In October, I wrote a post titled Best Buy’s Environmental Efforts. As the likely biggest collector of electronic waste in the U.S., Best Buy merits a second post. A GreenBiz.com article calls Best Buy a “pioneer when it comes to electronics takeback.” The $40 billion a year company has an electronic recycling program allowing customers [...]

Read On »

The trade show industry is second only to the construction industry in the amount of waste it generates. If you have ever attended or exhibited at a trade show, you have seen the amount of waste and energy consumed first hand…it is everywhere. Very little about the trade show industry seems efficient. Though companies need [...]

Read On »

Most paper waste is recyclable.  The margin may not be terrific on recycled paper products, except for clean white office paper, but it is usually sufficient to create secondary markets for most paper waste. The problem arises, however, when that paper is contaminated with food or for some other reason is not recyclable (pizza boxes [...]

Read On »

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 percent plant-based material, it might have seemed like just another press release. In fact, consider it a milestone. The Coca-Cola cursive [...]

Read On »

By Wes Muir, Director of Communications, Waste Management Since November 15 is America Recycles Day, this is an appropriate time to take a step back and consider what we can be doing better for the planet. From a resource management perspective, the four Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle and recover – have long guided solutions [...]

Read On »

Target Corporation, one of the largest general merchandise store chains in the U.S., focused on making its stores more energy efficient in 1989 when it began using an energy management system (EMS) to conserve energy. The system at the company’s headquarters allows for company-wide energy policies to be implemented. In the early 1990s, Target began [...]

Read On »

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, [...]

Read On »

Ever considered going on a weeklong carbon cleanse?  On October 18th, in partnership with the Huffington Post, the No Impact Project launched No Impact Week, a seven-day guided experiment in sustainable living.  Each day focuses on a different topic:  Consumption, Trash, Transportation, Food, Energy, Water, and Giving Back.  The goal is to help the average [...]

Read On »

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. [...]

Read On »

Coca Cola is rolling out a new consumer focused recycling program in the UK in an attempt to address the company’s carbon emissions.  Along with the Southampton city council, the company will jointly fund a citywide recycling program that entails placing branded recycling bins in areas of heavy pedestrian traffic.  This will be the country’s [...]

Read On »

The department store chain Kohl’s is being recognized for its environmental efforts. In Newsweek’s Green Rankings it ranked 18th overall, out of 500 companies. In addition to the overall ranking, Newsweek ranked Kohl’s number one among retailers for having the biggest solar power program of any retailer in the world, and pursuing green building certification. [...]

Read On »

This is a story about a 120 year old start up. Or re-start up, as it were. Oak Hall Cap & Gown is a US based company doing what, for the most part, has been moved overseas: Making what we use in our graduations. Often by hand. They’re one of those rare companies that eschews [...]

Read On »

Globalization has long gotten a bad rap. And for good reason. So many companies arrogantly decide that, one way or another, what they create will become what people desire, unaltered, in countries around the world. And in many cases, it’s worked, homogenizing cultures, at least on an aesthetic level, with no real benefit to the [...]

Read On »

Stop filling up your garbage can with cheaply made vibrators. No more broken dildos piling up in landfill. Now you can recycle your old sex toys! Yes, that’s recycle, not reuse, which is where my mind initially jumped. According to the Recycle my Sex Toy site: “Finally, there’s an environmentally friendly way to dispose of [...]

Read On »

By Deborah Fleischer, Green Impact Earlier this month I wrote on the Kimberly-Clark Greenpeace agreement, calling it a success. However, a few days later I was contacted by Marcal, a tree-friendly paper goods company that sells only 100% recycled paper products, calling it greenwashing. Yesterday I had the chance to speak directly with Marcal’s CEO [...]

Read On »

If you’ve ever attempted to further complicate the moving process by being “green” about it, you’ve probably at least considered the problem of cardboard boxes. You, and the founders of MoveGreen, a Florida-based startup that provides SmartPacks, a re-usable, recyclable, and recycled alternative to cardboard boxes. An important endeavor, given the fact that, according to [...]

Read On »

People don’t really think that when they toss an empty cup–or an old ink cartridge, or whatever–into a trash can, that the item just, poof, disappears. Right? I mean, no one really thinks that. Regardless of whether they do, many people act as if that’s the case. Out of site, out of mind. And so [...]

Read On »

By Deborah Fleischer, Green Impact Is Recycling Patriotic? Recycle Bank, a new rewards program that contracts directly with cities to develop an incentive program that actually pays consumers to recycle, is promoting recycling, saying it is “American as Apple Pie.” They argue that recycling is patriotic and shows “our love for our country.” Nationally, we [...]

Read On »

The Waste Expo convention that I attended early this month was sponsored in part by the National Solid Wastes Management Association, which launched a public relations campaign at the event. The campaign is called “Environmentalists. Every Day.” and is meant to paint some green attitude on the garbage business. Included on the campaign’s web site [...]

Read On »

Continuing a line of previous posts on terrific eco-stats coming from David Suzuki’s Green Guide (on energy, food, and travel), here is a summary of eco-stats related to the production, consumption, and disposal of STUFF that can be used by any green business in the STUFF industry. Americans generate 189,200 pounds of waste and pollution [...]

Read On »

“Waste-free products from waste-free facilities” The zero waste vision has been gaining steam lately. One of the most important strategies for this involves designing products and factories that don’t have large amounts of waste created in the manufacturing, use, and disposal of the product. Since 1991, Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) has made significant progress in [...]

Read On »

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced today their comprehensive Greenworks Philadelphia plan – which highlights their environmental efforts and strategy towards sustainability – with the goal to make Philadelphia “The Greenest City in America” by 2015. Greenworks Philadelphia is the culmination of 10 months of work with contributions from city employees, nonprofit organizations, civic and business [...]

Read On »

The New Google Ventures Fund Is Good News for Clean Tech Startups Google is once again leading the pack, now trying its hand at VC-style investing. The search engine giant has announced it will apply its considerable resources to build innovative new business ideas through its new technology investment fund, Google Ventures. The fund is [...]

Read On »

Terracycle, the company made famous for its gardening products made from “worm poop” and packaged in previously used soda bottles, has decided to take a radical shift in their business model, merging with Scotts Miracle-Gro, and will be producing a mostly synthetic line of plant food made from a petroleum based formulation, citing the under [...]

Read On »

Pizza. From its humble beginnings in Italy, it has become a food enjoyed across the globe. And though the size, shape, and flavor may vary widely, one thing does not. The box. A sturdy utilitarian container, it does a good job keeping the pizza warm, safe, and easy to carry. Billions are used each year. [...]

Read On »

Dell wants to be the “greenest” tech company out there. With commitment to industry standards like EPEAT and ENERGY STAR in addition to their recycling initiatives and WEEE compliance, you might say they are well on their way. This week brings an industry first for the company: an 80PLUS Gold power supply for servers. 80PLUS [...]

Read On »

Agreement has been reached in Strasbourg by Euro-MPs to set new waste recycling targets, with tough penalties for non-compliance. By 2020 50% of household rubbish and 70% of construction and demolition waste must be recycled – with mechanisms to penalize governments through court action when the targets are not enforced. The new standard is, for [...]

Read On »

Walking through some trendy shopping district, with seasonal banners/flags above, do you ever wonder where they go after they’ve been switched out? In most cases, they get disposed of, adding to the waste stream. While it could be argued that these districts could find other creative, less resource intensive ways to promote themselves, one area, [...]

Read On »