|
| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Just Beyond the Parking Lot
Wal-Mart gobbles up local produce |
|
02 Jul 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:55 AM on 02 Jul 2008 You thought you took home a haul at the farmers market last week, but you've got nothin' on Wal-Mart. The big-box retailer has become the nation's largest buyer of local produce, planning to purchase and sell $400 million worth of locally grown fruits and veggies this year. Wal-Mart says it works with "hundreds" of individual farmers, and has 50 percent more partnerships with local growers t ... |
|
| Topics: business, food, greening biz operations, greenish companies, local food, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
What I saw at the Summit
Thoughts from the big organic confab in Boulder |
Tom Philpott |
01 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Attending last week's Organic Summit, held within the tasteful confines of the St. Julien Hotel and Spa in Boulder, was a very, well, organic experience. It started with the hotel itself. The St. Julien, a human-scale building right in downtown Boulder, exudes calm. The lobby, a light, airy space overlooking a sun-dappled garden with mountain views behind, practically echoes with a low and relaxing ohhhmmm. As far as accommodations, I get drowsy just thinking about the ... |
|
| Topics: business, food, greening biz operations, organic food, sustainable ag (all these topics) |
|
|
Home Depot Improvement
Home Depot will collect CFLs for recycling |
|
24 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:10 AM on 24 Jun 2008 Home Depot announced Tuesday that it will collect compact fluorescent light bulbs and send them off to be recycled. The home-improvement behemoth hopes the new program will keep the bulbs, which contain a small amount of mercury, out of household trash and recycling bins. IKEA also collects CFLs for recycling but doesn't have the market saturation of Home Depot; more than three-quarters of U.S. ho ... |
|
| Topics: business, energy efficiency, green living, greening biz operations, greenish companies, mercury, news, recycling (all these topics) |
|
|
Turn Down the AC, Turn Up the AC/DC
Wal-Mart truck fleet on track to meet fuel-efficiency goals |
|
13 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:06 PM on 13 Jun 2008 Wal-Mart has improved the fuel efficiency of its 7,000-truck fleet by 20 percent since Oct. 2005 and is on track to meet its goal of a 25 percent improvement by the end of 2008, a Wal-Mart executive said Friday. Having already downsized its diesel tanks and started rolling on more efficient tires, the company also hopes to introduce hybrids into its fleet and perhaps ... |
|
| Topics: business, fuel efficiency, greening biz operations, music, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Next: Replace Peanuts With Cotton Candy
Airline industry takes small steps to offset high fuel prices |
|
11 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:35 AM on 11 Jun 2008 To offset the impact of rising fuel prices, the airline industry is doing the obvious: retiring less-efficient aircraft, flying slightly slower, and plugging into electrical systems when parked at the gate. But even smaller steps, multiplied over a large fleet, can have a significant impact. Various airlines are carrying less water for the facilities and seeking ... |
|
| Topics: air travel, business, gas prices, greening biz operations, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Heave Ho, Hummer
GM considers selling Hummer brand |
|
03 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:04 AM on 03 Jun 2008 General Motors is "undertaking a strategic review" of its iconic Hummer brand, CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday, and is "considering all options ... from a complete revamp of the product lineup to partial or complete sale of the brand." As tempting as the sale of a widely vilified symbol of gas-guzzling excess sounds, analysts are skeptical of whether buyers will want to Hummer along. But GM's c ... |
|
| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, greening biz operations, news, progress (all these topics) |
|
|
In Good Company
Green group highlights biz innovations |
|
21 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:49 AM on 21 May 2008 The Environmental Defense Fund has produced a new report highlighting processes, products, and technologies that are making the biz world more eco-friendly. The green group's Innovations Review 2008 draws attention to developments good for both business and the environment. The report focuses specifically on innovations on the cusp: not yet widely implemented, but not still in the R&D phase. So what's on ... |
|
| Topics: business, Environmental Defense Fund, greening biz operations, innovation, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Cruisin' Altitude
Airline slows down to reduce emissions |
|
20 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:12 AM on 20 May 2008 Scandinavian airline SAS has found a viable way to cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions and fuel costs: fly slower. The airline has been testing slower speeds since early 2006, and says it has saved some $12 million in fuel costs since then. And have no fear about missing your connection; hitting the brakes adds mere minutes to travel time. SAS hopes that implementing the slowdown strategy throughout its f ... |
|
| Topics: air travel, business, climate, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news (all these topics) |
|
|
For Whom the Dell Toils
Chastised by bloggers, Dell aims to cut down on waste |
|
09 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:33 PM on 09 May 2008 To paraphrase Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of loud, critical bloggers can change Dell's packaging M.O." OK, that's a bit of a stretch -- and we won't go so far as to say "Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." But photos published on the internet during Earth Week of a tiny flash drive arriving to a customer in a giant box provoked enough outc ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news, progress, tech, waste (all these topics) |
|
|
Be Like Nike
Big biz ranked on greenness |
|
07 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:47 PM on 07 May 2008 Takeaways from a new ranking of eco-friendly practices in big biz: Consumer companies are getting greener, but there's plenty of ground to gain. In its second annual scorecard, nonprofit Climate Counts ranked 56 companies on their measurement, reduction, and disclosure of greenhouse gases. Eighty-four percent of the companies scored higher this year than they did in 2007, but the average score was still only 40 out of a p ... |
|
| Topics: business, climate, green living, greenhouse-gas emissions, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news, shopping (all these topics) |
|
|
RE: Turn on investments
Finding jobs at the Ceres conference |
Kevin Doyle |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Photo courtesy Cheryl Levine Last week, I attended the Ceres conference in Boston. My table was sitting down to lunch when the person next to me whispered, 'It's Al Gore!'Cool, sez I! We were already pretty excited about the prospect of hearing from Van Jones (president, Green for All), Theodore Roosevelt IV (managing director, Lehman Brothers), and Michael Eckhart (president, American Council on Renewable Energy). Having the Goracle drop in unannounced seemed like a pe ... |
|
| Topics: business, green jobs, greening biz operations, greenish companies, progress (all these topics) |
|
|
Greening the Green
Private equity firm and green group partner up |
|
01 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:06 PM on 01 May 2008 The Environmental Defense Fund has struck a first-of-its-kind "green portfolio" deal with gigantic private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The partnership plans to develop tools to measure and improve the environmental performance of KKR'S U.S. companies, with metrics including energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, water consumption, and toxic waste. KKR has more than $185 bi ... |
|
| Topics: business, Environmental Defense Fund, greening biz operations, investing, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Green strings
Let's make all jobs greener with 'climate quality standards' |
Guest author |
01 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest post by Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, which will hold its national conference May 7 and 8 near Baltimore. ----- 'Green my job.' As I track the emerging 'green jobs' debate about renewable energy, energy independence, and green pathways out of poverty, I am struck by how disconnected it seems from progressive tax policy. There are some large 'policy forks in the road' being taken, although environmentalists seem un ... |
|
| Topics: business, climate, green jobs, greening biz operations, Van Jones (all these topics) |
|
|
Commute conundrum
Should emissions from employee commutes be included in company GHG inventories? |
Guest author |
27 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay by Kevin Luten of UrbanTrans, a sustainable transportation consulting firm working in Australia and the United States. He is based in Melbourne. ----- When businesses dip a toe in the rising sea of corporate action on climate change, the first box they check before diving in involves tabulating their own greenhouse-gas inventory. In getting your corporate house in order, the first step is defining where your yard ends and your neighbor' ... |
|
| Topics: business, cars, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, greening biz operations, public transportation (all these topics) |
|
|
The Fine Print
Software calculates eco-impact of printers and copiers |
|
26 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:54 PM on 26 Mar 2008 Xerox is offering a new software calculator to help companies reduce the energy suckage of printers, copiers, and other newfangled technology. The calculator will consider factors including type of print cartridge, print color, speed, number of pages printed per month, and Energy Star rating, then create bar graphs demonstrating energy consumption, greenhouse gases, and solid waste produced fr ... |
|
| Topics: business, energy, energy efficiency, greening biz operations, news, tech (all these topics) |
|
|
Mind Your Business
NYT offers special section on green biz |
|
26 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:36 AM on 26 Mar 2008 The Sierra Club is embarking on its first product endorsement, putting its logo on Clorox's new Green Works cleaning products. Various businesses are aiming to bypass carbon neutrality and move straight on into carbon negativity. These and more stories show up in a New York Times "Business of Green" section Wednesday, which covers the green-biz gamut, from companies trying to manufacture safer ... |
|
| Topics: business, carbon neutral, climate, energy, green jobs, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news, Sierra Club, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
|
|
The Company He Keeps
An interview with eco-certification expert Michael Conroy |
Katharine Wroth |
07 Mar 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Michael Conroy. Photo: Chris Conroy Photography As a shopper, you can't turn around without running into some type of green label, from Fair Trade to FSC-certified. But what do they all mean, and where the hell did they even come from? Economist Michael Conroy digs into the history behind these increasingly common labels in his book Branded!: How the 'Certification Revolution' Is Transfo ... |
|
| Topics: books, business, consumerism, green products, greening biz operations, interview, shopping, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Hit 'Em Where It Hurts
Chinese bosses could see salary cuts for water pollution |
|
27 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:47 PM on 27 Feb 2008 China is considering a law that would cut a head honcho's income by up to half if his or her company was found to be "directly responsible for causing severe water pollution incidents." From the Archives Good Luck, Little Buddy. Renewable-energy bill passes House, likely to be short-lived. Time Is Money. Daylight-saving time leads to higher energy ... |
|
| Topics: business, China, greening biz operations, legislation, news, water pollution (all these topics) |
|
|
Wal-Mart wants your cleantech ideas
|
David Roberts |
27 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Wal-Mart wants your help: We are trying something new at Wal-Martamidst the crazy fast, rapidly growing space of clean/green technologies we have found it pretty difficult to do two things: 1. Find the technologies that we should be implementing and 2. Be sure those that we know about are the best options with the most business potential and positive environmental impact. With this in mind, we've decided to partner with Cleantech, a very large networ ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, tech, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Scrambling to Go Green
Cadbury eggs will come with less packaging |
|
19 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:16 AM on 19 Feb 2008 Cadbury Schweppes, the maker of the Easter season's omnipresent sugar-yolk-in-a-chocolate-shell, has unveiled an alleged "eco-egg." No, the goopy white innards aren't organic; no, the chocolate isn't fair trade. The "eco" aspect comes merely from the eggs being sold unboxed, reducing packaging waste. So which came first, the greenwashing or the egg? sources: The Guardian, BBC ... |
|
| Topics: business, food, greening biz operations, greenwashing, news, waste (all these topics) |
|
|
Business weak
MBA students do care about green issues, contrary to BusinessWeek article |
Guest author |
15 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay from Alex Roth, an MBA, attorney, and writer in Washington, D.C. ----- Photo: iStockphoto Do today's MBA students care about the environment? You'd answer 'no' if you took seriously a January BusinessWeek article by Derek Thompson, which was based on a recently released study by the communications consulting firm Hill & Knowlton. BusinessWeek is an authoritative publication, with the largest U.S. circulation of ... |
|
| Topics: business, green jobs, greening biz operations (all these topics) |
|
|
That Was Easy
Staples cuts off contracts with paper supplier over eco-concerns |
|
08 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:38 AM on 08 Feb 2008 This is spiffy, so allow us to Post-it: Office supply giant Staples has cut off all contracts with gigantic Asia Pulp & Paper, citing concern that APP feeds Indonesian and Chinese rainforest into its pulp mills. In recent years, other businesses including Office Depot have quit dealings with APP over environmental concerns, but Staples had stuck with 'em. Now, though, Staples' Vic ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, news, rainforests (all these topics) |
|
|
Boogie Woogie Google Boy
An interview with Google's green energy czar, Bill Weihl |
Amanda Griscom Little |
07 Feb 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| The phrase "to Google" has become synonymous with "to search." But soon it may connote something altogether different: "to green." That is, if the internet titan can successfully pull off its latest world-changing endeavor. Bill Weihl. In late 2007, the dot-com giant announced its intention to make renewable energy cheaper than coal. The RE<C pro ... |
|
| Topics: business, carbon neutral, carbon offsets, coal, energy, energy efficiency, greening biz operations, greenish companies, interview, renewable energy, solar thermal power (all these topics) |
|
|
But three of its stores have skylights. How bad could it be?
Don't let Wal-Mart's greenish diversions distract you |
Guest author |
05 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay by Alex Goldschmidt, online editor at Wal-Mart Watch.----- Photo: Lone Primate Wal-Mart has been trying its hardest to distract its environmental critics. In a carefully orchestrated act of diversion, the company shows off its skylights and light bulb sales. In doing so, Wal-Mart has managed to draw attention away from the other, deeper environmental problems lying at the heart of the company's business model. Wal-Mart's ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, greenish companies, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Gettin' Bizzy
Companies are greening but progress is limited, says report |
|
30 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:54 PM on 30 Jan 2008 Hardly a day goes by without some U.S. company touting its green credentials, but don't get too optimistic about corporate eco-friendliness. Consulting company Greener Media studied companies' performance on 20 economic and environmental indicators, from alternative-fuel vehicles to telecommuting to pesticide use, and has published the results in a new 65-page report. Only eight of the 20 ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, news (all these topics) |
|
|
|
©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.