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February 1, 2008

Green (Fri)Day: How Big is the Green Economy?

On Wednesday the website GreenBiz.com released a big report on the "State of Green Business.(pdf)" Working mainly with government agency numbers, they scored the economy as a whole to be "treading water" in 10 categories, "sinking" in two, and "swimming" in eight--but for some of those, executive editor Joel Makower admitted they were "being generous." (I agree. Take LEED-certified office space construction--it may be a "swimming" category in terms of square footage, but as I argue in an October story, LEED certification is not the be-all and end-all of environmental design.)

It's dismaying to see that despite all the talk about "climate neutral" and "zero carbon," America is making insignificant gains in carbon intensity--the greenhouse gases emitted per unit of GDP.

But where Greenbiz really did a good job was in being honest about the questions they asked but couldn't answer.

Continue reading "Green (Fri)Day: How Big is the Green Economy?"

Posted by Anya Kamenetz at 9:00 AM | 1 Comment

January 31, 2008

Werbach Sells Out to Saatchi

Those still on the fence about the sellout status of our September coverboy Adam Werbach--the youngest ever Sierra Club president who's now doing sustainability work for Wal-Mart--are about to be taken for another surprise twist. This morning Werbach announced that his San Francisco sustainability consultancy, Act Now, has been scooped up by none other than the lovemark-man himself: Saatchi & Saatchi's Kevin Roberts. The new company, called Saatchi & Saatchi S, in which Werbach will remain CEO, plans on bringing sustainability to the ad agency's clients, which include A-listers like P&G, Toyota, and Visa.

To be frank, I was shocked. The gut reaction: well, clearly Werbach has sold out. Pairing up with Wal-Mart was painful enough for the environmental establishment to swallow. Now Werbach will be owned by The Mad Men of Madison Avenue, the one place where greenwashing is most feared and excessive wastefulness still runs rampant.

Of course, a cynical take is easy. If you look at the decisions Werbach has made throughout his career, they may seem counterintuitive, contradictory, even hypocritical and lost. But in fact, the one thing that has stayed constant is his environmenal convictions--it's just the methods he's exploiting that have changed. (At least he believes). Instead of continuing to throw rocks at a company like Wal-Mart, he switched from outsider to insider, deciding that he needed to be inside the system to provoke change. Now with Saatchi, he's embedded himself in the fourth largest communications holding company in the world that holds the key to influencing the behavior of some of the most powerful global brands.

Werbach told me he sold to Saatchi because his little 50-person company was too small to reach the global scale he wants to impact. For example, in developing economies like China and India, he wants to be on the ground shaping consumer behavior with a built-in sustainability ethos. Publicis's ad shop has an army of 7,000, with over 150 offices around the globe--which means within a couple of months Werbach will have instant offices in New York, Chicago, London, Beijing--and don't forget Wal-Mart country's Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Like most of his moves, Werbach's latest experiment can be criticized for is being too optimisic, too idealistic, too ambitious. He can also be criticized for being too impatient--impatient to not allow his company to grow organically on its own terms not beholden to the pressures of a huge public company. It's a criticism he's received countless times before. But it's that very impatience--he believes--that's necessary if we ever want to make a dent in this thing called the climate crisis.

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 9:27 AM | 3 Comments

January 25, 2008

Green (Fri)Day: Total Information Awareness

Dan Hill, living in Sydney, is the web editor of British magazine Monocle. He gave a fascinating talk at a conference called Interesting South last fall that he recently put up on his blog.

He calls it "The Well Tempered Environment." It's a sketch of a "public dashboard" to gather and publish information about energy and resource use, to get people competing on a household, neighborhood, citywide, regional, even global level to use less.

We know that technologies that make information transparent and provide real-time feedback can shape behavior almost effortlessly --for example, wearing a pedometer makes you walk more . Hill's idea applies this principle to environmental awareness. The talk included a half-dozen actual existing products along this line, and I've noticed a few more such ideas popping up elsewhere.

Continue reading "Green (Fri)Day: Total Information Awareness"

Posted by Anya Kamenetz at 9:00 AM | 1 Comments

January 24, 2008

CEO Lee Scott Speaks About Wal-Mart's New Strategies

Yesterday Wal-Mart's CEO Lee Scott presented a speech to over 7,000 store managers. Surprisingly, the focus of his speech was Wal-Mart's devotion to sustainability. Scott cited the store's selling over 145 million compact fluorescent lightbulbs, and stressed the company's mission of continuing its pursuits toward energy efficiency. He also announced that the retail giant would work with suppliers to make its more power-hungry products 25 percent more energy-efficient over the next three years.

Also in his speech, Scott announced Walmart's continued exploration of ways to improve its healthcare policies and practices. Of note, he said, was that Wal-Mart employees with health insurance has risen to 93 percent. Now, Wal-Mart will also promote electronic prescriptions, to reduce costs by using less material and to decrease potentially-dangerous prescription errors.

Since the media backlash against Wal-Mart a few years ago, the company has strived to remake itself and its image by embracing sustainability. Scott's speech illustrates a continuum along this trajectory. But are will these moves be enough? While these are great attempts, the world's largest retailer won't be able to change minds until it takes a more dominate leadership position and becomes an agent of industry change.

Here are a few things Wal-Mart could do:

• Give huge incentives to suppliers that reduce packaging materials and embrace sustainable practices.


• Spotlight on the store's greenest products. And the company should stress that such practices will probably reduce cost, increase profit, and increase demand.

What do you think about Wal-Mart's recent sustainable practices? What do you think the company should do next?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 2:20 PM | 4 Comments

December 13, 2007

Sustainability: The Little Green Monster

If you use a desktop PC, chances are you've learned to deal with the obnoxious amount of space it takes up, the amount of power it consumes, and the fan noises that emanate from it at regular intervals. Yet, there is another alternative. The enano Computers line of compact PCs eliminates all those problems, and they're better for the environment.

Enano certainly isn't the first to come out with a small form factor computer (the Mac Mini claims that title), but the company is the first to place the primary focus on the environmental aspect. "We thought we were on to something good before green was taking on the crest of momentum that it has" says enano COO Bill Reh.

Continue reading "Sustainability: The Little Green Monster"

Posted by Liz Webber at 12:08 PM | Add Comment

December 6, 2007

Sustainability: Inconsistencies in the Green Market

In the never ending cycle of green paradoxes, many consumers say they would pay more for green technology, but the VCs have slowed their investments there. Granted consumers were talking about home electronics and the VCs referred to alternative energy, but it still shows how market forces aren't suddenly going to solve our climate problems.

A survey released this week by Forrester Research found that 12 percent of Americans would pay more for consumer electronics that use less energy or were made by a company with a positive environmental image. An additional 41 percent are concerned by the environment but not sure they would pay extra for a green computer. That still leaves 47 percent who don't really care. But it stands to reason that those who are willing to pay more for green products are probably the ones with the most buying power.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Inconsistencies in the Green Market"

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:52 AM | 2 Comments

November 29, 2007

Sustainability: Because Sunlight Is Better For Us Anyway

It's a simple concept really: during the day when the sun is shining your light bulbs don't need to burn as brightly. With that in mind, Nebraska-based Axis Technologies came up with a product to improve efficiency and cut electrical costs at the same time. The Axis Daylight Harvesting Dimming Ballast works with fluorescent lights in commercial buildings; the company says it can improve energy efficiency by up to 70 percent on sunny days and can cut as much as a third off the building's electrical bill.

In lighting systems, a ballast is the device that converts the voltage that comes out of the electrical socket into a current the fluorescent light can use. The Axis ballast is installed much like any other ballast, but its potential for decreased energy usage is twofold. First, a dipswitch attached to the ballast allows all the lights to be dimmed by a certain increment (say 40 percent). More importantly, a photocell on the ballast itself measures the amount of sunlight in the room and adjusts the level of fluorescent lighting accordingly.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Because Sunlight Is Better For Us Anyway"

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:23 AM | 3 Comments

November 15, 2007

Sustainability: A Holiday for Your Trash

Today is America Recycles Day. Yeah, I just found that out this morning, too. And surprise, surprise, Americans don't recycle enough. A recent Staples survey found that only 23 percent of respondents recycle their old electronics, while 41 percent either throw them in the trash or don't get rid of them at all. (What about the other 36 percent?) I definitely fall in that latter category and I blame my parents for that one; they have a television graveyard in their attic with every TV they've owned since 1978.

Staples and other likeminded companies are aiming to change those bad environmental habits. An article from Environment News Service outlines recycling initiatives by Staples, Office Depot and Xerox to keep us from tossing electronics and other office products filled with hazardous chemicals. However, I'm a little skeptical that people will be willing to pay to recycle, even if it is just $10, when throwing the item away is so much easier.

Continue reading "Sustainability: A Holiday for Your Trash"

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:44 AM | 1 Comment

November 8, 2007

Sustainability: Bottled Water Gets a Bad Rap

This just in: the bottled water industry is actually good for the environment. That's what Kim Jeffrey, chief executive of Nestle Waters, claims in a recent Q&A for the New York Times.

Not only do bottled water companies work hard to conserve the environment around the springs where they get their water, they also moderate greenhouse gas emissions from trucks by building plants close to the water source. Nestle is also phasing in a new bottle that uses 15 percent less plastic. Sure the industry is behind on recycling, but who isn't?

Somehow I'm not buying it. Clearly using tap water is better for the environment than bottled water. Jeffrey's other points, however, get at the real issue: people aren't buying bottled water in lieu of drinking tap water. They choose Poland Springs and Fiji water over Coke or Gatorade or Snapple. For the most part people are aware of the environmental issues with the industry, but that's not their main concern. They just want something to drink that isn't full of sugar.

Although growth in the industry has slowed, that doesn't mean people are buying less bottled water. They just aren't buying more. That seems unlikely to change anytime soon. It's going to take a lot more than global warming to convince people to just drink tap water.

Related Content:

Charles Fishman also talked to Kim Jeffrey for his article Message in Bottle, an in depth look at the bottled water industry.

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:35 AM | 4 Comments

Sustainability: $50 Million for Drywall?

That's what Serious Materials recently managed to raise for its EcoRock line of drywall set to come out next year. The reason investors are so excited about something seemingly so banal: Serious claims its drywall takes 90 percent less energy to produce than standard drywall, resulting in 98 percent less greenhouse gas emissions. When talking about an industry that creates 25 million tons of greenhouse gases each year, those numbers are significant enough to attract some attention.

"We look at it as the beginning of a new industrial revolution," says Serious president and CEO Kevin Surace. "What you're seeing is the opportunity to take everything that we do around us and get on the right side of the energy curve."

Continue reading "Sustainability: $50 Million for Drywall?"

Posted by Liz Webber at 10:31 AM | 1 Comment

November 1, 2007

Sustainability: MSN Channels Its Green Side

With everyone buzzing about green issues these days, MSN launched a green channel for its network of sites this week. The channel serves as an aggregator for all of MSN and MSNBC's environmental news with additional content from outside sources like Environmental International, TreeHugger.com and The Daily Green.

MSN Green contains equal parts fluff (photos of polar bears and children in the rainforest intended to tug at the heart-strings) and substance (news stories on global warming and consumption of natural resources). As can be expected from a major online portal, there's a pretty well-rounded mix of content that I think will appeal to people with various levels of interest in the environment. I'm not sure that MSN Green is going to change anyone's opinion or instigate major change, but it fulfills its use as an information provider.

Visitors to the site are invited to "Take action now!", although that basically involves taking environmental quizzes and signing online petitions. Still, the quizzes are kind of fun. I calculated my Eco-Footprint with a quiz from Conservation International. After checking that off, among other things, I recycle aluminum cans and I don't litter "in my spare time" (are there people that do?), I learned that I am an Eco-Apprentice -- I've made a good start, but I have a little ways to go.

The green channel has not really been updated since the launch at the beginning of the week, although this is just the first week and they are dealing with limited content. Overall, the presentation of the information works well and doesn't seem too dumbed down or agenda driven. However, MSN Green won't accomplish anything if people can't find it. There's no obvious way to access the channel from the MSN homepage; it appears someone neglected to add it to the channel directory at the top. Nice job, MSN.

What do you think of the channel?

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:55 AM | Add Comment

October 25, 2007

Sustainability: When Furniture Attacks

I was a little alarmed by an article I found in the San Francisco Chronicle this week about the myriad of toxic chemicals that are used in all types of furniture. These are the beds we sleep in each night, the tables where we eat our meals, and the couches we curl up on to watch T.V. While I'm not surprised that certain household products, like floor cleaners and paint, contain hazardous substances, it's not something I ever really considered when it comes to furniture.

The dire news: there are many known toxins that are used in the making of furniture that have adverse effects ranging from extremely unpleasant odors to liver damage. For example, formaldehyde (a chemical used in embalming) often shows up in wood furniture, and polyurethane foam can contain chemicals that have been known to lead to complications of the nervous system.

Continue reading "Sustainability: When Furniture Attacks"

Posted by Liz Webber at 12:00 PM | 1 Comment

October 23, 2007

Sustainability: Sainsbury's Serious About Saving Energy… And Engaging its Shoppers

It's been a fashion statement for a few seasons now. Being Green is In. If you're a corporate entity trying to be socially responsible, there's no hotter way than endeavoring to save the earth.

Ever heard the expression if you're going to get wet you might as well go swimming? This weekend, Britain's 3rd largest supermarket chain will make a splashy show of corporate social responsibility by giving away 1 million green friendly light bulbs to its customers, in exchange for an energy saving pledge to help the environment.

The journalist in me is inherently suspicious of such moves on the part of large corporations; I tend to label them as attention seeking gambles in an effort to attract positive media attention. But in this particular case I really do think Sainsbury's deserves some kudos for its initiative (here at Fast Company, we have a previously established familiarity for the connection between light bulbs and saving the world.)

Timed to coincide with the turning back of clocks across the country, on October 27th, Sainsbury's is offering free Philips 11 watt bulbs (equivalent to 60w incandescent light bulbs) to encourage customers and colleagues to switch to greener alternatives during darker months.

In order to claim a bulb, customers need to pledge to replace a light bulb with an energy saving light bulb, take re-usable bags for shopping rather than use disposable bags, unplug the phone charger when it’s not being used, keep the fridge and freezer running efficiently, switch to taking more showers than baths, try drying clothes outdoors or hang them up inside, rather than using the tumble dryer.

Along with its light bulb giveaway, Sainsbury's will also reduce the energy it uses in stores for the weekend by 45 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of enough electricity to power 22 households for a whole year.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Sainsbury's Serious About Saving Energy… And Engaging its Shoppers"

Posted by Saabira Chaudhuri at 6:09 PM | Add Comment

October 18, 2007

Sustainability: Aussies Tell Greenhouse Gas Offenders to Fess Up

Carbon dioxide belchers down under, beware. A new law passed by the Australian government will require the nation's largest businesses to report on greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption starting in July of next year. Officials say the public has a right to know who the country's biggest polluters are.

The law applies only to the companies and facilities that emit the highest amounts of greenhouse gases, with the intent of protecting small business from further regulatory burdens. However, stricter limits will be imposed over the course of three years to increase the number of companies reporting.

My first thought on learning about this law was that it would never work in the U.S., or it will at least take years before anything like it comes about. While some effort has been made on the state level, the national government has showed little interest in recent years in interfering with big business's role in contributing to global warming.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Aussies Tell Greenhouse Gas Offenders to Fess Up"

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:50 AM | Add Comment

October 16, 2007

Sustainability: Toxic iPhones Face Lawsuit

The new iPhone may have won over the tech world, but for environmentalists and consumer advocates it leaves much to be desired. A report by Greenpeace released yesterday found Apple's latest gadget houses multiple kinds of toxic chemicals in parts ranging from the antenna to the headphone cables.

One substance that is particularly troubling to environmentalists is phthalates plasticisers (a toxin that makes up 1.5 percent of the plastic coating on the iPhone's headphone cables), which are known to cause sterility and other reproductive problems in mammals. Phthalates are one characteristic of the chlorinated plastic compound polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The EU placed a ban on using phthalates in toys and other children's products because of the associated health risks.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Toxic iPhones Face Lawsuit"

Posted by Liz Webber at 3:21 PM | Add Comment

October 11, 2007

Sustainability: Greening the Greens

What the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED ratings did for sustainable building design, a consortium of organizations is now trying to accomplish for landscapes and other outdoor spaces. The Sustainable Sites Initiative was unveiled last week at the American Society of Landscape Architects Expo as a joint project by that organization, the University of Texas at Austin's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the United States Botanic Garden.

Although the idea has been in the works for a couple of years, it's still in its preliminary stages. The first report on what exactly will be expected of landscape architects who choose to follow the initiative's guidelines will be released November 1st. However, the LEED creators have already signed on to include the finalized guidelines in their rating system in the future.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Greening the Greens"

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:10 AM | 1 Comment

October 4, 2007

Sustainability: The Green Age of Advertising

While reading through The New York Times on Monday, I came across a giant blue ad proclaiming "It took 125 years to use the first trillion barrels of oil. We'll use the next trillion in 30." More blue boxes showed up on subsequent pages with equally dire facts. There was no indication of who placed the ads until finally a few pages later there appeared a full two-page spread for Chevron's new "Power of Human Energy" campaign. Even more blue boxes followed, this time with the Chevron logo and slogans like "We've increased the energy efficiency of our own operations by 27 percent since 1992."

It's a neat advertising trick that the Chevron logo is not in any way associated with the problems of oil consumption, but is part of the solutions. I'm not really sure I fully understand the point of the campaign -- something about people joining together to find the solution to the global energy crisis. There's not really a clear link as to how Chevron fits into that process either.

Continue reading "Sustainability: The Green Age of Advertising"

Posted by Liz Webber at 11:04 AM | 1 Comment

October 3, 2007

Innovation Wednesday: Wal-Mart Surpasses Goal to Sell 100 Million Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs Three Months Early; CEO H. Lee Scott Celebrates with Some Hamburger Helper.

Wal-Mart, take your victory lap.

Wal-Mart announced yesterday that the company has blown past an ambitious goal of selling 100 million compact fluorescent light bulbs by the end of 2007 -- three months early. This is no small deal for the Arkansas based retailer, or the environment. Over the lifetime of the CFLs, Wal-Mart estimates that these energy-saving bulbs will have the effect of taking 700,000 cars off the road or conserving the energy needed to power 450,000 single-family homes. And although the swirly bulbs are pricier (at least for now) than their incandescent cousins, Wal-Mart customers can save up to $350 a year on average by making the switch, the company says.

Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott clearly deserves a lot of credit for this. To understand the impact of his decision to make CFLs a priority for Wal-Mart, I’d recommend re-reading my pal Charles Fishman’s award winning analysis, How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take To Change The World? Not only does Fish do the detailed math of what the bulb means for the consumer and the environment, he tells a nail-biter of a story of how Lee Scott convinced GE's Jeffrey Immelt to radically disrupt GE's own light bulb business. Fish writes: “Once Wal-Mart decides to make swirls an important product, the appeal for GE also becomes clear. It's the power of the big dog: GE can either help Wal-Mart sell swirls, or some other lightbulb company will. In either case, GE's regular-bulb business shrivels.” Tough call. We now know who won. Everybody.

Continue reading "Innovation Wednesday: Wal-Mart Surpasses Goal to Sell 100 Million Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs Three Months Early; CEO H. Lee Scott Celebrates with Some Hamburger Helper."

Posted by Ellen McGirt at 1:00 AM | 14 Comments

September 27, 2007

Sustainability: Cut the Greenwash

In an effort to keep the public from being duped by ads that might be little more than greenwash, the Norwegian government is putting a ban on car manufacturers from describing their cars as "green" or "environmentally-friendly" in their advertisements. Unless they can prove that claim without a doubt, which is close to impossible.

Even the Prius, a car that probably is a great deal better than most other options on the road right now, will have to give up its eco-slogan of "the world's most environmentally-friendly car." At least other makes of hybrids that don't get nearly the same mileage as the Toyota poster-car, at least not in this country, won't be able to jump on the green bandwagon. Norwegian consumers will just have to decide for themselves what the environmental impact of a car would be.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Cut the Greenwash"

Posted by Liz Webber at 12:08 PM | Add Comment

September 20, 2007

Sustainability: When It Comes to Going Green, Bigger is Better

When it comes to the environment, we are constantly told that every little bit counts. But it's often hard to see what impact an individual recycling an empty soda can or turning down the thermostat a few degrees in winter really has in the long run. When large corporations set their sights on going green, on the other hand, the difference is a lot more tangible.

If News Corporation succeeds in becoming carbon neutral by 2010, it will be the equivalent of taking 130,000 cars off the road, according to Greenpeace's research director. Who cares if Rupert Murdoch is saving money (or even making money off his new green image) - this is one instance where capitalism and environmentalism can happily coexist. As long as the changes are real and not a massive publicity stunt, I can only applaud News Corp. on this one. Let's hope other media companies are guilted into following Murdoch's lead.

Continue reading "Sustainability: When It Comes to Going Green, Bigger is Better"

Posted by Liz Webber at 1:22 AM | Add Comment

September 6, 2007

Sustainability: The Little Green Lies We Tell Ourselves

Apparently it has become all the rage in Colorado (and probably other places, too) for individuals to purchase little cards that claim to offset the bearer's monthly power consumption derived from fossil fuels with the good clean energy of wind power. It's just like planting 13 trees, or not driving 1,200 miles in your car! And it only costs $15 a month!

Call me a cynic, but this seems to be yet another example of America thinking we can buy our way out of a problem. I'm sure the intentions of both the energy credit providers and the people who buy the cards are good, but I really don't see how this actually helps the environment. At most, it gives the renewable energy providers a little more cash to continue their operations. It does not really impact an individual's carbon footprint one way or the other.

Continue reading "Sustainability: The Little Green Lies We Tell Ourselves"

Posted by Liz Webber at 3:51 PM | 2 Comments

August 30, 2007

Sustainability: PETA vs. Al Gore

Animal rights groups are pissed. While environmental missionaries a la Al Gore have guilted the masses into trading in their Hummers for Hybrids and plastic bags for crunchy burlap sacs, they've left one critical piece out of their argument: ditching Kobe beef in favor of tofu.

According to an interesting piece that ran in yesterday's New York Times, animal rights groups like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) argue that being a meat-eating environmentalist--such as Al--is an oxymoron. (For more on meat-eating environmenalists, read Fast Company's September cover story on Adam Werbach). As writer Claudia H. Deutsch points out, the groups have compelling ammo to back it up: last November the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization released a startling report revealing that the livestock business generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined.

Instead of trying to convert consumers at large, animal rights groups are channeling their energy to influence the influencers: sway the environmental movement, who has the spotlight right now. The Humane Society is running ads in enviro magazines juxtaposing a car key next to a fork: "Which one of these contributes more to global warming? It's not the one that starts a car." Taking a more abrasive tone, PETA has created an army of trucks fitted with a cartoon-style Al Gore chomping on a drumstick, donning the tagline: "Too Chicken to Go Vegetarian? Meat is the No 1 Cause of Global Warming." PETA's manager of vegan campaigns, Matt A. Prescott, said that his group has written to over 700 environmental organizations with pleas to promote vegetarianism--to not much avail.

As a carnivore (albeit, a light one), I find this new case for vegetarianism surprising and convincing. But sadly, the friction once again surfacing between these two groups represents a broader challenge activist movements have been self-imposing for years. In recently reporting the story on Werbach (an environmentalist who got fed up with the methods of what he felt was an ineffective movement), I learned that activists from labor, environmental, human rights, women's rights, animal rights groups, etc, have a long-entrenched history of being siloed and not playing well together. Instead of focusing on all their common interests--fighting for a fair, healthy, sustainable world--they claw each other's eyes out with their differences. In the end, what have they achieved? Not only silencing each other's voices, but perpetuating that "activist brand" of being hostile, arrogant folks that are better at throwing rocks than creating effective, forward-moving dialogue.

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 9:41 AM | 10 Comments

August 23, 2007

Cover Story Outtake II: Down & Dirty With Hunter Lovins on Wal-Mart

Talking to long-time environmentalist Hunter Lovins—co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, co-author of Natural Capitalism (along with eight other books), professor of business at Presidio School of Management, the first accredited MBA program in sustainable management, her credentials go on and on—is like watching a documentary that you just don’t want to end. She seems to know everyone you’ve ever wanted to take a time-share in their brain, has perspicacious opinions, and always knows how to spice up sober issues with a dose of her homespun humor.

I interviewed Hunter for my September cover story “Working With the Enemy,” which chronicles the controversial journey of former Sierra Club president, Adam Werbach, who landed on Wal-Mart’s payroll. Here’s a glimpse into our hour-long conversation; what she had to say about Wal-Mart and the dangerous dance of activists being co-opted by corporations:

Danielle Sacks: When you first heard that Wal-Mart had outlined its audacious sustainability goals, did you buy that they were serious about it?

Hunter Lovins: Hell no. My feeling was, fair enough, they’re going to save themselves some money, put solar panels on their roofs and sell organic underwear. But if you roam the planet rapaciously exploiting people in developing countries and in communities here at home so people like me can throw away more junk, this is not sustainable.

But I had a realization—suppose the world you see around you is largely the world that we’re going to have? Many environmentalists in their heart of hearts have this fantasy, vision of somehow a small rural community life. For most of the world’s people it’s not going to be like that, there are more people living in cities now than rural areas around the world, the mega-cities of Asia are not getting smaller, they’re getting bigger. Wal-Mart has been a phenomenon of the suburbs, and of an individual car-based society. But if you look at the big trends of mass urbanization, and high energy prices so people won’t drive as much, that model starts to look just a little shaky.

Continue reading "Cover Story Outtake II: Down & Dirty With Hunter Lovins on Wal-Mart"

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 11:57 AM | 2 Comments

August 22, 2007

Cover Story Outtake I: Seventh Generation’s Jeffrey Hollender Dishes on Wal-Mart & Sustainability

In the course of reporting a story there are always many fascinating people I get to have incisive chats with, but painfully, never actually make it to the printed page. For my September cover story on Adam Werbach—the controversial environmentalist now on Wal-Mart’s payroll—one of those was Seventh Generation’s Jeffrey Hollender. Hollender, the president and CEO of the nearly 20-year-old nontoxic household products company (and incessant blogger), had some pretty candid sentiments on Wal-Mart going green. Here are some excerpts from our conversation:

Danielle Sacks: Last year I read that you won’t work with Wal-Mart because you’d “be selling our soul to do it.” These days how legit do you think Wal-Mart’s commitment to sustainability is?

Jeffrey Hollender: It’s definitely real and I would say they’ve come a long way in the right direction, but they also have a long way to go. The challenge they face is in some respect the environmental issues are easier to deal with than the social issues. Look at their impact in communities they do business in, sourcing products in China, when they go into a community there are more jobs lost than gained.

I think if they saw a clear path to how to address some of the labor or human rights issues, they would be more willing. In some ways they view this as a process that starts with the environment and moves into other issues. The challenge is, they have to explain why they’ve taken on some issues and not others. If they don’t take that initiative, it looks like they’re not recognizing it. They need to be more proactive on issues of equity and social justice than they have been.

Continue reading "Cover Story Outtake I: Seventh Generation’s Jeffrey Hollender Dishes on Wal-Mart & Sustainability"

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 5:59 PM | 1 Comment

August 17, 2007

Sustainability: Next Stop: Tomorrowland

In the quest for more efficient, green energy sources, a group of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have made a breakthrough: batteries made out of paper.

Ok, so it's a bit more complex than a piece of loose leaf. But 90 percent is comprised of cellulose (plant fibers), the same material used to make paper. Carbon nanotubes and an ionic liquid, a liquid salt that contains no water, make up the other 10 percent. These natural materials and lack of toxins are what make the battery so environmentally friendly.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Next Stop: Tomorrowland"

Posted by Liz Webber at 12:24 PM | Add Comment

August 10, 2007

Sustainability: Travelers Care About Being Green. Or Do They?

Environmental concerns are slowly seeping into all aspects of consumers' lives, and travel is no exception. As with most green awareness campaigns, however, just how concerned travelers are is a gray area.

A recent TripAdvisor survey assessing travelers' levels of commitment to the environment claims a sizeable number keep their green mentalities while on the road. A full two thirds believe environmental measures in the travel industry do make a difference. One third would pay more for green hotels (perhaps like the ones featured in this New York Times article), while almost 40 percent would pay more for a flight that was less harmful to the environment. Moreover, TripAdvisor found most travelers (78 percent) are willing to give up the daily change of sheets and towels once so common in the hotel experience.

Continue reading "Sustainability: Travelers Care About Being Green. Or Do They?"

Posted by Liz Webber at 12:05 PM | 10 Comments

August 2, 2007

Talking Trash

It’s not easy being green. Anybody who’s ever really tried to minimize his or her carbon footprint, knows that even when you’re committed to recycling and responsible purchasing, you can be foiled by forces outside your control. You buy a new set of tiny earbuds, and they come encased in a mound of nasty plastic and Styrofoam. You order lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and get a portion big enough for three (the upside: I now feel virtuous instead of cheap for my unrepentant doggie bag habit, and my predilection for tap over bottled water). You buy something online, only to trigger a torrent of unwanted catalogs.

Like many other design firms these days, the folks at Frog Design have been grappling with what sustainability means from a design standpoint. How can they be more responsible in conceiving objects so that they have less of an impact on our natural resources, and the life of our planet?

But recently, one of Frog’s staffers, Ashley Menger, a design analyst in Austin, decided to launch an experiment to see how much trash she, personally, was generating. The test: to see how much trash one individual produces in the space of two weeks. The rules: Anything that she couldn’t compost, flush or recycle had to be carried or kept within 5 feet at all times. To report on her progress, she launched a blog on the Frog Design site called Trash Talk, in which she documented her struggle to be less trashy. It wasn’t easy, and over the course of two weeks, she discovered her lust for paper napkins when she was eating burritos (recalling, with horror, how she used to just grab a stack), and her dismay at ordering lunch, only to be served giant helping of mustard and mayo in Styrofoam cups along with her sandwich (which she dutifully trucked home to a compost bin in a Tupperware container, and recycled the Styrofoam via Cycled Plastics .

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Posted by Linda Tischler at 10:19 AM | 1 Comments

July 27, 2007

Paper vs. Plastic: The Great Green Debate

Which is better for the environment - paper bags or plastic bags? Lawmakers in various parts of the country are betting on paper. In many cities, politicians are considering banning plastic bags in grocery stores because they are not biodegradable and can be harmful to wildlife.

Finally, politicians doing something tangible and immediate to protect the environment! Unlike reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which will take years to take effect and no one is really sure how to accomplish anyway, advocates of the bans say outlawing plastic bags will produce successful results now.

But is this plastic prohibition really the answer? Yes, paper bags are biodegradable and not likely to suffocate a coastal bird. On the other hand, plastic bags require a lot less energy to manufacture and recycle. They're also easier to ship, thus using less gas. Not to mention the fact that 90 percent of stores use plastic bags, not paper.

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Posted by Liz Webber at 3:03 PM | 9 Comments

July 20, 2007

Sustainability: The Inconvenient Truth About Idolizing Green Celebs

In case you hadn't noticed, celebrities have focused a lot of attention on the environment lately. Fans and critics alike are still talking about Live Earth, and the Discovery Channel just announced a new Planet Green network to launch in 2008 with programming produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Not to mention all the Hollywood A-listers who act as unofficial spokespeople for the Prius. Ostensibly, all this media attention has galvanized all us regular folk to do more to help the environment.

However, it's one thing to say you care about the effect you have on the environment and quite another to actually change what you do in everyday life. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau from 2005, 77 percent of Americans drive to work alone every day. Less than 5 percent take public transportation, a statistic that has changed little since 2000. Of the 10.7 percent who carpool, over three quarters ride with only one other person.

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Posted by Liz Webber at 2:26 PM | 3 Comments

July 18, 2007

"I'm NOT a Plastic Bag": Extreme Measures in Renouncing Non-Biodegradable Substances

Today marked the New York release of Anya Hindmarch's cultishly popular canvas totes which emphatically state, "I'm NOT A Plastic Bag." Said bags, which are made in limited numbers and sold for $15, have already been released in England (where they sold out by 9am), Hong Kong and Taiwan (where those in line were privy to both fights and stampedes). New York's release promised 20,000 bags to be sold in Whole Foods stores, and bag enthusiasts began lining up last night, wrapping around the blocks and braving near flash floods this morning, only to have all the stores sell out within several hours (with the Columbus Circle location selling out in just 29 minutes).

The endless lines were largely composed of people who plan to sell the bag on eBay, recognizing its fashion-appeal (and its lucrative potential: the bags are going for $300), not people who are concerned about the drastic effects of non-biodegradable plastic bags (those people are most likely already carrying totes or reusing their bags.)

Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags a year (plastic bags that take somewhere around 500 years to decompose), and the first step towards changing this frightening number is to raise awareness, which Hindmarch's bags definitely accomplish. “To create awareness you have to create scarcity by producing a limited edition,” she said in a New York Times article today. “I hate the idea of making the environment trendy, but you need to make it cool and then it becomes a habit.”

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Posted by Aimee Rawlins at 5:42 PM | 8 Comments

July 13, 2007

Sustainability: People Who Pick Green-Colored Cars are Geniuses…

…but what about green cars? A recent column on Wheels.casuggests hybrid vehicles may be a passing fad. Sales (or lack thereof) of certain models seem to indicate just that, as does a survey published in a New York Times article last week: it found a large portion of Prius owners' number one reason for buying the car was the statement it made about them. (The Times article compares owning a Prius to wearing one of those "issue bracelets" first popularized by Lance Armstrong's cancer fund.)

The Wheels.ca column's biggest complaints about the Prius are its inability to achieve the same fuel consumption rates in real world conditions and the fact that it doesn't drive like a "real" car. If something better were available, the columnist contends, people would ditch the Prius. I've never driven one, so I can't really judge his assessment. However, I can sympathize with the notion that driving should be fun.

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Posted by Liz Webber at 1:46 PM | 10 Comments

July 6, 2007

Water Bottles: What Are You Drinking From?

One of the things the bottled-water companies do quite well is make appealing bottles, in terms of shape and usability. Fiji Water’s square bottle sits easily in your hand. Poland Spring sells a new flip-top bottle with a tucked waist that can easily be managed with one hand. Evian for a while test-marketed a bottle in US airports that had a red-plastic loop at the top — overburdened travelers could carry it with a single finger. All those are, of course, disposable.

But what if you want a reusable water bottle? I haven’t found one with the appeal and design elegance of those from the bottled water companies, and that is also washable and safe: Flip-top, easy to handle, easy to clean, and good-looking.

So tell us what you’re drinking from, and provide a link if possible so we can see your bottle, in the comments section below.

Here’s a selection of what I’ve found online:

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Posted by Charles Fishman at 12:26 PM | 8 Comments

July 5, 2007

Fortune Favors the Responsible Biz

The UN's Geneva headquarters

Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and Company, and the United Nations put out reports today highlighting positive links between corporate responsibility and the bottom line. The three studies were presented in Geneva at a meeting hosted by the UN Global Compact, an association of UN agencies, companies, and other public and private groups that lobby for businesses to improve their human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption practices.

Some of the main takeaways:

Companies that are ahead of the curve when it comes to the environment, good governance and social responsibility performed about 25 percent better than the general stock market over the last couple of years, according to Goldman.

Over 90 percent of surveyed CEOs participating in the Global Compact said they're doing more now than they did five years ago to include those EGS concerns in their overall strategy and operations, McKinsey reported.

On the other hand, the follow-through tends to fall short: While 72 percent of CEOs said corporate responsibility should be "embedded fully into strategy and operations," only half think that's actually happening at their companies. When it comes to supply chains, almost 60 percent of execs said corporate responsibility should be embedded, but less than a third said that's a reality.

The whole report should be up in the next few days at the UN Global Compact website.

Posted by Elise Waxenberg at 4:05 PM | 2 Comments

July 3, 2007

Better than Oprah: Gore Gets Even More Eco-Friendly Facetime

Enviro-darling Al Gore is just about all over the place these days. This Saturday he and concert producer Kevin Wall are putting on Live Earth, the 24-hour global warming benefit, and he just graced the cover of our July/August issue for Ellen McGirt's feature, "Al Gore's $100 Million Makeover."

Now, Gore's really upped the ante by topping ex-UN chief Kofi Annan, ex-boss Bill Clinton and even Oprah (yes, Oprah) as the most influential person in the world to fight climate change.

In a 47-country survey released yesterday, consumers listed Gore and Annan as the world's best mascots for the campaign against global warming, according to media/research firm Nielsen and Oxford's Environmental Change Institute.

Asked to hypothetically draft up to three celebrities best-equipped to fight climate change, nearly 20 percent of 26,000-plus respondents listed Gore; Annan tied Clinton with 15 percent of the vote, followed by Oprah Winfrey and Nelson Mandela.

Red t-shirts, adopted babies and Terminator-dom didn't help Bono, Angelina Jolie and Arnold Schwarzenegger crack the top five, but the three celebs rounded out the top eight in the list of most-influential crusaders. You can check out the full rankings from Nielsen here.

In the United States, Gore edged out Oprah 30 percent to 28 percent as the most powerful spokesperson, followed by Bill Clinton, Ahhh-nold and Bono.

Nielsen conducted the massive climate change survey after observing higher-than-ever concern about global warming in previous polls. Climate change ranked fourth among the global public's most pressing concerns in an April 2007 survey, compared with its eighth-place rank just six months before.

Gore's Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth might've had something to do with raising public awareness, says Jonathan Banks, business insight director at Nielsen in the UK. The climate change survey released yesterday found that about three-quarters of people who saw the movie said they are changing some habits as a result. Banks heartily encouraged me to see it too (no, I haven't, but I swear I never buy my hair spritz in aerosol).

Why does Nielsen care about consumers' celeb picks?

"If the public is going to get engaged, the issue has got to become more sexy," Banks says.

Because you know, when I think of sexy, I certainly think of Al Gore....

Posted by Elise Waxenberg at 4:48 PM | 2 Comments

June 29, 2007

Wal-Mart and Home Depot Join the Green Group

Recent articles about Home Depot and Wal-Mart have detailed the efforts these chains are making to bring green products to their stores as well as what they themselves are doing to decrease their impact on the environment. When the two biggest retail chains in the country want something, people listen.

Home Depot's initiatives are centered mostly on re-branding some of its current product offerings under its Eco Options program. Over 60,000 products claimed some sort of green quality, but Home Depot prudently narrowed the list down to 2,500. While that may still be a large number, it seems the company has a fairly rigorous process for determining whether a product should be included in the program. The problem is there are no standards for judging the environmental impact of items like spark plugs or rugs.

Who should determine these standards? The government? An independent agency? The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are responsible for the Energy Star energy efficiency labeling. Standards on other products vary by state. It's a huge undertaking to figure out what exactly makes a product green, but it's necessary so we don’t get the kind of exaggerated claims Home Depot experienced at first.

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Posted by Liz Webber at 12:34 PM | Add Comment

May 23, 2007

US Gets Hot Over Hybrids

The big news this week is the greening of America's gas-guzzling vehicles. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that New York City's distinctive yellow fleet of taxis would be turning a shade of green with all the cabs being fuel-efficient within the next five years. Currently, only 375 out of the city's 13,000 taxis are hybrid vehicles. This fits right into Bloomie's plans to make NYC 30% more responsible by producing 30% fewer carbon emissions by 2030.

On a grander scale, the Department of Energy is jumping into the fuel-efficient game as well. Yesterday, the DOE awarded $19 million in funding to be split amongst five companies who are developing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. With industry support the cumulative total for the companies will reach $33.8 million.

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Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 2:51 PM | 1 Comment

May 16, 2007

Toyota Takes On . . .Diesel

Toyota says rev up your engines and listen to that non-existent roar of their hybrid vehicles as they take over the market!

Masatami Takimoto, president in charge of powertrain development for Toyota, said that he foresees all Toyota models being hybrid by 2020, despite a slight stall in popularity of the Prius due to rising costs. The 430,000 Prius were sold last year.

The enviro-friendly autogiant is looking to cut costs for their hybrid vehicles by developing new battery technology. The new Prius, due out in late 2008/early 2009, will most likely include a lithium-ion battery.

Toyota's announcement to be completely hybrid by the end of the next decade comes at a time when diesel vehicles are giving the hybrids a run for their money due to increased performance and comparable green attributes.

Do you think that other automakers will follow Toyota's example or are the costs too high? For more on Toyota check out this article in Fast Company magazine.

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 12:34 PM | 6 Comments

May 8, 2007

Capitalism 3.0: Ready to Rumble!

Regular FC readers are familiar with our recurring feature, "Open Debate"--which is basically two smart, compelling people debating an urgent topic entirely by email. Past debates have taken on design for the masses, the future of China, and the upside (or not) for Google.

For several months, I've been trying to find someone to debate Peter Barnes. He's a social entrepreneur (he founded Working Assets, the long-distance phone company that gives a portion of call charges to charity) and f