GreenBiz.com Green Business News

Steven Chu: The Nerd in the Cabinet

Marc Gunther — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:40:18 +0000

The current Secretary of Energy is also a Nobel Laureate and former physics professor at UC Berkeley, and a self-described 'energy conservation nut.'

SRI Field Continues to Shift with RiskMetrics' Acquisition of KLD

Robert Kropp — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:46:31 +0000

The rapidly changing landscape of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research providers received another major update this week as RiskMetrics Group announced the acquisition of KLD Research & Analytics. The acquisition, which has been widely anticipated for a month, follows RiskMetrics' purchase of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, like KLD a provider of ESG research, in February.

Nike Debuts Latest Collection of 'Considered Design' Products

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:04:47 +0000

Nike will debut a new collection of athletic footwear Saturday made with environmentally preferred materials. A portion of revenue from the N7 line will support Native American youth sports through the N7 Fund.

Johnson Controls: The Quiet Company Raises Its Voice and Its Profile

Leslie Guevarra — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:51:57 +0000

Though a giant in the buildings and automotive industries, Johnson Controls Inc. was long considered a quiet company — seldom a major presence outside its lines of business. That's changing as the firm increasingly raises its voice and its profile to spread its mantra of "Efficiency Now."

Diversey Ups Emissions Reductions Investments, Earns Bigger ROI

ClimateBiz Staff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:40:33 +0000

One year after setting a goal to cut corporate emissions by 8 percent before 2013, Diversey CEO today announced the company had already surpassed that target, and upped the goal to a 25 percent reduction in the same time frame.

Green Buildings Continue Impressive Growth, New Market Study Finds

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:26:01 +0000

The Green Building Market and Impact Report, released this morning by GreenerBuildings.com, measures the beneficial impacts that LEED-certified buildings have on energy, water, worker productivity and more, and charts the growth of the green marketplace in the coming years.

The Green Building Market and Impact Report 2009

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:46:12 +0000

This second annual report, by Rob Watson and the GreenBiz.com editorial team, explores the impacts that LEED-certified buildings have already had on energy, water, waste and employee productivity -- and projects those impacts for the next 20 years.

Beyond the Black Cloud: Looking at Lifecycles

Dave Douglas — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:49:15 +0000

Looking at the full impact of any type of product or device -- rather than, say, the cloud of exhaust in front of you on the highway -- opens the door to a whole new understanding of how design affects the environment.

Business Owners Beware: Quick Fixes Can Cost More Than Smart Energy Savings Strategies

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:53:54 +0000

Looking to save a little money this fall and winter by turning down the thermostats in your offices? Think again before you fiddle with those temperatures settings. Doing that alone could cost you far more than you save, especially if employees take their workplace comfort into their own hands.

Energy Dept. Shells Out Another Half-Billion Dollars in Stimulus Funds

GreenBiz Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:30:10 +0000

A slew of new renewable energy and energy efficiency projects funded by the Department of Energy in the past week adds another $531 million to the stimulus funds already handed out this year.

The Anthozoans Are Coming to Save Us! Corals Offer Concrete Solutions to Our Carbon Woes

Tom McKeag — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:30:00 +0000

The method corals use for building their homes is worlds away from the way humans have been making cement and concrete, but one company has developed an innovative method for using seawater (which corals also utilize to make calcium) to both make cement and sequester carbon dioxide.

Cadbury and Sprint to Save Tons of Waste with New Greener Packaging

GreenBiz Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:13:37 +0000

Cadbury will abandon its customary round metal tins in favor of square, recyclable cardboard boxes for its Roses and Heroes chocolate lines, while Sprint's new recyclable casing for its wireless accessories will save the company about $2.1 million a year.

Owens Corning Works to Keep Roof Shingles Out of Landfills

GreenBiz Staff — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:33:24 +0000

The company's Preferred Roofing Contractors who pledge to recycle their shingle tear-offs will be able to take them to drop-off recycling and processing centers provided by Heritage Environmental Services.

Will the Financial Meltdown Lead to an Investment Revolution?

Marc Gunther — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:53:59 +0000

Not much good has come of the Great Recession, but a recent day-long event showed that investors are at least starting to think more thoroughly about risk and sustainability in their portfolios.

Atlanta Named Most Toxic U.S. City, Las Vegas is Least Toxic

Jonathan Bardelline — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Forbes has ranked the 40 largest metro areas to determine the most, and least, toxic cities in the United States. Las Vegas and Sacramento rank among the cleanest, while Atlanta and Detroit were named the dirtiest.

The Big Picture on Eco-Engineering Our Environmental Impact

Dave Douglas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:15:02 +0000

The huge environmental impact of the simple lightbulb offers a perfect example of the scale and scope of the challenges the world faces in reducing humanity's footprint -- and also points out the five hurdles that must be overcome to make it happen.

Hotel Guests Need Help Staying Green on the Road, Study Finds

Sookhan So — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:19:36 +0000

A study by researchers at Virginia Tech's Pamplkn College of Business finds that even individuals who are resource-efficient at home are much more wasteful when on the road, and stronger education programs are needed to bridge this gap.

Go Slow, Stay Low: A Mantra for a Greener Economy

Stephen Linaweaver — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:07:06 +0000

That's generally the advice when learning how to paddle a canoe. It works equally well for companies trying to successfully navigate a sea change from a consumption-based economy to one that puts greater value in sustainability.

Next Wave of TerraCycle Products to Come From Huggies, Kleenex Packaging

GreenBiz Staff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:23:14 +0000

The company that built an empire by turning worm poop into fertilizer and cookie wrappers into backpacks has set its sights on the used plastic packaging from Huggies diapers, Scott toilet paper and Kleenex tissue.

Greenpeace Takes IT Giants to Task on Climate Action

GreenerComputing Staff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:45:37 +0000

Google, Microsoft and IBM are singled out for not doing enough to put IT's power to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in the latest release of Greenpeace's Cool IT Challenge.

Water-Saving Technologies Help Abbott Save 1 Billion Gallons a Year

GreenBiz Staff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:05:32 +0000

The pharmaceutical giant set a goal of cutting its water consumption to 40 percent below 2004 levels by late 2011, relative to sales. The company announced Monday its efforts have yielded a 37 percent normalized reduction, bringing the company very close to its goal two years ahead of schedule.

Is Simple the New Green?

David Almy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:26:13 +0000

The last couple of years were witness to a stampede of product launches featuring green attributes and positioning. Today, however, the marketing herd is currently shifting its attention to a new direction: simplicity.

Sustainable Value in Automobile Manufacturing

GreenBiz Staff — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:40:20 +0000

The study looks at the sustainability performance of 17 leading car manufacturers worldwide between 1999 and 2007, providing a full account of the societal impacts of car production, including issues such as the volume of greenhouse gas emissions from production facilities and the number of work accidents recorded by a company.

BMW and Toyota Create Most 'Sustainable Value,' Report Finds; GM, Fiat Among Laggers

GreenBiz Staff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:30:37 +0000

A new study measures the sustainable performance of worldwide auto manufacturers from 1999 to 2007, comparing resource use efficiency of production for factors such as emissions, work accidents, waste generation and water use.

Answers to Green Marketers' Questions on Ecolabels

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:35:26 +0000

GreenBiz.com’s October 15, 2009 webinar on "The Green Marketing Landscape: Ratings, Labels, and Certifications" yielded far more questions than we had time to answer during the allotted 60 minutes. We've selected questions from among the hundreds asked and submitted them to our three speakers, who graciously provided answers.

Kraft to Increase Purchases of Rainforest Alliance Certified Cocoa Ten-Fold by 2012

GreenBiz Staff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:07:11 +0000

Kraft Foods vowed to increase the amount of Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa beans ten-fold to 30,000 tons by late 2012, to be used in two premium chocolate brands sold in the European and North American markets.

Bayer, Costco Awarded for Recycling, Waste Reduction Efforts

GreenBiz Staff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:05:00 +0000

StopWaste.org has awarded 12 Alameda County, Calif., businesses for their achievements in recycling, making less waste and operational efficiency. Among the companies awarded are Costco, Bayer HealthCare, Boston Scientific, Lucky Supermarkets and the U.S. Postal Service.

A Call to Green Marketers to Unite and Vanquish Consumer Confusion

Michael B. Mercier — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:30:20 +0000

A recent study urges marketers to drop buzzwords -- like environmental, green and sustainability -- and focus on tangible benefits. That's a reasonable stopgap, but someone must take the initiative to wipe out the confusion about green terms.

Daimler Subsidiary Achieves Zero-Waste Three Months Early

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:54:12 +0000

Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. went from sending 250,000 pounds of solid waste to landfills to becoming zero waste in less than three years.

FPL's Change of Heart on Cap and Trade

Marc Gunther — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:14:01 +0000

Several years ago, FPL Group CEO Lew Hay, the nation's leading renewable energy provider, gave an impassioned speech arguing for a tax on CO2 emissions to deal with the threat of global warming. He's now a supporter of cap and trade. Why?

Simple Data Center Best Practices Can Cut Energy Use by 20 Percent

Matthew Wheeland — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:30:25 +0000

As part of a partnership with The Green Grid, the U.S. EPA made a number of small tweaks to how it managed one of its data centers, and ended up saving $15,000 per year in energy costs as a result.

The Green Grid's EPA Data Center Case Study

GreenerComputing Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:02:18 +0000

This report highlights how The Green Grid and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were able to use simple, low-cost best practices in one data center to achieve a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency, saving $15,000 per year in energy costs.

Building a Green Company Culture, One Day at a Time

Kathrin Winkler — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:20:01 +0000

We want environmental sustainability to be a core value -- like quality and customer responsiveness. So how do you instill environmental considerations into every operation of a company? It requires a culture change, and that's always the hardest thing to do.

Sodexo Drives Down Waste and Water Use at Cox and National Geographic

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:51:12 +0000

Sodexo helped National Geographic cut water consumption in its cafeteria by 18 percent between 2006 and 2009, it said in its latest citizenship report. Meanwhile, Sodexo cut waste at Communications by 80 percent by recycling or composting all paper, cardboard, food products and plastics used in the company's cafeteria.

Are North American Companies Improving Their Climate Change Performance?

Robert Kropp — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:28:43 +0000

A new report from EIRIS finds that reporting and short-term reduction targets are comparable to global peers, but North American companies lag in third-party verification and linking executive compensation to emissions reduction.

Deirdre Imus's Mission to Green up Toxic Hospitals

Anna Clark — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:48:14 +0000

The head of the Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center talks about how she developed and promotes her line of green cleaning products, the lessons all ecopreneurs can take from her story, and how her success is a system, not a secret.

Tips for Greener Travels

Leanne Tobias — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:51:35 +0000

Business has taken me to San Francisco and environs several times in the last few months. Here's my field report on greener lodging and eco-travel options for those of you who are San Francisco bound.

Chemical Management Industry Grows Revenue With Waste, Chemical Reduction Services

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

The new report shows that the chemical management services industry has steadily grown its revenue and its reach within and outside of North America over the past three years. Chemical suppliers are now seeing more profit from services related to managing chemical lifecycles, reducing chemical use and reducing waste than from selling more chemicals.

UL Environment Validates Eco Claims of LG SteamWasher, LCD TV

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:19:37 +0000

UL Environment has validated the energy and water-savings claims of a popular washer and LCD TV by LG Electronics USA, the first consumer electronics and appliance manufacturer to have some of its products reviewed by by the program.

European Firms Failing to Source Sustainable Palm Oil

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:18:36 +0000

In a new scorecard released by the World Wildlife Fund, only one-sixth of companies surveyed show progress toward goals of ending the environmental and ecosystem impacts of conventional palm oil harvesting.

New Ruling Opens Door for Increased Shareholder Activism on Climate

ClimateBiz Staff — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:23:04 +0000

Investor advocates are hailing a Securities and Exchange Commission decision Tuesday that will make it easier for shareholders to request climate change risk dislcosure from public companies.

Using Sustainability Labels to Drive Performance

Melissa Schweisguth — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:16:29 +0000

It seems like a new sustainability certification or standard is announced weekly. As these increase, along with corresponding logos and taglines, so too have questions about their validity and meaning for stakeholders.

BSR 2009: How to Accelerate Through the Downturn

Eric Olson -- BSR — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:48:28 +0000

Having just returned to our offices after a great week at the BSR Conference 2009 in San Francisco, I am both sobered by the daunting challenges we face as a global community and inspired by the unprecedented opportunities we have to meet -- and beat -- them.

Electricity That's Cheaper Than Free

Marc Gunther — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:05:20 +0000

Would you believe that there are places and times when power companies generate so much renewable energy that they give it away?

Fleet Managers Swayed by Green Technology Over Brand, Study Finds

GreenBiz Staff — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:18:11 +0000

Fuel efficiency and environmental concerns are expected to carry increasing weight in fleet purchasing decisions over the next decade, according to a new study, edging out the importance of brand value.

SCI Beta Tests Solution to Deliver Super Accurate Predictions of Energy Use

Leslie Guevarra — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:59:44 +0000

Scientific Conservation Inc., the Berkeley firm that launched its innovative Sciwatch solution to tackle buildings' energy drift in June, has released its newest product for beta testing: an application that measures and predicts a facility's energy use so accurately that its projections can fall within 1- to 2 percent of actual energy consumption, its creators say.