Green and Global

Rice urges nations to find cleaner fuels

Spotted this headline on the New York Times site yesterday: Bush Seeks New Image on Global Warming.  Rice said that global warming isn't solely an environmental question, but must be addressed "in a way that does not starve economies of the energy that they need to grow."

Is there such a thing as environmentally friendly growth? Can emerging and industrialized companies pursue growth but do so in an environmentally responsible manner? Can growth proceed without contributing to global warming? Your thoughts...

Posted by Jeff

Car confusion - driving a clean machine

If you are out shopping for a car and want to consider your green alternatives, I saw a great article in Kiplinger.com  today on the Best Values In Clean Cars. On that same note, there was an item that looked pretty interesting on Automotive.com from VW about their Dieselution Tour. (If you have the time, go to the VW site and check out their Carbon Footprint Calculator.)

Posted by Jeff

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Chicago's Field Museum is launching a carbon reduction program called Take 1 Step which allows museum visitors to buy credits ($1 each) to offset the carbon emissions they generate by traveling to the museum.

The Field Museum particpates in the Chicago Climate Exchange, which calculated the amount of carbon emitted by a mid-sized car over the mean distance visitors travel to the museum.

The money raised by the program will be used to promote the development of renewable energy technologies.

Every step counts. What are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint?

Posted by Dawn

Wal-Mart is getting green

First there was the article in the September 20 Wall Street Journal about Wal-Mart selling its own brand of compact fluorescent light bulbs as the backbone of its strategy to sell more environmentally friendly products.

Yesterday, Wal-Mart announced plans to sell only concentrated liquid laundry detergent products in its stores and their Sam’s Clubs. This program, they say, will save more than 400 million gallons of water, 95 million pounds of plastic and 125 million pounds of cardboard. Wal-Mart is also working with suppliers to increase efficiency standards and reduce energy consumed in the purchase, manufacturing and distribution of seven specific products: DVDs, toothpaste, soap, milk, beer, vacuum cleaners and soda.

If the world’s largest retailer can sneeze – perhaps other retailers will catch on to what they are doing.

Going local

I don’t know about you, but I’m weary of E. coli scares and other health-related issues associated with our industrialized food supply.  So I supplement my weekly trip to Stop & Shop by frequenting our local farmer’s market.

You may be familiar with Stop & Shop’s Peapod grocery home delivery service. Gazing out my office window the other day, I caught sight of a commercial van with the words Organic Connection emblazoned on the side.  A minute later, at http://organicconnection.com I was reading up on the latest interpretation of the slow food movement and a new model for decentralizing our food supply.

(The slow food movement favors small, local growers close to the point of consumption over fast food and the standardization of taste.)

Serving the tri-county area straddling New York and Connecticut, the Brewster, N.Y.-based company specializes in food delivery right to your door, just like Stop & Shop.  But unlike Peapod, Organic Connections’ line of food products is 98% organic. They offer prepared meals, too. Organic bison stew, anyone?

Posted by Dawn

Take a breath

Of the many benefits that come from walking to work, which I do on occasion, one of the nicest is getting to know your neighbors. Funny thing is, many more of them know me, 'the woman who walks on West Street all the time', while I recognize them more by the car they're driving or often not at all. Still, people will offer me a ride, not seeming to understand that I'm walking by choice and that no, my car is in perfect working condition. Sometimes I run into the neighborhood's dog walkers — Helen with her trio of beagles, or Dan and Michelle, the new couple from New Orleans, with the black shaggy beast. Getting around on foot sure makes the world slow down.

  Posted by Dawn

If you build it, they will come

Here is an interesting idea the Brits came up with — meeting housing targets by building "eco-towns" on old industrial sites.

Where I live, we're losing old farms and monster homes are built in their place. Perhaps we should reclaim some of these old buildings and build some affordable dwellings that are also friendly to the environment. Your thoughts?

Posted by Jeff

I can just hear Mars Blackman (famed Nike pitchman) now -

"It's Got to Be the Shoes!"  Nike is in its 12th year of a program where it recycles sneakers (any sneakers, not just Nike's!) into sports surfaces around the world. You can go to this link and see where there is a drop-off center near you. What an easy thing to organize locally.

Posted by Jeff

Chevron's "serious view"

According to Brandweek yesterday, Chevron will break a 2 1/2 minute ad during 60-minutes this Sunday, September 30, depicting a "serious view" of the energy challenges facing the U.S. This is the same company that, with the Economist earlier this month, launched an online game to manage energy needs for an imaginary town called "Energyville". Can't wait to see it.

Posted by Jeff

Mainstream green

At Green and Global, our focus is on the business of being green. We're thinking about how business and green co-exist.  What green products, services and approaches are being conceived and launched? Which promise a meaningful impact?  How have consumers responded?

Green has gone mainstream.  And there is virtually no facet of our lives that remains unaffected.  It truly is a green revolution, one that bears chronicling.

There will be two main contributors to Green and Global. We're both involved in marketing and communications and interested in environmental, health and well-being issues (one of us far more active in the latter than the other).

At times, we'll discuss projects that our employer has worked on in some capacity. And we'll always let you know when that's the case.

We're not afraid to take on issues engendering a bit of controversy because it is through dialogue that change occurs. We hope you'll join us.

                                                --Posted by Jeff