Archive for April, 2009

Green product attributes are evolving into an important brand differentiator for consumers and can serve as a tiebreaker for shoppers evaluating similar products, according to results of a new study from the Grocery Manufacturers Association and Deloitte.  The organizations interviewed over 6,400 consumers while shopping at 11 national chains and found more than half consider green attributes in their purchasing decisions.
As you might imagine, there’s always a discrepancy between what people say they buy, and what actually gets carted home.  But what’s interesting in this report, is that there is a big gap between what they’re looking for and actually buying. Less than half of the shoppers who looked for green products actually found them.

It’s simply not enough to “build it, and they will come.”  According to Brian Lynch, the director of sales and sales promotion at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, “we have to better educate consumers and leverage in-store communication to make the sale.”  This means not hiding the environmentally preferred products in a “green ghetto” at the back of the store, but making a concerted effort to promote both the products and the company as doing their part.

Also mentioned in the survey is the notion that customers can be segmented according to where on the “shades of green” scale they fall.  Here at FD Element, we call them “Light Greens,” “Bright Greens,” “Dark Greens,” and “Green Skeptics.”  The first two categories are those customers that have a preference for green products, but may not be able to afford them, as well as those that tend to buy green as often as they can, but not exclusively.  Dark Greens are those committed to purchasing greener products as often as they can, and Green Skeptics are either unsure or reject that products have an effect on the natural world.

So if companies are looking to stay in business while the economy goes into ‘reset’ mode, they better well rethink the environmental impact of the products they sell.  Because their customers certainly are…

Tim Woodall at FD Element

It seems that these days, every major city is vying for the title of the “greenest city.”  But the city of Vancouver announced today that they have taken a critical step in making this a reality, when it released a list of tangible actions and policies to guide the city towards this goal. The Greenest City Action Team report, Greenest City Quick Start Recommendations, focuses on green jobs and the economy, greener communities, and protecting human health.

“This report gives us a blueprint on how to become the greenest city by linking sustainability with smart economic policy. Green jobs are sustainable jobs and will give Vancouver a significant advantage in this economic climate,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.

The action plan includes the following initiatives for Vancouver:

Green economy

Quick actions focusing on creating a green economic development strategy to attract sustainable high-tech businesses to Vancouver and create new jobs. This will include policies that conserve energy also save money, as well as the development of neighborhood sources of renewable energy. Obstacles to building green are to be eliminated, and retrofits for buildings should be accelerated.

Green communities

Greener and cleaner communities would grow through actions like a public bike sharing program, infrastructure for electric vehicles, reduced packaging waste, and a shift to biweekly garbage collection, as is done in Toronto and Victoria.

Health

In the area of health, the report’s recommendations include making more land available for community gardens, strengthening protection from pesticides, and encouraging and expanding farmers markets throughout the city.

Later this year, the Greenest City Action Team will deliver a comprehensive 10-year plan that includes benchmarks to monitor Vancouver’s progress towards becoming North America’s “greenest city.”

Tim Woodall at FD Element

Environmental Leader reported that Living Cities has released its Green Cities report that provides an assessment of how cities in the United States are trying to limit their carbon footprint, and identifies areas where environmental efforts lag. The report shows that cities have not waited for federal or state governments to initiate green policies that help combat climate change.

The Wall Street Journal’s “Environmental Capital” blog reported that the long-term outlook for oil supply isn’t getting any better, which means the prospects for a price spike when demand finally recovers is increasing. OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said even more oil drilling projects in cartel member countries are being put on hold or axed altogether.  Early this year, Mr. El-Badri said 35 upstream projects had gotten yanked in member states because of weak oil prices and an uncertain, longer term demand outlook.

As they say, what is measured is managed.  SustainableBusiness.com reported that this spring, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct the first-ever, wide-scale survey of organic farming in the nation.  The survey will look at many aspects of organic farming during the 2008 calendar year–from production and marketing practices, to income and expenses. It will focus not only on operations that are currently engaged in organic production, but also on those making the transition to organic agriculture.  The results will help shape future decisions regarding farm policy, funding allocations, availability of goods and services, community development and other key issues, USDA said.

The New York Times’ “Green, Inc.” reported that just days after declaring that carbon emissions were a threat to human health, the Environmental Protection Agency has given high marks to a wide-ranging energy and climate bill  that was recently put forward by the House Energy Committee.  The Waxman-Markey bill, also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, will “drive the clean energy transformations of the U.S. economy,” and substantially reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, according to the E.P.A.’s review.

Hill Heat reported on the verbal fireworks that ensued as a week of hearings got underway on the Waxman-Markey climate bill.  But the real attention on Capitol Hill was tuned to a few moderate Democrats who have the power to make or break the bill.  House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman acknowledged their concerns this morning as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood were being questioned by the committee.  Praising one of those moderates, former committee chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.), Waxman said he had hoped to see his legislation pass with something like the committee’s 42-1 vote that had secured amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990. But he added, “I have my suspicions after listening to the opening statements here that we may not be able to succeed in the same way.”

The Sustainability Ninja reported that the National Center for Atmospheric Research has released a new report detailing finding that indicate rivers in world’s most populated areas are losing their water as a consequence of climate change.  Researchers have determined that the descending level of water in rivers is in many cases associated with global warming, and that this trend could cause reduction of water supplies in some of the world’s most major cities.  Studies showed that Colorado River in the United States, the Yellow River in China, the Ganges in India and the Niger in Africa are steadily losing their water.  “Reduced runoff is increasing the pressure on freshwater resources in much of the world, especially with more demand for water as population increases,” says NCAR scientist Aiguo Dai.  “As climate change inevitably continues in coming decades, we are likely to see greater impacts on many rivers and water resources that society has come to rely on,” said Kevin Trenberth, also of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

Normally around this time of year, companies trot out their Earth Day ads to show off their “green” means of production, even if it’s for an auto company or oil refiner.  From clean coal ads to energy companies whose renewable energy mix represents only a tiny fraction of their overall portfolio, we really have come to expect more greenwashing on a day like today.*

But, with the economy still in a tailspin, and consumers becoming more eco-savvy, we are left with a relatively normal assortment of ads today.  Not that we’re calling for more misrepresentation of companies’ sustainability performance, it’s just an annual tradition of ours to scan the papers for the most egregious examples.

Are companies simply becoming more responsible in their marketing efforts?  Has the “green wave” of advertising begun to recede? Are Earth Day advertisements seen as thing of the past?  The answer of course lies somewhere in between.

Companies have seen their peers take a hit to their reputation when claims of sustainable practices were perhaps a bit overstated, and we have definitely seen the crest of the media attention wave with regard to both sustainability and climate change.  Not that the issues themselves have gone away, but public attention to these issues has dropped over the last six months, with people paying a bit closer attention to home than seven generations down the road.  And lastly, corporate ad budgets are typically lower during lean times, and firms are more resistant to embarking on a special, one day campaign to try and grab our attention by any means possible.

So how can a company avoid being accused of greenwashing?

-    Be specific in your environmental claims
-    Don’t overstate your company’s environmental successes
-    Have your data verified by respectable third parties
-    Be open about the challenges your company faces
-    Acknowledge that you are “going green,” not already there

As Earth Day comes and goes, it is always important to note that paying attention to how environmental sustainability impacts your business is really a year-round affair.  There are numerous opportunities for companies that integrate sustainability into their overall strategy, from bolstering a lagging reputation, to realizing increased sales from green revenue sources.  If you have questions about how your company or organization can get the most out of its sustainability initiatives, email us HERE .

Tim Woodall at FD Element

* This blog post is 100% natural, and made with environmental ingredients

This Thursday at the “Cap-and-Trade Forum: Carbon Constraints and the Economy Conference” in Toronto, participants will be discussing the rise of carbon regulatory programs with international emissions markets and CO2 mitigation experts.  One of these experts is FD Element’s own Don Millar, who will be providing an overview of British Columbia’s climate change plan, regional initiatives such as the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), and lessons he’s learned about balancing environmental preservation with our growing need for electric power.

More than 70,000 jobs were lost in January and February alone in BC, but on the horizon are growing investments in green jobs, political platforms that directly address carbon reductions, and the emergence of independent power production.

Regional initiatives to combat climate change are generating momentum, and will most certainly impact businesses and investors unprepared for this new economic reality.  Out west, the Western Climate Initiative was launched in February 2007, and includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Utah, along with the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec..

In the east, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI – “Reggie”) went into effect January 1st, and is the first mandatory, market-based effort in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ten northeastern and mid-Atlantic states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) will cap and then reduce CO2 emissions from the electric power sector 10% by 2018.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

Environmental Leader reports that Earth Day is driving green efforts at several supermarkets around the nation, ranging from recycling paper goods and promoting the use of reusable bags to designing energy-efficient stores.

Whole Foods Market claims to be the first national retailer to produce all of its national in-store Earth Month materials using “third generation” closed-loop recycled papers thanks to the help of Mohawk Fine Papers Inc.  “Closed-loop” means that Whole Foods Market has recycled and reused its own paper for zero waste.
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The Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital blog reports that as expected, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The question was and remains: By flexing its muscles, is the EPA angling to regulate the entire U.S. economy, or is it simply waving a threatening stick at Congress to prod legislators into passing climate-change legislation?
The 133-page endangerment finding dedicates scores of pages to summarizing the scientific evidence on climate change and agonizing over how much leeway the EPA has in using its judgment to determine what’s good and bad.

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The New York Times’ Green Inc. blog reports that the most immediate problem Canada faces from greenhouse gas emissions is economic rather than environmental. At least that was the message at a news conference on Thursday held to unveil a report from a government advisory body on carbon pricing.
Bob Page, the chairman of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, said that if Canada did not introduce an effective, national carbon emissions control program, it would face potentially ruinous trade retaliation from the United States once Congress and the Obama administration introduce their own emissions control programs.

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Treehugger reports that the tiniest state in the world—that’d be the Vatican—has some big plans for solar power. The Pope, an outspoken proponent of fighting climate change, is moving to build the largest solar power plant in Europe on 740 acres of land near the medieval village of Santa Maria di Galeria.
At $660 million, the project would also be one of the most expensive—but it would eventually turn the small state (the Vatican has around 900 residents) into a major power exporter. The solar station would go online in 2014, and would reportedly initially produce 100 megawatts of power—enough to provide electricity to 40,000 homes in Italy. The energy generated would also provide 9 times the power needed to run the Vatican radio, which reaches 35 countries as far as Asia.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

As competition for the luxury travel dollar becomes more intense, many high-end hotels are looking to attract clients and save operating costs through becoming more green.

These properties are among the best in the world and the variety of luxury offerings is a diverse as the planet.

Some are exceptional resorts such as the ocean destination Punta Caracol in Panama or the Sundance Resort in Idaho’s hideaway for business leaders and celebrities alike.

What I find interesting, however, is the way smart hotel chains are seeking out the business travel market through green initiatives; these include Starwood with their Element brand and Kimpton Hotels. Many of the independents are also carving out a niche, including the trendy luxury hotel Nine Zero in downtown Boston.

A leader in the Asia Pacific region is Nihiwatu, which set up the successful Sumba Foundation. The hotel produces 100% of its energy needs from bio diesel made from coconuts; they recycle absolutely everything and even have a carbon-offset program, to date planting over 64,000 trees. The owner is a good friend of mine, Claude Graves, an American with a vision of setting up such a project over twenty years ago.

These businesses often find going green isn’t that onerous and guests appreciate things like healthy food – organic or not – and towel reuse programs.

If you are looking for a green hotel, here is my checklist of what to look for:

• Energy efficient lighting and timers
• Alternative energy sources (i.e. solar, bio-diesel)
• Water-saving fixtures and policies (including towel re-use)
• Sustainable cleaning products
• Sustainable in-room amenities
• Green offerings for guests (organic food, transportation, events)
• Refillable soap bottles in rooms
• Recycling program

If you’re thinking of taking a trip in the near future, sites such as ours at Kiwi Collection direct visitors to green hotels around the world. You’ll be surprised the number of options waiting for you — from exotic get-aways to downtown business hotels.

Guest post by Bradley Cocks, Global Vice President of Communications at Kiwi Collection

You can email Mr. Cocks HERE

A new campaign designed to reach non-responsive “echo boomers” has struck a cord. The combination of popular sex appeal in the form of America’s favorite online video starlet, Obama Girl, with cash prizes and a call to alumni pride has succeeded where others have feared to tread.

America’s Greenest Campus is a campaign targeting young adults, and is the first national competition among colleges to reduce the carbon footprints of their students, faculty, alumni and staff. Anyone with an “.edu” email address can sign up and join the campus network to reduce its carbon footprint. Climate Culture provides online resources to help schools save energy and created an online community where visitors can trade energy efficiency tips.

In addition to bragging rights, there is some serious money up for grabs as well - $5,000 to the school with the most students, alumni and staff to sign up, $5,000 for the campus that reduces its carbon footprint the most and $10,000 in the SmartPower Energy Smart Ad Challenge — a total of $20,000 in prize money.
Currently leading the pack is George Mason University, with 894 members and a 2.66% reduction.

Brian Keene, CEO and founder of Smart Power, one of the lead partners for this contest said, “We concluded from a New England study [that] young adults were impressed by positive correlations between their actions and the big picture, unplugging devices was by far the most popular act of conservation, and that there is an emotional benefit to energy efficiency.”

At My Green Element we intend to follow this campaign and the contest so we can learn if young people can be persuaded to adopt energy usage practices that translate into positive social currency and visibility through various social media.  Our measure is a simple one – will it move the dial and persuade young people to actively participate in recognizing the important reducing all of our carbon footprints.

The winners will be announced by Oct. 5, and will be determined by calculating the number of participants from each school and the largest percentage of carbon emissions reduced.

Grant Draper at FD Element

Up until this past summer, media coverage of companies that were designing green products, or those that had a reduced impact on the environment, was considered the norm.  Since then, the number of articles regarding sustainable products has dropped off a bit in the mainstream press in light of recent economic events.  However, a new report from research firm Forrester found that a large number of companies are developing greener products.  In Forrester’s latest report, “Environmental And Social Responsibility In Consumer Product Strategies,” they surveyed 72 consumer product strategy professionals at such firms as Apple, Dell, Levi Strauss and Product Red and found that 84% have environmentally conscious or socially responsible products in development or on the market.  These include products that are energy efficient, recyclable, made with renewable materials, Fair Trade, or contain any other features that have a positive impact on the environment or remove features that have a negative impact on the environment.

A majority of companies (71%) are also integrating those environmental and social issues during the conception and initial product design phases, some of the most important times for products, since that is when most decisions related to a product’s cost are made.

But why are they doing it?  The most commonly sited answers included:

- Product differentiation (71%)

- Establish leadership in green product sector (61%)

- Cost savings (35%)

In this shaky economy, when the bottom line is dictating company actions, an overwhelming number of companies are finding that addressing sustainability is the answer to their financial woes.  Consumers are looking for higher quality products, ones that last and don’t have an adverse affect on their children and families.  While there has been a race to the bottom in recent years in terms of product quality, this new commitment by companies looking to get an edge is encouraging.  Those companies falling behind the times just might want to take another look at their product lines…

Tim Woodall at FD Element 

Treehugger reported yesterday on how renewable energy development and equipment manufacturing could really bring jobs back to parts of the country which have been dealing with tough economic times. Global Wind Systems’ will be opening a new wind turbine assembly plant in Novi, Michigan, one of the hardest hit regions of the U.S., due to the auto industry’s decades-long love affair with SUVs.

The plant expects to hire 250 skilled tradespeople in May (with an additional 150 or more expected within two years), to assemble 1.5 MW wind turbines. Although many of the components will have to be initially sourced from Europe, the goal is to shift that to in-state suppliers.

Following Michigan’s state mandate that 10% of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2015, more than two dozen companies have started or diversified into manufacturing wind turbine components.

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Environmental Leader reports that nearly 60% of corporate marketers expect their companies to increase environmental sustainability initiatives over the next two to three years, according to a survey conducted by the American Marketing Association and Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.  Half of the respondents also believe that current economic conditions will encourage the adoption of sustainability practices.

Not surprisingly, more than half of those surveyed believe that sustainability is crucial to their company’s reputation. Nearly three-quarters believe that corporate reputation, corporate culture and technological advancements will be the drivers for sustainability. The Obama administration’s policies also will drive the adoption of corporate sustainability programs, according to 63% of respondents.

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The Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital reports that London-based environmental data provider Trucost PLC released a report entitled, “Carbon Counts USA,” which ranks U.S. equity funds based on their greenhouse-gas emissions.

Once a cap is in place on greenhouse-gas emissions, companies will need to clean up their act or purchase carbon credits on the market. Either way, “it will be translated into a real cost” for companies and investors, said Simon Thomas, chief executive of Trucost, in an interview.

When climate-change legislation does arrive—the House saw a draft energy and climate bill introduced last week — carbon-intensive companies will likely be the hardest hit.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

While you might not immediately think of Coca-Cola as a leader on sustainability, for many years now, the company has been making an effort to incorporate sustainable practices into its production and distribution.  The area where Coke has made the most strides, has been in reducing the energy, water, and packaging inputs required to produce its beverages.

For example, Coke:

•    Redesigned its packaging to contain less and/or recycled material
•    Incorporated elements of green building design into many of its facilities and offices
•    Produces a comprehensive sustainability report outlining its progress and challenges to date
•    Purchased hybrid delivery trucks
•    Sterilizes bottles with ionized air rather than water

Though no company can be considered “green” per se, Coke has been steadily improving over the past few years and is poised to continue to do so.  Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Coke just purchased a £30m minority share in Innocent, a British fruit drink and “smoothie” maker renowned for its ethical practices.  With companies looking to expand their “sustainable” product lines, other mergers and acquisitions over the past few years have shown this to be a viable model.  These include:

Organic chocolate maker, Green & Black’s, was bought by Cadbury Schweppes (2005)

Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream maker renowned for its social and environmental values, was bought by the global giant Unilever (2000)

Grant Draper at FD Element

On Tuesday, House Democrats unveiled a much-anticipated draft of a comprehensive energy bill. Announced by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA), the bill includes a Renewable Efficiency Standard (RES) for utilities as well as a market-based cap on carbon aimed at reducing total aggregate emissions by 83% by 2050.

The G20 Summit, in which world leaders gathered for a day-long conference to discuss the most pressing global issues, took place in London yesterday. Considerable focus was placed on the economic crisis, but the conference fell short on addressing environmental issues, according to George Monbiot.

Turning to industry, Greenbiz reported today that GM will seek $2.6B in low-interest loans to develop new lines of hybrid vehicles. Hopefully this would provide the automaker with the boost it desperately seems to need.

Finally, Cleantech Blog published an interesting story on clean coal earlier this week, in which it explored one of the more contentious issues currently facing the cleantech community (not to mention policymakers, utilities, and environmentalists in a broader sense).

Grant Draper, President of FD Element

FD Element is proud to be presenting at the 3rd Annual Cap-and-Trade Forum: Carbon Constraints and the Economy. The conference will be held at the St. Andrew’s Club and Conference Centre in Toronto from April 23-24.

The conference is being put on by Insight - a leading provider of specialized business information for legal, commercial real estate, interactive marketing, financial services, risk management, healthcare, HR, aboriginal and energy professionals.

Join us at the conference and meet Don Millar, CEO of FD Element, and learn about:

- Carbon constraints, credit crunch and pragmatism

- U.S. House and Senate actions

- The credit crisis’ associated impacts

- Refocusing on core business vs. continued engagement in carbon finance

- “Managing” risk through not-so-obvious partnerships

- Essential building blocks of a successful carbon management strategy

- Carbon credibility and verification

- The cost of climate change – integrating carbon into financial disclosure – how much, how little and why

- And much, much more…

As an added bonus, friends/clients of FD Element will receive a 15% discount off the conference price!

Hope to see you all there!

Cheryl Mihalin at FD Element

To compliment the efforts by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative out east, and the Western Climate Initiative in the west, California just passed Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) which will require the state to return its greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020.  This would entail a 30% reduction from current levels, and would put the state on track to reduce these emissions by 80% by 2050.

In the efforts to improve the environment, reduce our dependence on imported crude, diversify energy solutions, enhance public health, and create new jobs, California is the first state to adopt such stringent requirements with regard to climate change.  The California Air Resources Board has been charged with implementing this legislation, and President Obama has indicated that he will be following the state’s lead in order to implement a similar program on the national level.

Potential sources of emissions reductions will come from the following sectors which will be most heavily affected: transportation, forestry, construction, energy, and agriculture.  The state will be using a mix of strategies that includes sector-specific regulations, market mechanisms, voluntary measures, fees and incentives, and these measures will go into affect in 2012.

A new UC Berkeley study found that AB 32 has the potential to increase the annual gross state product by $76 billion, and create 403,000 new jobs.  As always, the devil is in the details, but this legislation is yet another indication that the move to adopting a federal climate policy is closer than ever before, and brings us in closer to becoming a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.

To download a presentation by FD on AB 32, click here: AB 32 Presentation

Tim Woodall at FD Element