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Archive for February, 2009

I had the chance to take a look at a Coolerado air-conditioning unit this past August at the West Coast Green Conference. At the time, the company was showing off an energy-efficient model that uses thermodynamics to cool outside air without chemical refrigerants.

Now Coolerado has added another element to its air conditioners: solar power. According to Coolerado, any solar contractor can easily work with installers in the company’s network to add solar photovoltaic systems to air conditioning units. A demonstration solar-powered Coolerado air-conditioner is on display now at RETECH 2009 in Las Vegas.

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If you’re in Tokyo tomorrow, make sure to check out Sony’s exhibit at the FC EXPO 2009. The company will display the newest version of its hybrid fuel cell, which contains a Li-on battery and a methanol fuel cell.

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Considering our country’s current economic woes, it stands to reason that most of us are cutting back on our discretionary spending - in layman’s terms, we’re buying less stuff.  And though we’ve been told that buying more stuff supports our economy, it doesn’t necessarily support our environment.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to make those purchases count.  Not all companies are created equal when it comes to sustainable business practices, and many people underestimate the power that they have as consumers. And, though November’s elections were certainly historic, your right to vote didn’t end there.  Vote with your dollars!  Supporting companies that are doing the right thing by adopting eco-friendly practices, or “buycotting”, will help ensure that those companies make it through these tough economic times.

So how do you determine which companies deserve your hard-earned dollars? How do you spot those greenwashers? It’s not always easy, but fortunately there are some resources that can help.

Turn to the Experts

Recently, a couple of studies have been released that identify specific companies as tops in their class when it comes to sustainable practices.

First up, The Global 100 Most Sustainable Companies in the World, a list of publicly-traded companies that best manage the environmental, social and governance risk associated with sustainability. Brought to us by Corporate Knights: The Canadian Magazine for Responsible Business and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors the fifth annual list includes familiar American companies like Amazon.com, Coca Cola, Dell, Nike, and Walt Disney. (Note that these are all large, international, publicly-traded companies – no Tom’s of Maine here!)

Having a bit of info regarding these large companies’ efforts in sustainability can, and should, influence your buying decisions. Drop your laptop in the bathtub? Think Dell. Desperate for a carbonated caffeine jolt? Consider Coke.

But, when you make these purchasing decisions, just make sure that you keep the bigger picture in mind – do you really need a new computer? Updating your old one is a greener option, as is bringing water in a reusable container, washing those old sneaks, or borrowing books from the library – regardless of the sustainability efforts of Dell, Coke, Nike or Amazon. Vote with your dollars when it’s appropriate to do so, remembering that even the “greenest” of products do not actually help the environment – they just hurt it less.

Look for Green Brands

That said, you’re probably thinking, “When I think of a green beverage company, I don’t think Coca Cola, I think of Green Mountain Coffee.” Did I read your mind? Cool, huh? Actually, my source is a recent Earthsense report that takes another angle, examining consumer perceptions of popular brands.

Of 350 companies studied, 35 were singled out by consumers as tops in four categories:

• Sustainable business practices
• Product impact
• Investment likelihood, and
• Recommendation likelihood

The resulting list reads like a who’s who of companies for whom green is a big part of who they are. Topping the list were grocers Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, both of which achieved high marks on all four measures.  Other familiar brands listed as “standouts” include Earthbound Farms, Tom’s of Maine, Burt’s Bees, Kashi, and Fresh & Easy.  Google and Yahoo also made the list. You can download the entire report from GreenBiz.com.

On the flip side, check out Climate Watch’s list of “Climate Laggards” – those who are behind the curve on corporate responsibility and the environment. Who’s on it?  Exxon Mobile (no surprise there), General Motors, and home-builder Standard Pacific.

Though some carbon-intensive industries are over-represented on the list, some companies (like GM) were singled out due to their total inaction, as they lag behind their competitors, are unresponsive to investor concerns, and fail to report their environmental impact to the public. Sounds like the trifecta of unsustainable business practices.

Take Stock

According to many analysts, the hard-hit stock market is a great place to pick up some investments on the cheap. If you’re trying to live a green lifestyle, don’t you want your investments to reflect your values? Research continues to show that companies that are strong on sustainability outperform their counterparts financially.

If you’re looking to buy stock, or just want to find out more about a particular company’s environmental performance, check out the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility’s “climate risk profiles”. Covering more than 150 companies, the profiles are particularly useful because they compare companies within a sector. For more on green investing, check out last year’s post on the topic.

Buy Used Stuff

Supporting companies that get it is important when you need something new. But what if you need something that’s just “new to you”?  I’m a big proponent of thrift stores, garage sales, antique stores, libraries, Craigslist, borrowing, lending and dumpster diving (OK, so I’m not quite that hard core). If there’s a way to get it used, do it.  Not only will reusing or recycling something keep it out of the landfill, but it will avoid the environmental damage done by a new product, from raw material extraction to manufacturing to shipping and finally, disposal.  Plus, it’ll be easier on your wallet.

However you choose to go about finding the things that you need to get through life, just keep in mind that you have a lot of power in your bank account, even if your balance doesn’t make you feel so powerful.

Many of us are accustomed to watching TV on high-quality plasma and LCD screens, but we pay a severe price in energy inefficiency. Toshiba has come up with a solution to our energy woes: flexible OLED paper that doubles as a TV screen.

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There are few companies on earth that have a better-known consumer brand than Starbucks. We’ve always hoped that they would use this brand power to take a strong leadership role in promoting sustainability. After all, Starbucks literally depends on the health of the earth for the quality of its products! Starbucks has embraced green practices in some ways, but in others they’ve been lacking. We’ve written about some of their inconsistent waste management practices in the past, and behind the scenes we’ve wondered about the carbon footprint of all that coffee and bottled water.

Well, there are more signs that they are making progress towards becoming a much greener company. Last week they announced the opening of a LEED-certified roasting plant in South Carolina. And they’ve promised that all new company-operated stores will be LEED certified by the end of 2010.

Some of the green elements of the new roasting plant include the following:

• Overall, building materials were comprised of 20% recycled content;
• Seventy-five percent of construction waste was recycled;
• Energy efficient lighting systems were installed;
• High efficiency water fixtures and drought-tolerant landscaping were used;
• Some electricity is provided by wind power, although it doesn’t say whether Starbucks actually operates wind turbines or has just bought renewable energy credits, or RECS. There’s a big difference between the two, and we’d prefer the former!

Now, having done some sustainability consulting in the coffee industry, we noticed one major component of a coffee roasting plant NOT mentioned: improvements to the roasting process itself, which is far and away the most energy-intensive aspect of a roasting plant. If you look at coffee as a product BEFORE it gets to retail (i.e., excluding Starbucks stores), the primary source of carbon emissions comes from the roasting process. In 2003, the last year for which Starbucks reported greenhouse gas emissions, roasting counted for about 53,000 tons of carbon dioxide. All other emissions associated with the roasting plant (office energy use, heating/cooling, etc) are minor in comparison. There are ways to cut down on roasting emissions, and we hope that Starbucks is using them. One is to recirculate waste roasting gases to conserve energy (and reduce air pollution). If they were truly on the green cutting edge, Starbucks could also use this same waste gas to power space heating and cooling equipment for their entire plant.

Outside of the plant, we’d also like to see Starbucks focus on other greening initiatives that they haven’t fully addressed yet:

• Shipping. From our analysis, shipping can comprise 25% or more of coffee’s non-retail carbon footprint. That includes the whole chain from farm to store and all associated packaging materials. These emissions can be hard to cut, but quantifying and reporting them is a first step. We hope that Starbucks’ 2008 CSR report will include this information.
• Packaging. The airtight plastic/metallic bags that coffee is often packaged in are very carbon-intensive. The plastic comes from petrochemicals, and the metallic components are often aluminum, one of the most energy intensive metals. There are major opportunities here to develop more sustainable packaging. Especially if you are an industry leader like Starbucks.
• Bottled Water. Just stop selling it. Please. Sell filtered, augmented or carbonated water made in-store instead. If consumers really want to buy water, allow them to bring in a thermos or water bottle and buy special Starbucks/Ethos water. That is, if there really is something worth paying for aside from convenience in the bottled water that Starbucks sells. We happily buy water made from the Natura system at many of the restaurants we frequent. No shipping impacts, and no waste associated with plastic bottles.

One last point. As mentioned above, Starbucks hopes to attain LEED certification for all new company-owned stores. It’s pretty clear if you read Starbuck’s latest sustainability report that the bulk of their overall impacts come from the operation, not construction, of their stores. The LEED standards associated with construction (LEED for New Construction, Commercial Interiors, etc) help with these operational impacts somewhat. But we’d really be excited to shop at Starbucks if they instead decided to certify existing stores with the USGBC’s LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance standard. That would require Starbucks to not only operate energy- and water-efficient stores, but to also put in place comprehensive recycling, sustainable sourcing and green cleaning practices among other things. Now that will turn Starbucks coffee into some really green beans!