From scmr.com: “Earlier this year, congressman and author Jay Inslee spoke to a gathering of Bainbridge Graduate Institute MBA students about his book – Apollo’s Fire, Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy. Congressman Inslee offers a well-thought out hypothesis that there is a need for “a revolution that will transform our economy with new technologies, reinvest in our communities, and create millions of new ‘green collar’ jobs.” This revolution, I believe, must not only begin in clean energy but also must be started in all areas of sustainability.”
Green Buildings & Operations
DHL Says Small Efficiencies Can Deliver Big Carbon Savings
From Greenbiz.com: “”The first thing you need to understand about greening a supply chain is that the term ‘green’ is not specific enough. It has the wrong connotations. This is about saving money and becoming efficient.” That is the view of Karl Feilder, chief executive of DHL Neutral Services, a subsidiary of the delivery giant set up to improve the efficiency of both DHL’s and its customers’ supply chains.
Measuring your water footprint
Most people by now will be familiar with the term ‘carbon footprint’ and may even have calculated it themselves, but how many are familiar with their ‘water footprint’? It’s about time we all learned what it is, says Professor Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Professor in Multidisciplinary Water Management at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, as soon it will be influencing how we live our lives.
Hoekstra created the water footprint concept in 2002 when he was undertaking research on what is known as virtual water trade flows for the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education.
Grocers Going Green with GreenChill Program
(Washington, D.C. – Sept. 9, 2008) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named Giant Eagle Inc. and Harris Teeter Inc. as the first winners of its GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership Environmental Achievement Award. The award recognizes the two food retailers for emitting the lowest rates of ozone-depleting refrigerant in GreenChill’s first year.
Global Survey Shows “Green” Construction Costs Dramatically Lower Than Believed
From wbcsd.org: “Survey finds green costs overestimated by 300% and a need to foster zero net energy construction. Key players in real estate and construction misjudge the costs and benefits of “green” buildings, creating a major barrier to more energy efficiency in the building sector, a new study by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) reports.”
Respondents to a 1400 person global survey estimated the additional cost of building green at 17 percent above conventional construction, more than triple the true cost difference of about 5 percent. At the same time, survey respondents put greenhouse gas emissions by buildings at 19 percent of world total, while the actual number of 40 percent is double this.” Global Survey Shows “Green” Construction Costs Dramatically Lower Than Believed
Kraft Goes Green with Underground Facility
“Kraft Foods today marked the opening of a 400,000-square-foot warehouse in Springfield Underground that will serve as a central distribution hub for the food manufacturer.
The facility, 3610 E. Kearney St., was built-to-suit by owner Springfield Underground, according to a news release. Westerville, Ohio-based Exel staffs the center with 91 employees who provide inbound and outbound services including storage of finished goods, order picking and fulfillment.
The Dirt on Greenwashing from Wikipedia
From wikipedia.com: “Greenwash (a portmanteau of green and whitewash) is a term that is used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. The term Green sheen has similarly been used to describe organisations which attempt to appear that they are adopting practices benefical to the environment.” The Dirt on Greenwashing from Wikipedia
Making Green the New Business as Usual: EDF Report 2008
Environmental sustainability is no longer the purview of boutique eco-brands. And it is no longer just about compliance with regulations or securing positive press coverage. It’s about driving cost savings through efficiencies, creating new markets and securing competitive advantage. Smart companies realize that what is good for the environment is also good for business. But after taking care of the basics—like switching to energy-saving lighting, buying recycled office supplies and printing double-sided—what is the next step?
With this new annual review, Environmental Defense Fund aims to showcase some of the most promising new trends and best practices. Our goal is to provide a variety of actionable ideas and some inspiration for more dramatic change. The new processes, products and technologies highlighted in this report were selected based on four key criteria: good for business, good for the environment, ready to be implemented and innovative. We did not include ideas that are still in the R&D stage or those that have already been widely implemented or documented. In some cases, we selected innovations that have already been fully tested and put into commercial use; in other cases, we chose to highlight promising early-stage ideas.
Eight Steps to a Greener Supply Chain
From worldtrademag.com: “Just the sheer complexity of today’s long and global supply chains might be enough to daunt any thought of where to start to implement green strategies and technologies. But there is a lot of help available out there to make the journey an easier one.
Companies are carefully evaluating their supply chains—as well as their lean and continuous improvements in manufacturing processes and business management decisions—to make them more sustainable while increasing their bottom lines.” Eight Steps to a Greener Supply Chain