N.C. State University Opens Their First "Green" Building

N.C. State opened its first U.S. Green Building Council-certified green building on their Centennial campus, which is located blocks from their main campus. Their water bill is only approximately $105 per month. Part of the reason is the use of water-free urinals, which save about 30,000 gallons of water per year per urinal. The building also collects rainwater runoff to prevent flooding and sedimentation. The water is sent to bioretention cells that clean the water and send it clean to its natural watershed or a wildlife habitat run by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the occupants of the building.

The building was built to allow for maximum sunlight. In the interest of occupant comfort, it uses raised floors to allow for parts such as A/C vents to be moved where desired.

What prompted me to post this was the fact that they apparently built it with emulation in mind. In other words, they wanted to ensure that the costs would not be prohibitive for those who want to use the same techologies in their own projects.

More on Apple's Labor Practices in China

More information has come out about working conditions in Chinese plants manufacturing iPods for Apple. The first two posts about can be found here and here. Apparently, the exporter that makes the iPods for Apple, the company whose labor practices are in question, filed a defamation lawsuit against the two reporters who first brought the labor conditions to light. A local court in China has frozen the assets of these two reporters. According to Apple, they are trying to work to help the reporters.

This case exemplifies the difficulty companies go through in this global environment and also shows what journalists in China can be faced with for reporting on a serious issue such as this.

Honda Has Developed Plant-Based Fabric for Car Interiors

Thank you goes to Nick of TriplePundit.com, who had this article posted from Japan for Sustainability about Honda's development of a plant-based fabric for use in automobile interiors. The new fabric will help Honda save 10-15% of energy when it's produced. The fabric will also help to reduce CO2 emissions during the disposal process.

The article states that plant-based fabrics have not been used in automobiles due to durability issues, but Honda has overcome this concern with their new product.

Energy Industry Preparing For Greenhouse Gas Limits

This article speaks of how the energy industry is preparing themselves for future government regulations of greenhouse gases. The article has a number in the industry acknowledging that steps must be taken to limit our footprint.

Companies such as Shell, Duke Energy, Exelon, General Electric, Sempra Energy and PNM Resources, a utility based in Albuquerque, N.M., have gone on record supporting mandatory limits on CO2 emissions.

The only two companies on record opposing new regulations are American Electric Power and the Southern Company, electric utilities in the Midwest and South whose power plants are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in the country. They prefer voluntary reductions.

Featured Company: Immaculate Baking Co.

I first heard about Immaculate Baking Co. at the graduation party of a Kenan-Flagler student this past May. She mentioned to me that Immaculate is a North Carolina-based company. I also tried a couple different flavors of their cookies that day; both were excellent.

At the party, I was given an idea of what Immaculate Baking Co. does, besides making cookies and chocolate-covered biscotti. But I went to Immaculate's website to find out more. Their website highlights the main reason I'd consider them socially responsible, but there is something else that is not so highlighted that I feel is very important as well. The website talks of how Immaculate supports the Folk Artist's Foundation through a profit-sharing program.

Their website shows the folk art programs they are involved with as well as the goals of them.

Programs:
* Provide artists with materials for their craft (i.e. paint, roof tin, wood, etc.)
* Help folk artists secure stable living conditions and maintain quality of life
* Provide contacts between artists and collectors, galleries, and museums
* Hold events throughout the year that unite folk artists with children of all backgrounds
* Permanently display our folk art collection for groups (school, church, social, etc.) to visit and learn more about this viable artform


Goals:
* To increase the awareness and appreciation of these gifted artists, especially within the local communities in which they live and work
* To build grant programs that help provide for these artists necessities such as proper housing, food, medical assistance, etc.
* To build a folk art museum which will serve as a permanent home for our foundation and its activities.

The other point I wanted to mention that isn't as highlighted on their website is that the ingredients they use are all-natural, preservative-free and not processed. While I am not sure about this, I believe they also use less sugar than a 'typical' store-bought cookie. So while you can't say that cookies are healthy, it's great to have choices out there that use less harmful ingredients. It's also good to know that some of the money you spend on your purchase will support a good cause that the company is passionate about.

Click here to find the list of retailers that sell Immaculate Baking Co. products. 35 U.S. states are represented, but they are also carried nationwide at Whole Foods and Williams-Sonoma.

Business and System Change

This article by author and sustainability consultant, Frank Dixon talks of some the systems in place that do not allow for the changes needed for businesses and government to be as sustainable as possible. He mentions things such as a basic financial concept like the time value of money putting more value on today and less value on the future. He also talks about how the advertising plays to people's psychology for companies economic growth, while ignoring what the commerce does to the environment.

I've only mentioned two of the many points Dixon makes, so I'd recommend reading the article for his other perspectives and to read his words on what I have written above (I hope that I have not misrepresented what he is saying).

Aspen Sheriff Candidate Greens His Campaign

This is not a business article, but I thought it would be a valuable article to post nonetheless. Rick Magnuson, a candidate for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado, wants to phase out the current sheriff's department vehicles and replace them with hybrid and bio-diesel models; buy wind farm credits; and build partnerships with local organizations to make the department more eco-friendly.

Magnuson says that the vehicles can be paid for with a combination of fuel savings and sponsorships. These initiatives come second to public safety, of course, but it's good to see such things potentially making their way into public policy.

You can read about Rick Magnuson and his green initiatives here, from an article in the Aspen Daily News.

VCs and "CleanTech"

This article from the NYTimes is about Venture Capital and cleantech. Basically, it speaks of how alternative energy is a hot area for VCs to invest due to its money-making opportunities.

What I find the most interesting when reading the article is how certain people tip-toe through this type of area. What I mean is that right off the bat, the article starts by saying that Nicholas Parker, the chairman of Cleantech Venture Network, wants to make sure everyone knows he's not a "treehugger." I read another article recently that started in a similar way. Those statements only go to show that there is money in being responsible because what Parker is saying is that he's not in the alternative energy investing business to do any good (heaven forbid!!); he's in it because he can make himself and others a lot of money doing so.

It reminds me a bit of how the word "liberal" is somehow a bad word that people run away from - Republican candidates use it so effectively that they win primaries by disparaging each other with that dreaded word.

Call these things what you wish - 'doing the right thing' is becoming more popular. If people want to shy away from associating themselves with it, I say let them - as long as the right thing is being done.

(Product) Red

Yesterday, I took part in a conference call that Net Impact put together for chapter leaders. It was a talk from Marcus Chung, the Manager of Public Affairs with Gap Inc. The call was valuable for a number of reasons, two of which was to hear about a recent MBA graduate and how he got to be in such a position and to learn about the Gap's sustainability activities. For me, though, the most interesting part of the call was learning about (Product) Red, a great program that Gap Inc. is a part of.

(Product) Red may be old news to you, but I just heard about it yesterday. Here is a BBC article from January announcing its launch. In short, (Product) Red was launched by Bono and Bobby Shriver with the purpose of raising a sustainable flow of corporate donations to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Corporate partners, which include American Express, Converse, Emporio Armani and Motorola, are making special products for this and are donating about 40% of the profits to (Product) Red.

I learned on the call yesterday, that the Gap will be releasing their (Product) Red products soon. Marcus said the prices will be slightly higher than their normal line, but that there are additions to the products that increase the value.

Two for Today - Schools and BP

It's back-to-school time - in fact, my first class of the semester is tonight - so here is an article that speaks of college campuses going green and saving money doing so. It talks of the green construction projects that are occuring, the recycling of food waste from cafeterias, paying for renewable energy and the greening of courses themselves in terms of subject matter. The article also touches on other positive changes going on at college campuses.
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BP has launched "targetneutral" to encourage drivers to offset their CO2 emissions with a payment that reflects how much they emit. The payment, which will be matched by BP, will go toward five renewable energy projects in the developing world. The payment can be determined by going to the "targetneutral" website. Some critics are charging BP with "greenwashing" due to the recent criticism they have received from the recent Prudhoe Bay incident.

The article also states BP is not the first major corporation to encourage customers to offset their carbon emissions. British Airways, through their Climate Care program will add a voluntary cost to the price of a plane ticket that will offset the individual's carbon emissions for that particular flight. Also, Ford in the US and Ford Land Rover in the UK are offering carbon emission offsets on a trial basis. A similar program to BP's is one I mentioned that was started by students at Presidio School of Management. That program is called Drive Neutral.

The UK's Minimum Wage Issue

Here is an interesting article about some issues the UK is having with their minimum wage law. The law was introduced in the country only six years ago. The minimum wage is set to increase on October 1 and this article speaks of HM Revenue and Customs, the arm of the government that is responsible with enforcing the law. Apparently, a number of companies ignore the law. From the Guardian Unlimited article, the following is the top ten worst excuses compiled by HM Revenue and Customs for ignoring the law:


· He doesn't deserve it - he's a total waste of space

· But she only wanted £3 an hour

· I didn't think the workers were worth national minimum wage

· I didn't think it applied to small employers

· He's disabled

· They can't cope on their own and it's more than they would get in their own country

· She's on benefits - if you add those to her pay it totals the national minimum wage

· He's over 65, so the national minimum wage doesn't apply

· The workers can't speak English

· I only took him on as a favour

Corporate Environmental Program (Almost) Ready to Adopt

Greening of America, an eco-minded company dedicated to finding solutions that enable Americans to reduce global warming, has announced that they will have an energy-saving program for corporations ready to launch during the first quarter of 2007. Details of the product have not been released, but according to TransMedia Group, the public relations firm handling the product's release, it has "a powerful environmental branding strategy that corporate sponsors can adopt as a way of being green in a highly credible and visible way." Greening of America says that it "offers every American a practical way to reduce their energy consumption, and provides corporate sponsors a meaningful way to take part in a process that can remove the equivalent of 50,000 cars off the road every week."

It will be interesting to see what it is when it is released.

Featured Company: Honest Tea

I am going to try to feature a new company every Sunday, when possible, that demonstrates a commitment to social responsibility. This week, I'd like to draw attention to Honest Tea, a Bethesda, Maryland-based beverage company that sells bottled teas and 'ades'.

Here is Honest Tea's "Statement and Aspirations for Social Responsibility":

"We will never claim to be a perfect company, but we will address difficult issues and strive to be honest about our ability or inability to resolve them. We will strive to work with our suppliers to promote higher standards. We value diversity in the workplace and intend to become a visible presence in the communities where our products are sold. When presented with a purchasing decision between two financially comparable alternatives, we will attempt to choose the option that better addresses the needs of economically disadvantaged communities."

Some examples of what Honest Tea does: all of their products are USDA-certified organic; they were the first US-based bottled tea manufacturer to market a Fair Trade certified product - they now market several; through their First Nation Peppermint product, they support I'tchik Herb, a woman-owned company based on the Crow reservation; through their Community Green product, they support City Year, "an AmeriCorps program uniting diverse 17-24 year olds with communities in need"; they help to promote the Ford Escape Hybrid by using one as their marketing vehicle to deliver product samples to various events; they use much less sugar in their products than most other comparable products on the market - a healthier alternative for all; and while individual bottled products certainly are not ideal, they have improved on their packaging by using PETE 1 plastic bottles, which are fully recyclable, do not leach, and require less energy to produce and ship.

I have been a fan of the Honest Tea product prior to knowing about the many great things they do. I only tried the products because of their low sugar content. The taste, in my opinion, was far above the other high-sugar, artificial tasting tea products I had in the past (and sent me to drink primarily water). I cannot vouch for any of the "ade" products (ex. Limeade) at this point, as I have not tried any, but I expect them to be great as well.

After learning about their social responsibility, I became very interested in pursuing an internship with them this past summer, the summer between my first and last years in my MBA program. Unfortunately for me, I was not selected to work with this fantastic company, but Seth Goldman, the co-founder, President and 'TeaEO' of the Honest Tea, was open to letting me down easy himself!

Lastly, I wanted to say that Honest Tea is a supporter of Net Impact, whose mission is to "improve the world by growing and strengthening a network of new leaders who are using the power of business to make a positive net social, environmental, and economic impact." Seth spoke at last year's Net Impact conference and they recruited at the conference's career fair. I recently called Honest Tea in hopes of getting a discount for a case of tea I wanted to purchase for the first meeting of the upcoming semester of NC State's Net Impact chapter, which I co-founded and currently serve as president. I spoke to Leslie, a very friendly representative of Honest Tea. Three days later, I received a generous donation of a free case of Honest Tea for the meeting.

I do hope that people will support this great company. If you do not know where to find their products, Check Here.

Follow-up to Apple's Investigation of China Factory

Back in June, I posted about Apple's investigation into working conditions at one its factories in China. The investigation has resulted in the determination that there was no forced labor, but that workers worked more hours and days than allowed by the company. Apple specifies a maximum of 60 hour work weeks or six days of work per week. The investigation found the hour limit was exceeded 35% of the time and that the day limit was exceeded 25% of the time over the seven months investigated.

The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious

This summer, PBS has been showing design:e2 (the economies of being environmentally conscious). I haven't seen it yet, but it looks very interesting. It's playing on my local PBS station this weekend, but as they say, check your local listings.

From the PBS site:
"design:e2 (the economies of being environmentally conscious) is an original six-part series that explores the vitality of the environment through eco-friendly architecture. Narrated by Brad Pitt and masterfully shot in high-definition, the series introduces us to the inventive leaders and technologies driving sustainable practices worldwide in the design of buildings where we live, work, and play."

Kaiser Permanente Launches Local Food Sourcing Program

Healthcare company Kaiser Permanente has launched a six-month pilot program that will provide California hospitals with locally grown produce. The pilot is focusing on minority farmers. Kaiser will pay the farmers just above wholesale prices.

Good to see a healthcare company focus on nutrition. Of course, such a program also saves fuel and is better for the environment than shipping in produce from locations that are not as local.

Pepsi Promotes Woman to CEO Position

PepsiCo Inc. has promoted CFO Indra Nooyi to CEO, making Nooyi only the 11th woman to (currently) lead a Fortune 500 company.

The article lists the other ten woman CEOs.

Marks and Spencer's "Look Behind the Label"

Marks and Spencer, a large company in the UK, is moving towards selling many fair trade products. They were the first major retailer to switch to selling all fair trade coffee and tea. They also recently started to sell jeans, t-shirts and socks made entirely of fair trade cotton.

The link above gives other examples of what Marks and Spencer is doing.

Honda's Good Planning

In 2005, U.S. passenger vehicle sales fell 17.4 percent; Honda's sales, on the other hand, rose six percent. As a result, for the first time, Honda passed the Chrysler Group in sales to come in fourth in U.S. sales behind GM, Toyota and Ford (remember, since then, Toyota overtook GM for the top spot).

The writer of this article credits Honda consistent focus on its principles for this success. While other automakers were taking advantage of low gas prices to push out SUVs, Honda has always refused to develop vehicles with a V-8 engine or to develop light trucks. Instead, Honda was the first to go to market with a hybrid vehicle (the largely unsuccessful Insight) and put a lot of effort into developing hydrogen power and clean diesel vehicles.

Brief Interview

From today's NY Times, a brief interview with Gwen Ruta, who is in charge of creating and managing corporate partnerships for Environmental Defense. She speaks about what a number of companies are doing, including a few that Environmental Defense partnered with, in terms of environmental measures that have also paid off economically.

Mion - An Environmentally Responsible Company

While reading Plenty Magazine online, I came across Mion, a footwear company. Let Plenty tell you what is so special about this company and Mion's water shoe in particular:

"Thanks to a conscientious R&D department, these shoes are created using fewer raw materials and are manufactured with 90% less waste than the average sports shoe. Also, the company purchases energy credits from wind turbines to offset 100% of the energy used to produce their products. Even the box is recycled (and, in the interest of full disclosure, stamped with an EcoMetrics label). But Miōn’s commitment to the environment goes beyond their products: they've also created the Miōn Solutions Environmental Film Awards to honor filmmakers who bring environmental issues into the public eye (winners will be announced in a few days at the Outdoor Retailer conference in Salt Lake City, UT)."

Next month's issue of Plenty will also feature eco-friendly boots.

Wall Street's Love Affair With Clean Energy

"Saving the planet, protecting America, doing God's work, cynically exploiting a feel-good trend -- call it what you will. Wall Street sees money to be made."

BusinessWeek features this article in its latest issue.

Some highlights from the article:

"Last year, $17 billion poured into clean-energy projects in the U.S. -- 89% more than in 2004, estimates researcher New Energy Finance Ltd. Worldwide, the $49 billion collected in 2005 was up 62% from 2004."

"Interest in this stuff is "out of control," says Credit Suisse Group banker Paul T. Ho as he sifts through stacks of papers on his desk for potential initial public offerings of companies that produce fuel from corn, restaurant grease, prairie grasses, orange peels, and municipal waste.

"Think of green investing in 2006 like technology investing circa 1976, when computer hardware was just starting to be introduced. Bet on the next Intel, and the sky's the limit."

" Investment banks are making long-term bets, too. Instead of taking green companies public and collecting the easy underwriting fees, Goldman [Sachs] is choosing to own companies outright and keep the profits for itself."

Wal-Mart Raises Pay For Some, But......

Wal-Mart is raising starting pay in about third of their stores by 6%. Critics of Wal-Mart point out that, at the same time, they are also capping salaries for many long-term workers. According to Wal-Mart, however, the cap just means that workers wanting to make more have to apply for a promotion.

Verizon Is Using Fuel Cell Technology

Verizon is using fuel cell technology to power their Garden City, Long Island facility. Producing their own energy gives Verizon more control over this aspect of their operation as well as saving them a great deal of money. The article does acknowledge that the upfront capital costs can be cost prohibitive for smaller companies.

Another advantage to using fuel cells, according to the article, is that the waste created by converting hydrogen and oxygen to electricity is water and heat. This water and heat can be used to heat and cool the building. Currently, Verizon estimates that a third of their cooling needs are provided by this waste.

Verizon has estimated that in one year they have eliminated 11.1 of carbon dioxide that would have been emitted into the atmosphere as a result of the fuel cells.

While the cost to Verizon to build the facility and operate and maintain the fuel cells was very high, they have exceeded yearly energy savings by far. They had estimated a $250,000 per year savings. In fact, the savings were $680,000.

Starbucks Pledges a Minimum of $50K to Jumpstart

Starbucks, which has already expanded beyond coffee and tea beverages into selling music and promoting movies ("Akeelah and the Bee") is now in the business of promoting books. Starbucks has chosen the second and latest novel from Mitch Albom, known mostly for "Tuesdays With Morrie" and as a Detroit sports writer. The novel is titled, "For One More Day".

Starbucks has said they'd pledge $1 per copy sold at their stores, and a minimum of $50,000, to Jumpstart, a nonprofit education group that works with at-risk preschoolers on literacy matters.

G.M. Tops In Sustainability Reporting

Some of the articles I've posted lately have focused on the auto industry and how Toyota and Honda are doing well due, in good part, to their focus on hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles. This article, however, gives General Motors the top spot in the motor vehicles and parts sector for their sustainability reporting. It doesn't mean that what they are reporting is best, but the amount and quality of information is.

"Who Killed the Electric Car?"

With the recent release of the documentary titled, "Who Killed the Electric Car?", BBC World News has this article. The documentary talks of the end of the General Motors EV1. GM didn't sell them; they only leased them. And when the leases were up (and, apparently, sometimes before) they collected them and destroyed them. The documentary filmmaker blames car makers and oil firms, primarily, with the death of the electric car. The car makers, on the other hand, blamed lack of demand.

The article also mentions the Ford Think, an electric car released briefly in the U.K. in 2001. Apparently due to lack of demand, Ford sold the Think to a Scandinavian company.

What's interesting to me based on what I have heard (but not yet seen) about the documentary is that GM wouldn't allow the leasees of the EV1 to buy the cars. Instead, they destroyed them. Also, based on the performance of the EV1 (top speed of 80mph, 0-60mph in 8 seconds, a range of over a hundred miles), I'd think that the demand would be there now. Call me what you will, but perhaps this type of thinking is one of the reasons that GM may drop behind Toyota as the world's largest automaker (link the same as from this previous post).

Companies Building Green to Cut Costs

This article highlights the fact that a number of companies are using green building techniques to help them cut energy costs. PNC Bank and Bank of America are two companies mentioned.

South African Hotel Using Worms to Cut Waste

The Mount Nelson Hotel in South Africa is using red wriggler worms to help reduce the amount of waste they ship to landfills. Currently, they are feeding about 20 percent of organic waste to the worms, but hope to increase it to 100% in the next nine months.

This will help South Africa in it's goal to stop waste going to landfill sites by 2022.

Fuel-Efficient Offerings Spur Toyota's Success

Fuel-efficient cars proved to be a big help for Toyota as their income increased 39.2% in the second quarter, thus passing Ford as the second biggest automaker in the U.S. Toyota is set to surpass G.M., perhaps as soon as this year, as the largest automaker in the U.S.

Fortune Magazine, Continued

When I continued looking at the current issue of Fortune, I came across another article dealing with corporate social responsibility. "The Senator From Starbucks" is an article about Starbucks' Founder and Chairman Howard Schultz and his mission to get corporations to deal with health-care reform.

Like all businesses, Starbucks has seen double-digit increases in their cost of healthcare. Unlike most businesses, Starbucks offers health insurance for part-time employees, so these increases affected them even more. Starbucks response was to start a wellness program and to increase their prices. Schultz, though, realized these responses were merely "Band-Aids" put on the problem. Most companies can't just raise their prices to cover the cost.

Due to Schultz's frustration with dealing with Congress - he left feeling good about the situation, but nothing was done after he left - he is trying to convene CEOs to help with the situation. He did have a summit with CEOs on CNBC last year, but he is trying to increase the number of CEOs who are willing to try to tackle the situation.

This Week's Fortune Magazine

I just started flipping through the current (August 7, 2006) issue of Fortune. It's full of references to socially responsible business.

Starting with the cover story, "The Green Machine," an article about Wal-Mart. The subheading states that CEO Lee Scott wants to turn Wal-Mart into the greenest retailer. Scott admits that the green campaign started as PR, but it's more now. In fact, the idea of beginning these initiatives was brought to Scott by one of Sam Walton's sons, who was influenced after spending time outdoors with a conservationist who told Walton of the type of influence the retailer could have. The article talks of some of the initiatives and successes, such as one involving packaging. Wal-Mart sold a large bottle of Tide and a much smaller bottle of All - both promising to clean the same number of laundry loads. Wal-Mart got behind the smaller packaging of All. Now Proctor & Gamble is going to introduce smaller packaging for Tide and other products. Wal-Mart is trying to get all of their suppliers to use less packaging. The article also talks of how Wal-Mart is the largest buyer of organic cotton and a large buyer of organic foods. It mentions the new 'green' stores that have popped up, including one in a Denver suburb that uses wind turbines for energy, recycles cooking and motor oil to heat the store and has sustainable bamboo jewelry cases. It also composts spoiled food into fertilizer and resells it.

The Fortune issue also has a pull-out bookmark listing recommended books and websites on socially responsible business. There is a short interview with Klaus Kleinfeld, the CEO of Siemens, who says that Siemens is also "thinking green" while not publicizing it. He says Siemens sees it as not only "green" but as efficient.

The last mention is in an article about a Fortune-led conference called Brainstorm. Conference participant and venture capitalist Joen Doerr said, 'Developing new, sustainable sources of energy, "should be our generation's Apollo moon shot."' The conference also had Net pioneer Bill Gross, who now runs Energy Innovations, which 'produces a solar collector that uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight on silicon to generate electricity.'

The socially responsible business movement, if it can be called a movement, is coming along if a mainstream business magazine like Fortune has all of these mentions in on e issue. By the way, these mentions only took me to page 57 of the current issue. I still have half of the issue remaining. I'll be sure to report if any other mentions are made.

CA and the U.K. Create Their Own Climate "Treaty"

Here's another article concerned with a greenhouse gas market. California and the U.K. are working together to create a trans-Atlantic market for greenhouse gases.

"HP Responsible Business Award" Launched

According to this press release from CSRwire.com, "HP Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Europe will launch a new award to encourage young entrepreneurs to engage in responsible business."

The award aims to build social and environmental responsibility and responsible business leadership skills for students in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The first award will be given this week.