For the past 15 years, Starbucks has been distributing its used coffee grounds free of charge through its stores. The stated goal of the Grounds for Your Garden program is to keep this rich organic material out of the landfill by enlisting its customers as foot soldiers in the war against waste. But what is […]
Starbucks’ Grounds for Your Garden Program: How Green Is It Really? Read More 👉
Thanksgiving is behind us and the clean-up is upon us. As most of us throw our silverware into the dishwasher, one must wonder: What is happening at hospitals, prisons, take-out restaurants, and other food service institutions around the country? Millions of extra plastic cups, plates, and tableware are headed to the landfill. While this travesty
Post-Thanksgiving Landfill Rush: Who’s Watching the Disposable Tableware? Read More 👉
It won’t be long now until there my experiment is over. I dug up my two brands of 100% compostable packaging and the Boulder Canyon package was so limp that I couldn’t find it initially and thought briefly that it might have actually decomposed. I did eventually find it — it looks much like a
Testing Packaging Compostability Claims: Week 5 Read More 👉
Is it just me? Or do you notice “green” pages popping up on companies’ websites everywhere? Home • Products • Services • Who We Are • The Environment • Contact Us Everybody, it seems, has a page promoting their environmental commitment these days. It’s hip to be green. It’s cool to be environmental. I like
Green URLs: The New Norm Read More 👉
Oh, the things I do for The Inspired Economist. This is the fourth week of my unscientific test on the compostability claims of Boulder Canyon and SunChips 100% compostable chip bags. The decaying grass in my compost pile is getting heavier, the pile of eggshells and other kitchen scraps on top is getting heavier, and
Testing Compostable Packaging Claims: Week 4 Read More 👉
Net impact. I like the concept behind the Net Impact Conference, to be held October 28-30 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hosted by the Ross School of Business, the conference focuses on all aspects of corporate responsibility. The result? Larger net impact. Tracks include: Corporate impact Energy and clean technology Environment
Nothing to Do This Weekend? Check Out the University of Michigan’s Net Impact Conference Read More 👉
Yes! We have achieved deterioration! This is week three of my unofficial, unscientific test of 100% compostable packaging claims from SunChips and Boulder Canyon. Three weeks ago, I buried the bags in my home compost pile, along with a Doritos bag just for fun, and I have been digging them up to see how they
Testing Composable Packaging Claims: Week 3 Read More 👉
How can you do the right thing for sustainability while inspiring and enabling others to do the same? This free Webinar will discuss the habits of thought and principles of practice for making sustainability-literate decisions. What’s cool is that this Webinar isn’t for the super-initiated. It’s for anyone at any level of an organization and
Free Webinar: Are You a Positive Deviant for Sustainability? Read More 👉
In the world of sustainable business, the words “greenhouse gases” elicit shivers down the spine, but what are greenhouse gases, really? If you ask the average person, they’d say probably something like, “Uh, bad things in the atmosphere? Something about carbon dioxide?” If we’re going to try to reduce our carbon footprints (another way of
Greenhouse Gases: We Talk About Them, But What Are They? Read More 👉
One week ago, I buried two 100% compostable bags (one made from tree fiber and the other most likely from corn), along with a Doritos bag for control, in my compost pile. I wanted to see what would happen in a real environment, in the type of compost pile most people have, and how useful
Testing Package Compostability Claims: Week 2 Read More 👉
A stick held alone breaks easily. A bundle of sticks? Much harder to break. So it is with partnerships. Initiatives with multiple committed partners are stronger and more powerful than those embarked upon alone. That’s why it’s encouraging to read about all of the positive things that are coming out of the array of partnerships
SFI Conference: Partnerships DO Make a Difference Read More 👉
Several weeks back, I posed the question whether the debate over the loudness of SunChips’ new compostable bag had helped or hurt sales. After all, thousands more people now know that SunChips bags are 100% compostable thanks to all the chatter. I wondered how the chatter impacted FritoLay (makers of SunChips). Recently, I got my
Frito Lay to Pull Compostable Packaging . . . for Now Read More 👉
Over the last few weeks, I’ve written about SunChips’ 100% compostable chip bag and Boulder Canyon’s 100% compostable bag, both of which are made from different materials. The SunChips’ bag is loud as a firecracker, while Boulder Canyon’s has a softer sound, like the crunching of a paper bag. Maybe that’s because it’s made from
Putting 100% Compostable Packaging to the Test Read More 👉
After nine years working the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Duncan Pollard, director, conservation practice and policy, has words of praise for the pulp and paper industry. It’s proof that all industry is not bad and that environmental policies and practices can change, often substantially. He also wants to make sure the industry is aware of
World Wildlife Fund: Industry Kudos and Real Resources for Better Paper Read More 👉
Teenage drinking = bad peer pressure. A first-grader learning to do a cartwheel for the first time because of the encouragement of her classmates on the playground = good peer pressure. Marketers calling themselves “green” or “sustainable” because everyone else is doing it = bad peer pressure. Marketers switching from traditional to compostable packaging because
Are Marketers Bowing to Positive Peer Pressure? Read More 👉
When we talk about issues of sustainability, those discussions reach the superficial depths at best unless we design for sustainability at the outset. Otherwise, we’re always playing catch up. True sustainability means being proactive, not just reactive. That’s why conferences like the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Sustainable Product Design Summit are so important. Held on
Sustainable Product Design Summit October 26-27 Read More 👉
Have you been following the furor over the super-loud SunChips bag? I’ve written a number of posts about SunChips’ move from partially compostable to fully compostable packaging, but man, the sound of compostability is loud! The 100% compostable bag even made the national news a few weeks back due to a groundswell of complaints about
The Answer to the Super-Loud SunChips Bag? Read More 👉
Recently, I’ve been posting about lessons learned in sustainable forestry during my trip to Finch Paper in upstate New York. But sustainable forestry is about more than selecting which trees to cut and who makes those decisions. It’s also about water quality. Erosion and sediment are the primary potential non-point source pollution problems associated with
Sustainable Forestry: Who’s Watching the Water? Read More 👉
When you’ve finished with EcoCradle packaging, you don’t throw it out. You compost it. That’s because it is made from filamentous fungi (mushroom roots), which can be bonded into any shape. According to Ecovative Design, which grows the packaging (yes, I meant to say “grows”), EcoCradle provides the same cushioning, strength and protection as petrochemical
Mushroom Packaging: Don’t Throw It Out! Compost It! Read More 👉
Recently, I moved into a new municipality that makes recycling part of its trash management program. If you pay for trash removal, recycling comes default as part of the service. Cool. Even more recently, I got it together to figure out how my new municipality handled mixed office waste. I was told that all I
Well, That’s Embarrassing! Read More 👉
Feller-gatherer harvesting trees in the FSC- and SFI-certified forests of the Adirondacks for Finch Paper Recently, I blogged about a trip I made to Finch Paper in Glens Falls, NY, where I got to see sustainable forestry and integrated, environmentally sensitive papermaking in action. One of the most powerful images in my mind from the
Minimum Impact Logging? Read More 👉
How does recycled paper get from your office’s blue bins to the shelf at the office supply store? Here’s an overview of the whole paper recycling process.
What Happens to All That Recycled Paper, Anyway? Read More 👉
I just spent three days at Finch Paper, one of the few remaining small, integrated paper mills in the country. Nestled in the Adirondacks, the Glens Falls, NY company invited a few industry analysts to tour their mill and forests and get an inside look at their environmental commitment. Finch Paper is one of the
If Cutting Trees Is Bad, Why Are Foresters Helping Them Do It? Read More 👉
I’ve been thinking about green claims today. Many companies make green claims about their products, but how often do we stop and ask the question, “Compared to what?” For example, I recently read some data from the United States Postal Service Greenhouse Gas Emissions Survey that had some impressive data. By replacing just two trips
Does Online Shopping Really Improve Your Carbon Footprint? Read More 👉
