the next decade. Meanwhile, the International Standards Organization has begun work on a set of guidelines for packaging production. Source: environmentalleader.com Major European Retailers Sign Voluntary Sustainable Business Code July 8, 2010 The European Retail Round Table (ERRT) and EuroCommerce have announced a voluntary sustainable business code for Europe's retailers one year after the launch of the Retailers' Environmental Action Programme (REAP). Under the new business code, retailers commit to sustainable actions in six areas: sourcing, resource efficiency, transport and distribution, waste management and communications and reporting. The Code for Environmentally Sustainable Business (PDF) has been signed by 17 companies including Asda Wal-Mart, Marks and Spencer, and Tesco as well as nine federations. Other retailers that have signed the code are Auchan, Carrefour, C&A, Delhaize, Ikea, Inditex, Kaufland, Kingfisher, Mercator, Mercadona, Metro Group, Rewe Group, Royal Ahold, and Coop Switzerland. The program is open to all retailers. Federation members include ANGED (Asocación Nacional de Grandes Empresas de Distribución), CCP (Confederação de Comércio e Serviços de Portugal), CEC (Confederación Española de Comercio), CLC (Conféderation Luxembourgeoise du Commerce), EuroCommerce, ERRT (European Retail Round Table), FCD (Fédération des Entreprises du Commerce et de la Distribution), Fedis (Fédération des Entreprises de Distribution), Finnish Commerce Federation, and Kaupan Liitto (Federation of Finnish Commerce). By signing the code retailers are committed to implementing measures to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations. As an example, in the area of resource efficiency, action items may include the reduction of energy, water and paper consumption, as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their own operations and/or stores. Read more: environmentalleader.com Creating Attraction to Green Products. July 7, 2010 Building an emotional bond to customers is one of several key elements of creating additional value for your products. Emotions are a key to understanding the behavior of consumers, as decades of marketing research shows. They are separate from the rational, calculative dimensions of decision, such as cost per use, efficacy, and longevity. But it turns out that using feelings to guide purchasing is surprisingly rapid and consistent. That is, it can be more effective to rely on the gut than on the gray matter when shopping. This may well be one reason that green brands can be so powerful in markets: They elicit purchases based on emotion at least as much as those based on rational dimensions. Studies of so-called green marketing validate this emotional element. One robust result is that when consumers believe they are making a tangible difference on environmental or social criteria, this belief strengthens their commitments to products. A particularly provocative result was that when consumers sense that the character of their values and a company's values overlap, their propensity to purchase increases, as is the case with LOHAS customers in particular. So here again, we see that for mission-driven companies, the content of the emotional bond is distinctive because it is so closely linked to the selling company. It is surely true that some conventional companies create emotional bonds with consumers. In products from companies as diverse as Harley-Davidson and Rolex, the brand images resonate with delighted customers. And although the image for many conventional products frequently does reflect the company (and often its founders), for mission-driven companies the company and its story are a central part of creating emotional ties to customers. Read more: greenbiz.com Survey Finds Consumers Still Spending on Environmentally Responsible Products July 6, 2010 PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A national online survey, conducted for the second consecutive year, uncovered good news for businesses promoting green products or services - the vast majority of consumers are either buying the same or an increased amount of environmentally responsible products. "Past studies have shown that consumers who strive to lead green lifestyles are actively seeking out businesses with those shared values but may have a difficult time identifying those businesses" The second annual survey of 2,014 U.S. adults 18 and older was conducted April 28-30, 2010, by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Tork® brand of SCA Tissue. The survey found that two-thirds (67 percent) of U.S. adults who consider themselves buyers of green products have retained their level of green purchases. Additionally, 25 percent have increased their green buying in light of the recent changes in the economy. Only eight percent of green buyers said that their green purchases had declined in 2010 as a result of the economy. "The results of the two surveys indicate a true trend - that consumer interest in green is here to stay, regardless of region, age, gender or the country's economic state," said Mike Kapalko, SCA Tissue's sustainability marketing manager. WHAT THE RESULTS MEAN TO BUSINESS OWNERS While marketers and sellers of green products can feel good about the continued consumer desire to buy green, the survey also provides considerable insight to business owners and may offer guidance to enhance their business practices. For example, 62 percent of adults indicated they are either equally as likely or more likely to visit a business that focused on being green, regardless of distance or effort required. As a result, Kapalko believes that additional opportunity exists for business owners who simply do a better job of communicating their efforts. "Past studies have shown that consumers who strive to lead green lifestyles are actively seeking out businesses with those shared values but may have a difficult time identifying those businesses," said Kapalko. "One issue is that business owners aren't communicating their green efforts in the places their consumers are looking. Some don't offer visible third-party certifications for consumers to verify green claims. And according to the 2010 Tork Report (Healthy People, Healthy Planet), around 60 percent of businesses aren't communicating green efforts at all. In many cases, simply providing detailed information could result in an improved reputation and an increase in sales." GETTING THE WORD OUT While previous studies have shown that most companies promote green efforts publicly via corporate websites, this recent 2010 Harris survey found that Web site promotion is one of the least preferred ways for consumers to learn about corporate green initiatives. Twenty-eight percent of adults feel that designations on menus or store shelves for greener choices are the best places for businesses or restaurants to communicate their commitment to being green, 19 percent feel the best way to communicate this commitment is via flyers or visible posters, while just nine percent look on a company's Web site for explanation of their green program or approach. "This portion of the survey clearly shows that despite improvements in technology and more general reliability on technology today, consumers still prefer that information is made available at the point of purchase," said Kapalko. Underscoring the challenges faced by consumers, survey results also revealed uncertainty about how to verify green claims such as "environmentally friendly" or "organic." Asked the most reliable way to determine whether or not a green claim or statement is true, 28 percent say they are not sure, followed by 23 percent who say they would trust their own research, such as looking up information or trying of the product or service themselves. More than one in five (21 percent) say they would rely on independent third-party certifications. Kapalko suggests businesses clearly identify and back up any claims about their green products and services by providing credible sources to consumers in a clear, transparent and accessible way. Source: businesswire.com Exhibit Showcases Eco-fashion Trends July 5, 2010 The 'Eco Fashion: Going Green' exhibit at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City shows 250 years of the best and worst clothing from an environmental perspective. By Booth Moore REPORTING FROM NEW YORK - - Did you know that Halston's famous 1970s era Ultrasuede dresses are not biodegradable? Talk about timeless fashion. Or that Madame Grès was using faux fur way back in 1942, to get around real fur shortages during the German occupation of Paris during World War II? Or that the democratization of fashion didn't begin at Target and H&M, but at New York City's 19th century shirtwaist factories, which produced affordable styles that allowed more women to participate in fashion, but at the cost of fair labor practices? These are just a few of the fascinating tidbits from the exhibition "Eco Fashion: Going Green," on view at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City through Nov. 13. The term eco-fashion is at odds with the nature of an industry that thrives on churning through styles. But over the last decade, there has been a growing movement of designers and brands using, producing or promoting sustainable and ethical products, in a new kind of couture. They include Bono and Ali Hewson, whose Edun label focuses on creating sustainable economies in Africa, and Alabama Chanin, who champions fair labor practices by employing 80 women to hand-stitch and paint garments. There's a rising consciousness among more mainstream fashion designers too. At Paris Fashion Week in October, the Chanel runway show was set against the backdrop of a gigantic melting iceberg, and fast-fashion giant H&M recently launched an organic cotton collection. But eco-fashion, as defined by the curators Colleen Hill and Jennifer Farley, includes industry examples of both good and bad environmental practices. Their exhibit provides 150 years of historical context on animal rights, labor and manufacturing issues to add to the discussion.? The exhibit is organized chronologically, beginning in the mid-18th century, when fine silk brocades were so rare and cherished that their repurposing was its own kind of conservation. At the same time, hippies were anti-fashion, embracing handicrafts instead of mass-produced goods as part of the blossoming environmental movement. A 1968 cotton patchwork skirt, created by Appalachian women's cooperative Mountain Artisans, illustrates the trend. Today, eco-fashion varies from glamorous (the bamboo fleece and printed silk chiffon "cloud dress" by L.A.-based Linda Loudermilk, who pioneered an eco-labeling system called the Luxury Eco Stamp of Approval), to sophisticated (John Patrick's organic cotton mesh top and skirt in a handpainted pattern inspired by butterflies), to sporty (Stella McCartney's 2008 organic wool alpaca sweater dress). In a culture addicted to disposable fashion, the obstacle all these designers face is public perception. "Designers want to rid themselves of the stigma that hemp is ugly?," says Farley, who is confident the eco-fashion movement will continue to pick up steam. "Even if people aren't participating yet, they are becoming more conscious.?" Read more: latimes.com
National Retail Federation Offers Free Carbon Calculator to Members June 30, 2010 By SUPERMARKET NEWS STAFF WASHINGTON - The National Retail Federation here has introduced a carbon calculator for its members developed by Verisae, Minneapolis. The NRF carbon calculator is accessible for free to NRF members at www.nrf.com. "The NRF is very excited to be making Verisae's carbon calculator available to our member organizations," said Daniel Butler, vice president of retail operations for the National Retail Federation. "We're confident that retailers will find this to be a very valuable tool to help further their understanding of sustainability issues." Using the NRF carbon calculator, retailers can measure their organization's carbon footprint, establish a baseline, and develop the knowledge necessary to focus their sustainability efforts. The tool helps members measure their progress against the retail industry baseline. Last month, the Food Marketing Institute made the Verisaw carbon calculator available free to its members at www.fmi.org. Source: supermarketnews.com
Prince of Wales Calls for Retailers to Take Action on Sustainable Fishing June 29, 2010 The Prince of Wales has told the CEOs and chairmen of the world's leading consumer goods retailers and manufacturers to use their collective market power to force urgent and immediate change in the way ocean fisheries are managed. Delivering the keynote address at the first ever Global Summit of The Consumer Goods Forum, in London, the Prince - a tireless campaigner on environmental issues - told more than one thousand delegates from the consumer goods industry that the world's major ocean fisheries will have collapsed by 2050, posing an "increasing threat to global security". Retailers such as Walmart, whose insistence that its suppliers be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council the Prince praised as "courageous", had achieved "remarkable things" individually. But ultimately the industry must work in concert to achieve truly sustainable solutions. While it was impossible for many developing countries to monitor and enforce regulations, where they exist, if retailers were to demand full traceability from their suppliers, they could make a considerable difference, the Prince said. The Prince also saw retailers as playing a stronger role in educating consumers on responsible consumption, stating "Not everyone reads a paper or watches television news, but everyone shops", and that retailers should "stimulate demand for sustainable fish" in their stores and also lobby government for regulatory support. For this to happen, the Prince said, the human race needed to overcome its "collective hubris" and face facts. As a possible model, the Prince proposed a template drawn up by environmental group WWF, in which industry collectively pays for fisheries to be closed for a period and allowed to regenerate, effectively investing in a future market. The consequences, if industry failed to act, would be "truly terrifying," the Prince said. "No change," he underlined, "is not an option. Source: talkingretail.com Principles for Choosing Green Products June 28, 2010 Life is confusing. When buying a product one has to consider whether it is green, inexpensive, actually works, and so forth and so on. There is also the life cycle of the product to consider. Is the product beneficial to the environment in the long run? For example, Marcal Manufacturing has just introduced new packaging to all of its Small Steps brand products this week, which places an environmental facts panel on the front of all product packaging. The panel resembles a nutrition label for food products and highlights the environmental performance of its 100% recycled paper products. The Environmental Facts label includes information about the company's use of recycled content (100%), how much chlorine bleach was used for whitening the paper products (0%) and the quantities of chemical additives such as fragrance and dyes (0%). The packaging has just completed a nationwide roll out to grocery, drug, convenience and other major retail outlets. Many products claim to be good for the environment. The problem lies with our ability to measure it and then prove it. Some common principles to consider in determining whether a product is sustainable are as follows: Low environmental impact materials: choose non-toxic, sustainably produced or recycled materials which require little energy to process Energy efficiency: use manufacturing processes and produce products which require less energy Quality and durability: longer lasting and better functioning products will have to be replaced less frequently, reducing the impacts of producing replacements Design Impact Measures for total carbon footprint and life cycle assessment for any resource used are increasingly required and available. Many are complex, but some give quick and accurate whole earth estimates of impacts. Marcal claims that it is the first in the industry to offer this level of transparency on product packaging. Yet unless all use the same comparisons, one cannot compare side by side. Source: enn.com For further information go to sustainablelifemedia.com
Sustainability Initiatives - How to Get Buy-in June 25, 2010 Fundamentally, sustainability initiatives must be communicated, structured and evaluated in a meaningful way to engage internal and external stakeholders. Successful initiatives are often adopted as programs that must demonstrate their ROI through operational savings, increased customer loyalty, growth in market share over both the long and short term. Only initiatives that deliver specific and measurable benefits to the retail enterprise will succeed. Consider the following as you create your business case: 1. What makes your organization tick? There is no magic bullet here, and aligning sustainability initiatives with overall corporate strategies is the best place to begin. Demonstrate the benefits of engaging in more sustainable practices through a triple-bottom-line approach that simultaneously addresses financial, social and environmental benefits - both short and long term. Move sustainability initiatives from the realm of intangible to tangible and promote the real benefits. 2. Are you ahead of the compliance bus? In large part, engaging in more sustainable business practices allows a retailer to stay ahead of compliance issues and mitigate risk. Many retailers have also realized the added benefit of innovative solutions coming to bear due to the necessity of collaboration for sustainability solutions. Analyze what initiatives will put you in a leadership position and further your competitive advantage, instead of playing catch-up when regulations require it. 3. Are you taking a retail enterprise-wide approach? In retail, sustainability initiatives need to be developed with the entire retail enterprise in mind. Initiatives need to be scalable and show ROI from implementation that can be felt portfolio-wide. Pilots and one-offs are great, but the largest returns and reductions will be realized once a program is rolled across the portfolio. Take advantage of economies of scale. 4. Are you taking a Life Cycle View? Look beyond traditional project-cost models to demonstrate the value of an investment in sustainability initiatives. Instead of looking just at first cost, also take into account the benefit of the initiative across its life span. It is likely that when the entire picture is presented, it will make more sense. 5. Do you have patience? Organizations do not become transformed overnight. Remember, sustainability really is a journey with no end, and even small steps can make a big impact. Sustainability is not one size fits all. By realizing and addressing the unique nature of your company, and addressing challenges with tailored approaches that bring real results you will begin turning skeptics into advocates - garnering positive attention for your efforts! Source: naylornetwork.com The Biggest Greenwashers? June 23, 2010 By Joel Makower "We're doing everything we can to help the environment. We are reexamining how we operate and are working hard every day to reduce our impacts. We are committed to making the world a better place for our children's grandchildren and beyond. We believe that everyone must do their part to address the serious environmental challenges we face." If you read or heard a statement like this from a big company -- in, say, an advertisement, conference presentation, or annual report -- I'm guessing you'd be skeptical at best. You'd want to look beyond those broad, aspirational statements to see what, exactly, that company is doing and how much it was walking its talk. If you learned that the sum total of that company's actions were merely a few token gestures -- recycling copy paper and cardboard boxes, for example, or swapping out inefficient light bulbs -- you'd be anything from disappointed to angry. You might accuse the company of greenwash. As you should. I'm going to step out on a limb and suggest that for all the sound and fury over deceptive, disingenuous corporations seeking to falsely create a green image, that the biggest offenders of greenwash aren't companies. And they're not politicians, the mainstream media, green marketing firms, or environmental groups. The biggest greenwashers are consumers. Consider the statements at the top of this page, a compilation of common company proclamations. What if these statements were uttered not by a company, but by your neighbor, a friend or relative -- or you? Would they be believable? How much substance would there be to back them up? Could you honestly say you are reexamining how you operate every day and are working to make changes, and that you are doing better this year than last? I'm guessing not. And for all the eco-aware people I know -- friends, colleagues, and many others -- I don't know many who can. Of course, most of us don't overtly make such boastful statements. But we do so covertly via anonymous polls and surveys in which high percentages of consumers make boastful claims -- saying they regularly seek out green products, recycle and compost at home, are more energy conscious in their purchasing decisions, switch brands in favor of greener ones, take public transportation whenever possible, invest their money with so-called responsible funds and companies, and otherwise take action on behalf of the planet. As I've often pointed out -- and as even casual students of green marketing know -- reality looks nothing like this. Shoppers overwhelmingly buy what they want, most likely the same things they've always bought, perhaps with an exception or two. Except during brief periods of high fuel prices, they drive what they've always driven with little regard for alternatives. Despite 20 years of green consumer surveys suggesting otherwise, people haven't changed their shopping habits much. So, are consumers greenwashers? In pondering this question for the past several months, I looked at what various people mean when they use the word "greenwash." After all, there's no legal definition; "greenwash," like "green" itself, is largely a matter of perception. For fully article go to: greenbiz.com Sustainable Product Strategies for Going Green June 21, 2010 Gregory Unruh, Ph.D. Director, Lincoln Center for Ethics in Global Management Thunderbird School of Global Management As sustainability increasingly moves from fringe to mainstream, getting into the green game has become a corporate imperative. Because most established companies were founded before sustainability was truly a management concern, they lack a green heritage and competencies in managing environmental challenges - and opportunities. To respond to this reality, most companies need to take two tracks. The first is developing internal know-how and organizational structures for identifying, evaluating and managing the sustainability issues surrounding the company and its operations. The second is formulating strategies to develop new green product offerings suited to their market space. In this month's Harvard Business Review my colleague Richard Ettenson and I lay out three broad strategies companies can use to get into the green product game. For the full article, go to: environmentalleader.com America's Greenest Brands June 17, 2010 By George Anderson The Great Recession may have left American consumers thinking more about their personal finances than saving the planet, but environmental issues are still of importance for large numbers of people when deciding where to shop and what to buy. According to the fifth annual ImagePower Green Brands Survey by WPP and Esty Environmental Partners, 35 percent of Americans plan to spend more on green products over the next year. "In the United States, 75 percent of consumers say that it is somewhat or very important to them that the brands they buy come from green companies, although more people said that this was 'very important' in 2009," said Scott Siff, executive vice president of Penn Schoen Berland, one of the WPP agencies participating in the survey. "While the economy has driven down the priority of green for consumers, we can expect that as the recovery continues, the importance of green will come roaring back." Energy conservation is seen as the biggest green issue in the U.S. today. "Being seen as environmentally conscious continues to be an important brand attribute with all consumers; in fact, it ranks fourth behind 'good value,' 'trustworthy' and 'cares about customers,'" said Russ Meyer, chief strategy officer at Landor, another WPP agency. "Although still a differentiator in many categories, brand managers must remember that being seen as green is becoming a fundamental attribute for all brands." The top 10 green brands, according to the survey, are availble here: When Buying Green, Consumers Want to Shell Out Less Green June 9, 2010 With green products increasingly going mainstream through the introduction of value-pried options from traditional supermarkets and big-box retailers, consumers no longer feel they have to pay a premium price for sustainable items, the LOHAS Consumer Trends Database (LCTD) has found. This finding emphasizes the importance of investing in product innovation and continuing to surmount hurdles to competitive pricing of eco-friendly offerings, according to Harleyville, Pa.-based Natural Marketing Institute, which will present some of the database's latest insights at the upcoming LOHAS Forum in Boulder, Colo. The event will take place June 23 through June 25. Source: theprogressivegrocer.com Report Looks at How Retailers Are Greening Their Products June 8, 2010 A report from Five Winds International examines the activities of retailers to determine if they are taking significant steps to increase the number of greener products on their shelves. From the introduction to the report: Stories abound about retailers "going green" by installing solar panels, shipping products in more fuel-efficient ways, and adopting other cost saving measures. But it was Walmart's July 2009 announcement about a supplier assessment questionnaire and sustainable product index that elevated these stories into the executive suites of consumer goods companies. With the help of this announcement, the retail sector became a pivot point for corporate sustainability, as the world's largest retailer sought to green its own operations and stock its shelves with products sourced from suppliers who deliver greener consumer goods. Walmart is not the first retailer to put forth supplier requirements for sustainable products and packaging. IKEA has sought to use wood from responsibly managed forests since 1992 and Costco has worked with suppliers over the last two years to increase packaging recyclability. The difference is that Walmart's announcement is indicative of a growing interest within the retail sector to stock shelves with green products, and it is an interest driven by customer preference and profits. The report offers a three-step, practical approach for companies to get started with sustainability programs, as well as five rules of thumb for managing your programs once they're underway. This is the latest in a series of reports written by Five Winds International on retail and sustainability, and published by GreenBiz.com. The other reports in the series are: "Retail: A Pivot Point for Sustainability and "Retail: A Sustainability Benchmark. More information about Five Winds International's work on sustainability is online at FiveWinds.com. Read more: greenbiz.com
'Greenwashing' discourages eco-friendly behaviour: study June 7, 2010 Adrian Morrow From Thursday's Globe and Mail Canadians are getting cynical about companies that make false environmental claims, which may be leading them to lead less eco-friendly lives, a new study suggests. The Greendex, an annual survey of consumer habits in 17 countries by the National Geographic Society and the polling company GlobeScan Incorporated, found that while Canadians professed deep concern over environmental issues, they were less likely than people in most other countries to make green consumer choices. "People have this tension in them - they kind of know what to do, but they're just not doing it," said Lloyd Hetherington, CEO of GlobeScan. When asked for their reasons for not living more greenly, 46 per cent of Canadians cited their belief that companies are "greenwashing," lying about or exaggerating their products' environmental sustainability. This cynicism beat out cost and inconvenience as reasons for not helping the environment. The cynicism is at least partly warranted, said Scott McDougall, president of TerraChoice, an Ottawa-based market research company. Earlier this year, TerraChoice found that 98 per cent of products making green claims could be accused of greenwashing, ranging from outright fabrication to simply not providing proof of their eco-friendliness. "Most cases of greenwashing we find are cases of overstatement or exaggeration, not outright falsehoods," Mr. McDougall said, adding that he worries cynicism will keep consumers' from making environmental change. "Even choosing these [greenwashed] products is surely better than the alternative, than buying products that aren't even trying." Overall, Canadians were second only to Americans as the least environmentally friendly people in the Greendex. The survey, which measured consumption across a range of factors including home heating, food and transportation, found that most countries were slightly more environmentally friendly than the previous year. The most eco-friendly countries (India, Brazil and China) were in the developing world. The survey used a random sample of 1,000 Canadian adults and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Source: theglobeandmail.com Leaders Leading Leaders: Patagonia Helps Wal-Mart June 4, 2010 By Helena Meryman What does it mean to be a relevant leader? The challenges we face today ask us to rethink the role of leadership and to focus on its purpose: reducing our impact on the environment to a sustainable level, improving the prospects and security of the poor and regenerating previously damaged ecosystems. Collaborative leadership has emerged both as part of the solution and a means to working out the rest of the problem. Along those lines, Forbes reports that Patagonia is helping Wal-Mart green their supply-chain and develop a product-specific sustainability index. And apparently Patagonia is doing this all for free. Who knows, there may be some kind of traditional compensation down the line, but with Patagonia's history it's totally conceivable that the "only" pay-off is that the world will be a better place when a giant like Wal-Mart emulates the practices of a pioneer like Patagonia. This is a demonstration of real purpose-driven leadership. The Switzer Foundation introduced me to collaborative, purpose-focused leadership with the 1998 writing "Leadership in the 21st Century" which envisioned a necessarily new approach to leadership. It is inspiring to see this take root - the Patagonia-Wal-Mart alliance gives hope that maybe everything will work out in the end. Read more: triplepundit.com California Grocers Association Praises New Bag Bill June 2, 2010 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California Grocers Association lauded the announcement of state legislation - Assembly Bill 1998 - that would ban the free distribution of single-use carryout bags and require the sale of single-use recycled-paper carryout bags to customers at the point of sale. The bill would also require affected stores to provide reusable bags for sale or free distribution and would preempt local ordinances that regulate bags at those retailers subject to the state law. Overall, the bill would create a statewide standard for single-use carryout bags at supermarkets, chain pharmacies and other large grocery retailers beginning Jan. 1, 2012, and at convenience stores, neighborhood markets and liquor stores beginning July 1, 2013. "AB 1998 creates a uniform, statewide standard to help level the playing field among food retailers," said CGA President Ronald Fong, in a statement. "It addresses the issue of single-use carryout bags across all California jurisdictions and provides the most environmental gain with the least competitive disruption for retailers." Fong said changing consumer behavior will be challenging, but believes Californians will embrace the change. ""Our industry will do all it can to educate consumers to the benefits of reusable bags. Having until 2012 will allow grocers to move consumer behavior towards reusable bag use." Source: supermarketnews.com How Companies Weather the Flood of Eco-Labels June 1, 2010 By Matthew Wheeland With the side-by-side rise in consumer demand for green products and companies seeking ways to reduce the impacts of their products and services has come a flood of eco-labels: According to a recent article in the Washington Post, there are more than 600 such labels worldwide, and 80 in the United States alone. Many of these labels are vastly different; comparing an Energy Star product to a Fair Trade product is quite a bit more complicated than apples to oranges (both of which, of course, could earn the USDA's Organic label as well as the Fair Trade label). And other labels cover much the same turf, but with fine distinctions that can drive shoppers to distraction -- take as an example the FSC vs. SFI dustup currently underway in the world of green buildings. Earlier this month, the environmental group Rainforest Alliance held a daylong event highlighting the voluntary green economy, made up of sustainability certifications as well as corporate and individual environmental practices. As part of the event, RA handed out awards to companies that it calls "leaders in sustainability" for their work with Rainforest Alliance. Rainforest Alliance offers one of the aformentioned 600 green labels -- Rainforest Alliance Certified. And in the course of creating its daylong event in New York, the group brought together not just its award winners, but also representatives from a number of world-leading companies to share their success stories and help other firms benefit from the growth of the green economy. The GreenBiz.com editorial staff talked with some of these leaders to find out how businesses large and small address the glut of eco-labels. To read about these interviews, go to: greenbiz.com Three Tips to Keep Green Claims Legit May 31, 2010 John Twitchen, managing director at Sauce Consultancy and marketing expert on a recent Which? survey into product labelling has three golden rules for companies making green claims on their products: 1. Offer clear environmental comparisons to help customers gauge the green benefits of brands, for example by comparing the product to the brand leader or to the old version of the product that the greener product replaced. 2. Provide more detailed information on the company website explaining each green product claim in better detail and printing a link to the relevant webpage on the product. 3. Be clear about what the company has done to ensure that the product is more environmentally friendly. Twitchen cites Ariel and Persil washing powder pasting meaningless green slogans on their product packaging such as "future friendly" and "cleaner planet plan". Unfortunately the only evidence on the packaging of environmental action by the companies was information on their 'turn to 30C' clothing washing campaigns. Twitchen argues that encouraging customers to turn to 30C does not in itself make the product a greener choice. The companies should have communicated their own environmental targets to show they are taking responsibility for the product's environmental footprint in the manufacturing phase. So there you have it: Compare with other similar products, print a link to more information on your website, and be clear about how you made the product more environmentally friendly - that might just make your customers more inclined to their bit in return, and, in Ariel's case, 'turn to 30C'. Source: guardian.co.uk Study Examines Barriers to Consumers Buying Green May 21, 2010 By Jeff Dubin Most analysts agree that there's a core of green consumers whose ecological concern is central to their world view and this concern is reflected in their purchases. Green Meridian's study Sustainability in the Mainstream identified a group of such consumers, dubbed Frequent Greens, which represent about one-fifth of adult women. But what of the other 80%? What about the other four-fifths of women, which I'll call "the mainstream" for simplicity's sake? How often do they think about a product's environmental impact when they make a purchase? The answer in a few words is "not very often." Only about 15% of these women say they think about a household cleaner's environmental impact all or almost all of the time when making a purchase (17% for personal care products). By contrast, 41% of mainstream women think about a household cleaner's healthfulness all or almost all the time (52% for personal care products). At this point, you might be thinking: "Yeah I get it. The mainstream isn't going to buy green products out of any concern for the planet and if I do tout a product's green features, it better be in terms of how the product is healthier for the consumer and her family." As Jacquie Ottman advised in a recent post to her Green Marketing Blog, "to appeal to the mainstream, green products must appeal to more than just a consumer's eco-conscience. It must appeal in some way to their self-interest [i.e., health]." Are most mainstream women that wrapped up in everyday concerns that the condition of the planet is often an afterthought, as Joel Makower non-judgmentally suggests in his book Strategies for the Green Economy? Makower says, "for most folks, saving the planet usually takes a back seat to saving the day." I agree but I would add that even though saving the planet may be taking a backseat, for some mainstream women environmental concerns are still in the car. (My apologies for milking that analogy.) Read more: sustainablelifemedia.com Retailers: Going Green Makes Sense and Cents May 18, 2010 By JULIE GALLAGHER LAS VEGAS - It's not likely that you'll see a wind turbine swirling in a Winn-Dixie parking lot anytime soon. Instead, the retailer who emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy three years ago is sticking to more modest sustainability projects that contribute to improvements for people, planet and profit, Wes Bean, senior director of strategic sourcing for the chain, told attendees at FMI 2010 here last week. "What you have to do is find within your financial footprint what is the right business case to focus on," said Bean. "Our focus is very much on sustainability built by sound business cases in a rational payback period." After setting its sights on reducing miles driven by the company's trucks, Winn-Dixie attained a 2.3-million-mile reduction equal to $1.3 million in fuel savings, according to Bean. Route optimization and a reduction in empty trailer miles played a large role, but packaging efficiencies also contributed. A 20% reduction in Hamburger Helper box size meant 500 fewer trucks on the road annually. Winn-Dixie also saves waste hauling costs now that it diverts 2.9 million pounds of food, that would otherwise end up in landfills, to the plates of those served by Feeding America. "The bottom line of profitability is being able to show a pure financial benefit and at the same time make a positive impact," noted Bean. Publix Super Markets, Lakeland, Fla., which likewise won't be installing any wind turbines in the near future, according to Michael Hewett, manager of environmental services for the chain, is driving environmental change through an alliance with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. The NGO is auditing its suppliers in an attempt to reverse overfishing. "Eventually, you'll be able to visit our website, click on any fish for sale and it will link you to the Sustainable Fisheries risk assessment for that fish," Hewett said. Next quarter, Publix will work with SFP to identify issues that need resolving. Rather than simply discontinue overfished stock, the retailer will work to bring about sustainable change. "We know that if we don't buy that fish anymore it will still be caught, so what we want to do is partner with the Ocean Conservancy, which has a great reputation for bringing fisheries together with legislators to ensure those stocks are fished sustainably." Other retailers cited for their sustainability efforts included Supervalu, since it's derived both cost savings and profits from the sale of $4 million worth of reusable bags. "They're adding millions to the bottom line in net margins while reducing reliance on plastic bags," said Bean. He also provided as an example three FMI members who collectively made more than $50 million from recycling old corrugated cardboard in 2006. Source: supermarketnews.com The Green Shopper May 12, 2010 By MARK HAMSTRA SHOPPERS CONCERNED about the environment would like to know that the retail store where they buy their food shares their concern. Traits: Skews younger and more upscale; concerned both about the environment and their health. Habitat: Whole Foods, farmers' markets. With about 77% of consumers saying they make at least some "green" purchases, it's clear this is a large group with broad demographic characteristics. The group tends to be born after about 1950, surveys suggest, and is likely to be more affluent than the average consumer. Knoxville, Tenn.-based Shelton Group, an ad agency that specializes in green products, conducted a survey last year of green consumers and divided them into two "mindsets," based on their devotion to the green cause. "The Engaged Green Mindset is marked by optimism, extroversion and a propensity to try new things - and is more likely to respond to themes of innovation and possibility," wrote Suzanne Shelton, founder, president and chief executive officer of the Shelton Group. "The Mainstream Green Mindset is more pessimistic, introverted and apt to like things known and tried - responding to themes of security and reliability." The Shelton Group study, called "Green Living Pulse," suggested that the key to reaching green consumers is to make an emotional appeal, rather than laying out a scientific rationale for choosing green products. "Even people who buy green struggle to define how carbon dioxide affects the environment," Shelton wrote in the report. "People don't have to understand all of the technical aspects of an issue to be concerned about it." As the flood of Earth Day announcements last month showed, retailers are becoming more aware of the positive image of being green. Read more: supermarketnews.com
Magazine Examines Eco Cleaning Products May 10, 2010 Jessica Shankleman, BusinessGreen Household brands selling "eco" products may need to rethink their marketing strategies following a study from Which? magazine highlighting how easy it is to "greenwash" customers with exaggerated environmental claims. A study released by consumer rights magazine earlier today accused a number of household names including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ecover of failing to adequately substantiate the claims made on green product labels. The report also criticised independent accreditation schemes, such as the European Union's Ecolabel initiative, arguing that even products that had been awarded accreditation still struggled to back up their environmental claims with convincing evidence. The study examined 14 cleaning products and concluded that almost half of the "eco" laundry tablets, toilet cleaners and nappies analysed made claims that the companies could not support with adequate evidence. In particular, the study found that each of the eco toilet cleaners it scrutinised from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Ecover and Green Force made at least one green claim that was not backed up by evidence from the manufacturer. For example, Which? experts said Sainsbury's provided no convincing evidence to show that its Cleanhome toilet cleaner had a different impact on aquatic life than other products on the market. Sainsbury's defended its labelling, arguing that the product is verified by the European Union Ecolabel, which offers independent assurance of a product's environmental credentials. Similarly, the Which? report said that its scientists had " reservations" about Ecover's claims its products biodegrade rapidly and as such have less of an impact on aquatic life than conventional cleaning products. The company defended its products claiming they are "fully degradable in anaerobic and aerobic conditions, going further than legislation and differentiating Ecover from market leaders". The company has a record of highlighting the environmental benefits of its products, and last year boycotted the Ecolabel scheme over concerns that the criteria for carrying the label are not demanding enough and that products displaying the label are not being adequately policed. Tesco, meanwhile, confirmed it has changed the labelling of its "Naturally..." brand toilet cleaner, after the Which? report criticised the supermarket for claiming the product was unique in containing no phosphates, even though large numbers of toilet cleaners do not contain phosphates. Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Giles Gibbons, founder of consultancy Good Business, said it was unfair to accuse the companies involved of deliberately "greenwashing" customers. "This accusation of greenwashing is not true," he said. "These companies are looking at ways to reduce the environmental impact of products and showing customers they are doing that. They are not trying to hide behind doing nothing. " However, he warned that consumer brands should avoid relying on one of " hundreds of generic labels" to validate their environmental credentials. "The obvious answer is to introduce a single standard across the board, but in reality that's never going to happen," he said. "Firms should focus more on explaining exactly what's different about their brand. Don't rely on others to tell your customers that you have done things right. Just tell them straight then let the customers make up their own mind." Source: businessgreen.com Carbon Preparedness and Retail's Multi-site Challenge May 7, 2010 Justin Doak, Tasha Petty I often make that analogy that carbon is to environmental performance what the calorie is to your diet - and unless you are blessed with great genes and inherent good practices, without some management you're probably getting fat. Now, while a caloric-based diet doesn't necessarily deliver well-rounded health, it certainly provides the foundation and metrics for a weight management system to emerge. While the debates around the impact of climate change continue, large multi-site organizations, especially retailers, need to get prepared to manage the impact their enterprise has on the planet's health. Like it or not, carbon is and will continue to be the resounding metric. Carbon data provides a means to benchmark and understand a retailer's largest environmental impact areas in a neutral, non-prescriptive way similar to an individuals dietary needs being unique, and allows retailers to develop reduction plans that align with their unique brand. This column is intended to provide a snapshot on what I'll refer to as "carbon preparedness" - an often missed first step in carbon management. The hardest part is not figuring out how carbon operates as a tool for the company - this flows easily once the framework is in place. The challenge every retailer faces is merely gaining access to the real data that is needed to do a carbon inventory. For example, retailers may know how much they spend on electricity in a given year, but do they have store-by-store kWh use organized and ready for reporting at the drop of dime - including stores within malls where a CAM charge system is in place? Most do not, especially retailers with an older infrastructure. Many companies run into challenges collecting granular data multi-site because they are lacking an enterprise-wide reporting platform for data capturing required for a meaningful carbon inventory analysis. Carbon management should be about data - real data, not assumed data. A carbon report based off assumed data can lead to misleading impact areas, misguided sustainability strategies, and will not offer the level of insight possible with accurate reporting. If your company has yet to facilitate a carbon footprint, there are a few basic measures that should be put in place so that you are ready to learn about the incredible value that carbon management can bring to your company or the day when regulation knocks on your door. So how should you move forward? Before you dive into a full blown carbon inventory exercise, it's important to use a framework for accounting that works within the standards for reporting from the International Standards Organization (ISO 14064) - the WRI/WBCSD's The Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The GHG protocol's framework allows retailers to understand, quantify and manage their GHG emissions based on three scopes of emissions data. Scope 1: Preparedness for Direct Emissions Scope 2: Preparedness for Indirect Emissions Scope 3: Preparedness for everything else and the kitchen sink Carbon as a Sustainability Guidance Counselor Carbon management - taking an enterprise-wide snapshot of efficiencies and environmental impact, from supply chain and building to operations and maintenance - puts a metric to every part of the enterprise that you choose to measure enabling side by side comparison for performance evaluation. The benefit quickly becomes obvious to any retailer that executes a detailed carbon footprint inventory - as it uncovers the greatest environmental impact areas within the enterprise. However, the insight is only as good as the data you can get. Retailers are often surprised at the results and appreciate the clarity because it sheds light on areas they may have been spending resources to improve efforts that may not be their biggest liability through the lens of climate change. True insight requires real data and the first step to carbon management should be carbon preparedness efforts, not a fly-by-the seat inventory. Are you ready? Read more: environmentalleader.com Top Ten Trends in Sustainable Business May 6, 2010 Giselle Weybrect is author of The Sustainable MBA: The Manager's Guide to Green Business. Any views expressed are her own. Sustainability is taking the business world by storm. It seems that every day a new company is getting on board in an incredible range of different ways. While some are still only approaching it on a very superficial level, plenty of others are really taking sustainability seriously, exploring what it does and can mean to their business, their suppliers, their employees, their customers and the role that they can plan in strengthening society and the environment while also running an increasingly successful business. Here are ten interesting trends happening right now around the world in sustainable business: 1. A deeper understanding of what sustainability means. 2. Your employees are your secret weapon. 3. Speaking with rather than to your customers. 4. Your impact goes well beyond what happens in your office. 5. Really get to know your suppliers. 6. The gap is getting bigger, which is both good and bad. 7. A more open environment to explore sustainability. 8. The 'business case' is wider than most realize. 9. Your new recruits will take you there. 10. Having fun with it. For details, go to blogs.reuters.com Customers Want More Sustainable Packaging May 5, 2010 As more consumers focus on "green" packaging as part of their purchasing decisions, food and beverage companies continue to work on sustainable packaging centered on using less materials and increasing the amount of recycled content. Packaging suppliers are also developing new eco-friendly shipping options. According to new research from Datamonitor, consumers are looking for recyclable and sustainable packaging to help combat climate change, reports Packaging-Gateway.com. About 57 percent of the surveyed consumers said it was important to buy ethical or socially responsible products, while 42 percent reported altering their habits to do so. A key finding indicates that consumers focus on packaging as part of their purchase decisions, and are changing their buying habits to include products with reduced packaging. The pallet industry is also making strides in sustainability with one giant retailer leading the charge. Pallet manufacturers and suppliers will have to make some "green" changes particularly if they want Wal-Mart's business, reports Pallet Enterprise. Wal-Mart wants to eliminate 20 percent of greenhouse gases and carbon emissions from its supply chain by 2015. Wal-Mart also wants to eliminate all waste by reducing, recycling or reusing everything that comes into its 4,100 American stores by 2025, and for Asda, its British operation, the target is 2010. The giant retailer aims to reduce the amount of packaging in the supply chain 5 percent by 2013, and is working with suppliers to help find sustainable packaging solutions. Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar, Sam's Club senior director of packaging and supplier diversity, told Pallet Enterprises that Wal-Mart wants suppliers to use packaging and shipping material made from sustainable materials that use 100 percent renewable energy and create zero waste. Wal-Mart rolled out its Packaging Scorecard in 2008 and introduced its sustainability index in 2009 to grade suppliers and products on a range of environmental and sustainable factors. Source: environmentalleader.com Online Seen as 'Greener" Way to Shop May 4, 2010 The latest e-Customer Service Index (eCSI) survey conducted by IMRG and eDigitalResearch reveals that people are embracing e-commerce, not just for convenience, but because it is seen as a more environmentally-friendly way to shop. The recent attitudinal survey of over 2,000 UK-based people revealed that more than a third of people prefer to shop online (36%), with the biggest reasons being reduced pollution (74.6%) with the ability to research products in minutes (83%). The traditional retail model partly depended upon shoppers driving around to find the best product at the best price, but the growth of the Internet has now provided shoppers with the ease and convenience of comparing products in just one click of the mouse. As well as reducing carbon footprint and energy consumption, 53.5% of people believe that online shopping provides a wider choice of environmentally-friendly alternatives. 56% of people are concerned with green issues when they shop online - an increase of 12% since January. Many are turning to the Internet to source greener alternatives, with their purchasing motives no longer driven by price alone. 70% of people believe that product environmental and efficiency information are particularly important in the purchase of their next major domestic appliance, with 41% stating that the online space provides better access to this information than the high-street. Read more: theretailbulletin.com Report Shows Modest Growth in the Green Economy May 3, 2010 By GreenBiz Staff OAKLAND, CA - The first quarter of the new decade showed modest growth in the green economy, according to the latest quarterly update from the Green Confidence Index, the result in part of better information for some products, particularly energy-saving products. The Index, which is derived from a monthly online survey of approximately 2,500 Americans aged 18 and over, now registers 104.5, representing a near 5 percent gain since its inception 9 months ago. The Index measures Americans' attitudes towards and confidence in how leaders and institutions are perceived to be addressing environmental issues, the adequacy of information available to them to make informed decisions, and their past and future purchases of green products. The Index's three components include:
While the upward trend has been evident in each of the Index components, gains have been uneven across demographic subgroups, with age and income most directly related to changes. Read more: greenbiz.com
Packaging is leading the 'Green' agenda for consumers April 30, 2010 Getting packaging right can help convince a cynical consumer that a product's ethical claims are real, according to new research from Datamonitor. The research found that although over half of consumers globally reported that protecting the environment is significantly more important to them now than two years ago, this does not translate into their grocery purchasing behaviour except when it comes to packaging. 57% of consumers thought that it is important to buy ethical or socially responsible products but only 42% reported altering their habits to do so, revealing a significant disconnect between what consumers perceive as important to their purchasing habits, and what they actually buy. However, exactly the same proportion of consumers said packaging was a key consideration in their purchase decisions, to those who changed their buying habits to include products with reduced packaging. "The more tangible nature of packaging allows consumers to actually see and feel the difference they are making. Sustainable packaging is a claim that can be physically substantiated, rather than just supported by a stamp or logo which can draw considerable scepticism" says Katrina Diamonon, Datamonitor Consumer Markets Analyst. "Buying products with reduced packaging has obvious ethical implications, so this is becoming an increasingly popular way for consumers to translate their good intentions into action - a marketing technique that brands will need to continue to tap into if they wish to establish ethical credentials" Sustainable packaging can also serve to validate other ethical claims. In the case of natural and organic products for example, the benefit of reduced or biodegradable packaging can add significant credibility to any other environmental or sustainable credentials. Source: theretailbulletin.com Retailers Finalists in Building Competition April 29, 2010 With a nod to a popular TV reality show, the U.S. has launched its first-ever National Building Competition, choosing 14 energy-conscious contestants made of concrete, brick and steel to vie for the title of "biggest loser" of kilowatt-hours. The finalists were selected from a pool of more than 200 energy efficiency crusaders by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and announced Tuesday as part of the Energy Star program. They include a 12-story Glenborough LLC office building in Arlington, Va.; a Marriott hotel in San Diego's historic Gaslamp District; an elementary school in Carbondale, Colo.; a JCPenney store in Orange, Calif.; a mall in St. Paul, Minn.; a Sears store in Glen Burnie, Md.; and a dorm at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. "It's time for buildings to tighten their belts and we're happy to help them go on an energy diet," said Gina, McCarthy, EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation. "Cutting energy use will reduce their monthly expenses and their carbon footprint, showing that environmental protection and economic growth can go hand in hand." The winning building will be chosen based on its energy performance from Sept. 1, 2009, to Aug. 31 of this year. There will be a mid-point "weigh-in" on July 21, and the winner will be announced on Oct. 26. Bob Harper, the celebrity personal trainer who advises dieters on TV's "The Biggest Loser," is offering "energy fitness" tips to the building contestants in videos on the EPA Web site. According to the EPA, commercial buildings account for 18 percent of the nation's energy use and nearly 18 percent of its emissions of greenhouse gas. Office buildings emit more greenhouse gas than any other kind of structure. On average, the EPA says, about 30 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted. The finalists in the National Building Competition are old hands at saving energy. JCPenney, for example, won an Energy Star Award for Sustained Excellence this year, and so did Hines, the Houston-based real estate firm that owns the other office building in the competition. Sears was named a 2010 Energy Star Partner of the Year. Read more: miller-mccune.com 'Green Goods' Credentials Put to the Test April 28, 2010 By VANESSA O'CONNELL Wayne Koh likes products that are environmentally friendly and was willing to pay a little more for a household cleaner that had earned a "green" certification. Or so he thought. When Mr. Koh learned the "Greenlist" label on SC Johnson's Shout and Windex products was created by the company itself, not awarded by an independent third party, he was angry enough to demand his money back-in court. The lawsuit he filed is part of a rising tide of legal and regulatory actions aimed at products pitched as "environmentally friendly," as consumers and the Federal Trade Commission have begun challenging whether such claims live up to their billing. Companies stand accused of, among other things, adding self-designed labels that imply their products have won some third-party seal of approval; touting products as "biodegradable" when there is little chance they would actually decompose in a landfill; and labeling rayon fabric-created from tree cellulose processed with a chemical that releases hazardous air pollutants-as made of bamboo, which is merely substituted for the wood fiber. This backlash comes at a time when research shows consumers are willing to pay more for goods that save energy, pollute less or are made from natural materials, and businesses say eco-friendly products are potentially big money-makers. Read more: online.wsj.com Retailers Reduce Waste and Cut Costs April 27, 2010 By Joanne Ellul Zero waste to landfill is the target many retailers are setting themselves. Minimising product waste, creating partnerships and generating energy from waste is helping them to achieve this. And efficient waste management processes not only cut costs but can allow retailers to make money from recyclables. Asda's target is to reach zero landfill by the end of this year. Marks & Spencer's commitment as part of Plan A is to reduce its operational waste by a quarter and construction waste by half by 2012, and eventually reach zero waste to landfill. Waitrose is working towards its goal of diverting 95% of operational waste away from landfill by 2013. The [UK] Government isn't allowing any new landfill sites to be commissioned. And with the costs of sending waste to landfill increasing year on year - due to the landfill tax and rising costs of fuel - it is no wonder retailers have begun to set themselves such tough targets. So what are they doing? Ikea generates £30,000 in revenue for each store from the materials it is recycling. This has meant that even while it has increased its number of stores, it has reduced its overall waste disposal costs. In 2008, Ikea had 11 stores and spent £900,000 on waste, while last year 19 stores cost £700,000. Read more: retail-week.com Report Finds Retailers are Making Progress on Sustainability Goals April 26, 2010 By GreenBiz Staff OAKLAND, CA - Retailers are driving sustainability through their supply chains from the top down, making significant demands on their suppliers to meet aggressive environmental and social goals. But how well are the world's largest retailers walking their talk on CSR issues? A new report from Five Winds International and GreenBiz.com, explores how well retailers are doing, and what factors are driving sustainability performance for retailers of all sizes. The report, "Retail: A Sustainability Benchmark," applies Five Winds' CSRInsight benchmarking tool to nine of the world's biggest retail corporations, and finds that, by and large, they are meeting their sustainability goals quite well. Based on the more than 500 sustainable business practices included in the CSRInsight evaluation -- broken down into categories and subcategories for environmental, social and governance performance -- Marks & Spencer and Tesco are doing the best work in meeting their sustainability goals. As the chart below shows, Walmart placed a close third in the overall rankings, while Home Depot and Loblaw round out the top five. But when the individual groupings of sustainability criteria are highlighted -- environmental, social or governance -- a slightly different picture appears. The figure below shows that, when looking solely at the environmental performance of these retailers, M&S, Tesco and Walmart still lead, but Home Depot moves from fourth to last place. "Based on our analysis, the companies studied appeared most focused on climate change, ethical sourcing and supply chain impacts of products," the report's authors write. "This is likely due to customer demand for action in these areas, as well as the retailers' efforts to reduce their business risks and costs." In applying the CSRInsight model to these nine retailers, Five Winds broke down the internal and external factors that are most likely to shape a retail firm's sustainability profile:
Although the companies in this report are performing well overall, Five Winds' researchers found that the social category was a weakness among almost all the retailers. The full report, "Retail: A Sustainability Benchmark," is available for free download from GreenBiz.com. It is the second in a series of three reports from Five Winds International this year. The first report, "Retail: A Pivot Point for Sustainability," was published in March. For more information about Five Winds International's work on retail sustainability, visit FiveWinds.com. Source: greenbiz.com At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business April 23, 2010 By LESLIE KAUFMAN So strong was the antibusiness sentiment for the first Earth Day in 1970 that organizers took no money from corporations and held teach-ins "to challenge corporate and government leaders." Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry. For this year's celebration, Bahama Umbrella is advertising a specially designed umbrella, with a drain so that water "can be stored, reused and recycled." Gray Line, a New York City sightseeing company, will keep running its buses on fossil fuels, but it is promoting an "Earth Week" package of day trips to green spots like the botanical gardens and flower shopping at Chelsea Market. F. A. O. Schwarz is taking advantage of Earth Day to showcase Peat the Penguin, an emerald-tinted plush toy that, as part of the Greenzys line, is made of soy fibers and teaches green lessons to children. The penguin, Greenzys promotional material notes, "is an ardent supporter of recycling, reusing and reducing waste." To many pioneers of the environmental movement, eco-consumerism, creeping for decades, is intensely frustrating and detracts from Earth Day's original purpose. Yet the eagerness of corporations to sign up for Earth Day also reflects the environmental movement's increased tolerance toward corporate America: Many "big greens," as leading environmental advocacy organizations are known, now accept that they must take money from corporations or at the least become partners with them if they are to make real inroads in changing social behavior. This year, in an updated version of a teach-in, Greenpeace will team up with technology giants like Cisco and Google to hold a Web seminar focused on how the use of new technologies like videoconferencing and "cloud" computing can reduce the nation's carbon footprint. Daniel Kessler, a spokesman for Greenpeace, said it was necessary to "promote a counterweight to the fossil fuel industry." In 1970, Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York addressed a crowd of tens of thousands in Union Square on Earth Day, in an atmosphere The New York Times likened to a "secular revival meeting." This year, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will be in Times Square to announce measures to reduce New York's impact on the environment. Using the same stage, Keep America Beautiful, an antilittering nonprofit organization, will introduce "dream machines," recycling kiosks it is introducing with PepsiCo. The machines are meant to increase the recycling rates for beverage containers, which is estimated at about 36 percent nationwide. Of course, a fair portion of the more than 200 billion beverage containers produced in the United States each year are filled with PepsiCo products like Mountain Dew and Aquafina; such bottle trash contributes to serious pollution on beaches, oceans and inland waterways. Still, Matthew M. McKenna, president and chief executive of Keep America Beautiful, and a former PepsiCo senior vice president, said he jumped at the opportunity to have his former employer introduce its new kiosk at the event. "We are not being asked to encourage the purchase of Pepsi or the consumption of their products," he said. "We are asked to deal in the field with what happens when they get thrown out." While the momentum for the first Earth Day came from the grass roots, many corporations say that it is often the business community that now leads the way in environmental innovation - and they want to get their customers interested. In an era when the population is more divided on the importance of environmental issues than it was four decades ago, the April event offers a rare window, they say, when customers are game to learn about the environmentally friendly changes the companies have made. Frank Sherman, United States green officer for TD Bank, said the company hurried to get its prototype of a highly energy-efficient bank branch building in Queens ready for Earth Day because that's when "people are paying attention." Read more: nytimes.com Earth Day, at the Mall April 22, 2010 By Marc Gunther Somehow Americans manage to turn every holiday -- from Christmas to Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, the 4th of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, so-called President's Day and the rest -- into a shopping opportunity. Perversely, this is now happening to Earth Day, as companies try to persuade us that we can shop our way to a cleaner, greener planet. Crazy, isn't it? Along with coal plants, gas-guzzling SUVs and climate deniers, the American way of producing and consuming and discarding, buying lots of stuff we don't need that isn't going to make us happy anyway is, not to put too fine a point on it, trashing the only planet we have. This is not what the first Earth Day -- 40 years ago, in 1970 -- was all about. It was a political event. It was about building an environmental movement. It was led by young people and scientists and counter-culture types and it arrived at a time when support was building for other political and social movements as well -- the opposition to the Vietnam War, the feminist movement and the gay rights movement, all of which were inspired by the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s. None of these were mainstream, at least not at first. None were about shopping. Earth Day led to the environmental laws of the early 1970s, which brought real and dramatic change: Our air and water are cleaner, parks and wilderness have been conserved, species have been protected. Today, Earth Day is mainstream. An recent MBA grad I know says that's a good thing. She told me by email: I think it's generally good if green is mainstream as more companies are offering environmental products. That way we Berkeley types aren't the only crazy ones! I'm not so sure. Buying a T-shirt or tote bag won't curb climate change or protect endangered habitat. That takes politics, organizing, hard work. GreenBiz.com Senior Writer Marc Gunther is a longtime journalist and speaker whose focus is business and sustainability. Marc maintains a blog at MarcGunther.com. You can follow him on Twitter @marcGunther. Read more: greenbiz.com Pop-up Retail Teaches Sustainable Brands April 15, 2010 by Charles Redell NEW YORK CITY An empty storefront on one of the busiest corners in New York City is the latest site of an ongoing retail experiment that is starting to be explored by some growing sustainable brands. Trenton, N.J.-based Terracycle is opening a pop-up shop at the Port Authority bus terminal near Times Square. The temporary store, which is slated to remain open for about two months, features all of Terracycle's more than 100 products and is acting as an event space and "upcycling center" for more than 30 different non-recyclable waste streams. Part of its mission is to get more consumer exposure for upcycling, or the direct re-use of waste materials, says Albe Zakes, the company's vice president of media relations. Pop-up shops, which have become relatively common in the world of retail since the early 2000s when Target (NYSE: TGT) opened a temporary store in downtown New York City, usually aim to create a buzz around a new brand or a means to test a market without making a long-term lease commitment. Primarily a marketing ploy, some even turn a profit. "Pop-up stores are solid marketing strategies, especially for sustainable brands who use existing spaces and re-purpose as many materials as possible," says Mitch Baranowski, principal with New York-based marketing firm BBMG. "We recommend them because, for brands who don't have a big retail footprint, they can be highly effective ways to get in front of target markets or raise awareness in new markets." Terracycle isn't the only sustainable brand trying out the pop-up format. In late 2009, Nau opened a pop-up shop in New York City's trendy Soho neighborhood. The takeaway: a new understanding that sustainability means something very different in New York City than it does in Portland, where Nau is based, says Mark Galbraith, Nau's general manager. "This is step one in further engagement in that market, and that community, about what sustainable consumerism could mean," Galbraith says. Creating a new retail experience for a short period of time doesn't sound particularly sustainable, admits Zakes of Terracycle. It's an issue Terracycle, which reported revenues of $7.5 million in 2009, wrestled with publicly in blog posts by its CEO. "There is a more sustainable, more responsible way things can be done," Zakes says. In this case, the company is using waste material for all its displays and upcycling them again into a re-model of the company's office space. "Terracycle is trying to use pop-ups to show that retail can be more sustainable," he says. Consumers are not likely to look askance at a pop-up shop launched by a sustainable brand, says Jarret Paschel, a trends insight analyst with Bellevue-Wash.-based The Hartman Group, a marketing research firm. "Pop-up shops are not seen by most consumers as antithetical to sustainability values, especially given that companies such as Terracycle apply much more to sustainable lifestyles than true core sustainability values," he says. "For the vast, vast majority of consumers, 'green' and sustainability are much more about aspirational, lifestyle choices rather than the enacting of strident personal values systems." Source: sustainableindustries.com Getting Started with Greening Your Supply Chain April 13, 2010 By John M. Hill While making a contribution to the environmental movement is not only a personal and corporate imperative, the potential it holds for significantly improving efficiency and lowering costs within your organization's supply chain is compelling. For many companies, however, going green will require a cultural shift that fosters corporate-wide ownership and long-term commitment. One way to get the ball rolling is by tapping your internal resources; e.g., meeting with your warehousing and transportation staff to identify improved process, equipment and systems opportunities that will contribute to lower energy consumption and reduced costs. Although there are countless ways to optimize your supply chain and increase efficiency, the following ideas for facilities, equipment and systems design can help you prime the pump and get rolling toward greener operations. Facility Design Lighting: Energy demand during the day can be reduced with the use of photo sensors and skylights. When sufficient sunlight is detected, the sensors turn off the lights and vice versa. Also, consider the use of T5 fixtures that feature shields to focus light on work areas. Lights in reserve storage areas can be fitted with motion sensors to remain off until a lift truck enters an aisle. Finally, low bay lighting can be converted to fluorescent for additional savings. Heating & Cooling: Solar panels are steadily gaining in efficiency and lowering in cost, and can be put to use in generating power and heating water for your facilities. In addition to offering significant utility energy savings, both approaches may qualify for federal and state tax credits. If you dig down about 6 feet on most of the planet, you'll discover that the temperature hovers between 45-70 degrees Fahrenheit year around. Through a system of underground pipes, geothermal heat pumps transfer heat from the warmer earth to the building in the winter and discharge the heat from the building into the cooler ground in the summer. Once the heat is transferred from the pipes, it passes through a heat exchanger where the warmth is concentrated and then distributed through the building. The EPA estimates annual heating savings of as much as 70 percent and cooling savings near 50 percent. With the amount of space generally used for tractor-trailer access and parking, geothermal could well make sense for your warehouse. Dock Seals: Did you know that depending upon your location and loading practices, installing the right dock seals can save from $200 to $600 or more per year in preventable energy loss? Leverage Your Local Utility: Contact your energy provider to engage a specialist to conduct a facility walk-through and analysis that may help to identify savings opportunities beyond those mentioned above. Read more: greenbiz.com The Challenge of Managing Your Sustainability Reputation April 9, 2010 Gregory Unruh, Ph.D. Director, Lincoln Center for Ethics in Global Management Thunderbird School of Global Management I often hear managers saying, "We don't talk publicly about our sustainability and CSR initiatives. We do it because it's the right thing to do. For us, it's action, not words." A high minded posture, and not without strategic benefit. Some companies have found that sticking their heads up over the parapet and proclaiming their corporate virtue sets them up as a target for activist groups ready to pounce on any misstep. But as a recent CSR audit for a large national restaurant chain undertaken by the Thunderbird School of Global Business highlighted, this is a growing challenge for corporate sustainability executives. Silence around one company's responsibilities can become an untenable reputation vacuum filled by bloggers, critiques, analysts and competitors, just to name a few. The restaurant chain's sustainability reputation was already being constructed in traditional and social media - even before their formal CSR strategy was finalized. As a colleague of mine says, "Stakeholders are not waiting for you to take the lead in the dialogue on social and environmental responsibility; they are already out there defining what your organization is all about." We can thank the internet for that. Stakeholders - that is anyone with an interest or "stake" in your company's actions - have been empowered by the glass-house transparency of ubiquitous information. Business intelligence is no longer confined to the pages of business magazines or boardroom rumors. It's available through Web sites of government agencies, employee social networks and blogs, activist reports, online community discussion boards, supplier's financial reports, and so on. And the social media explosion can create a reverberation effect as stakeholders share what they discover and build upon each other's beliefs. A very real possibility is that one disgruntled stakeholder's opinions can become amplified into generally accepted truth. Perceptions can become reality before you know it. So companies should manage their social and environmental responsibilities - and their sustainability reputation - actively, right? A one word answer is "yes", but it's not that simple. Many companies have turned to their PR and marketing departments to manage their sustainability reputations. But managing a "brand" and managing a "reputation" for being a sustainable and responsible company are quite different tasks, as the case of oil giant BP illustrates. Read More: environmentalleader.com LEED Retail Set to Launch April 8, 2010 AUSTIN, Texas. After years in the development and pilot phases, LEED Retail has been approved and the USGBC is set to announce its official launch. When it goes live, all retailers attempting LEED certification will be required to build according to this new system. One question still stands - will it be embraced by the retail industry? In 2006, the economy was gangbusters. Retailers were churning out one new location after another, budgets were rich and people were ready for exploration, but this was before the sustainability dialogue really starting sinking into retail. This was when a LEED certified flagship retail store was enough of an accomplishment to garner hefty media attention and convince the core customer that they were a 'green' retailer. Around the same time, any retail professional in the store planning and construction space would have told you that LEED Retail was going to be the north star. You couldn't attend a conference or read a design and construction feed without hearing about another LEED Retail pilot successfully receiving certification. Every industry from commercial office space and healthcare to schools and universities were touting a new green flagship space. Meanwhile, retailers were scrambling to be the "first" in their space - the first grocer to certify platinum, first department store to go green, first office supply store to have a green prototype or the first bank to certify all new branch developments in a given year, etc. But firsts are over and having a LEED flagship store doesn't generate the press that it used to - so what is the current value of LEED Retail in the market? "LEED originally grew out of the need for a clear definition of what constitutes a 'green building' through a consensus-based standard," says Lisa Russell, Ecoxera co-founder and LEED Retail core committee member that helped shape the LEED Retail system. "LEED Retail went one step farther to answer the need for a green building benchmark that recognizes the unique nature of retail environments and operations." For example, LEED Retail takes into consideration heavy energy usage by QSR's in their commercial kitchens. Previous to LEED Retail, certification for this retail segment was nearly impossible because of this restriction. In that sense, achieving certification under LEED Retail will be easier than under the traditional predecessor. Cost and scalability will be the main hurdles to market saturation of LEED Retail. Currently, there is no streamlined process for a retailer that wishes to build and LEED certify several stores with one prototype or set of specifications. Multi-site certification, when tackled one store at a time, becomes time-consuming and cost-prohibitive for short-staffed and over-budget store planning departments. LEED Retail's Portfolio Program - a new approach that streamlines the documentation process and reduces the overall cost - would solve this challenge, but has been in development for years and will likely not launch in tandem with LEED Retail. That is not to say that retailers can ignore this new system when it goes live. Even though LEED was designed to be a voluntary standard, it has and will continue to be adopted as mandatory code in cities across the U.S. that building design must adhere to for permitting and approval. There are many other new kids on the block, as well. The market now has ASHRAE 189.1, CalGreen, and the forthcoming IGCC that are beginning to be adopted into city code. Which standard municipalities settle on will dictate which platform retailers will choose as their preferred benchmark. If there are variances in municipal green building expectations, the challenge for retailers will be to build inherent flexibility into store planning and development. While the fate of LEED Retail cannot be forecast, we can learn some lessons from the actions of the few retailers that have and continue to use LEED, including: Best Buy, Starbucks, Bank of America, REI, Aveda, Chipotle, Whole Foods, Home Depot, and many others. These retailers have successfully certified at least one store with the USGBC. Some continue to certify new locations across their portfolio, but many certify a single store, modify their prototype to meet the LEED standards, and continue to design and build according to the LEED standards without moving through documentation unless a city requires it for entitlement or certification. This has been an affordable solution for many retailers who wish to build green, but can't spend the time or money to achieve LEED certification. "What you don't know can hurt you," says Justin Doak, Ecoxera CEO and former LEED Retail Technical Manager. "Understanding USGBC's forthcoming retail system will be critical to any retailer that is evaluating the appropriate green building benchmark for their portfolio-wide real estate sustainability efforts." Read more at cswire.com Report Weighs in On Easter Egg Packaging in the UK April 7, 2010 By GreenerDesign Staff Sainsbury's has the most efficiency-packaged Easter eggs this year, but they are also the least recyclable. Most other major candy manufacturers and retailers in the U.K. have similar disparities with their Easter packaging, which is highlighted in Easter Egg Packaging: Annual Progress Report 2010. The report is in it fourth year and is put together by Jo Swinson, Member of Parliament for East Dunbartonshire, who has been following Easter egg packaging, she says in the report, because "Easter eggs provide some of the worst examples of excess packaging that can be found on supermarket shelves." The report looks at eggs from 12 companies and rates them based on how efficiently they are packaged (how much volume of the packaging the egg takes up) and how widely the packaging materials are recycled in the U.K. Overall, the average egg took up 36 percent of the packaging volume. That's down from 39.8 percent in 2009, but still better than the 29.4 percent in 2008. The average weight went down by about 4 percent this year, whereas in 2009 the average weight went down by one-third. Sainsbury's took the top spot for efficiency, with an egg that takes up 60 percent of its box. But it also took the bottom spot for recyclability by using a plastic box that is not widely accepted in recycling programs. Nestlé took the number-one spot for recyclability, with packaging that is 100 percent widely recycled. The company has eliminated 90 percent of the plastic it used to use from Easter packaging and also provides clear recycling information on the packaging itself. Cadbury and Mars have removed all molded plastic from their Easter packaging, and while the packaging from Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Guylian and Green & Black's is all technically 100 percent recyclable, the plastic used is not widely recycled, according to Swinson. Last place for efficiency went to Guylian, whose egg takes up 9 percent of its box. The company packages its chocolates in a plastic tray inside of a box that is inside of another box. Lindt is second-to-last, with eggs that take up 11 percent of the box and very little recycling information on the packaging. Source: greenbiz.com Canadian Retailers see Profits in Going Green April 6, 2010 By Scott Anderson, Reuters Walmart Canada, Loblaw and Canadian Tire are among the big retailers trumpeting aggressive policies to save energy and minimize packaging. Some are even publicizing efforts to protect depleted fish species and ensure decent working conditions at their suppliers. The companies may have the best intentions but there's also no denying that green practices are simply good business. Saving energy cuts costs, while touting policies to protect the environment strikes a positive chord with consumers and investors alike. "The primary reason is that they have come to recognize that there are significant business benefits in doing so. It is not altruistic," said Mel Wilson, who heads the sustainable business team at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Calgary. "It's not like people just woke up one day and their personalities had changed. They have recognized that this is good for business." Walmart Canada, a subsidiary of U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, said last month that it stands to save about $140 million over the next five years through strategies aimed at energy reduction, waste diversion and its supply network. Canadian Tire, the country's large automotive and household goods retailer, said last week that it would be among the first companies in the country to highlight its progress in its quarterly and annual reports. "What we felt is that, if we ingrained it into the processes and how we do business, then sustainability in itself becomes sustainable," said Stephen Wetmore, the company's chief executive. "That's the way we've approached it, otherwise we didn't think we would have a long-term, viable approach to the environment." Read More: The Vancouver Sun Biodegradable packaging losing its green sheen April 1, 2010 Ellen Moorhouse SPECIAL TO THE STAR The other day I picked up a four-litre bag of Natrel milk, took one look at the outer bag with its big oxo-biodegradable label and vowed never to buy that brand again. Until, that is, I went online and discovered the company, after only a year, is discontinuing the biodegradable pouch. Obviously, the dairy products outfit has been listening to municipal trash managers who don't want biodegradable packaging complicating the waste stream. Mountain Equipment Co-op is also eliminating its compostable BioBags, once the supply is used up. "We paid a premium for that (compostable) product - the technology is European - but over time it proved to be less than an ideal solution," says Tim Southam, spokesman for the co-op, which prides itself on its eco-principles. Complaints came in, notably from Halifax and its composting program, Southam said. Soon, the only bag you'll be able to get at the outdoor lifestyle store is a 95-cent reusable one, with high recycled content. Over at Natrel, it was criticism from Toronto that sparked the phase-out of the biodegradable pouch, according to vice-president of marketing Caroline Losson. The company is returning to a plastic that municipalities can potentially recycle. Biodegradable plastics, or bio-plastics, cover a range of materials, from familiar polyethylenes and polypropylenes, with small amounts of time-bomb additives that cause them to break down much faster, to more exotic plant-based compostable polymers that micro-organisms can eat. These plastics bathe in a green glow. After all, it's disturbing to think those grocery bags will endure for decades, not to mention the fact they're lethal to animals such as sea turtles. And companies like the marketing allure of an eco-friendly label. There's a role for biodegradable plastics. Take medical applications, such as sutures that dissolve. Or even compostable liner bags which some municipalities (not Toronto) want residents to use for collecting their green-bin kitchen scraps. What about biodegradable plastic packaging? Consider the following:
Municipal doors are starting to close on bio-plastic packaging. Toronto retailers are on notice that the city, which collects and recycles plastic retail bags, is banning biodegradable ones (like Mountain Equipment Co-op's compostable sack) as of June 1. "Clearly it's our markets that have the ultimate say, and they're saying to us, 'We will reject your material if it's found to contain bio-plastics,' " says Geoff Rathbone, who heads the city's solid waste management division. Toronto also wants to expand its polyethylene film recycling but that's a challenge. With biodegradable plastic milk pouches and dry cleaner bags out there, not to mention a vast array of other types of unrecyclable film products, from laminated snack-food bags to meat wrappers, how can they risk it? Source: yourhome.ca Green Executives are from Mars, Consumers are from Venus March 31, 2010 By John Davies Who's the greenest of them all? Each month, the Green Confidence Index asks 2,500 ordinary Americans to name a green company. Americans answered resoundingly: Walmart. We also asked the same question of the GreenBiz Intelligence Panel, a slightly larger group of business executives along with nonprofit leaders, academics, and others, which we poll monthly on a range of topics. They responded similarly: Walmart. It appears to be unanimous. But it's not so simple. Digging a little deeper reveals significant differences between who consumers see as green and who is admired by business executives. Only eight companies show up on both groups' top 20 lists. One significant difference between the two groups was that while consumers look close to home in naming green companies, the firms green executives admire most might be characterized as environmental activists. Every month, GreenBiz.com, along with our partners at Earthsense and Survey Sampling International, ask Americans a simple but profound question: "What company, if any, do you think of as being green?" It's an unaided question, meaning no list is provided. Respondents simply name companies that are top of mind. Or they don't. An average of 64 percent of Americans seem incapable of naming a single company they consider to be green. This isn't due to cynicism or the high standards of committed activists; the survey results comprise a representative sampling of the U.S. adult population. It's just that most consumers don't associate companies with being green. Less surprising is that when consumers pick a green company, it is typically those offering products or brands they know and likely buy, or stores where they shop. Of the top 20 companies consumers identify as green, four sell groceries (Publix, Trader Joe's, Walmart and Whole Foods), eight sell household products (Clorox, Johnson & Johnson, Kashi, Method, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and Seventh Generation), five make automobiles (Ford, GM, Honda, Subaru and Toyota), and one makes iPods (Apple, of course). (The remaining two companies are General Electric and Waste Management.) Read more: greenbiz.com
Report Makes Recommendations for Preventing Waste in Retail Supply Chain March 30, 2010 Ruth Faulkner Household and manufacturing generate the largest amounts of waste in the retail supply chain, according to a report published by the Waste & Resources Action Programme.
According to the report, the total losses from manufacturer through to retail and household for food and drink and packaging solid wastes are estimated at £17bn a year. Household waste accounts for the largest portion of waste generated within the supply chain at 64.7% or 11.9 million tonnes, while the manufacturing process generates 27% or five million tonnes of waste. Distribution and retail account for much smaller proportions of the total waste generated, although there is still scope to reduce waste in these areas. The report acknowledges that while retailers and brands are making efforts to reduce their packaging and reduce food waste, more still needs to be done. It makes several recommendations for better waste prevention within the retail supply chain including:
WRAP director of retail and organics Richard Swannell said: "Thinking needs to go beyond an individual site or an individual company. An integrated approach throughout the chain could really help reduce costs and waste, resulting in more efficient management of resources from their point of production through to their point of consumption. "The key thing to come out of this report is that waste prevention gives the best possible opportunity in terms of cost savings and efficiency. Working together as a supply chain does help drive down waste but all areas of the supply chain need to work together to ensure they get things right." The report was based on a previous WRAP study carried out by DHL Exel Supply Chain. Building on this existing research, WRAP commissioned Oakdene Hollins to identify further opportunities for cost savings, improved resource efficiencies and future interventions. Source: mrw.co.uk The Problems With 'Natural' Products -- And How To Fix Them March 29, 2010 Author: Diane MacEachern - Greener World Media The Natural Products Expo West concluded last weekend in Anaheim, Calif., and once again many businesses were able to celebrate what they learned a long time ago: That they can make a fortune by marketing almost anything as "natural." Crayola-colored gummy worms? Lipstick laden with lead? Detergents and soaps that contain questionnable phthalates? Yes, these are all being sold as "natural" - even though they resemble nothing Mother Nature ever made. How do goods like these slide by as "natural?" It's simple: There "ain't no law against it," as one of the Little Rascals might say. The term "organic" is strictly defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; its use is policed by both the federal government and consumer groups. But not so the word "natural." That's why I and many other consumer advocates encourage shoppers to ignore it when they shop. There's no way to know what it really means. The Natural Products Association (NPA) wants to draw a line in the sand before consumers get wise or the government steps in. The group, which represents more than 10,000 retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors of natural foods, dietary supplements, and health/beauty aids, has issued a Natural Products Association Standard and Certification for Home Care Products like household cleaners, laundry detergents, and concentrated and ready-to-use cleaners. Only products certified under the standard can bear the NPA natural home care seal, which is supposed to signal to consumers that the product can be trusted. Can it? Or is the standard just a clever attempt by companies that manufacture harsh and toxic ingredients to greenwash their products per usual and cash in on the "natural" craze? What's Wrong with 'Natural' Cara Welch, a Ph.D. scientist who coordinates NPA's department of Science and Regulatory Affairs, said the standard was borne out of "genuine concern by traditional natural-based businesses that the word "natural" had lost its meaning." As more and more mainstream companies have begun using "natural" to describe their products, Welch said NPA "wanted to challenge every company to keep all ingredients as close to nature as possible." In other words, NPA wanted to set a meaningful bar that was higher than what many companies might set for themselves while helping consumers make the right choice when they shop. And the certification is a step in the right direction -- products certified by the NPA can contain no parabens, phthalates, petrochemical ingredients or formaldehyde. They must also be free of synthetic fragrances and colors, although they may still contain anti-bacterials like triclosan, which has been linked to antibiotic resistance in people and deformities in frogs and other wildlife. They may not contain more than 5 percent synthetic ingredients and those ingredients may not be toxic to human health according to information checked against data bases maintained by the National Institutes of Health and Environmental Working Group, among others. They may not be processed using harsh ingredients and may not generate harsh by-products (though the word "harsh" is somewhat ambiguous). This is all well and good. But is it enough? Not even close, for the following reasons. The standard is not mandatory. Only companies who want to get certified will. There's still nothing to prevent those that don't from continuing to use -- and abuse -- the word "natural." The standard does not reflect the product's entire life cycle, which includes the environmental and human health impacts of manufacturing, energy use, waste, and disposal in addition to ingredients. Furthermore, standards that focus on single attributes create a false sense of well-being about the entire product. Besides, given how much we know about resource depletion, water scarcity, climate change and packaging impact, how genuine is it to promote a standard that only focuses on ingredients? Read more: planetark.org
On Fridge Doors and Engaging Customers March 26, 2010 Trewin Restorick I was at different events this week with sustainability managers from two of our major retailers. One common theme linked the events - what is the role of supermarkets in engaging with their customers on environmental issues? Both retailers have fairly advanced environmental policies and are probably ahead of most of their customers in understanding and reacting to the threat of climate change. This can pose problems. One of the supermarkets placed doors on fridges at some of its stores in order to reduce energy wastage by around eight per cent. This simple move immediately resulted in a loss of sales as customers disliked having to prop the door open with their shoulder as they searched for the right-sized piece of cheese or the perfect joint of lamb. The retail sector is so competitive and responsive to customer needs that the experiment was abandoned and won't be rolled out across all stores. The question facing the supermarkets is should they accept that this is the situation and wait for customers to catch up with the environmental debate or should they take a more pro-active approach? Source: businessgreen.com A New Way to Segment Green Consumers March 25, 2010
By Jacquelyn Ottman Ask: To which environmental organizations do members of our target audience belong (The Appalachian Mountain Club or Greenpeace)? Which types of vacations do they take (hiking or the beach)? Which environmental magazines and websites do they read or visit? (Sierra or Animal Fair?) Which types of products do they buy? (green fashions or energy-sipping light bulbs)? Which eco-labels do they seek out ("USDA Organic" or "Energy Star")? In observing green consumers over the past twenty years my colleagues and I have found that asking questions like these allows companies to distinguish between four subsegments, which we've dubbed "Resource Conservers", "Health Fanatics", "Animal Lovers" and "Outdoor Enthusiasts." Of course, there are some overlaps among these groups, but discovering which subsegment your customers mainly fall into can sharpen your marketing. The following descriptions are generalizations, but they capture the spirit of each type of consumer. Resource Conservers hate waste. (I should know. I am one.) Spot them wearing classically styled clothing, toting cloth shopping bags and sipping from reusable water bottles. Avid recyclers of milk jugs and Tide bottles, they drop off old electronics at Best Buy. They read news on-line to save trees, and are quick to re-use their Reynolds wrap. Ever watchful of saving their "drops" and "watts," they install low-flow showerheads and compact fluorescent bulbs branded with EPA's Energy Star and WaterSense labels. Shunning over-packaged products, they only turn on the lights when they have to, and they plug their appliances into power strips for easy shut-off when they leave for work. Some ways to appeal to resource conservers: 1. Highlight the economical, long-lasting and reusability benefits of products. 2. Offer services that enable them to recycle, compost and save energy Read more at sustainablelifemedia.com Packaging Expert Discusses the Benefits of Sustainability March 24, 2010 By Ellen Davis, VP and NRF spokesperson All this talk about the economy, social media and mobile can make it easy for retailers to take their eye off another major industry trend: sustainability. In a wide-ranging Q&A, packaging expert Ken Saeckl, Chief Operating Officer at Gunther Mele and Co-Chairman of NRF's Sustainable Retailing Consortium, provides an overview of trends in sustainability, how to overcome executives' concerns about green projects, and what shoppers think about retailers' efforts. (If you want to know more about shoppers' thoughts on retail sustainability efforts, join a webinar on March 24 as they discuss new research.) The moral of the story: perhaps, it is easy - and profitable - to be green. In your opinion, what does the past, present, future of eco-friendly packaging look like for retailers? Where have we come from and where are we going next? To read more, go to: blog.nrf.com
Top UK Retailers to Ban Energy Guzzling TVs March 23, 2010 BusinessGreen.com staff. Eight leading retailers that control around half of the market for new TVs have agreed to stop selling the most energy profligate models as part of a new voluntary agreement with the government. Best Buy UK, Comet, Co-operative Electrical, DSGi - which includes Currys and PC World - John Lewis Partnership, Home Retail Group - which includes Argos - Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's have joined the scheme which will removed the worst performing models from the shelves up to two years before they will be required to do so under new EU legislation. Under the initiative, which is being run by Defra and the Energy Saving Trust (EST), the retailers have agreed to increase promotional efforts for those energy efficient models approved by the EST. The move comes at a crucial time for the TV sector with 1.6 million sets expected to be sold in the run up to this summer's FIFA World Cup. According to figures from the EST, the worst performing 42in TV on the market currently costs on average around £75 a year to run while those approved by the Trust's Energy Saving Recommended scheme add just £33 a year to a household's energy bill. That means that over the average eight-year life of the TV set, energy efficiency models have the potential to cut £340 off of energy bills and save more than a tonne of carbon emissions. The government said that it would continue to call on other retailers to join the voluntary scheme ahead of the launch of new EU electrical appliance energy efficiency rules in July 2012. Source: businessgreen.com Research Suggests Recycling is Always Best March 22, 2010 James Murray, BusinessGreen The case for the rapid roll out of new recycling and waste-to-energy facilities was strengthened today with the release of a major new report assessing the environmental impact of different waste disposal approaches. The study from the [UK] government-backed WRAP advisory body updated research from two years ago by analysing around 200 different reports assessing the lifecycle impact of recycling, landfill and energy capture approaches for common waste streams. It concluded that recycling is still the most environmentally beneficial option in almost all cases, although it also found that there was a strong case for energy recovery approaches such as waste-to-energy plants or anaerobic digestion. A WRAP spokeswoman said the agency was not calling directly on the government to increase recycling and waste-to-energy capacity, but admitted that the research would significantly strengthen the case for such investments. The study analysed the lifecycle impacts of paper and cardboard, plastics, new biopolymers made from organic materials, food, garden cuttings, wood and textiles. It found that, after reuse, recycling was the preferable option for plastics, wood, and higher quality paper and cardboard. Anaerobic digestion was highlighted as the best approach for disposing of food and other forms of organic waste such as garden clippings. However, the report admitted that further research needed to be done into the full lifecycle impact of a number of waste streams, such as textiles and biopolymers, and disposal options, including waste-to-energy technologies. Source: businessgreen.com Getting a Green Brand on the Customer's Radar March 19, 2010 By Jeff Dubin With all this talk about naked corporations being under constant scrutiny, it seems reasonable that new products aspiring to be labeled green should be preoccupied with passing muster with the arbiters of what's green, be they NGOs, consumers, or ratings agencies. The reality, though, is that many green brands wish they had the problem of being scrutinized, at least by consumers. They may be naked, with more and more facts about their green features becoming available, but it does not appear that many consumers are paying attention. Woody Allen famously once said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." The same can be said of consumer brands, both green and non-green. Before green brands can succeed, consumers have to know they exist. For example, data from "Sustainability in the Mainstream," a recent study by my firm, Green Meridian, suggests that many green household cleaner and personal care product brands are off the radar for many consumers. Only 35 percent of the women surveyed were able to name even just one household cleaner brand typically considered green. The situation is even more acute for green personal care products, with just 18 percent of women successfully naming one green personal care brand without any prompting. In follow-up interviews, women presented with samples of various green cleaners and personal care products often responded with blank stares. I want to be very clear. I am not urging green marketers to temporarily abandon their efforts to burnish their products' green credentials and wait until they first build sufficient brand awareness. After all, if you're going to call attention to yourself, you'd better be ready for the exposure. However, marketers shouldn't get so caught up in the other aspects of brand building that they neglect one of the cornerstones of a successful brand, high awareness. Part of this is a distribution issue. Many green brands simply aren't in stores where mainstream America shops. However, it's also an advertising problem. Weak ad spending and unmemorable ads are keeping many green brands out of sight and out of mind. Jeff Dubin is the founder of Green Meridian, a marketing research firm dedicated to helping green marketers succeed with both core green consumers and the mainstream. Source: greenbiz.com Retailers Find Reasons to Be Green March 18, 2010 By Teresa F. Lindeman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A customer brought an impressively old, tube-style TV into the Best Buy store in West Mifflin not long ago, taking advantage of the chain's year-old program to recycle consumer electronics. As soon as employees moved the TV to the backroom storage area, "It fell apart," recalled sales operator Ginny Nelson. Taking care of the previously loved stuff is becoming part of retail service these days. Stores aren't just sending goods out into the world. They're adding programs to take back merchandise, or maybe the bags it was carried out in, and dispose of the materials responsibly. If that helps spur more sales, well, great. Since Best Buy took its expanded consumer electronics recycling program national a year ago, the Minnesota company estimates it has accepted more than 1 million items weighing about 60 million pounds. In the 20 or so stores that make up the Pittsburgh district alone, people brought in more than 30,000 items estimated to weigh more than 1 million pounds. Many of those bringing in old computers and TVs stick around to buy something else. "Stores are using that to drive the volume to our stores," said Chris Boik, senior manager of environmental affairs for Best Buy. Partly because of that, the company is getting closer to its goal of breaking even on the program, Mr. Boik said. Retailers, hesitant for years to go full bore into expensive sustainability projects, have come to the point where they believe the payoff -- both with consumers and on a strict accounting basis -- adds up. Environmentally sensitive strategies are infiltrating every cornershelf and checkout counter of mainstream retail. It would be impossible to include all the examples but here's a few.
"It's really started to gain momentum in the past three years," said Dan Butler, vice president of retail operations with the National Retail Federation, a trade group based in Washington, D.C. There have been eco-focused retailers for much longer, with chains such as REI, or Recreational Equipment Inc., and niche players like Equita in Lawrenceville and E House on the South Side, looking at various issues from product choices to construction issues. Construction Junction, in the East End, has been recycling building materials, while cell phone recycling programs can be found in more than one place. It often takes passionate first-adopters to get things started. But some observers point to the biggest players in the industry as a factor in making the business case for more mainstream players to take the issues seriously. "Clearly Wal-Mart, for example, is teaching a lot of us lessons on how sustainability doesn't have to cost more," said James Dion, president of Dionco Inc., a retail consulting firm in Chicago. In recent years, Wal-Mart pushed its suppliers to reduce packaging materials, such as that used for liquid laundry detergent. By next year, the chain estimates that move will save more than 125 million pounds of cardboard, 80 million pounds of plastic resin and 430 million gallons of water. The company also claims it made its U.S. truck fleet 38 percent more efficient by installing fuel-saving technology, loading better and improving routing. Not everyone has the big discounter's resources but even small retailers can learn from the projects taken on by larger operations, said Mr. Butler. A few months ago, the National Retail Federation launched a retail industry sustainability scorecard that any of its members can use to do an internal assessment. It asks questions on everything from the lifecycle of products used for in-store marketing to the use of temperature regulating controls and fuel efficient vehicles. Even before the scorecard was discussed at a retail conference in January, between 50 and 60 federation members had tried it out, said Mr. Dion, who is working on the project with the federation and Will Ander, a senior partner at consulting firm McMillan/Doolittle and co-author of the 2008 book, "Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail." Source post-gazette.com Retailers Can Now Find Fashionable, Sustainable Clothing to Put in Their Stores March 17, 2010 By Karen Gram, Vancouver Sun Remember the early days of sustainable clothing? Your choice was hemp, or hemp. Once you got past the jokes about smoking it, you almost had to pick the granola out of the threads. It was scratchy, thick, unflattering, and hippie-dippy. You had to be pretty dedicated in those days to don it. Oh, what a difference a few years can make. Today, sustainable fabrics are soft, silky, form-flattering. They offer so much variety that you can even find sustainable fabrics in haute couture. There is bamboo, sustainable because it grows so fast; soy, a by-product of the tofu industry; and linen, a flax product that grows well without pesticides and uses very little water. There's modal, a cellulose fabric made by spinning reconstituted cellulose from beech trees. It's soft like rayon and more absorbent than cotton. There is tussar silk, made by silkworms that are not killed at the end of the process. And there is organic cotton, much better than the conventional cotton, but still requiring a lot of water. Then there are the blends of all the above. But hemp is still the apex of environmental sustainability. It grows really quickly, needing little water and no pesticides or herbicides. The hemp fibres are long and strong, but also porous so they allow your skin to breathe. It has been used for 6,000 years but now, finally, designers can find hemp fabrics that are soft, and sheer, and even knit. Sustainable designers are giddy with the options. But there are other ways to be sustainable in the fashion business. You can recycle, like the folks who turn water bottles into fleece or athletic wear. You can reuse, like Ashley Watson, who remakes old leather products into great new bags. And you can keep production local to reduce the carbon footprint. What is cool today is that fashion designers often use as much creativity to be sustainable as they do to create their spring or fall lines. Source: vancouversun.com The Evolution of Innovative Green Brands March 16, 2010 By Marc Stoiber As consumers, we define ourselves by the brands we keep. Like totem poles, they tell the story of who we are and where our allegiances lie. It's disappointing to see those brands rest on their laurels. We believe in them, but they give us no new reasons to believe. Examples are everywhere. Yearly car updates that are little more than new chrome. Detergents "improved" by the addition of a spout. In times of plenty and prosperity, we seem content to accept this glacial progress. Like our brands, we're happy when nothing rocks the boat. But in times of crisis, everything changes. A few years back, the earth (or at least Al Gore) sent us a disturbing message. The world -- not to put too fine a point on it -- was going to hell in a handbasket. It alarmed us. It threw us into a panic. And most significantly, it sent us scurrying to our trusted brands for reassurance. We wanted them to say they had this climate change thing under control. And what did they tell us? (In case you're wondering, that's the sound of deafening silence). We felt betrayed. For some of us, it was enough to trigger switches to brands that shared our new number one priority, the environment. Sadly, many of those dyed-in-the-wool green brands didn't have efficacy to back their ethics. Although their hearts were in the right place, they simply didn't perform. The shirts made us itchy, the shampoos didn't lather, and the deodorants didn't de-odor. For us consumers, those were dark days indeed. Confronted with this non-choice, many of us simply retreated and consumed less. We rediscovered the joys of family, friendship and non-branded companionship. Walmart, being the sensible world-dominating company it is, saw a new twist on green that other brands (both the traditional and uber ethical) had missed. In short, green equalled efficient, and efficient equalled money saving. From lowering energy consumption to "encouraging" suppliers to cut down their packaging, Walmart introduced innovations in products, services and business models that truly broke new ground. More than any other entity, Walmart convinced shell-shocked traditional brands that they had to get with this green innovation thing. Today, we are starting to see the results. Tide concentrated detergent and Clorox Green Works are early indicators that big consumer packaged goods companies are not only figuring out how to add a green lens to their innovation process, but marry that innovation with consumer demand. In short, they're building things that the newly-conscious consumer wants. Is this a solution to our environmental problems? No. But is it a step in the right direction? Yes. My experience has shown that quick victories embolden further, greater action. If Green Works' incredible success does anything at Clorox, it will be to get the C-Suite pursuing more green product innovations. That will, in all likelihood, come alongside greater efforts to run an ever more green organization. Even if profit is the motive (as it should be for every company), lessened environmental harm will be the by-product. So that leaves us with the predictions. Harvard Business Review wrote that green innovation will be the only form of innovation that succeeds in the 21st century. We are at the early stages of the new industrial revolution. Look for much, much more green thinking on the shelves of your supermarket. And look for many more consumers putting green products on their "totem poles." Marc Stoiber is VP Green Innovation at Maddock Douglas. Source:greenbiz.com Are "Oxo-Degradable" Plastics Better for the Environment? March 15, 2010 James Murray, BusinessGreen Some plastics presented as being "degradable" are no better for the environment than conventional plastics and could even result in negative impacts on soil and wildlife, according to a major new government-backed study. The year-long research programme from Loughborough University assessed the environmental impact of oxo-degradable plastics, which are widely used to make plastic bags and packaging that is frequently presented as being "degradable" by retailers. They work by including small amounts of additives into conventional plastics that act to accelerate the rate at which the plastics degrade. However, the researchers concluded that the incorporation of additives in petroleum-based plastics "does not improve their environmental impact and potentially gives rise to certain negative effects". The findings are set to be challenged by the oxo-degradable plastics industry, which accused the researchers of failing to talk to manufacturers of the material and ignoring some of the environmental benefits associated with the plastic. The report concluded that oxo-degradable plastics do not break down fast enough to be composted, taking up to five years to break down in some environments, and are not suitable for recycling, potentially leading to confusion among consumers who regard the "degradable" label as synonymous with compostable or recyclable. It also warned that while there is no direct evidence of oxo-degradable plastics damaging soil or wildlife, "concerns have been raised that these particles of plastic may be ingested by invertebrates, birds, animals or fish". It said there was no evidence that the plastics have a harmful bio-accumulation on animals, but nor was there evidence that they do not. The Co-operative announced today that it is to cease using oxo-degradable plastics in its carrier bags and Defra's environment minister, Dan Norris, urged other retailers to do likewise. "The research published today clearly shows us that consumers risk being confused by some claims made about oxo-degradable plastics," he said. "As these plastics cannot be composted, the term 'biodegradable' can cause confusion. Incorrect disposal of oxo-degradable plastics has the potential to negatively affect both recycling and composting facilities. We hope this research will discourage manufacturers and retailers from claiming that these materials are better for the environment than conventional plastics." However, representatives for the industry vowed to challenge the report's conclusions. A spokesman for the Oxo-degradable Plastics Association said that many of the issues raised in the report had already been refuted by the industry and argued that it was completely inaccurate to suggest that a plastic that degrades at a relatively rapid rate is no better for the environment than a conventional plastic. He also pointed out that producers of oxo-degradable plastics have not presented their products as compostable. Last month, the UK's largest producer of oxo-degradable plastics, Symphony Environmental Technologies, issued a rebuttal of previous allegations that the plastic results in negligible environmental benefits, accusing producers of hydro-biodegradable plastics made from organic materials of waging an orchestrated campaign to discredit their competitors. The company said research undertaken by Professor Gerald Scott, professor emeritus of polymer science at Aston University and chairman of the British Standards Institute's Committee on Biodegradability of Plastics, had " comprehensively refuted" the allegation that oxo-degradable plastics just fragment and do not biodegrade. His research explained that the additive formulation reduces the molecular weight of the material to the point where it is no longer a plastic, allowing it to be consumed by bacteria and fungi. The latest research from Loughborough University now looks set to further escalate the so-called "plastic wars" between the two forms of degradable plastics, which have also seen producers of organic-based plastics accused of indirectly contributing to food shortages and deforestation by increasing demand for crops to produce plastics. Source: businessgreen.com Huge Opportunity for Retailers to Cut CO2 Emissions from Vehicles and Save Money March 11, 2010 Retailers are keen to operate environmentally friendly fleets of vehicles, but still have a way to go, according to new research in England and Wales from the Energy Saving Trust. This 'Green Gap' - the difference between what companies say and what they actually do - means that retailers waste considerable amounts of money and produce excessive levels of carbon dioxide emissions through their fleet of vehicles. Plus, they fail to take advantage of increasing consumer environmental awareness. Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: "We have come a long way in getting organisations to take the environmental impact of their fleet vehicles seriously. "But we need them to have more than just a positive attitude. We're calling on businesses to do more than 'talk the talk'. "Many get full marks for attitude but not for effort; which is a surprise given the money they can save. "It really is time to bridge the Green Gap, cut carbon and save cash. Per car per year companies can save £1,000. Imagine what that could be for a whole fleet!" Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said: "I am encouraged that so many organisations do recognise the importance of reducing the environmental impacts of their fleets. "This is an important first step, but the real benefits come from taking action. The Energy Saving Trust can help organisations take the next steps to reduce carbon and save money from how they manage their fleets." The good news is that organisations of all sizes broadly exhibit a positive attitude to environmental issues. But given their stated commitment and the financial savings they could make, they often fail to turn their good intentions into positive action. This is where the Energy Saving Trust can step in with a free Green Fleet Review to help support a company cut its carbon emissions and save money. In the retail sector, organisations like Virgin Media, O2 and Arcadia Group have already undertaken Green Fleet Reviews. Key findings from research: 42% of retailers surveyed believe it is very important that organisations reduce the environmental impact of their fleets. Only 27% of retailers are turning their good intentions into action. Retailers therefore have a Green Gap of 15 percentage points. Source: talkingretail.com Greentailing: Retail's must-have this Spring March 10, 2010 By Kathy Grannis, NRF spokesperson After a very white winter and with spring around the corner, it naturally makes sense that I would notice all the "green" happening around me. Everywhere I turn there's another sustainable project in the works or an eco-friendly fashion line being launched. Greentailing is officially "in". In addition to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, reducing energy levels in their stores or eliminating plastic bag usage, many retailers are finding other creative, sustainable projects to undertake. Gap has partnered with Cotton Inc. in a new, exciting campaign, "Recycle Your Blues", which encourages shoppers to bring in their old Gap denim in exchange for 30 percent off their next denim purchase at Gap, GapKids or babyGap. The two-week program began March 5 and ends the 14th. Talk about a great reason to shop! Fast-fashion retailer H&M recently launched its first fully-sustainable clothing line, The Garden Collection. The 80-piece collection will hit stores March 25 in a special section of the store and will also include a special shopping bag with a Garden Collection logo. Target's new eco-friendly skincare line, One, hit stores nationwide March 1 and offers 28 different product options including lip balms, body butters, solid shampoo bars and bath fizzers. One products come in recyclable, plastic-free packaging. A few other retailers worth mentioning who are making huge strides in energy reduction and other sustainable efforts include: Kohl's was recently named 2010 Energy Star Partner of the Year for its commitment to energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Safeway has become the first U.S.-based retail grocery chain and manufacturer of private label merchandise to join the Sustainability Consortium. With a goal of cutting energy use by 20 percent by 2015, The Home Depot is well on its way having already reduced energy levels 16 percent since 2004. The energy the company has saved so far could power 203,000 homes for one year! Office Depot is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Commercial Interiors certification for all of its new locations starting in June. Office Depot anticipates 14 new sto |