February 2012
23 posts
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Whole Foods, Costco, PF Chang’s Tied to Squid... →
What do Whole Foods and P.F. Chang’s have in common? Not much, except for the fact that both may be making calamari out of squid caught by indentured fisherman.
A six month investigation conducted by Bloomberg Businessweek found evidence of debt bondage on a South Korean fishing vessel called the Melilla 203 and at least nine others operating in New Zealand’s waters. The report reveals human...
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Employee Engagement: Five Companies That Get It →
Today’s consumers are distrustful of corporate claims and increasingly angry with the traditional business model. What’s a forward-looking brand to do? Look within to help bridge the divide.
It’s no secret that today’s brands face economic uncertainty and consumer skepticism at every turn, and that consumers are hungry for a new way of doing business that respects their intelligence as...
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Are McDonald’s Golden Arches Losing Their Luster? →
Do you ever eat McDonald’s? If so, chances are you aren’t bragging about it to your friends. A recent report from Advertising Age shows that other McD’s customers likely aren’t either. Despite strong sales numbers last year, the company is experiencing a crisis of brand perception.
Make no mistake, McDonald’s brand is still a global juggernaut. With more than 33,000 locations in 119 countries...
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8 Ways for Fast Food Companies to Green Up Their... →
Packaging might not be the first issue to come into mind when you think about the impacts of the fast food industry. It’s true that packaging is not connected to obesity, food safety, animal rights, impact on food systems and some other major issues. But it’s definitely connected to depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, waste, and climate change. Most of these impacts,...
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Three Ways to Manage Rising Gas Prices →
There’s been a steady stream of articles about rising gas prices here on Triple Pundit. Some have looked at what the impacts of higher gas prices will be while others have acknowledged that they aren’t going lower and asked if your business is ready for the “new normal” of high fuel prices. These articles have pointed out some very important aspects of high fuel prices, and I wanted to build on...
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Will Apple’s ‘Spaceship’ Be the Greenest Building... →
Last year, the late Steve Jobs revealed plans for Apple’s new ‘Spaceship’ building to be located in Cupertino City, California. The futuristic structure should be completed in 2015 and will house approximately 13,000 employees. It may look like it’s been plucked from the imagination of Philip K Dick, but what was previously the realm of science fiction has now become science fact. It promises...
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Ben & Jerry’s Launches Campaign Against Citizens... →
The 2010 Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ushered in an era of unfettered spending on elections by corporations. In its five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations could spend unlimited amounts on elections. Not every corporation is happy with that decision. The iconic ice cream company, Ben & Jerry’s sure is not. The founders of...
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National Defense and President Obama’s 2013 Clean... →
As far as clean energy and green jobs go, President Obama’s 2013 budget includes a Christmas-in-July package of initiatives that are designed to help pull the U.S. out of recession while transitioning the economy to cleaner, safer, more reliable and less price-spikey forms of energy. Those last two items – price and reliability of supply – are especially important to the Department of...
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Can the America’s Cup Bring Sustainability to... →
Although the America’s Cup is one of the most globally recognized names in sport, it remains relatively unwatched in its namesake country. That’s likely to change in 2013 when the cup roars into San Francisco Bay – the first time in modern history that it will be easily viewable by spectators on shore (in years past, the race has taken place well off shore so anyone without a boat or...
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Chipotle’s Anti-Factory-Farm Ad Captures Hearts... →
The Super Bowl is well known for expensive, flashy commercials that tend to be even more highly anticipated than the game itself. But this year, the commercial that’s gotten the most attention wasn’t a Super Bowl ad at all. This year’s unlikely advertising showstopper turned out to be a Chipotle ad that’s been on YouTube for months, but was aired nationally for the first time during the Grammy...
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TrendWatch 2012: The Rise of the Global Middle... →
In honor of the release of Trendwatch 2012, we’ll be rolling out posts about sustainability and economic recovery. You can find them here all week, or read the whole set here. Please also join us for a free webinar on February 29th where we’ll be discussing the role of sustainability in economic recovery.
A generation ago the economies in Latin America, Africa, India and China were stagnant...
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10 Trends in Corporate Disclosure →
In honor of the release of Trendwatch 2012, we’ll be rolling out posts about sustainability and economic recovery. You can find them here all week, or read the whole set here. Please also join us for a free webinar on February 29th where we’ll be discussing the role of sustainability in economic recovery.
Shakespeare’s dictum came into its own last year, as truth-telling drove the Arab spring, ...
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Has The Nature Conservancy Gone Too Far With the... →
The Nature Conservancy may have just raised a few eyebrows, some in dismay, others from a more voyeuristic perspective at their recent decision to partner with the Sports Illustrated magazine and luxury retailer Gilt, in a new fundraising campaign. This highly respected, international organization, which, unlike other environmental advocacy groups, protects fragile and important wilderness...
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Bill Gates Supports Controversial Climate Change... →
With the help of a group of very wealthy and well known individuals, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Chairman of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, a group of leading climate scientists are advocating for the use of controversial geoengineering as a way to prevent catastrophic climate change. The scientists are lobbying national governments and international organizations to fund...
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Can Business Do Its Part to Stop the Bahrain... →
Last weekend I was in Bahrain, the small island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Bahrain is one of the oldest cultures in the Middle East; it is here that oil was first discovered in the Arabian Gulf. This kingdom was the first to start diversify its economy by looking to a post-oil future.
I was apprehensive about visiting Bahrain, with the anniversary of the February 14 uprisings...
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Why Valentine’s Day is a Fantastic Opportunity for... →
Valentine’s Day has had a long history, and for centuries has been celebrated as the day of romantic love. It’s been referred in several literary works through the centuries, including Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
In the Middle Ages, people exchanged hand-made paper cards as tokens of love. Since 1913, when Hallmark started mass producing Valentine’s Day cards, it has never been the same. Last...
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House Transportation Bill Paves the Road for Big... →
The growing outrage over the $260 billion House transportation bill is rightly placed.
Simply put, House Republicans are up to their usual feckless tricks—pushing their political agenda and kowtowing to special interests, mainly Big Oil —with a skewed and totally inappropriate vision of transportation priorities for the nation.
A New York Times editorial blasted the measure, HR 7, as...
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Safeway Announces Sustainable Tuna-Sourcing Policy →
Safeway recently announced that the Safeway brand Skipjack (chunk-light) canned tuna will be responsibly caught using free-school purse-seine methods. This method of using purse-seiners spots tuna schools by using radar and sonar. The company will transition to this method by the end of the year.
The tuna fishing industry is addressing the negative ecosystem impacts of their practices and...
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Help Send a 3p Writer to Brazil! →
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has teamed up with Treehugger to draw attention to World Environment Day June 5th. (Mark your calendars!)
In honor of this day of global action, UNEP and Treehugger are running a blogging contest — the topic is “The Green Economy, Does it Include Me?”
Since the Green Economy is one of our favorite topics, our writers had a lot to contribute. Here...
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We Will be Using Less Resources by 2050 Due to... →
The ‘natural capital’ of our planet is slowly decreasing and this is something that businesses have to contend with. According to the UN, by 2050, we will be using fewer resources whether we like it or not. The report titled Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing, examines challenges that humanity is going to be collectively facing in the coming years.
The report...
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DuPont’s Six Ways to Achieve Zero Landfill Waste →
DuPont’s Building Innovations business unit, maker of Corian and Tyvek, has successfully cut its annual landfill waste stream from 81 million pounds to zero.
Dave Walter, America Business Manager and a Six Sigma black belt, led the team that created this result. Walter explains, “DuPont’s Building Innovations moving to zero landfill waste was accomplished through committed people working...
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Lessons from a Colorful Map of NYC Energy Use in... →
A team of researchers at Columbia Engineering has launched an interactive online energy map that breaks down the patterns of power consumption in practically every building in all five boroughs of New York City. Though the map is based on estimates rather than actual metered data, it does provide an easy way to compare real-life usage patterns with the norm, which could help motivate individual...
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India Leads With $10.3bn in Clean Energy... →
Bloomberg recently reported that India’s clean tech investments, “reached $10.3bn in 2011, some 52 percent higher than the $6.8bn invested in 2010. This was the highest growth figure of any significant economy in the world. There is plenty of room for further expansion – in 2011, India accounted for 4 percent of global investment in clean energy.” This is pretty incredible considering that India’s...
January 2012
26 posts
3 tags
7 Trends That Will Shape Sustainable Consumption... →
The first month of 2012 is almost over, but it’s still difficult to envision what this year will look like, especially when it comes to the interaction between consumption and sustainability. One of the people who came for our help is Raphael Bemporad, the founding partner and Chief Strategy Officer of BBMG. He offered on Sustainable Brands a list of five trends that he believes will shape...
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Mayor Works to Bring Clean Tech to Los Angeles →
At the VerdeXchange Marketmakers Conference that took place in downtown Los Angeles this week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a keynote speech to an audience of 500 industry leaders working to build and shape the green economy of Los Angeles and the nation. The group included individuals working in both the public and private sectors to further the development of technologies and markets...
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How Landfills Can Provide Electricity →
Landfills across the U.S. are teeming with waste. In fact, the average American throws away over 1,130 pounds of waste a year. That’s an environmental disaster because rotting garbage produces landfill gas (LFG) which is made up of 50 percent methane, a greenhouse gas with the warming potential 23 times greater than carbon. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is the third-largest source of...
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Ernst & Young to Certify GHG Emissions Reporting →
Ernst & Young, one of the Big Four accounting firms, has received approval to certify greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
One might well ask, so what? Why is this important? For one thing official GHG reporting accreditation using American National Standards Institute criteria will help ensure that CSR and similar reports are accurate and use widely accepted standards.
For another, it lends...
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What Are the Real Causes of Global Warming? →
The folks at Skeptical Science have put together a review of various scientific investigations into the causes of global warming, in hopes of coming up with a definitive answer. This seems like a good time to do this, in the midst of Republican primary season, as the various candidates try to one-up each other on bashing the science in lieu of what their supporters would prefer to hear.
...
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EU on Track to Exceed 2020 Carbon Emissions... →
Having reduced CO2 emissions by 17% as compared to 1990 levels, the European Union (EU) is well on its way to reaching its legally binding, 20% by 2020 CO2 emissions reduction target. Being so close nearly a decade ahead of schedule raises the possibility of the EU raising the 2020 emissions reduction bar to 30%, a topic that’s likely to once again become a high-profile topic of discussion...
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Swedish Cities Close to Building a Bicycle... →
With all the handwringing over aging infrastructure, rising energy costs, high speed rail and other public transportation projects that are spiraling in costs, cities and towns could look at solutions that can improve mobility and do not the bust the budget: bicycles and bicycle paths.
Studies have suggested that building bicycle paths can have a sizable economic impact especially when you look...
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Genetically Modified Plants to Resist Intense... →
GMOs aren’t all bad, are they? Israeli agro-biotechnology company, Rosetta Green, has developed a new technology to develop plants that are better able to withstand prolonged periods of severe drought. The company aims to develop new plant varieties resistant to harsh climatic condition, maintaining an increased yield.
The company, based in Rehovot, Israel, experimented on tobacco plants ...
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Clif Bar Family Foundation Announces Grant for... →
The Clif Bar Company has always integrated CSR into its business model. The company only consists of 250 people, but it operates on a much larger scale in terms of CSR. Many of their ingredients are organically grown and their products do not contain high fructose corn syrup, additives, or hydrogenated oils. To take their food philosophy one step further, the Clif Bar Family Foundation recently...
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Pay-As-You-Go Solar Could Provide Clean... →
Up to 1 billion people in the world still lack or have unsteady access to electricity. For these people, kerosene, a dirty petroleum product, is usually the fuel of choice–or more accurately, they have no choice. This US$36 billion a year industry often consumes 30 to 35 percent of poor families’ income.
Nevertheless there is hope – without giving Westerners the willies that we are going to kill...
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10 Green Building Predictions for 2012 →
While the economy has not been kind to most new home builders, Earth Advantage has seen a surging interest in home energy management and energy improvement among homeowners. Those builders and remodelers who have adopted a transparent green message have been quite successful.
These trends, which range from a boom in certified multi-family construction to the advent of consumer friendly home...
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Apple’s New Supply Chain List is a Cry for Help →
When Apple, Inc. – or for that matter, any other company – publishes the names of its suppliers, it’s a pretty good sign that the company is putting pressure on its supply chain to up the ante on sustainable practices. But the pressure doesn’t just come from the company alone. In effect, a supplier list is a call to action, challenging consumers and other stakeholders to push for change...
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Investors Worth $20 Trillion Discussed Climate... →
Last week the U.N. had finally the chance to see a day of discussions on climate change, focusing on the risks and opportunities and leaving the politics out of it. About 450 global investors controlling more than $20 trillion gathered last Thursday at the United Nations for the Investor Summit on climate risk & energy solutions. Strangely, the summit took place only couple of miles far...
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US First Country in the World to Impose... →
In a rare show of bold bipartisanism, the United States recently made a move ”to impose catch limits for every species it manages, from Alaskan pollock to Caribbean queen conch,” according to The Washington Post. This is the first law in the world that establishes a catch limit for all species. In the US, 528 species are fished commercially and each has distinct limits to prohibit overfishing...
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California Renewable Energy Off to a Good Start in... →
Renewable energy is getting off to a good start in California this new year despite being buffeted by supply-demand imbalances, rising trade friction and uncertainty over federal support for clean energy and technology. As NPD-Solarbuzz reports, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved five renewable energy contracts so far this month, which will result in the...
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Considering Being a Benefit Corporation? A New... →
Over the past year, the reputation of corporations has been dragged through the mud, with the global Occupy movement casting a skeptical, antagonistic view of such entities, and rightly so, in many cases. But quietly, a new, broader world-benefitting form of corporation has been emerging during the past several years - the B Corp, and more recently, Benefit Corporation status.
With last...
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BP Launches Propaganda Blitz →
About 20 months ago, the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers and releasing over 200 million gallons of oil. The biggest offshore oil spill in US history, it seriously damaged ecosystems and caused health problems from chemical dispersants. The responsible thing for a company to do would be to own up to the oil...
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Humane Society Makes Strategic Stock Purchase in... →
In recent years, advocacy organizations like Greenpeace, PETA, and others have been able to leverage the stakeholder engagement trend and the power of social media to focus public attention on their key issues and put pressure on companies to take action. Recent news from The Humane Society of the US (HSUS) reveals that these organizations have added yet another influencing tactic to their wheel...
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Air Pollution in South Asia Reaches Epic Levels →
A country’s air pollution index is a good measure of its recent economic growth. In South Asia, the winter has brought some major air pollution woes. Smog in some cities is so thick that it is wrecking havoc with mobility and air traffic.
The burning of fossil fuels, biomass, as well as diesel transportation, factories, power plants, and dust has caused the problem and the cold winter weather...
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The Dark, Unsustainable Underbelly of the Cruise... →
In the days where eco-tourism is gaining fast ground, there are still ways to have a holiday that is highly unsustainable. One of these ways is to take a cruise. The cruise ship industry was called out as the Dinosaur of the Year by the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) which is based in Germany. They have come down especially hard on cruise lines AIDA and TUI.
According to...
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EU Passes Law that Says: The Chicken Comes First →
We’ve all heard the famous rhetorical question, “which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” Well, I’m here to tell to you that the answer is—it depends.
If you’re the American egg industry, then the answer is clearly, the egg. In fact, they don’t give a hoot about the chickens and would do away with them altogether if they didn’t need them to produce the eggs. Stuffing them in battery cages...
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Should Carmakers be Afraid of Electric Motors? →
The internal combustion engine is one of the few remaining things most carmakers actually make. In many cases, the powertrain is the only real ‘fingerprint’ that sets one manufacturer apart from the other.
Bye bye, fingerprint.
With the incipient rise of the electric vehicle, carmakers are scrambling to partner with manufacturers in other sectors to stay competitive under the hood.
Volvo...
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Pepsico Achieves Positive Water Balance in India →
Pepsico and its rival Coco-Cola have often been accused of over-exploitation of water in India. Both companies have been engaging in water footprint analysis to understand the problem, as well as stewardship activities. Pepsico recently announced that all their plants in India are water positive. According to their reports, they were the first beverage company in India to achieve positive...
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Climate Change? There’s a Game For That →
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here.
Do you believe games can help save the world? Al Gore seems to think so. So does Jane McGonigal, a world-renowned game designer and one of the movement’s leading thinkers....
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Walmart’s Green Room Blog Launches →
At long last, Walmart has entered the sustainable blogosphere with a new site called “The Green Room” (not to be confused with our own green room project with BBMG). Walmart’s new offering is a self described “platform for an ongoing conversation with NGOs, suppliers, the media, and others who want to share ideas and partner with us in helping people live better around the world.” It’s...
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The 10 Emerging Sustainable Cities to Watch in... →
When “green,” “sustainable” or resilient cities come to mind, the usual suspects crop up: Portland,Amsterdam, San Francisco and even high-tech Abu Dhabi score plenty of attention. As more cities push their green agenda the way they promote business opportunities or local tourism, some cities are way ahead of others. Mayors now try to jockey themselves to the front of the sustainability beauty...
December 2011
26 posts
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Google’s Green Czar Leaves for Facebook →
In November 2011, Bill Weihl, left his post as the Green Czar at Google. Weihl oversaw much of Google’s $700M investments in clean energy and was a driving force behind Google’s Green Dream otherwise known as The Impact of Clean Energy Innovation.
Now, it seems that Dr. Weihl, a former Computer Science professor at MIT, will be joining social networking giant Facebook, with its 800 million...