3p Contributor: Kathryn Siranosian
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CEO of SC Johnson Delivers Keynote at Ceres 2010 Sustainability Conference
Not everyone lobs rolls of toilet paper at the audience during a keynote address.
But then, not everyone is Fisk Johnson.
Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd in the grand ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Boston yesterday morning, Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson, kicked off the Ceres Conference 2010 with an impassioned speech that touched on family tradition, current environmental and societal challenges for business and hope for the future.
The fifth generation Johnson to lead the company, he fondly recalled his father –a businessman, environmentalist and devoted family man –who emerged as a sustainability leader in 1975 when he took the bold step of removing CFCs from SC Johnson’s aerosol products, three years before the US mandate.
Back then, the decision was controversial, costly to the company’s bottom-line … and courageous.
And, according to Johnson, that’s precisely the kind of “disruptive progress” that we need now.
On-Site Micro Wind Turbines Provide Power to Sam’s Club
Cape Cod isn’t the only place making wind energy news this week.
Yesterday, the parking lot of the Sam’s Club in Palmdale, California, made it into the headlines, too.
As part of the company’s commitment to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, Sam’s Club installed 17 micro wind turbines mounted on parking lot light poles to support the energy needs of its Palmdale store.
Construction was completed this week, and the 17 units – supplied by DeerPath Energy, a renewable energy company from Marblehead, Massachusetts – became fully operational on Thursday.
According to Walmart, which owns Sam’s Club, this is the first U.S. retail micro wind turbine installation of this size.
UPS Announces Smart Pickup, a New Green Shipping Option for Businesses
Shipping options for small- and mid-size businesses just got a shade greener.
Yesterday, UPS announced the launch of UPS Smart Pickup, an eco-friendly shipping system that uses innovative UPS technology to ensure that a UPS driver stops at a customer location to pick up a package only when a package is, in fact, being shipped.
Up until now, many of UPS’s small- and mid-size customers have opted for the convenience of a daily scheduled pickup. And, while that option is certainly convenient, it also comes with a significant hitch: on some days, there simply isn’t a package to ship. UPS shows up as scheduled, but the trip is completely unnecessary.
Once a company starts using UPS Smart Pickup, however, these superfluous trips can be eliminated. In short, the new system allows customers to automate the pickup process and schedule UPS service only when it’s needed.
UPS says its new UPS Smart Pickup is expected to:
PepsiCo Wants to Make Tropicana Orange Juice Greener
Earlier today, PepsiCo announced that it is launching a new pilot program to reduce the carbon footprint of its Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice.
About a year ago, the company released results of a lifecycle analysis (LCA) it had completed on the juice. That data, compiled in partnership with the Carbon Trust, revealed that each half-gallon of orange juice emits the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. (Need a point of reference? Consider this: Burning one gallon of gas creates 20 pounds of CO2.)
By completing the LCA, PepisCo also discovered that the largest single source of carbon emissions in the production of the drink came from the growing process. Specifically, about 35 percent of Tropicana Pure Premium’s carbon footprint derives from fertilizer use and application in the orange groves.
So now, Tropicana is going to team up with one of its long-time growers, SMR Farms in Bradenton, Fla., to test two lower-carbon fertilizers. If successful, the company estimates that this change could reduce the total carbon footprint of Tropicana Pure Premium by as much as 15 percent.
Many Hospitals Now Safely Reuse ‘Single Use’ Medical Devices
Health care is the second largest contributor to waste production in the United States. (The food industry holds the dubious distinction of being the first largest contributor.) So, it’s significant that more than 25 percent of U.S. hospitals now reprocess medical devices as a way to decrease waste –and cut costs.
But, does the phrase “reprocessed medical device” make you cringe?
It shouldn’t.
After all, this isn’t a post about re-using tongue depressors or cotton swabs.
It is, by contrast, a post about a new trend among hospitals to use regulated, quality-control standards to recalibrate, clean, sterilize, remanufacture and test certain pieces of medical equipment, such as particular non-invasive items (compression sleeves, pulse oximeters, e.g.), operating room devices (trocars, harmonic scalpels, e.g.) and electrophysiology equipment (EP catheters, e.g.).
New SunChips Bag: 90% Plant-based, 100% Compostable
Frito Lay Canada (a division of PepsiCo) will roll out the world’s first 100% compostable chip bag in Canadian retail outlets beginning in March.
The new SunChips packaging will be made from more than 90% renewable, plant-based materials, and as a result, the bag will completely break down into compost in a hot, active compost pile in approximately 14 weeks.
“In order to continue to reduce our environmental impact as a company, finding sustainable packaging solutions was a must,” says Marc Guay, President, Frito Lay Canada, in a press release. “We know that environmentally-friendly packaging is a priority for Canadians. Using plant-based renewable materials to make packaging that will interact differently with the environment, represents the next small step in Frito Lay Canada’s environmental sustainability journey.”
The SunChips 100% compostable chip bag will start appearing on shelves in Canada this March in the 225g & 425g size bags. The remaining SunChips packages will transition into the compostable packaging in August 2010.
Here in the U.S., a prototype SunChips bag (made from one-third plant-based materials) is widely available. Frito Lay is planning to launch its new 90% plant-based, 100% compostable bag in the U.S. to coincide with Earth Day 2010.
Bag marketed as “the new sound of green”
The renewable material used to produce the SunChips 100% compostable bag is made from a plant-based material called polylactic acid (PLA). PLA is a versatile and compostable polymer made from starch.
Crate & Barrel Warehouse Robots Cut Carbon Footprint of Retail
Can robots from MA-based Kiva Systems turn warehouses green?
Crate and Barrel thinks so.
So far, most companies have installed Kiva warehouse automation systems because they want to improve efficiencies and cut costs.
But, Crate and Barrel is betting that there’s even greater potential. The company recently purchased a Kiva system for its Tracy, Calif. Distribution Complex (DC), and it’s especially keen to see how these innovative robots can help drive carbon footprint reductions.
Michelle Obama, Kaiser Permanente and the Link Between Sustainability and Health Care
What do initiatives like Let’s Move! and the Partnership for a Healthier America, the new foundation which boasts First Lady Michelle Obama (above) as its Honorary Chair, have to do with sustainability?
Plenty.
Just ask Loel Solomon, vice president of Community Health Initiatives at Kaiser Permanente.
Kaiser Permanente, one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans, helped create the Partnership for a Healthier America, a non-partisan organization launched this week to address the serious national epidemic of childhood obesity.
And according to Solomon, efforts like this precisely illustrate how health care is inextricably entwined with environmental stewardship and even broader issues of sustainability. After all, The Partnership for a Healthier America was established to help facilitate improved understanding among all sectors about the role healthy food, physical activity and the environment play in good health. That means the foundation will be advocating for bike trails, sidewalks, community gardens, and a wide range of other issues commonly found on the pages of TriplePundit, Solomon says.
Tesco Opens World’s First Zero Carbon Supermarket, Pledges $156 M to UK Green Economy
Last week, Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, opened the world’s first zero carbon supermarket.
The store has no net carbon footprint and exports any extra electricity generated back to the national grid.
Located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, this new supermarket boasts several eco-friendly features, including:
- A combined heat and power plant which runs on bio fuels from renewable sources
- Timber framing derived from sustainable sources rather than steel (which significantly reduced the carbon footprint of construction)
- Interior lighting that dims as the natural daylight increases, and skylights that allow daylight on to the sales floor
- LED lights in the parking lot and gas station (This is the UK’s first LED-lit parking lot.)
- Rainwater collection facilities on the roof which provide water for use in the car wash and to flush store toilets
- Refrigerant gases in the fridges, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that have virtually no environmental impact
- Solar-powered street lights and crossing signals
- Additional energy-efficient equipment, such as low energy bakery ovens
Six Ways the NFL Is Greening Super Bowl XLIV. Really.
Sure, companies like Audi and GE like to take advantage of the Super Bowl’s huge viewing audience to promote their latest “green” message. Even Pepsi threw its hat in the game by saying it wasn’t going to advertise in this year’s game.
But, just how sustainable is the event itself? Is the NFL taking steps to reduce the environmental impact of the Super Bowl? What is the league’s view of sustainability, in general?
For answers, I talked with Jack Groh, director of the NFL’s Environmental Program, and he described these six ways the NFL is greening Super Bowl XLIV:
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