Top Seven Sustainability Practices

Guest post by Brooke Bledsoe & Travis Roe

The top seven sustainability practices have been identified by communications and stakeholder engagement firm, SDialogue.  SDialogue reports on the interconnectedness of these best practices and how they help companies realize sustainability.

The top sustainability strategies being used are:

• Setting sustainability goals and measuring success: Accessing value and cost that sustainability would create in order to make an investment decision and aligning the adopted measures with the corporate goals. 
• Stakeholder engagement: Stakeholders who need to be engaged and informed should be identified by social media. 
• Sustainability issues mapping: Identification of sustainability challenges, issues, sources and opportunities. 
• Sustainability management systems: Setting of Performance objectives that can be audited 
• Product life cycle assessment and product-design: Determining full set of environmental and social damages so that the delivery of product or service is safe. 
• Sustainability/corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting: Developing a formal sustainability report (web version) 
• Integrating sustainability into brands: Unique selling Proposition

In it's report, Top Seven Sustainability Practices: the Sum > the Parts, SDialogue also explains the role that social media plays in sustainability-related communications. Building trust is one of the key aspects of a good corporate sustainability program.

Levi's to Trace Source of Cotton in Clothing

Guest post by Brittney Banks

Levi Strauss is currently working on a pilot program in conjunction with Historic Futures searching for sustainably and ethically sourced cotton for use in its clothing. Historic Futures teamed with Wal-Mart on a similar supply chain study of jewelry.


While addressing UC Berkley-Haas School of Business students, Levi's CEO, John Anderson put forward the company’s biggest challenge of sustainable sourced cotton. Levi's purchases materials from 150 textile mills, which in turn purchase materials from multiple sources. The program will follow the cotton in every stage of production right from cultivation to factories.

According to Levi's, if the pilot program tracing the supply chain is successful, it will be able to affix a certificate of sustainably-sourced denim with each pair of jeans sold under the program. Levi's is trying to convince customers of the benefits of cold-water washing to save energy as another sustainability endeavor.

Goodbye Incandescent Lightbulbs, Hello CFLs

Guest post by Amy Meier


The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will begin phasing out traditional incandescent light bulbs, starting January 1, 2012. More and more Americans are buying energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and are aware of the energy-saving benefits.

GE says its Energy Smart CFLs use a quarter of the energy consumed by incandescent bulbs, last as much as 10 times longer and give off less heat.

According to GE’s research, about 75 % of 1519 homeowners surveyed were not aware of the impending federal requirement for greater energy efficiency that starts in two years. This Act will lead to the phase out of 100-watt incandescent bulbs starting January1, 2012.The next phasing out of seventy-five-watt traditional bulbs will be in 2013, followed by 40- and 60-watt bulbs in 2014.

Taking a Stand Against the GM Food Movement

Guest post by Karen Flores

It is nothing new to hear about the growing control that multi-national corporations (MNCs) are having over our food industry with genetically modified (GM) foods, which are infiltrating every aspect of the consumer food market. It is increasingly difficult here in the US to find foods that have not been genetically modified in some way.

What is new to hear is that more and more countries are willing to take a stand against the giant MNCs and ban GM crops in their countries. With entire countries enacting bans against GM crops, this is an enormous leap in making arguments known over the concerns of GM foods. Ireland has made the decision to ban GM crops and offers a voluntary labeling system that identifies food which are GM-free. Ireland’s decision is based on many factors from the obvious to the more subtle.

Clearly there are health concerns revolving around GM foods and what kind of long-term health issues that may arise. But additionally, Ireland recognizes that its local farmers would not be able to compete against the giant subsidized food industry as is seen in the US and Canada. Over time, the MNCs would gain control over much of the economy and Ireland’s local businesses would be suffocated and eventually become extinct. Another beneficial reason for Ireland to ban GM crops is that with consumers increasingly demanding natural foods, Ireland stands to be a good source country for non-GM foods that can me exported to other countries. It will be clear that foods grown in Ireland or other countries with a ban against GM crops will be naturally produced.

Ireland will likely face an uphill battle against MNC giants, such as Monsanto. Last year, Monsanto filed a suit against the German Government when it enacted a ban against GM corn. Monsanto is clearly trying to preserve the economic opportunities in Europe and is willing to battle it out against countries that ban GM crops; realizing the potential influence these bans would have on other European countries that may be flirting with the idea.

As more countries start to ban GM crops and take a stand for additional testing and research, there may be a glimmer of hope toward more natural food choices and less control by MNCs.

Green Collar Jobs

Guest post by Sonya Cato


Green For All is a great organization that strives to build new alliances for the public and private installation of establishing quality green jobs. At greenforall.org/resources, you can see the various training programs the Green For All utilizes to train its members to become effective leaders in their community. And in doing so, these leaders cultivate the inner-workings of businesses, government, labor, non-profit organizations, and communities to create new, quality green-collar jobs that effectively and strategically change communities’ existence.

Green-collar jobs are jobs that pay family wages and provide opportunities for advancement along a career path of developing and increasing skills, while pay rises also. Green-collar jobs provide methods for low-income communities to excel out of poverty to become economically self-sufficient as well as promote a green-collar economy.

Although many green-collar jobs may require learning some new skills, existing jobs can be transformed into green-collar jobs as industries make the change to a clean energy partner. After identifying the new skills that will be pertinent to many newly-introduced green-collar jobs, communities and organizations need to invest in creating new training programs and/or revamping the existing training programs to meet these demands.

More so, green-collar jobs will save the planet in the long run. These jobs help communities utilize alternatives to oil, slow down the greenhouse-gas emissions, eliminate toxins, and protect our natural systems. Ways in which some green-collars are doing this already is by installing solar panels, maintaining buildings for efficiency, refining oil into biodiesel, repairing hybrid cars, and planting trees.

To find a green-collar job near you, check out these websites:

• http://www.greenjobs.net/

• http://jobs.greenbiz.com/

• http://www.sustainlane.com/green-jobs

Electrical Contractors Need Green Skills for Future

Guest post by Houston Neal

We are nearing a renaissance of electrical contracting. Software Advice, a website that reviews electrical estimating software, thinks the electrician will soon transition into an "energy contractor" to meet demand of the growing green construction market. This growth is being fueled by increased adoption of green and renewable energy technologies among homeowners and corporations.


Who will be there to retrofit these buildings? Electrical contractors will play a major role in these upgrades. However, they'll need to "green" their skill set in order to take advantage of opportunities.

To get started, electricians must gain the skills and knowledge to take on green projects. Both the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) offer education programs for green electrical work. Second, they should get versed on electric- and energy-related LEED credits. LEED projects are growing just as fast as the rest of the green construction market, so this is one of the areas where electricians will be able to "cash in."

To read more, visit: The Coming Renaissance of Electrical Contracting.

Golden State Warriors Hook Up with The Solar Company to Green Practice Facility

Guest post by Denise Rogers


The Golden State Warriors and The Solar Company have the first solar installation basketball practice facility in the NBA. They cut the ribbon on January 21, 2010 on the facility that will be powered with renewable energy. The facility will be downtown Oakland, CA and is expected to save the team $36,000 in energy costs during the first year of operation and $2,094,000 over the next 25 years. The Warrior's President Robert Rowell, Solar Company President Mark Danenhower, and the rookie guard Stephen Curry will show the system that will be made of 143.5kW-system.

That will consist of 537 SunPower SPR-305-WHT-U modules and 23 SunPower SPR-6000m (277V) inverters. Average daily production of the system is estimated at 758.9kWH and annual production is projected at 277,008kWH. The system will supply the equivalent of 26 percent of electricity that is currently being used at the site. It didn't take long to build this facility at all, it was announced by the Warriors and the Solar Company in November, they started on it in December, and was finish by January.

Roswell stated, "This solar installation project is a very important component of the green initiatives of the Golden State Warriors organization."

North American pro sports teams are increasingly adopting environmentally friendly practices and working towards greening up their facilities with recycling and rainwater harvesting to retrofitting venues with waterless urinals.

In April, last year the Warrior's planted trees and gave away reusable grocery bags. The Warrior's did this the week that they held their inaugural Green Week.

Construction Begins on Plastic Railroad Bridges

Guest post by Donna Mantione

Axion International, a company which manufactures building components made from post consumer and industrial plastics, is set to begin construction on two new Recycled Structural Composite (RSC) railroad bridges at Ft. Eustis, Virginia. The new bridges, one spanning 40 feet and the other spanning 80 feet, will replace two wooden bridges that had been taken out of service because of deteriorating conditions. These new bridges will be completed in less time than it would take using conventional construction materials. All components in this construction are from recycled materials with the exception of the steel connectors used to connect the plastic components and the rubber plates placed between the girders and pile caps to reduce the strain and vibration. In addition to faster project completion, the cost will be less than using wood and steel and the environmental impact is substantial because of the diversion of plastics from landfills.

Ridding the World of Toxic Emissions and Non-Disposable Waste

Guest post by Paula Cook

There are many large corporations today that are leading the way in making their operations greener and one of them is, in fact, the largest poultry company in the United States. Located in Lumber Bridge, NC, Mountaire Farms is one corporation that has taken a giant step to reducing the carbon dioxide emissions our country releases annually. The boxes that this and other corporations use to transport food have traditionally been those that have a wax coating, thus making them harder to dispose of and creating more carbon dioxide emissions. The new recyclable boxes that Mountaire Farms is using are smaller and compostable. Using a smaller box will cut down on materials and being compostable helps the environment tremendously.

The new boxes are produced by Interstate Container and together with Mountaire Farms they conducted a pilot program testing the new recyclable boxes at one of their distribution centers in New York. They found these new recyclable boxes to be very efficient and allowed the company to also cut down on their water usage. They previously used the wax-covered boxes for ice-pack shipments; whereas, with the new recyclable boxes, they no longer needed the ice thereby cutting down on their water usage by millions of gallons.

Global Green USA is trying to encourage other large corporations to make the switch to using wax-free products for their shipping needs. They estimated that 1.5 million tons of non-recyclable materials are dumped annually. By simply using these recyclable shipping containers rather than the wax-covered ones, corporations like Mountaire Farms can help save not only our country but our world from toxic emissions and non-disposable waste.

Move Toward Electric Work Trucks Looks More Promising

Guest post by Karen Rutherford

2010 may be the year for many companies to upgrade company trucks for the future. Eliminating CO2 emissions and pollution may come with enough incentives from the federal and state governments this year that organizations could be on the waiting list for delivery of electric work trucks. There are work trucks on backorder now from companies like Coco-Cola, AT&T, and Frito Lay.


Developing hybrid diesel -electric drive trains and all electric delivery vans is being tackled and accomplished from major truck manufacturers. In the past, there have been several obstacles to the manufacture and purchase of electric trucks. One of the most pressing is the comparably high cost to purchase the more environmentally friendly trucks. 2010 will expose at least four points to help offset the high purchase costs:

1. Government subsidies and tax breaks

2. Lower operating costs

3. Competitive market will drive cost down

4. Low fuel and maintenance costs

It is estimated that the total cost to payback the electric truck is approximately five years. Another show of support from Congress is a pending bill that would provide $65 million for the U.S. Postal Service to purchase electric delivery trucks in the near future.

DYMAC Northwest is just one example of the hundreds of companies that offer all electric utility trucks for personal and organizational uses. They offer AC and DC powered vans, trucks, trams, and shuttles. DYMAC electric vehicles meet Type E OSHA requirements for personnel and burden carriers, making them attractive for college campuses, military bases, and airports.

I think as our society becomes smarter about our environment and taking more time to pursue intelligent ways to live with nature, the market for electric vehicles will grow rapidly in our future. The costs are becoming more affordable and the kinks that turned many people away for years are all being addressed and overcome. Manufacturers are realizing the demands are out growing the supply for electric work trucks and personal vehicles. The environment is important to many people who feel they can make a difference without it being so painful.

ICLEI Launches Sustainability Planning Toolkit to Accelerate Movement of Sustainable Cities and Counties

Press Release

ICLEI Launches Sustainability Planning Toolkit to Accelerate Movement of Sustainable Cities and Counties

Local governments can now access comprehensive guidance—based on the model pioneered by City of New York’s PlaNYC—to develop sustainability plans that improve quality of life in their communities

A new Sustainability Planning Toolkit released by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA establishes for the first time the best practices to develop a local sustainability plan. This toolkit fills a major need: Across the United States, a rapidly growing number of cities, towns, and counties are eager to create sustainability plans or expand the scope of existing plans, but find the task daunting and disorganized, and lacking standardized methods and metrics.

With ICLEI’s toolkit, jurisdictions of all sizes can now follow a proven, straightforward, and flexible process to create long-term sustainability plans that bring together their individual environmental, economic, and social initiatives under one holistic vision.

The toolkit, which has been developed for ICLEI’s 600 U.S. local government members, is based on the planning model pioneered by City of New York for its renowned PlaNYC sustainability plan. The toolkit was authored by ICLEI and developed through a close collaboration between ICLEI and the City of New York’s Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.

“ICLEI launched the first global initiative to develop the methods and tools for local sustainability planning in 1992 at the United Nations’ “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro. Since that time, ICLEI has supported thousands of local governments in scores of countries to develop their customized approaches for putting the complex goal of sustainability into local practice,” said Jeb Brugmann, ICLEI Global’s founder and current Executive Director of ICLEI USA. “This toolkit draws from the most recent best practices in the United States to help cities and counties take their sustainability planning efforts to the next level. With a sustainability plan to guide their actions, cities like New York, Minneapolis, Santa Monica, and many others have shown that they can more effectively combat climate change, green their buildings, update infrastructure, invigorate their local economies, and improve public health and quality of life for their community members.”

“Our message to all local governments is that the secret to a successful sustainability plan is a rigorous planning process,” added Brugmann, “and this toolkit walks local governments through what can be a very complex process.”

To reach their chosen sustainability goals, local governments can follow ICLEI’s Five Milestones for Sustainability process, which is the foundation of the toolkit:

Milestone One: Conduct a sustainability assessment


Milestone Two: Establish sustainability goals


Milestone Three: Develop a local sustainability plan


Milestone Four: Implement policies and measures


Milestone Five: Evaluate progress and report results

By following this process, local governments can create plans with strong, measurable goals that can be tracked over time. The ability to measure performance has been a key to the success of PlaNYC.

“PlaNYC is not a report. It is an implementation tool that was the outcome of a comprehensive planning process to create a greener, greater New York,” said Rohit T. Aggarwala, Director, City of New York Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. “We hope our model is useful to other cities and provides a framework to create sustainability plans with measurable goals and objectives.”

In order to ensure the PlaNYC model was replicable for a range of large and small communities, ICLEI partnered with New Rochelle, NY and Miami-Dade County, FL to pilot the guidelines in the toolkit. “The Sustainability Planning Toolkit provided us with a proven process for developing a sustainability plan, and helped us to understand how New York’s planning process could work in a city of our size,” said Mayor Noam Bramson of New Rochelle, NY.

Inside the toolkit, local government staff will find guidance on how to structure their planning process, what types of strategies and measures to include in their plan, step-by-step guidelines to achieve each of the Five Milestones, best-practice examples, checklists, templates, and guidelines for organizing a team to develop the plan.

The Sustainability Planning Toolkit is the first of two major sustainability resources offered by ICLEI USA. The STAR Community Index, to be launched in 2011, is a national, consensus-based framework for gauging the sustainability and livability of U.S. communities. STAR will build on the Five Milestones for Sustainability by providing a comprehensive set of goals and measures that standardize how we plan and manage for sustainability at the local level. A soft launch of the set of municipal goals that will comprise this new framework is set for early 2010. It is being developed through a robust stakeholder process of more than 165 volunteers representing 135 organizations, including 60 cities and 10 counties.


Contacts:

Don Knapp, Senior Communications Officer
(510) 206-1011 (cell)
don.knapp@iclei.org

Annie Strickler, Communications Director
(510) 599-3021
annie.strickler@iclei.org

Downtown Little Rock Welcomes Affordable, Sustainable Home, Designed and Built by U of A Architecture Students

Press Release

Downtown Little Rock Welcomes Affordable, Sustainable Home, Designed and Built by U of A Architecture Students

WHO: The City of Little Rock, the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corporation and the Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

WHAT: Groundbreaking for Little Rock’s first Design/Build home by students in the University of Arkansas’ Fay Jones School of Architecture, led by associate professor Michael Hughes

WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, February 10, 2010

WHERE: 1519 S. Commerce Street, Little Rock

BACKGROUND: The City of Little Rock and the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corporation are pleased to announce the groundbreaking for a sustainably designed and built modular home, to be located in the historic Pettaway neighborhood of downtown Little Rock. The home is the first of several Design/Build projects planned by the University of Arkansas’ Fay Jones School of Architecture in cooperation with the DLRCDC.

The home, to be located at 1519 S. Commerce St., has been designed, and is being constructed by 4th and 5th year students in the Fay Jones School of Architecture in Fayetteville. This home is being constructed in modules at a warehouse in Fayetteville. Upon its completion in mid-April, the units will be shipped to the site. This home is part of a collaborative effort to revitalize the South Main neighborhood, and showcases materials and construction alternatives for affordable, energy-efficient and sustainable housing in inner-city Little Rock.

About the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corporation

Incorporated in 1992, the DLRCDC is a nonprofit organization that strives to improve the quality of life for people living in Downtown Little Rock, with a focus east of Main Street and south of I-630. The DLRCDC has recently joined forces with other downtown Little Rock organizations to form the Heart of the City Coalition, a group dedicated to more effectively promoting “a varied, vibrant, and livable downtown Little Rock.”

The City of Little Rock provides operating support to the Downtown Little Rock CDC through its Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG).

For more information about the DLRCDC, please visit the website at www.downtownlittlerockcdc.org, contact Executive Director Scott Grummer at (501) 372-0148, or email scott@dlrcdc.org.

Nominate our Book as a "Must Read"

Dear Readers: We need your help!  Triple Pundit is asking readers to nominate and vote on a list of of "must read" books on sustainable business.  Please nominate our book, "Sustainable Business: An Executive's Primer" as a "must read."  Next week, readers will be asked to vote on the books that were nominated.  Thank you for your support!

February 2010 Webinars Related to Sustainability & Green Business

Looking for a great learning opportunity without spending a lot of money?  Check out these upcoming webinars.  Remember, save the emissions...do it online!

Energy and Environmental Management Across the Global Enterprise (Feb. 2)

Beyond Grades: The College Sustainability Webinar Series: CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY (Feb. 3)

SFI and FSC - Key Similarities and Differences (Feb. 4)

Green Job Market in Pinellas County FL (Feb. 4)

Federal GHG Reporting for Colleges and Universities (Feb. 10)

Greening Your Nonprofit's IT (Feb. 10)

Positioning for Green - Chain of Custody (Feb. 11)

Greener Transportation: How are campuses greening their transportation systems and tracking their emissions? (Feb. 11)

SFI Labels & Claims (Feb. 16)

Pinellas County FL Green Business Partnership (Feb. 17)

Beyond Grades: The College Sustainability Webinar Series: FOOD & RECYCLING (Feb. 17)

Introduction to the New SFI 2010-2014 Standard (Feb. 18)

SFI and Bioenergy (Feb. 25)

Positioning for Green - Sourcing & Selling Certified Wood (Feb. 25)

Recycling Pays Off for University

Here's a great story on the environmental and financial benefits of recycling.  The University of Arkansas at Little Rock purchased a $3600 flourescent bulb recycling machine that will result in a savings of $20,000 a year!  How's that for a success story?


 



Story and video courtesy of KTHV (April 2009)


In honor of Earth Day UALR's Physical Plant shows students what they're doing to go green.

The UALR bulb eater is a lamp crushing machine.

Vince Rodgers with UALR says there's a lot that goes into disposing fluorescent lamps.

"There are elements in the bulbs such as, aluminium, mercury and phosphor powders that would go into the landfill."

Until recently the physical plant at UALR boxed and shipped old fluorescent lamps to be recycled.

Now, those lamps are sent down a tube.

The bulb eater crushes the blown out lamps and consolidates the waste.

Rodgers says the machine is a win win situation.

"It's good for the environment and it's good for us. It does two things, it saves space rather than keeping these boxes around and it saves money."

UALR purchased the bulb eater for around $3,600. The machine alone will save the university $20,000 a year.

Rodgers says it's also a time-saver.

"It will take 1 minute to recycle bulbs versus boxing that takes upwards of an hour."

UALR student Simone Lewis likes the bulb eater idea.

"I think it's awesome that our generation can change the movement. It's just amazing that they say young people are the future and we're doing something about it."

It's a simple concept that's making quite a bit of noise.

Lewis says she's proud of her university.

"It's getting our name out there and we're just doing something to help our environment. I don't know how many other campuses are doing that," says Lewis.

UALR also held other events around campus today. Tire pressure checks and electronic recycling are all a part of the earth day events.