Eco-labels were designed to help the consumers choose more environmental and social conscious products. Today there are literally hundreds of eco-labels. Although the intent is good with eco-labels with so many on the market with various meanings, it has essentially confused the consumers.
A free downloadable report by the World Resources Institute and ecolabelling.org called the 2010 Global Ecolabel Monitor essentially is a comprehensive survey on the performance and organizational structure of all eco-labels found throughout the world. They surveyed over 340 labels from 42 different countries.
Ecolabel Index is another terrific site that is a database of all ecolabels which provides meaning and context. Another site is Global Ecolabelling Network that has good information and reports on eco-labels.
Mitch Jackson, Vice President of Environmental affairs and sustainability at FedEx, wrote a good and distinct article on how businesses can start sustainability within their organizations. This was published by GreenBiz.com July 6, 2010. Click here to see the full article.
To learn more about FedEx corporate sustainability program, click here.
In the recent Colorado Biz magazine, they have listed the top Colorado companies to work for. Among them, was Alpine Bank. They were noted for their wellness program that provides ‘wellness bucks’ for each employee who participates in at least three of the wellness programs that Alpine Bank offers. Alpine Bank also has been proactive with their green initiatives with a commitment to reach by 2012 the following;
20% reduction in energy use
20% reduction in paper use
10% reduction in water consumption
25% reduction in courier fleet fuel consumption
To learn more about Alpine Bank’s sustainability initiatives click here.
There are a host of calculators out there to help you or your office determine your impact. Once your impact is known then create a goal of how you would like to reduce it. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:
More and more companies are implementing flexible schedules, allowing employees to work 4/10s (four ten hour days), 9/80s (9 hours days with one day off every two weeks), or to work from home. These flex schedules don’t just boost employee morale, they are also good for the environment. By driving two days less day per week, the average person can save about 143 gallons of gasoline and keep about 2,778 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere in a year. If only 1 percent of all licensed drivers followed suit, 273 million gallons of gasoline and 5.3 billion pounds of CO2 could be saved this year.
If you aren’t sure how to implement a telework program or are concerned about productivity, consider using e-work. e-work provides online training and consulting geared to telework and virtual work programs.
More than 31 million of the country’s 104 million office computers are left on overnight. According to the campaign survey“across the nation, this adds up to more than $1.72 billion dollars and almost 15 million tons of CO2 emissions.”
It is a cost per employee of about $150 per year to power a computer overnight…essentially that is not being used.Implement an office campaign to turn computers off at night.Having trouble remembering?Set Outlook to send you a reminder every day 15 minutes before you typically leave.
Or entice your IT department to purchase an IT system that will do it for you such as Verdiem Software. This software allows for power management settings to be controlled by a central server system. Essentially it can turn off all computers in an organization at the same time.
A study by Xerox showed that 45% of the office paper that is discarded was on the day it was printed – which begs the question, how necessary was it to print the document in the first place?
Nexttime you go to a meeting, consider whether everyone really needs a full copy of all the documents.If it is just an aid to be used during the meeting and then discarded, don’t print it.Not only does this waste paper, but often people will end up reading, or skimming, the document rather than listen to you talk.However, your audience still needs to be informed, so here are some alternatives to printing a copy for each person.
Print one or two master copies that can be passed around.
Develop a 1 page executive summary that highlights the main points
E-mail the information out beforehand so people can be familiar with the information
Use an overhead projector or white board to write up the main points or topics
Although McDonald’s is not known for its healthiest menu, it has done a terrific job of incorporating sustainable business practices into its organization.McDonald’s has a specific webpage designed to share their best green practices for other companies and organizations to learn from. Bob Langert, the Chief Corporate Sustainability Officer for McDonalds, also has a terrific blog. He travels around the world working to support sustainable food supply.
If you are wondering how you can help with the BP Oil Spill, you can give some hair or pantyhose! That’s right human hair inside of pantyhose soaks up oil. Matter of Trust is helping to organize the hair boom products. Log on for more information and where you can send items.
This years begins a new day to help get rid of clutter and reduce waste called ‘Give Your Stuff Away Day”. A citizen based movement started by Mike Monroe that will initiate its first year of formation in 2010.
Give Your Stuff Away Day will happen onSaturday, May 15, 2010. Citizens across the U.S. willbring items of value that are longer needed or wanted to the curb for a free give-away. Mike has asked citizens not to put out trash, recyclables, illegal or dangerous items, food, drugs, chemicals, or weapons; which seems fairly obvious. Hopefully, at the same time, millions of other Americans will be driving, riding, or walking around picking up free give away items.
Not sure of its success or if people will really do it but might be a great opportunity to purge your garage, office and create re-use for items no longer wanted.
Uncategorized, eco-labels | eco-officiency September 3, 2010 | 
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