Green credit cards usually are co-branded with non profit organizations and promises to give a donation percentage or carbon credit with every purchase. It is an interesting model and one way to give back that doesn’t require a lot of time.
Do you have good intentions to donate but just can’t find the time? Well, a new service, SwipeGood rounds up all of your credit card purchases to the nearest dollar and allows you to donate the difference to the charity of your choice. Talk about easy! They have over 300 charities listed and your dollars can be divided to multiple charities. You can also sign up one credit card or multiple credit cards. Here is an article from Fast Company about the organization.
It is important to get an overview of what green initiatives a company has already started along with the areas that have the potential for improvement with regards to environmental and social responsibility. Reach out to each department or division of a company and hold information interviews. Although more information can be gathered through in-person meetings, an organization can also conduct an assessment via an online survey. Develop a series of questions that ask specifically what each area is doing to reduce resource use and minimize environmental impact. Some organizations also like to assess the social side of business and how engaged they are in the community and supporting non-profit organizations. Eco-officiency has developed an assessment tool with a series of questions for each major department of an organization that can be downloaded at www.eco-officiency.com under the Resources tab.
Plastic bags are just a mess for the environment. Worldwide there are now 500 billion plastic bags used annually. If you haven’t seen the big plastic patch in the ocean, then watch this video from Good Morning America. Unfortunately, these bags are petroleum based and don’t seem to break down in our landfills or water causing major toxins and pollution issues. Cities like San Francisco have banned plastic bags and other cities like Boston and Portland are considering it. Be in the forefront and refrain from using plastic bags in your business. Here are some options;
Bring Your Own: Ask your customers to bring their own bags. Better yet, create a promotional re-useable bag and sell it. Companies like Chico Bag are nice convenient to carry.
Offer Compostable Bags: Consider purchasing and using compostable bags. Roplast Industries and BioBags both make good compostable plastic-type bags.
Offer Recycling: In the interim, offer recycling containers and disposal for the plastic bags. They need to be clean and dry and usually #2 or #4 plastic which most of the regular plastic shopping bags are made from. There is an organization called Plastic Bag Recycling that provides a system and container to help businesses recycle plastic bags.
Are you now the sustainability officer for your organization? Have you been dubbed with additional responsibility for sustainability in your company? SustainableOfficer.com might be a great resource for you! SustainableOfficer.com is a new online community for sustainability professionals. It is free and a convenient way to post questions and information requests and receive e-mailed answers from your peers and experts in the sustainability profession. There are some simple Do’s and Dont’s, so be sure to read that page.
Who knew that a simple Google search related to water usage? Well the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) examined the relationship between water and energy and showed just how much a Google search requires.
In their report, “Where Water Meets Watts”, they cite that a single Google search requires a half a milliliter of water in energy. With over 300 million searches worldwide that adds up to over 150,000 liters of water per day to produce enough electrical power.
The IEEE also developed an interactive map that shows the relationship between energy and water and how it relates to each communities supply. The map shows population access to clean water and electricity along with the prognosis provided by IEEE. It hopes the map will encourage global awareness of the situation of water and energy use.
To calculate and learn more about your water consumption habits visit Water Footprint.
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.
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:
Many offices are encouraging their employees to carpool or take public transportation to work.Public transportation or carpooling may work well to get to the office, but can be a hindrance when trying to get to outside meetings during the day. Consider joining a carshare that will alleviate the need to have a company car but support alternative transportation programs within your company. Most carshare programs have online or phone reservation systems. Cars are usually parked in convenient areas around urban areas.
Here are some recommended carshare programs;
eGo CarShare is a carshare service located in the greater Boulder/Denver area.
ZipCar is a national carshare program. They have locations in most major U.S. Cities and around University campuses.
CarSharing.net is a directory of other local carsharing companies across the U.S.
E-Ride Share is a network to find car share riders in the U.S., for short or long trips.
Ride Share connects car and vanpoolers in the U.S.. There are also tips on biking and public transit options.
Alternate Rides provides information on all alternative transportation options including car sharing, vanpooling, biking, and public transit. They also provide commuter maps and CO2 savings calculator using alternative transportation.
Google just added to their Google Maps a way to search for directions via bike. Just go to Google Maps and click on ‘Bicycling Directions” or ‘Bike There’ link. This new service shows you options to get from one location to another via bike paths in that area. This was a joint effort with multiple bicycle organizations including Rails to Trails Conservancy that support about 12,000 miles of bike trails.
This is a great link to share with friends and colleagues who would like to bike but not sure the best route to take that is safe and on designated trails.
Green credit cards usually are co-branded with non profit organizations and promises to give a donation percentage or carbon credit with every purchase. It is an interesting model and one way to give back that doesn’t require a lot of time.
Donations/ Philanthropic | eco-officiency April 12, 2011 | 
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