Expect More Carbon Action From Businesses, Cities & States

When GreenBiz asked major US business leaders to specify the major challenges expected in 2011, Eric A. Spiegel, President and CEO, Siemens Corporation said “it’s pretty clear that we’re not going to do much in terms of any kind of global or even federal carbon legislation.  The challenge is going to be how do you keep the momentum going in an environment where the federal legislation probably isn’t going to help much?” His prediction: “You’re going to see a lot driven by cities and states”. What do others say?

By Leslie Guevarra in GreenBiz (28 December 2010):

As 2010 drew to a close, GreenBiz asked executives from a range of companies — all of whom have been featured in the news this year — to tell us about their most exciting green prospects, the challenges and the changes they anticipate for 2011, and what they think 2011 will look like from the perspective of 2012.

Here’s what they told us when we asked:

What do you see as the biggest potential challenge for your company in 2011?

Rob Bernard, Chief Environmental Strategist, Microsoft:

For Microsoft, our biggest challenge is raising awareness among technology leaders and decision-makers (CIOs and tech purchasers for example) on the challenges presented by energy constraints. Currently, when I look across the industry, I see IT professionals who are not focused on energy; they see it as a mid-term problem rather than near term. There’s a train coming down the track regarding energy consumption. Right now, they don’t see it and they aren’t worried, but they should be.

Joseph Danko, Director of Sustainable Solutions, CH2M HILL:

The economy. We expect continued slow economic recovery and this will impact our rate of business growth.

Michael Meehan, Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder ENXSuite:

The good thing about the cleantech market is that there are a vast number of opportunities and various segments of the market are still quite nascent. Navigating opportunities sounds like a “champagne problem” but it’s not as easy as it sounds — all companies in this space will continue to evolve their go to market and place their bets on the most promising opportunities. Placing the right bets on opportunities in cleantech is the biggest challenge for all companies.

Eric A. Spiegel, President and CEO, Siemens Corporation:

It’s pretty clear that we’re not going to do much in terms of any kind of global or even federal carbon legislation.  And so the challenge is going to be how do you keep the momentum going for an environmental portfolio in an environment where the federal legislation probably isn’t going to help much? My prediction is you’re going to see a lot driven by cities and states.

Suzanne Shelton, Founder, President and CE, Shelton Group:

Though we’re seeing many companies settling into true sustainability commitments, we’re still seeing a lot of resource constraint. There’s been a trend for a while for corporations to name a VP of sustainability, give that person an FTE or two and then no actual budget to do anything meaningful with — from conducting an LCA to building a true brand platform around sustainability.  As long as that continues it will be tough for the folks who actually have a terrific sustainability story to tell to actually tell it, and, as an ad agency exclusively focused in the sustainability space, tough for us to help our clients tell it.

Michel Gelobter, Chief Green Officer, Hara:

Keeping up with demand for our solution and all you can do with it — a good challenge to have! Faced with the radical visibility/transparency on energy and resource use that our software creates, our customers will be demanding help with data-driven innovation in energy use, capital and operating expense optimization, and value creation.

Kevin Surace, Chairman and CEO, Serious Materials:

Initial cost of retrofits for customers.

Lynelle Cameron, Director of Sustainability, Autodesk:

In the last few months, we announced an array of transformational technologies to help our customers imagine, design, and create a better world … We realize that introducing the best technology is only the first step. Changing behavior and getting people to adopt new design paradigms is an even bigger challenge. This will be our biggest challenge and focus for 2011.  We need to educate the design community to use new tools to make smarter, more sustainable decisions at every stage of the design and build process. As a cultural anthropologist by training, changing behavior is the aspect of my job that I love most. At the end of the day, sustainability is a systems problem and will require people coming together in new ways.

David Wilkerson, Corporate Director of Sustainability and Product Stewardship, Shaw Industries:

Even with our strong commercial outlook, the residential market recovery is slow and unpredictable. This will be the biggest challenge for our entire industry in 2011. Prior to the recession, the industry and Shaw, saw a “sustainability boom.” During these difficult financial times, the market is focusing more on cost.  As the market begins to recover, which may be beyond 2011, and manufacturing returns to full capacity, it is vitally important that the market does not lose focus on the environmental impacts and intense focus of the boom.

Tim Carey, Director of Sustainability and Technology, PepsiCo Americas Beverages:

I prefer to view our “challenges” as opportunities!  We’ve got an exciting agenda for 2011, including recycling 20 million pounds of plastic bottles and aluminum cans through the PepsiCo Dream Machine recycling program, demonstrating the potential viability of a first, national-scale low carbon agricultural program for oranges with Tropicana, and expanding our use of 100 percent post-consumer recycled content in our beverage containers.

Adam Lowry, Co-Founder and Chief Greenskeeper, Method:

We bring big innovation to low-interest categories, so our biggest challenge next year is the same as it always is: Making people aware of all the innovation we put into our products. As a relatively small brand, we don’t have unlimited budgets to get people to try our products. We do know, however, that once people try Method, it’s hard for them to buy anything else. So we will remain focused on getting new people to try Method and spread the word within their circles. It’s the way we’ve always grown, and while it might not be the sexiest way to grow, it yields highly loyal advocates and sustainable growth that insulates us from the vagaries of tough economies or massive competitive spending.

Robert Houghton, President and Founder, Redemtech:

The current financial climate will challenge companies’ continued commitment to sustainability. It is up to service providers like Redemtech to help customers quantify and rationalize the benefits of environmentally and socially responsible business practices to the satisfaction of senior leadership and the shareholders. Fortunately, our industry achieved two important milestones in 2010 — launch of the e-Stewards Electronics Recycling Standard and Gartner’s first-ever Magic Quadrant on the IT asset disposition (ITAD) industry — that make it easier for companies to evaluate their choices among ITAD providers and choose a vendor that aligns with financial, environmental and social goals.

Leisha John, Americas Director of Environmental Sustainability, Ernst & Young:

Like many other professional services firms, we’re watching for a potential uptick in travel as the economy improves. It is certainly an ongoing challenge to encourage our people to be mindful of their environmental impact when they travel, but we’re excited by the increase in videoconferencing that has started to become the norm for several leaders within our firm.

Beth Shiroishi, Assistant Vice President of Citizenship and Sustainability, AT&T:

For 2011 the biggest challenge and the most exciting opportunity for AT&T is activating our employees around sustainability in an authentic way.

Joseph Taylor, Chairman and CEO, Panasonic Corp. of North America:

Economic troubles still appear to be dampening consumer enthusiasm for sustainable lifestyles.

Hannah Jones, Vice President of Sustainable Business and Innovation, Nike:

Our goal for 2011 will be to remain focused on making a difference for the things that really matter. We want to build a portfolio of disruptive innovations in sustainable materials and manufacturing that will enable closed loop products and business models. While we can’t flag what those are just yet, but we know we need to head in this direction, and fast, to prepare our company to thrive in a resource-constrained future.

Bill Morrissey, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability, The Clorox Company:

We have a goal to make sustainability-related improvements to one-third of our product portfolio by 2013, our company’s centennial anniversary. This involves addressing more than 300 product items around the world. This is a significant effort that involves multiple areas of our business but we are committed to reducing the footprint of our products as well as our operations.

Jim Hanna, Director of Environmental Impact, Starbucks:

Over the last two years, Starbucks has been very active in advocating for comprehensive federal climate policy in Washington, D.C. We’ve been successful at raising awareness among key elected officials about the importance of strong climate policy, and we’ve helped break down perceptions that the business community is uniformly opposed to strong climate policy. However, this has not translated into moving pertinent legislation through Congress. We anticipate that 2011 will continue to be a challenging year for business leaders and other stakeholders who are advocating for aggressive climate policy in the U.S.

Chuck Bennett, Vice President of Earth and Community Care, Aveda:

Maintaining our momentum if the economy continues to create challenges for our business.

Terry Yosie, President and CEO, World Environment Center:

I believe there are at least three major challenges gaining momentum in the next year:  1) achieving value chain integration within an individual company’s sustainability strategy, while effectively managing the growing complexity of information, logistics and networks of decision makers involved;  2) navigating the plethora of labeling and certification schemes; and 3) developing mechanisms that allow for greater pre-competitive collaboration among participants in key market segments (e.g., agriculture, consumer goods, technology).  A fourth challenge (really a hangover from previous years) is the greater responsibility placed on the shoulders of business in areas where government cannot or will not lead (e.g., education, public health, poverty reduction).

Arlin Wasserman, Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, Sodexo:

Uncertainty in the economy and no clear public policy roadmap on climate change may make it harder to garner investment for long-term initiatives.

 Leo Raudys, Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability, Best Buy:

This year, we announced a new U.S. carbon footprint reduction goal of 20 percent by 2020, and 2011 will be an important year as we work to make serious progress in achieving that goal.

Source: www.greenbiz.com

Nature’s Way of Creating Order Out Of Chaos

Studying the way glass or other brittle objects shatter can help scientists hone their weather forecasts and predictions of future climate. The study found that tiny particles of dust, released into the air when dirt is broken apart, follow similar fragmentation patterns as glass. Jasper Kok of the US NCAR in Boulder, Colorado, said his work suggested there could be several times more dust particles in the atmosphere than previously estimated.

Scientists seek climate clues in shattered glass

By David Fogarty in Reuters Green Business (28 December 2010):

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Studying the way glass or other brittle objects shatter can help scientists hone their weather forecasts and predictions of future climate, a study released last week says.

The study found that tiny particles of dust, released into the air when dirt is broken apart, follow similar fragmentation patterns as glass.

Dust plays a crucial climate role because it can affect the amount of the sun’s energy absorbed by the atmosphere. Dust can also help with cloud formation and distribution of nutrients, such as iron that is vital for plants.

Some particles reflect solar energy, acting as cooling agents, while some trap extra heat.

For example, microscopic clay particles remain in the atmosphere for about a week, helping cool the atmosphere by reflecting heat from the sun back into space. Larger dust particles drop back to earth more quickly and tend to have a heating effect.

The trick is to figure out how much of each type is in the atmosphere and the better the estimate, the more accurate the forecast.

Jasper Kok of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, said his work suggested there could be several times more dust particles in the atmosphere than previously estimated.

This is because shattered dirt appeared to produce a much larger number of dust fragments, a finding that challenges assumptions used in complex computer programs to forecast the weather and future climate.

This is particularly the case for desert regions such as north Africa, parts of Australia and the southwestern United States, where winds can whip up large amounts of nutrient-rich dust into the air and across the sea.

“As small as they are, conglomerates of dust particles in soils behave the same way on impact as a glass dropped on a kitchen floor,” Kok said in a statement with the release of his study in the latest issue of the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Knowing this pattern can help us put together a clearer picture of what our future climate will look like,” he added.

That is crucial for scientists using computer climate models to simulate the amount of dust particles in the atmosphere to figure out the heating or cooling effect.

Kok said his work suggested the amount of microscopic clay particles might be overestimated in many models and that there might be much greater amounts of larger dust particles swirling around, particularly near desert regions.

More study was needed to determine whether future temperatures in those regions would rise more or less than currently indicated by computer models, the statement said.

Mathematical formulae can be used to show how brittle objects crack and break in predictable ways. Using these formulae Kok estimated the size distribution of dust particles blown into the air, with the formulae matching the measurements of particle sizes almost exactly, he said in the study.

“The idea that all these objects shatter in the same way is a beautiful thing, actually,” Kok says in the statement. “It’s nature’s way of creating order in chaos.”

Source: http://www.reuters.com

31 December in Straits Times

JAKARTA: Indonesia has chosen one of its largest and richest provinces to test efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by saving forest and peatlands, a key part of a US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) climate deal with Norway.

Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island is the second-largest producer of greenhouse gases among Indonesia’s 33 provinces because of deforestation, destruction of carbon-rich peat swamps and land-use change, the government says.

‘The assessment showed that Central Kalimantan is a province with large forest cover and peatlands and faces a real threat of deforestation,’ top technocrat Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of a special presidential delivery unit charged with managing the Norway deal, said in a statement yesterday.

The agreement aims to test efforts that save and restore forests as a way to fight climate change. Forests soak up and lock away large amounts of carbon, while clearing and burning them releases carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

Under the climate deal signed this year, Norway will pay Indonesia for proven emission reductions based on a transparent auditing system, and a key part of the pact is selecting a province to test programmes that boost conservation, training and steps to improve livelihoods.

Overhauling the province’s land-use plan is also key. The deal imposes a two-year national moratorium on new concessions to clear primary forests and peatlands, a step some palm oil and pulp and paper firms fear could disrupt expansion plans.

With nearly a million hectares of oil palm plantations and a rapidly growing coal-mining sector, the province has some of the largest areas of threatened peatlands and peat swamp forests in the country.

The deal also seeks to ramp up a United Nations-backed scheme, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (Redd), that aims to reward poor countries for saving their forests.

Internationally tradeable carbon offsets would be generated by forest preservation projects based on national or regional emission reductions. Rich countries would buy the credits in a future market that could be worth billions of dollars a year, the UN says. A UN climate conference in Mexico this month backed Redd, which has already attracted about US$4 billion in pledges from rich nations, including Norway and the United States.

Indonesia already has about 40 Redd projects at various stages of development, the government says, with two projects totalling more than 300,000ha of peat swamp forests in Central Kalimantan. Australia is also helping to restore 100,000ha of degraded peatlands in the province.

Under the deal, the province, and another to be chosen in 2012, would benefit from some of the US$120 million in the second phase. The bulk of the money would be available in the third phase from 2014, when Norway will pay for measured greenhouse gas cuts based on 2013 emission reductions.

Mr Dharsono Hartono, developer of a Redd project in Central Kalimantan, said: ‘With this selection, the province can finalise its spatial plan, implement its green growth policy and drive bureaucratic reform that can boost jobs and environmental protection.’

REUTERS

Source: www.admpreview.straitstimes.com

 ”Osteoporosis” Affecting the Greatest Biodiversity of the Marine Realm

Since the industrial revolution began over two centuries ago, the oceans have absorbed an estimated 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This is about a quarter of the total amount spewed into the atmosphere as the burning of coal, oil and natural gas gathered pace and agriculture replaced forests. As a result, the basic chemistry of seawater is being altered on a scale scientists say has not occurred for at least 20 million years. Moreover, it is happening at a rate not seen in the last 65 million years, Michael Richardson reports in The Straits Times.  

By Michael Richardson,

For the Straits Times, 27 December 2010

Since the industrial revolution began over two centuries ago, the oceans have absorbed an estimated 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This is about a quarter of the total amount spewed into the atmosphere as the burning of coal, oil and natural gas gathered pace and agriculture replaced forests.

As a result, the basic chemistry of seawater is being altered on a scale scientists say has not occurred for at least 20 million years. Moreover, it is happening at a rate not seen in the last 65 million years.

Does it really matter? More specifically, will it affect future food security in a world where one billion people already rely on fisheries for their primary source of animal protein and another three billion depend on the sea to meet at least 15 per cent of their protein needs?

When carbon dioxide enters salt water, it makes the upper layer of the ocean more acidic. Since 1750, ocean acidity has increased by 30 per cent. If we continue at this rate, it will record a 150 per cent rise by the end of the century. In addition, as carbonic acid intensifies in seawater, calcium carbonate used by marine organisms to build shells, plates and skeletons, including coral reefs, is diluted.

Global fish stocks are declining in many areas due to over-harvesting, marine pollution and habitat destruction. A study commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program and presented to the international climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, earlier this month warned that fisheries face new threats from ocean acidification.

The study called for more extensive research on the impact this will have on catches of fin fish and shell fish, as well as fish farming. Aquaculture is the world’s fastest-growing food source and last year produced half of all the fish consumed by humans. It is seen as a panacea for dwindling wild fisheries. However, the fishmeal used in aquaculture comes from wild stock.

As the oceans acidify, marine scientists are observing another alarming trend, falling oxygen content. A study of the tropical ocean published earlier this year found that zones without enough oxygen for fish and other marine animals to survive expanded by 4.5 million square kilometres between 1960 and 2008, an area about half the size of the United States.

A lowered oxygen level can be a significant constraint on the growth of marine life because it takes a lot of energy to extract oxygen from water. Daniel Pauly, a biologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, predicts that the drop in the ocean’s oxygen combined with acidification will reduce the global fish catch by between 20 – 30 per cent by 2050.

Tropical reefs provide shelter, food and breeding grounds for an estimated 25 per cent of fish species and account for as much as 12 per cent of the global fish catch. These coral reefs are built from calcium carbonate over many centuries. Yet they are among the most vulnerable forms of marine life to more acid seas and warming waters.

One of the most severe episodes of coral stress hit reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean earlier this year. It was the latest of several major episodes of mass bleaching over large reef areas in different parts of the world in the past 20 years. Since then, the number and frequency of these die-backs have increased. If the trend continues, it may disrupt the slow process of reef recovery.

There have been five mass extinctions in Earth’s history and corals provide clues about what happened and why. They have been around for most of that time and they readily fossilize, thus providing a record.

Very little is known about the first mass extinction. But in the wake of the following four, reefs disappeared for millions of years long after adverse climatic conditions returned to benign levels.

Dr J.E.N Veron, former chief scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and author of numerous books on coral reefs, says that only a few decades ago he thought it ridiculous to imagine that reefs might have a limited lifespan as a consequence of human actions.

Today, he warns that if the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and sea continues to rise, acidification will have a widespread impact by 2050. Different species of coral, coralline algae, plankton, and mollusks will show different tolerances, and their capacity to calcify will decline at different rates.

But, he wrote earlier this month, “they will all suffer from some form of coralline osteoporosis. The result will be that corals will no longer be able to build reefs or maintain them against the forces of erosion.”

Dr Veron added that what were once thriving coral gardens supporting the greatest biodiversity of the marine realm would become “red-black bacterial slime, and they will stay that way.”

His warning is a reminder that although the costs of action to curb carbon dioxide emissions may be high, the costs of inaction may be even higher.

- The writer, Michael Richardson is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Source: www.iseas.edu.sg

What’s in the Wind for 2011? Is it Sustainable & Manageable?

If it appears that resolutions for each New Year flow plentifully (but don’t stick around for long), Glenn Meyers has released a very simple and painless way for each member of the world population to participate in contributing toward an increase in sustainability practices. Meanwhile, Australia needs to resolve how to fix the low price of the Renewable Energy Certificates.

Glenn Meyers, storyteller, new media producer in Green Building Elements

(31 December 31, 2010)

If it appears that resolutions for each New Year flow plentifully, launching a resolution for sustainable practices comes as easy as pulling a wisdom tooth.

With this in mind, the “New Year x(1)” practice of sustainability has been released as a very simple and painless way for each member of the world population to participate in contributing toward an increase in sustainability practices.

During the upcoming year, people can start their “New Year x(1)” practice as follows:

1. Use one less light each day, wherever it’s convenient. (reduces demand for electricity)

2. Buy one additional local product. (encourages local production to serve local communities)

3. Buy one less foreign product. (reduces supply chain CO2 emissions and demand for fossil fuels)

4. Turn the thermostat down one degree at bedtime. (reduces generation of greenhouse gases used to produce energy)

Buy one more product made from recycled materials. (promotes the economic engine that makes recycling a feasible business model)

6. Mow the lawn one time with a mulching mower (provides natural fertilizer for the lawn & reduces the need for so much chemical fertilizer)

7. Use one less plastic trash bag to collect the grass clippings. (reduces the requirement for more fossil fuels used in plastics manufacturing)

Eat one less hamburger. (reduces CO2 emissions from cow burps, the petroleum used for shipping, and the electricity used for freezing and cooking)

Rescue and put to use one item that’s headed for the landfill. (as Ben Franklin once said: Waste not, want not.”)

Devise one unique sustainable practice for yourself.  (choose from hundreds of options to spread new sustainable practices; the imagination has no limits — see Steven Sisters photo below for pest control:  ”a mixture of coffee and rum is placed in the bottom and then hung on the coffee tree. The bugs are attracted to the coffee smell, drink the mixture, get drunk, fall into the liquid and drown. Voila! Instant, natural pest control!”

Such a list can grow exponentially for those who choose, but let’s look at the results from simple “New Year x(1)” math to measure effectiveness: 10 practices for each member of the population of this country – now counting at 308 million people – multiplies out to 3.8 billion sustainable practices in one year. Or if the world population of 6.9 billion people takes up this practice, multiplying by a factor of 10 will generate 69 billion more sustainable acts than were generated in 2010.

This is doable, quite easy to practice, and saves more than money. Cheers to the Future!

Happy New Year

Source: www.greenbuildingelements.com

Building a Green Future in Malaysia Makes Financial Sense

With leading multinational corporations at the forefront to lease green office space, the demand for green buildings in Malaysia will continue to rise as environmental awareness grows and more companies embrace the practice of corporate social responsibility. Another driver is the growing body of evidence demonstrating that green buildings make financial sense. There is growing recognition of the need to adopt sustainable building practices and related technologies in order to play a pro-active role in climate change mitigation.

Angie Ng in The Star, Malaysia, (25 December 2010):

With leading multinational corporations at the forefront to lease green office space, the demand for green buildings in Malaysia will continue to rise as environmental awareness grows and more companies embrace the practice of corporate social responsibility.

Another driver is the growing body of evidence demonstrating that green buildings make financial sense.

CB Richard Ellis (Malaysia) vice-president research, Nabeel Hussain says there is growing recognition that key participants in the country’s real estate sector have a responsibility to adopt sustainable building practices and related technologies in order to play a pro-active role in climate change mitigation.

“Malaysia has introduced its own green rating system, the Green Building Index (GBI) in 2009. The Government is supporting the drive towards green buildings and technology and its Budget 2010 was the first one ever to give priority to the procurement of goods and services that are environmentally friendly,” he adds.

Nabeel reveals that studies by CB Eichard Ellis on mature markets such as the United States and Australia have found that developing green buildings can help landlords achieve higher values, fetch higher rents and enjoy higher occupancy rates than comparable non-green buildings.

In an ongoing study of national office portfolio in the United States managed by CB Richard Ellis, the company concludes that sustainable buildings are expected to generate stronger investment returns than traditionally-managed properties.

The study found that owners of sustainably-managed buildings anticipate 4% higher return on investment than owners of traditionally-managed buildings, as well as 5% increase in building value.

“Roughly 79% of owners surveyed believe that sustainable properties perform well in attracting and retaining tenants, yielding a 5% increase in building occupancy and 1% increase in rental income,” Nabeel says.

This is the second phase of a multi-year study initiated in 2009 by CB Richard Ellis and the University of San Diego’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate.

The largest and longest-running study of its kind, the ongoing analysis benchmarks and measures green building benefits and economic results as a framework of investment criteria for retrofit activity.

According to the study, tenants in sustainably-managed buildings report increased productivity, satisfaction and health. Roughly 10% of tenant respondents have seen increased productivity, 94% of tenant managers register higher employee satisfaction in green space and 83% of tenants believe their green space provides a healthier working environment.

The study defined a green building as those with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at any level or those that bear the EPA Energy Star label. All Energy Star buildings in the survey group had been awarded that label since 2008. Most of the buildings included in the research cohort had also adopted other sustainable practices like recycling, green cleaning and water conservation.

CB Richard Ellis was recently ranked 30 among Newsweek’s greenest companies in America, and occupied top spot in the financial services sector. The US Environmental Protection Agency has named CB Richard Ellis an Energy Star Partner of the Year for the past three years, including recent recognition for “Sustained Excellence.”

Nabeel says the US Green Building Council has awarded CB Richard Ellis its Leadership Award for Organisational Excellence and the industry group, CoreNet, recognised CB Richard Ellis with a special commendation for Sustainable Leadership and Design Development.

In Asia, CB Richard Ellis recently won a Merit Award for Interior Projects in an Existing Building at Hong Kong Green Building Council’s 2010 Green Building Awards, in relation to its office relocation in Hong Kong.

CB Richard Ellis’ new office premises in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai have been designed and constructed in accordance with LEED best practices.

Source: www.biz.thestar.com.my and www.eco-business.com

How’s This For An Entrepreneur’s Guide To Green Purchasing

More and more, small-business owners are evaluating their supply chain through the lens of the “triple bottom line” — that is, balancing economic considerations with social and environmental ones. But the rapid proliferation of sustainable products and services proves it’s not so easy being green. With more than 600 green labels on the market worldwide, according to a recent article on Greenbiz.com, business owners are awash with choices that didn’t exist three years ago. Anna Clark, author of Green, American Style, has come up with “The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Green Purchasing”.

By Anna Clark, Author of the book Green, American Style, which released last year, and owner of Earth People, a Houston on based consultancy specialising in building best-in-class brands by harnessing human potential, fostering leadership and driving sustainable values through every facet of an organization. 

This first appeared in the American Express OPEN Forum

More and more, small-business owners are evaluating their supply chain through the lens of the “triple bottom line” — that is, balancing economic considerations with social and environmental ones.

But the rapid proliferation of sustainable products and services proves it’s not so easy being green. With more than 600 green labels on the market worldwide, according to a recent article on Greenbiz.com, business owners are awash with choices that didn’t exist three years ago.

Despite the challenges, companies of all sizes have much to gain by getting on board. Here’s a road map to help you navigate the green fog when buying products and services for your business. 

Mission Sustainable

A logical place to begin is to look at how you buy, not just what you buy. Inefficient processes always carry ecological and financial costs, hidden though they may be.

If, for example, you purchase supplies from a big-box retailer and are required to meet a minimum with each order, you’re probably ordering more products than your company needs. This increases the likelihood that miscellaneous items will go unused. How many companies have obsolete toner cartridges gathering dust on the shelves? Too many.

The next step is to create a green supply chain that corresponds with your business objectives. If your goal is to cut costs, you may save more money by printing double-sided than by switching to paper with higher recycled content.

If your goal is to reduce energy costs, you probably know to purchase ENERGY STAR-qualified products. But to go the extra mile, consider switching to a commercial electricity plan that offers a combination of renewable energy in varying amounts — at prices equal to or less than the competition. 

People, Planet and Profits

When evaluating your supply chain, you can rely on virtually the same set of criteria for everything from the cups in the break room to the packaging of your products. Most certifications apply the following attributes when determining a product’s environmental impact:

Clean. Emits the least amount of pollution possible for its category.

Energy-efficient. Energy is not wasted in producing or operating the product.

Water-conscious. Water is not wasted in manufacturing and/or the product itself is a water-saving device.

Resource-efficient. Goods are made with recyclable content.

Recyclable. At the end of its life, some or all of the product’s parts can be recycled.

Streamlined. Not over-packaged. 

Fair trade.The environment is half the battle. People matter too. Are those who make the product compensated fairly and are their working conditions safe?

Necessary. No product can be green if you can easily do without it.

Certified. A third party validates the manufacturer’s claims.

From a public relations standpoint, “certified” is one of the most pragmatic solutions. It’s far easier to say, “I work in a LEED-certified building” than it is to say, “I work in a building that conserves energy, has superior indoor air quality and was constructed with materials sourced from within 500 miles.” Credible green product certifications, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED designation, communicate dozens of green attributes in a single term or phrase.

The Big Picture

Switching to certified products is a step in the right direction, but a more holistic policy is required to weave sustainability principles throughout the supply chain. Case in point: EarthSmart, a comprehensive program that integrates environmental responsibility with business solutions, work culture and community outreach efforts at FedEx.

“FedEx understands that we have a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint while being a positive resource to communities around the world,” says Laura Fortenberry, a global brand manager for FedEx. “With EarthSmart, we’re able to measure our efforts against our goals to make sure we remain challenged to always do more and be better.” 

For small-business owners struggling to develop a sustainability policy, the  FedEx Global Citizenship Report includes more details on EarthSmart and provides some inspiration in terms of big-picture strategy.

In addition, several organizations offer practical tools for aligning an eco-friendly ethos with purchasing requirements. The EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide features an index for evaluating green products and services, and calculating the costs and benefits of purchasing choices. 

Members of the Responsible Purchasing Network have access to green purchasing tools and guides, an explanation of certifications, and a list of products that meet recommended criteria. 

And, to access lists of hundreds of green vendors for every type of product or service, look no further than Green America’s  National Green Pages and the Organic Consumers Association’s GreenPeople Directory.

Changing the way you purchase products is not a financial cost as much as an investment in your future. An environmentally responsible business plan will set you apart from the competition, while helping you conserve precious resources — not least of all your own.

 Source: www.earthpeopleco.com

Feeding the birds and watching the young ones take flight from my balcony, I feel I am paying off some of the bad karma I sowed by hunting birds for the pot when growing up in a very different India. In just my lifetime, I have seen the number of birds in the sky and fields dwindle, and great forests rolled back to small islands of green.

And I am part of this. I bought a tiny piece of land some years ago, in scrub forests in the foothills of the Himalayas, partly because when I visited the site, I heard a leopard calling nearby. Yet, if I ever build a house there, I will be eating into the habitat of that leopard.

I try not to be an eco-fascist or to wallow in guilt. But I believe we should try as individuals, even as governments and vested interests fail, to stop collectively sawing at the branch we are sitting on.

So I propagate my own island on my balconies. I switch off all lights when I leave. I buy ‘green’ products. I use things until they fall apart. I take public transport.

Yet, for all that, my footprint on this planet is still large.

Next year (2011), we should strive to walk more lightly, writes Nirmal Ghosh in The Straits Times.  Read More

OPINION: Will we have a greener 2011?

Nirmal Ghosh in the Straits Times ( 29 December 2010):

BANGKOK — The two balconies in my eighth floor apartment in downtown Bangkok are stuffed with green plants.

In one, where I keep only palms and bamboos, I put out a bowl of birdseed every morning along with an earthen platter filled with water.

More than 30 sparrows frequent the bamboos. A pair of spotted doves built a nest among them a year ago and has since reared half a dozen chicks.

I work from home, and see the palms and the bamboos as a successful scrap of nature — even if it is less than a tiny fraction of the big city, and smaller than dust in the wind on this planet spinning around the sun. But it makes my apartment more liveable.

To keep our planet green and habitable amid mounting pressure from a human population of about seven billion, we have seen, in recent months, two major worldwide efforts — the Biodiversity Convention meeting in Japan last month and the Climate Change meeting in Mexico earlier this month.

The talks at Cancun were approached with more realism both by those involved and by the media, after the crushing deflation of expectations at climate change talks in Copenhagen last year.

Cancun ended in a consensus agreement, the headlines assured us. The magazine New Scientist, for instance, said: ‘Dawn breaks on a low-carbon world.’

But the content of the article visibly struggled to live up to that vision. A false dawn, perhaps.

As Bolivia resentfully pointed out: ‘Compromise was always at the expense of the victims, rather than the culprits of climate change.’

The fact remains that whatever will be done as a result of Cancun will most likely be too little, too late.

True, there is more environmental awareness than ever. Ecological products are the rage — by choice for the rich in their mansions and condos, and by default for the poor in their mud and reed shacks.

There is some evidence of slowing deforestation. Several countries have ambitious national targets for curbing man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Cricket stars and children have marched in India to save the tiger.

Bookstores are full of doom-boom books with titles like The Flooded Earth, The Rising Sea and The Coming Famine. Several are not far off the mark.

Recent and under-reported data from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration shows that from 1995 to 2005, global annual plant consumption rose from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of all plant production.

Which brings us to biodiversity.

If Cancun was lukewarm, the Biodiversity Summit in Nagoya the previous month was a disgrace. Only five heads of state showed up.

‘One-third of the countries represented there couldn’t even be bothered to send a minister. This is how much they value the world’s living systems,’ wrote columnist George Monbiot.

Indeed, even as Japan hosted that summit, it continues to fish for the disappearing bluefin tuna.

The plunder of marine life makes plunder on land seem gentle. A merchant ship captain recently told me that the sight of fishing boats as his container vessel approached the coast of China, was like a ‘snowstorm on my radar’. Europe’s fishing fleets have long since emptied many seas off Africa’s coast.

Will we have a greener 2011? Possibly. But it is likely to be superficial.

We remain locked in a model that emphasises consumption and materialism, with little respect for the thin skin of land, sea and sky that makes it possible for us to live.

Environmentalists have long sought to put a value to things like clean air and wetlands, in the hope of proving that preserving offers better returns than polluting or plundering. But once something is given a value, it can also be traded.

Production and trade is at the heart of our economic system and civilisation. In a logical consequence, as our population grows to over seven billion, we are trading the very biosphere which gives us life for little more than a handful of change.

Next December offers another opportunity to secure a meaningful agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, at the next talks on climate change in Durban, South Africa.

It may be the last chance, but nobody is holding his breath.

My guess is that it will take disasters, on a scale unheard of in human history, to force change.

Feeding the birds and watching the young ones take flight from my balcony, I feel I am paying off some of the bad karma I sowed by hunting birds for the pot when growing up in a very different India. In just my lifetime, I have seen the number of birds in the sky and fields dwindle, and great forests rolled back to small islands of green.

And I am part of this. I bought a tiny piece of land some years ago, in scrub forests in the foothills of the Himalayas, partly because when I visited the site, I heard a leopard calling nearby. Yet, if I ever build a house there, I will be eating into the habitat of that leopard.

I try not to be an eco-fascist or to wallow in guilt. But I believe we should try as individuals, even as governments and vested interests fail, to stop collectively sawing at the branch we are sitting on.

So I propagate my own island on my balconies. I switch off all lights when I leave. I buy ‘green’ products. I use things until they fall apart. I take public transport.

Yet, for all that, my footprint on this planet is still large.

Next year, we should strive to walk more lightly.

Source: www.dailyme.com