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Support for green construction and LEED certification dipped slightly in 2009 but remains strong across the past three years despite the recession, according to the latest green building survey by Allen Matkins, Constructive Technologies Group and the Green Building Insider.
This survey of more than 1,600 design and construction professionals in the U.S. charts their latest perceptions and practices regarding green building — and compares them to attitudes and activities before and during the Great Recession.
This slideshow from Cisco Systems outlines some of the steps the company has taken to save $24 million per year as part of its sustainable packaging pilot.
With the chorus of business leaders calling for comprehensive climate rules appearing to grow louder, the face of potential legislation continues to shift as Congressional leaders work to build bipartisan support.
Engagement is the mot du jour today. It’s being pitched as a new religion, buoyed by the social media wave; however, behind all the hype is a remarkably simple concept: If you need help, ask.
We hear it all the time: “It’s the young people we need to target! They’ll buy anything green.” In fact, they do a lot of talking, but are only just starting to buy green products and change their behaviors
The final installment of our three-part series on transparency explores how organizations must walk the line between an unhealthy and unsustainable obsessions with quarterly earnings results and an unmanageable expectation of ‘accountability to everyone.’
The latest industry rankings from Tomorrow’s Value Rating looks at fossil fuel firms and finds that, despite solid leadership in innovation, the 10 largest companies are failing to take action on a number of environmental issues.
This report outlines the ways that broadband technologies and smart grids can create jobs, save individuals and businesses money, and cut the national carbon footprint.
More than three million U.S. citizens are expected to descend on local parks and schools with brooms, shovels and garbage bags over the next three months as part of the Great American Cleanup, an initaitve of Keep America Beautiful (KAB). Allowing workers to participate in volunteer activities helps to cultivate skills prized by many companies, such as ability to work as part of a team and self-direction, according to KAB’s president.
A new project from a California college aims to map how far the various ingredients in your taco-truck lunch have traveled to reach your plate.
This report from the U.N. Environment Programme looks at the growth of e-waste generated by and sent to developing nations, and suggests ways to reduce the health and environmental impacts from discarded electronics.
British restaurants have come together to establish an association aimed at improving their reputation for poor environmental performance.
The desire to be environmentally friendly and the promise of saving money through improved efficiency were cited in a recent survey as the most significant drivers for companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
To many children, pizza ranks as their favorite food on Earth. Now an environmentally correct pizza aimed at helping them save the Earth is available at natural food stores across the country.
Tree of Life, the nation’s largest distributor of organic foods to the natural food industry, introduced its new Pizza Power Pack in March. Pizza is the second product marketed under the company’s Small World brand, following the success of its Animal Grahams organic cookies.
Small World pizzas are made entirely with organic ingredients, said John Rowland, product development manager. Packaging used for the product is a recycled paperboard made from old newspapers and printed with soy-based inks. Also, the St. Augustine, Fla.-based firm donates 2 percent of all wholesale dollars to the Rainforest Action Network.
To help educate their young customers, as well as parents buying the product, the company includes an ecosystem card in each package of pizzas. Each fact-filled card features a color photo of an ecosystem and map of the world showing where it exists. Each card also explains what ecosystems are, how they work, why they’re in trouble and how kids can help.
“The idea is to educate children about Earth’s ecosystems. And the wonderful thing is the kids eat it up,” Rowland said. “They are very much in tune with the environment — much more so than adults. It has amazed us how ecologically minded they are.”
Small World Animal Graham cookies, introduced in 1990, set the tone for the pizza packaging. Each box of cookies contains an endangered-animal card instead of an ecosystem version. Each animal featured on a card matches one of the 10 cookie shapes. The cards also tell children and their parents how to learn more about organizations working to protect endangered animals.
Two percent of the wholesale dollars raised through the cookie sales is donated to environmental groups like the the African Wildlife Federation. And like the pizzas, Small World cookies also are made entirely with organic ingredients.
“By using organic supplies, we’re helping support sustainable agriculture and eliminating the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides in the ingredients we use,” Rowland said.
Pizza was chosen to follow up the Small World Animal Grahams because the company already distributed the main ingredients — organic bread, cheese and tomatoes, he added.
“We knew kids liked pizza and we had all the ingredients,” he said. “It was a natural fit.”
More Small World foods are in the planning stages. Anyone interested in the products should visit their local natural food store. If they don’t carry the Small World brands, ask them to call Tree of Life.
Earth Fact: There are approximately 9,000 natural food stores in the United States.
Technorati Tags: ecosystems, organic foods, environmentally correct pizza, packaging, sustainability
The new Bloom Energy Server was touted far and wide last week as a game-changing fuel-cell device. We talked to some of the first owners of ‘Bloom Boxes’ to find out why they made the $700,000 purchase — and whether it’s right for your firm.
New rankings from Tomorrow’s Value Rating gives the three firms high scores for their sustainability leadership, embrace of innovation, and drive toward sustainable supply chains. AT&T and Verizon finish last in the rankings.
There is much to learn from Toyota’s grief. As automakers set out to release innovative vehicles, they will do well to remember the past few weeks. With consumer perception such a powerful force, stakeholders in the electric vehicle industry know they can ill afford such a crisis.
Rather than the usual two-minute forum on green topics at Apple’s annual meeting, today’s gathering in Cupertino focused on environmental issues like never before — although the company still has a ways to go to prove its commitment to the planet.
Julie Corbett, founder of Ecologic Brands, the company that developed a new paper-plastic hybrid milk packaging, speaks about the inspiration behind the package and the tests they’ve done with Straus Family Creamery and Whole Foods Market.
Chemical companies Air Liquide and BASF use their environmental and social resources more efficiently to create value than other major chemical companies around the world, according to a new study.
This report from Info-Tech highlights nine green IT initiatives that can help small businesses improve efficiency and save costs.
The U.S. General Services Administration has created the new position of Chief Greening Officer in a bid to move forward President Barack Obama’s federal sustainability agenda. It also said Monday it has moved its Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings to the Office of Governmentwide Policy.
A new study of leading companies finds that engaging and educating employees about sustainability practices can save millions in costs by boosting efficiency, while making green initiatives more likely to succeed.
Banks and other financial institutions could refurbish their tarnished reputations by using their smarts to innovate new financial products that actually help average Americans while addressing some of the nation’s greatest challenges: unemployment, economic competitiveness, national security and climate change.
From mom and pop shops to multinational corporations, a survey of businesses’ sustainability practices yielded a handful of simple steps that can work for any firm looking to green their operations.
A new, unpublished report from the United Nations calculates the actual cost of pollution from business operations as part of a long-term plan to make companies accountable for their environmental impacts.
Devices developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that could save the U.S. trucking industry $10 billion a year in diesel fuel are being tested at NASA Ames Research Center, home of the world’s largest wind tunnel.
Although Delta, Virgin and Southwest received better scores in a new report released by Green America Responsible Shopper, the airline industry as a whole must make changes to recycle more than a fraction of the millions of tons of waste it generates each year.
One year ago today, Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Investment Act. Today, he and top administration officials are making the rounds to highlight the plan’s success in recasting the economy in a greener light.
