Really Natural is Now Carbon Offsetting Site Visitors!
It has been the practice of Really Natural to carbon offset the server for this site, as well as all Blopire sites. Now, we are also offsetting the carbon created by our site visitors. Using the service CO2Stats, we are measuring total visitor electricity use and offsetting emissions. So far this month for Really Natural, our server footprint is 4.3204 lbs CO2 (31.1088 kWh), and our client footprint is 0.4378 lbs CO2 (4.0473 kWh).
Most internet users are unaware of its environmental impact. To solve this problem, we created CO2Stats, the first-ever tool that allows bloggers and webmasters all over the world to monitor the carbon footprints of individual web sites internationally. Our ultimate vision is to make the entire internet carbon-neutral. Our ultimate vision is to make the entire internet carbon-neutral.
I don't know if it is enough to save the US automaker's falling sales, but GM announced earlier this month at the Chicago Auto Show that the GMC Sierra will be available in hybrid model in late 2008. With 25% improved fuel economy, the hybrid Sierra will use a two-mode hybrid system. CNN Money explains,
Like single-mode hybrid systems now used by Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Ford Motor Co. (F, Fortune 500) and others, the two-mode runs without the gas engine at low speeds. But at higher speeds, the electric motor in the two-mode hybrid contributes more power. The two-mode system also is better for towing.
At speeds under 30 mph, the Sierra will run solely on its electric motor. Essentially, the hybrid system helps the 6-liter, V-8 engine run longer in its four-cylinder mode. Even with all these changes, the hybrid Sierra will only get 20mpg.
Environmentally Aware and Socially Responsible Shopping and Web Browsing
Do you wish there was a way to know a company's environmental and social responsibility rating easily and independently of the company's profile? Now there is a way with Scryve.
Scryve is a collaborative web resource and browser tool combination that provides a resource for environmentally and socially aware Internet browsing. Look up company ratings using the search box below, or Download our browser tool to see the rating of any company whose website you are on in the top right corner of your browser. If you like the rating, keep browsing, if you don't like it, click on it and we'll show you why the company is rated that way and give you alternative companies to use.
Although this database is still under development and does not contain a lot of the smaller companies, there is a lot of information about the big guys. I decided to look up Clorox, given their recent jump into the green cleaning market. Scryve gave Clorox a rating of 5 out of 10 because:
They dispose of materials in an unsatisfactory way. More effort should be applied to improving their disposal processes as they are worse than should be expected of any company (unfortunately, many companies fail to deal with this issue). This company's neglect for the environment that sustains it is shocking... They have inadequate oversight of their supply chain, which enables the abuse of their subcontracted labor force. We've found that this company has a positive impact on its employees and on the communities where it operates. They make a real effort to ensure that their impact on the global community is positive.
Thankfully, Seventh Generation, with a rating of 8, is offered as an alternative choice to Clorox on Scryve. Scryve is a wiki, and you can sign up to be one of the contributing researchers! This site and its toolbar make shopping responsibly a little easier.
So you've made the switch to natural products, drive a hybrid vehicle, purchase carbon offsets, and eat organically...what about your job? Is it a green job? Hillary Clinton promises 5,000,000 new green collar jobs, and Barack Obama has said green collar jobs are central to his energy plan.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs -On March 13 and 14, 2008, the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers will be hosting a national conference to explore the benefits of transitioning to a new green economy...steelworkers and the Sierra Club...what an unlikely combination!
Treehugger Green Job Board - recent job listings from around the country. Fish campaign organizer...anyone?
Remember the old Safeway jingle "Everything you want from a store and a little bit more"? Now that little bit more is biodieselAccording to Lohas,
The biodiesel initiative makes Safeway one of the first major retailers in the United States to convert its entire fleet of more than 1,000 trucks to cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel. The decision by Safeway will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 75 million pounds annually, the equivalent of taking nearly 7,500 passenger vehicles off the road each year.
Besides biodiesel, Safeway actually has quite a few green practices in its operation. The company purchases 87,000 megawatts annually of wind power, is converting 24 California stores to solar energy, recycles 500,000 tons a year, and is part of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
An environmental fund with a difference, investing in businesses who are driving outstanding profit growth and are environmental leaders in their industry.
Unlike most green funds, we can invest in oil, transport, and every other sector, cherry-picking the environmental leaders in each who can offer the highest returns.
This fund predominately invests in Europe and promises to invest 75%-100% in lighter footprint companies, up to 15 % in solution adopters, and up to 10% in solution providers. The minimum investment is £50 (about $99) monthly or a lump sum of £500 (about $989). According to Sir Richard Branson,
Climate change is an issue which affects us all. Consumers are changing the way they spend and are increasingly looking for more environmentally friendly ways of investing their money too. I’m delighted to be teaming up with GLG Partners in offering the Virgin Climate Change Fund and look forward to delivering our investors excellent performance without it costing the Earth.
I've criticized Scholastic in the past for contributing to the sexualization of young girls, by marketing Bratz in schools through their book fairs and book clubs. I have also been sorely disappointed in the quality of books in the Scholastic book orders my daughter brings home from school. Now, Scholastic has released an environmental policy, created in collaboration with the Green Press Initiative, the Rainforest Alliance, and the National Wildlife Federation, that somewhat redeems the company in my opinion. The policy's goal is to increase Scholastic's use of recycled paper to 25% and increase the use of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper to 30% by 2012.
The new Scholastic environmental policy comes on the heals of last summer's release of an eco-friendly version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was the largest-ever purchase of FSC-certified paper to be used in a single book printing. Scholastic's new paper policy
..will conserve the annual equivalent of nearly 500,000 trees, nearly 160 million pounds of greenhouse gases (enough to pull 6,700 cars off the road), and enough energy to power over 4,000 homes each year when compared to paper with produced with no recycled fiber. [based on Environmental Defense's Paper Calculator]
In addition to the new environmental policy, Scholastic has developed an Act Green website for children. There are Green Tools for kids, which amount to a desktop "Greenerator", door tags, and stickies to be printed that remind children to recycle, ride their bicycles, turn off light switches, etc. The website also promotes "100 Ways to Act Green", such as using a clothesline to dry laundry. In addition, children can post a green idea in the Green Room.
I think it is very important to educate children about the environment, and I applaud Scholastic's efforts. Similar to the way anti-tobacco programs in schools cause children to pressure their parents to stop smoking, perhaps such programs can use children to pressure their parents to live a greener lifestyle. I also think the publishing company's new paper policy is a start, but I wish the goals were higher for the use of recycled paper. 25% is not a very large percentage, even if 75% of it will be post-consumer waste.
Burt's Bees natural beauty products began in 1984, when beekeeper Burt Shavitz picked up Roxanne Quimby hitchhiking in Dexter, Maine. The company grew from beeswax candles sold at crafts fairs to a full line of natural beauty products for adults and babies (click here for our review of Burt's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub). Now, Clorox has purchased the company for almost $1 billion. What will this do to Burt's Bees quality? Will Clorox go green?
Clorox plans to take Burt's Bees into big box stores and make it a mainstream American brand. Like other corporate buyouts of natural companies, such as Colgate-Palmolive purchasing Tom's of Maine, natural consumers are left wondering if this is another attempt at greenwashing by a major corporation. As the New York Times writes,
Many corporate leaders have sold their shareholders on green initiatives by pointing out that they help cut costs — an argument that is more persuasive now, while energy costs are sky high. But as companies rush to put out more and more “natural,” “organic” or “green” products, consumers and advocacy groups are increasingly questioning the meaning of these labels.
Burt's Bee's cofounder Roxanne Quimby has moved on since the sale and started an organic children's clothing company called Happy Green Bee (see Eco Child's Play). Happy Green Bee offers organic, fair trade, sustainably produced cotton clothing for infants and toddlers. Quimby has also purchased 100,000 acres of land to preserve, whereas cofounder Burt Shavitz is still living in his converted turkey coop without running water or electricity.
Timberland Environmental Commitment: Carbon Neutral by 2010
The new Timberland catalog arrived this week. Russ was psyched to check out the new shoes; I was psyched to see its headline -- "Committed to the Environment. Right Down to our Feet."
The company is promoting its new Earthkeepers Collection of clothing, which is introducing new boots made with organic cotton, recycled linings and reclaimed rubber outsoles this October. Clothing and shoes with the Earthkeepers label is made using natural and recycled materials, as well as earth-friendly processes, to minimize its environmental impact. According to the company's website,
This collection represents a commitment we’ve long held to help protect the environment as well as a way to inform, inspire and engage people to do all they can.
Here's something you don't see every day. The folks at Timberland are now including a "nutrition label" on every box of shoes they sell. The label highlights the shoes' environmental impact, including energy used to produce them and what percent of that energy was renewable; community impact ,which highlights the number of hours Timberland employees serve in their communities, the fact that all Timberland factories are assessed against a code of conduct that ensures workplace safety and fair labor practices, and notes that no child labor was used to produce your shoes; and where they were made, which lets you know, well, where your shoes were made.
Timberland has long been a leader on the corporate social responsibility front - measuring and reporting on the company's efforts to strenghten communities, protect the environment and improve global human rights. Sure, they recognize it as a way to sell more shoes - appealing to the outdoorsy, tree-hugging, hiker/environmentalist types the company has long embraced as one of its key constituents. But they also see it as a way to attract and retain talented employees, and distinguish themselves among their peers in the shoes and clothing manufacturing business.
"What kind of footprint will you leave?" asks the advertising copy for the new nutritional labeling. Kick up your heels for a company that's trying to come up with an answer.
The British business tycoon yesterday pledged to invest approximately $3 billion over the next 10 years to support alternative energy and fight global warming. Branson said he would invest all profits generated by Virgin Group's transportation sectors (including airlines and trains) in research and business efforts to develop and promote renewable, sustainable energy sources in an effort to reduce the world's reliance on fossil fuels.
Branson made the announcement at the Clinton Global Initiative conference on Thursday. In a move that gives the term "power lunch" a run for its money, he explained that Al Gore had persuaded him to make the commitment during a two-hour breakfast meeting. More coffee, anyone?
Really Natural is Now Carbon Offsetting Site Visitors!
natural beauty products began in 1984, when beekeeper Burt Shavitz picked up Roxanne Quimby hitchhiking in Dexter, Maine. The company grew from beeswax candles sold at crafts fairs to a full line of natural beauty products for adults and babies (click 
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