Price Competitive Sustainable Manufacturing: Valley Forge Fabrics
Posted by Bill Roth November 19th, 2009 
0 Comments
Manufacturing in America has eroded over the decades to approximately 10% of our country’s annual Gross Domestic Product. The Bureau of Labor Statistics documents 3 million jobs lost in manufacturing between 1996 and 2006. At an average manufacturing hourly wage of $18.50 representing a loss of $115 billion in annual manufacturing wages. I witnessed this first hand while living in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1980’s when the entire textile industry was relocated to Asia eliminating a wonderfully industrious work force who proudly called themselves “lint-heads.” If we are going to have a sustainable economy and environment we have to figure out how to build a sustainable manufacturing base.
And Valley Forge Fabrics ValleyForgeFabrics could be the example on how to do this. They sell textiles to the hospitality industry, namely furniture fabrics and bedding. This is a globally competitive industry that became very heavily regulated after the tragic 1980 MGM Grand hotel fire. The secret sauce to winning business in this industry is a competitive price, good service and regulatory adherence to fire retardation standards.
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah Palin Wearin’ Your Product?
Posted by Mary Catherine O'Connor November 19th, 2009 6 Comments
Marketers’ jobs aren’t easy. They need to politely, but aggressively, get the word out about their products, and then get those products into as many pairs of hands as possible. And sometimes that works out a little too well, or in unexpected ways. A good case in point graces the cover of Newsweek this week. Sarah Palin might think that shot of her, taken for a Runner’s World profile, is turned into a sexist statement when in the context of a news magazine. The folks over at Icebreaker, manufacturer of that Icebreaker GT base-layer she’s sporting, no doubt find it perplexing.
“Not only can former Governor Palin see Russia, but apparently she can see New Zealand too,” wrote Lee Weinstein, who handles communications for Icebreaker, in a letter to its list of media contacts this morning. A Kiwi outdoor clothing manufacturer, Icebreaker strives to maintain a sustainable supply chain and responsibly and ethically source the merino wool that makes its garments so fabulous (I say that based on the Icebreaker garments I own, and covet).
Double Helix Uses DNA to Track Timber, Fight Illegal Logging
Posted by Kathryn Siranosian November 18th, 2009 0 Comments
Think of it as CSI for the timber industry.
Singapore-based Double Helix Tracking Technologies (DHTT) uses DNA tests to verify the origins of timber. Essentially, it’s the same technology that’s used in forensics and paternity testing –only DHTT has adapted it specifically for wood.
“What we’ve done is to develop a very creative solution that builds upon existing scientific techniques and applies them to an old-fashioned industry,” explains Darren Thomas, managing director at DHTT.
But, why does wood have to be scrutinized so carefully?
Coca-Cola Rolls Out Plant-Based Recyclable Bottles
Posted by BC Upham November 16th, 2009 12 Comments
Seemingly every day a different company announces a new greening initiative, so when Coca-Cola said this morning that it has begun distributing plastic bottles of Coke and other beverages made with up to 30% plant-based material, it might have seemed like just another press release.
In fact, consider it a milestone. The Coca-Cola cursive logo is the most recognized consumer brand in the world, and now, in some places, it will have a little green stamp on it, symbolizing not only that company’s sustainability efforts, but the degree to which green thinking has penetrated the corporate mindset.
Introducing PlantBottle
The Coca-Cola Company dubs the new packaging PlantBottle, and boasts that it is the first-to-market plant based PET plastic bottle in the industry. PlantBottle is already on the shelves in eco-conscious Denmark (in time for Copenhagen) and will be introduced in Canada in December, and San Francisco, LA and Seattle in January.
Finisterre Finds Best Path to Staying Warm and Dry Is to Act Like an Otter
Posted by Mary Catherine O'Connor October 30th, 2009 1 Comment
On any given day, you’re likely to find a small team of product designers, material developers and scrappy marketers holed up in a converted mine building in the town of St. Agnes on the North Cornwall coast—unless, of course, the surf is good. At those times, you’re more likely to see these folks, who operate the Finisterre outdoor apparel company, bobbing in the chilly waters of the Atlantic, just a quick walk away from the office of Finisterre.
Finisterre makes jackets and base layers for people who love being outside, whether they’re surfing, hiking, skiing, climbing…whatever.
Most of the baselayers it sells are made of the soft, high-performance wool of sustainably-raised merino sheep. But the company is not only using materials from animals in its products, it’s also designing products that mimic the way that animals stay warm and dry. In developing this season’s Humboldt and Storm Tracker Finisterre jackets, the designers employed biomimicry.
Trading the Landfill for the Beach: Crazy Shirts CEO on Using Recycled PET in Product Line
Posted by Ashwin Seshagiri October 26th, 2009 1 Comment
Crazy Shirts is one of the first companies in the Hawaiian Islands to design, manufacture, and sell t-shirts. For many Americans, it is emblematic of the Hawaiian Aloha lifestyle, selling the mystique of surf, sand, and sun in shirt form at shopping malls, airport gift shops, and coastside boardwalks from California to Florida. Recently, however, the Honolulu-based apparel maker made news for something slightly different. It’s making board shorts from recycled plastic bottles.
This is a growing trend in fashion design. Earlier this year, companies from Anvil to Sears and H&M announced the production of lines made from recycled polyethylene teraphthalate (PET). To produce each pair of Crazy Shirts board shorts, roughly seven 16-ounce recycled plastic bottles are used, converting the synthetic material into polyester PET microfiber. In a recent interview, President & CEO Mark Hollander spoke about how and why Crazy Shirts makes its eco board shorts.
DHL GoGreen Debuts in North America
Posted by Bill DiBenedetto October 19th, 2009 1 Comment
DHL’s much-ballyhooed GoGreen climate change program has finally reached North America. A year after the launch of the huge German package express delivery and logistics company’s initiative, it’s now available in Canada.
DHL Express Canada launched the GoGreen service this week. It’s described by the company as a “carbon-neutral” shipping option that “enables Canadian businesses of all sizes to ship their goods internationally without leaving an environmental footprint.”
ecoATM Tries to Take the Waste Out of E-Waste
Posted by Mary Catherine O'Connor October 9th, 2009 0 Comments
Who would have guessed that a store called the Nebraska Furniture Mart would be at the leading edge of consumer electronics life-cycle management? But it is. The store is hosting the first ecoATM machine, the brainchild of a San Diego startup that has found a way to make recycling consumer electronics easier—as well as valuable.
Mark Bowles founded ecoATM. With a background that includes seven years at Motorola and five venture-backed start-ups, Bowles found inspiration for the ecoATM from the 30-year-old bottle and can redemption infrastructure. Just as consumers can earn a refund for bottles and cans in many states, the ecoATM provides consumers with value—either through a direct payback or through store coupons—in exchange for used electronics. Consumers can also opt to put the monetary value of the devices they drop off toward a charity that the retailer suggests. The first ecoATM—a self-serve kiosk that retailers can host for free—came online at the Nebraska Furniture Mart on September 21. More retailers in Texas, Washington, Vermont, and San Diego also plan to install ecoATMs this year.
Costco Dives Into Product Sustainability
Posted by Bill DiBenedetto October 9th, 2009 2 Comments
If you’ve ever shopped at one of Costco Wholesale Corporation’s massive retail warehouses, you already know that it’s pretty much a low-tech, do-it-yourself shopping experience.
Paper or plastic is a question unasked at the checkout line; the best one can do is to opt for a recycled cardboard box that might once have contained kumquats, underwear, olive oil or detergent.
So in that respect the Issaquah, Wash., retailer has already been taking a somewhat sustainable approach since it started business in 1983. Plus, it saves on overhead by reusing the boxes.
In its first Corporate Sustainability Report, which covers the 2007-2008 period, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Dick DiCerchio admits that Costco’s environmental reporting “is still evolving. We recognize the need to report more environmental metrics information in future reports.”
Curbing Climate Change, One Potato Chip at a Time: PepsiCo’s Carbon Footprinting Techniques
Posted by Sarah Harper October 9th, 2009 0 Comments
Since 2007, PepsiCo has been “doing the world a flavour” in calculating the carbon footprint of its Walkers Crisps, potato chips sold in the UK which carry the Carbon Reduction Label. PepsiCo recently revealed its footprint-calculating methodology, the implications of which could be significant for the mass food production sector and the development of sustainable industry.
According to an environmentalleader.com report, PepsiCo measures the Walkers Crisps’ carbon footprint at each stage of the supply chain, from the growing of raw materials to the shelving of the product and, lastly, the disposal of the Crisps’ packaging. The footprint measuring process entails mapping the supply chain, evaluating the energy consumed (and carbon produced as a result) at each stage, and adding up the carbon for a per-unit emissions calculation.
MIT Sloan Review Releases Comprehensive Survey on “The Business of Sustainability”
Posted by BC Upham October 7th, 2009 0 Comments
The MIT Sloan Management Review has released a comprehensive survey of sustainability practices and trends in business, including interviews, case studies, and insights into how businesses world-wide view the growing field. Michael Hopkins, editor in chief of the Review, will be a speaker at this year’s Opportunity Green conference in Los Angeles, a partner of Triple Pundit. Hopkins spoke with us about the survey, the differences between “novices” and “thought leaders,” and why sustainability is really about collaboration and transparency.
One of the most baffling results from your survey is that while 92% of respondents said their company was “addressing sustainability in some way,” 70% said they still had not developed a clear business case for it.
That is the contradiction that gets to the heart of the issue, and as we continue with the second round of the survey that is probably where we’re going to do the most digging. It’s one thing for an executive to understand that sustainability is going to have a major impact. It doesn’t mean they understand how to make a case for investing in products that will capitalize on it.
Hearst Looks to Boost Paper Supply from Certified Forests
Posted by Mary Catherine O'Connor October 5th, 2009 1 Comment
The state of Maine leads the nation in percentage of certified sustainable forests, but it still has close to 10 million acres of forests–mostly owned by small, family-run operations–that are not certified. Time Inc. and Hearst Enterprises, a division of Hearst Corporation, are hoping to change that by launching a pilot program this month with the aim of helping small- and medium-sized landowners in Maine to achieve third-party forest certification for sustainable growing and harvesting practices. This, in turn, will provide new sources of certified fiber for Time. Perhaps print is not dead, after all.
The goals are to certify an additional one million acres of Maine forests, and also to establish a model for how large organizations can help small and medium forestry companies to achieve certification by making the certification process more efficient.
Your Pure Honey – Startup Uses Shares in Beehives to Protect Native Tree Populations
Posted by Sarah Harper October 3rd, 2009 0 Comments
New Zealand-based startup Your Pure Honey is putting the connection between consumer investment and resource preservation to the test. The organization allows consumers to purchase a share (or more) of a beehive in exchange for the Manuka honey the hive produces. The exchange also helps protect Manuka forests in the region while providing income for local farmers. Touted a “crowdfunded sustainable forest,” the project is, in many ways, a glimpse into the multiple options for creating a greater degree of sustainability in agriculture and trade in the global marketplace.
According to a report by springwise.com, the Your Pure Honey process is simple. Hive purchasers may choose from two options: a basic share (which costs about 285 USD per season and provides 2kg of raw honey) or an entire colony (which costs about $2,500 and provides 20 kg of honey). Delivery is included in the costs. Meanwhile, Your Pure Honey protects New Zealand’s Manuka forests by renting farmland (at one hectare [2.5 acres] per hive), thereby providing work for farmers while keeping the forests intact. (Manuka trees are often cut down to provide extra farming land.) Each beehive provides enough funds to sustain five forest acres.
PACT Packs a Clean Pair of Undies
Posted by Mary Catherine O'Connor October 2nd, 2009 0 Comments
Google the words “sustainable+underwear” and you’ll find a surprisingly large number of hits–566,000 as of today. That’s probably a good omen for Jason Kibbey and Jeff Denby, who recently launched PACT, an underwear company that is designing and manufacturing drawers with a conscious.
PACT is a story of three’s: three styles (thong, bikini, boy short for girls; trunk, boxer brief and boxer for boys), three prints and three causes. The startup is working with three different non-profit organizations, after which it has named three fabric prints.
Purchase a pair of unmentionables in the 826 National print and PACT gives 10 percent of the sale to 826 National, the nationwide literacy advocacy group spun out of 826 Valencia’s Dave Egger’s education joint in San Francisco. Same goes for the Oceana print. It benefits Oceana, which is working to clean the world’s oceans and protect their inhabitants. The Forest Ethics print…well, you guessed it. Forest Ethics is a land conservation group focused on the boreal forests and rainforests from Canada to California.
Sponsors
Where We’re Going
Nov 19, 09
San Jose: The Tech Awards
Dec 2, 09
Bard CEP National Climate Seminar: Hon. Ed Markey Sponsor event
Dec 16, 09
Bard CEP National Climate Seminar: Eban Goodstein, Live from Copenhagen Sponsor event
Partners
Recent Comments