The average American cell phone is upgraded every 18 months, but less than 20 percent of the discarded phones are recycled annually. The other 80 percent ends up in desk drawers, or worse, in landfills. However, ecoATM is changing the wasteful lifecycle of cell phones and other electronic devices like tablets or MP3 players. Maria […]
ecoATM’s Cell Phone Recycling Kiosks Read More 👉
India’s government has lately set a 3-year target to rejuvenate the River Ganges, formulating an integrated plan for the use of new technologies to solve the water pollution crisis. Known as the “Namaami Gange” or “Clean Ganga” project, optimism is high for cleaning up the Holy River Ganga, as it is known and revered by
India Uses Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) to Clean the Ganges River Read More 👉
On a mission to transform the globe “through ethical relationships with small-scale farmers, and an integral sustainability orientation at every point on the supply chain,” Alter Eco Foods has bitten off a big bite to chew on. But it sure looks delicious. Especially those chocolate truffles. Organic, fair trade truffles! In dark chocolate and dark
A CSR Makeover for Chocolate Truffles? Read More 👉
The world’s oceans are vast, floating dumps for plastic pollution. Without a serious plan for cleaning up the world’s oceans, this situation is dire and becoming worse every day. With a goal of retrieving and recycling 400,000 flip flops a year from the coast of Kenya, one small start-up in Nairobi is making a big
Recycling Flip Flops From the Ocean Shores of Kenya Read More 👉
Tools such as personal computers and smartphones and other portable electronics have enabled a virtual revolution in the way that we work and communicate and get entertained, and for the most part, that has been beneficial to us. We now have access to almost anything and everyone on the internet, at any time of day
The Unseen Realities of Our Toxic E-Waste: Terra Blight Read More 👉
Learning to cut the amount of waste in our manufacturing and production cycles can have a huge impact on the sustainability of both individual businesses and our limited common resources, and implementing a sustainable materials management solution is one viable method of not only reducing costs, but also using resources more wisely. According to Material
Material Mix Offers Sustainable Materials Management Solution Read More 👉
The organic fertilizer company EcoScraps has received a $500,000 loan from RSF Social Finance, a financial services organization that provides funding for nonprofits and social enterprises. The loan will help EcoScraps, a three-year-old company that makes organic, chemical- and manure-free lawn and garden products, expand its network of waste management partnerships and increase its exposure
Organic Fertilizer Company Receives $500,000 Loan from RSF Social Finance Read More 👉
In October, General Motors published a blueprint for companies to follow to reduce their waste going to landfill. Buried within it are ten cool things GM has done to reduce its own landfill waste. These are: Converting 227 miles of oil soaked booms from the Deepwater Horizon disaster into air deflectors for the Chevvy Volt.
Ten Cool Things GM Have Done To Reduce Waste Read More 👉
Our aching planet just needs you to be thoughtful as you plow into your next venture. If you are, everyone wins, and wins sustainably into the indefinite future. A sustainable business considers the impacts of every facet of its operation and then attempts to address each, from paper consumption to human resources, in a way
You Think You Might start a Green Business? Read More 👉
To what extent do socially and environmentally positive initiatives in the private sector boost a [public] company’s value? And is the downside greater for those that that do not engage in CSR activities or worse flout environmental or social concerns? We know that significant events such as the BP oil spill will go a long
The Effects of CSR on Market Capitalization Read More 👉
About 7 months ago, following grad school I relocated to the great (not state although some are trying) District of Columbia. Although 7 months is not a very long time, one would think it would be long enough for me to stop receiving previous tenant’s junk mail. In fact, it’s not just one previous tenant,
When Is Junk Mail Going to Disappear? Read More 👉
There has been increasing discussion recently as to the role of corporate social responsibility throughout the alcohol industry. Of course CSR policies can and should be applied to companies throughout the private sector although my guess is that most people’s first thoughts don’t shoot to the beer, wine and spirits industry. Whether policies in that
Responsibilities of the Alcohol Industry Read More 👉
I just downloaded The State of the Paper Industry: Monitoring the Indicators of Environmental Performance, put out by the Steering Committee of the Environmental Paper Network. On the surface, the numbers sound impressive and scary. The big bad paper industry needs to be reigned in for the good of the planet. Old growth forests are
Green Stats: Can’t We Tell Them Without the Agenda? Read More 👉
Nike has come a long way from the PR and labor problems of the early 1990’s. So far in fact that they have spent much of time between that period and now, working on a design tool that shows the environmental impact of raw materials they have chosen for a specific product. However, the most
Nike Creates Environmental Apparel Design Tool Free For Use Read More 👉
Based on a recent report published by sustainability analyst firm Verdantix, spending on sustainability by almost 2,000 businesses with revenues of over $1 billion will increase from $28 billion in 2010 to $60 billion in 2014. Now, I know what you’re thinking. That’s barely anything in comparison to total revenue (1.4% up to 3.3%), but
Despite Sluggish Economy, Spending on Sustainability Forecast to Increase Read More 👉
Ever wonder what you should be doing with your old computers, cell phones and televisions? Bruce W. Fraser reveals the answer in the September 2010 issue of FA Green. Ask Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), he says, the largest electronics recycler in the United States. Fraser reports that John Shegerian founded ERI “to remedy the problem
ERI: Making Profit From E-waste 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 👉
The city of Montreal has turned its retired mechanical parking meters in to piggy banks or “ParcoDons”. These ParcoDons are designed to collect loose change in order to help the city’s homeless population. The meters were first installed in the downtown borough of Ville-Marie in 2007, and since its inception, the program has raised $23,000
Repurposed Parking Meters Collect Donations for Homeless 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 👉
Look around you. How much of what you use on a daily basis comes from the forest products industry? Everything from the office paper you put into your printer to the wood fiber in the RTA furniture in the office is produced by this massive, global industry. Sometimes, the news coming out of this industry
AF&PA: The Paper Industry Is Making Huge Strides Read More 👉
A free webinar explains California’s new mandatory commercial recycling law… will you be in compliance? If you run a business in California, then you are aware of California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32). The act requires California to develop regulations that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It is
Free Webinar on California’s New Mandatory Recycling Measure Read More 👉
My last post on questioning conventional wisdom on recycled paper generated some terrific comments. After all, when you look more deeply into some of these issues, they aren’t all they are cracked up to be. Is possible that post-consumer waste (PCW) paper isn’t as green as we think it is? The question was worth asking.
Does PCW Paper Really Save Energy? It’s Worth Asking the Question Read More 👉
I’ve been thinking about postconsumer waste lately (apparently, I have too much time on my hands). What I was wondering was this: Postconsumer waste is only one of three waste streams for unused paper. There is also mill broke (scrap collected at the mill and recycled back into the same type of paper from whence
Questioning Conventional Wisdom on PCW Recycled Paper Read More 👉
If you want to “green” your news reading, just go online, right? Ditch that dirty, landfill-clogging paper. Not so fast, argues Sarah Westervelt, environmental expert and activist. In a recent article on The Dead Tree Edition, Westervelt said that she was “too informed about what’s going to happen to my computer when I’m done with
Newspapers May Be Greener, But What About Redundancy? Read More 👉
