BERKELEY, Calif., April 2, 2008 -- Along with its visionary goals of reaching zero waste and using 100 percent renewable energy, Wal-Mart is launching or planning a number of smaller sustainability initiatives, from the trucks it ships products in to the coffee on its shelves.
Matt Kistler, Wal-Mart's senior vice president for sustainability, spoke at University of California-Berkeley's Haas School of Business yesterday about the past and future of Wal-Mart's environmental initiatives. In late 2005 the company unveiled its goals of reaching zero waste, using only renewable energy and selling products that sustain resources and the environment. "Today we do not have clear-cut direction of how we're going to attain every goal," Kistler said. As of example of how it's approaching renewable energy, Wal-Mart is planning 22 different solar projects to see which work best. Some of its recent and coming programs are with its fleet.
Although the company is planning to start rolling out hybrid trucks this month, it's already made its fleet 20 percent more efficient than in 2005 by designing aerodynamic trucks and using auxiliary power units that turn off the engine but not the heating, cooling and lights. To sell more earth-friendly products, Wal-Mart is introducing a line of environmentally friendly coffee this month. Under it's private label Sam's Choice brand the company now offers three Fair Trade Certified coffees, one Rainforest Alliance certified blend and one USDA Organic coffee. The coffees are roasted by Cafe Bom Dia, a Brazil-based company that offsets its emissions through CarbonNeutral.
The sustainable coffee rollout is part of the company's Earth Month promotion. Throughout April Wal-Mart is highlighting its greener products and informing customers how making better choices, especially on a large scale, can cause a difference. Wal-Mart is featuring more than 50 products in stores and 500 online, from transitional cotton shirts to mulch made from rubber to Clorox Green Works products.
The majority of Wal-Mart's environmental footprint, Kistler said, comes from suppliers. The company has direct control on about 8 percent of its footprint, with the remaining 92 percent coming from its supply chain. To green its supply chain the company launched a packaging scorecard last year. By filling in information about products' packaging, suppliers are rated and find out their rank in relation to peers.
Kistler said Wal-Mart works with suppliers, telling them what they can do to improve and let them know what other suppliers have done to reduce packaging. Wal-Mart launched the packaging push as part of its goal to reduce packaging by 5 percent by 2013. Although suppliers were supposed to provide packaging information on all products by the end of February, Wal-Mart has only received information for about half of its products so far, according to the Arkansas Morning News.
From www.greenbiz.com
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Major League Baseball Changes It's Colors
When the Washington Nationals play their home opener against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, the grass on the field won't be the only thing that's green.
The Washington Nationals' new $311 million stadium, built by the District of Columbia, is the first big league ballpark to meet standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will have energy-efficient lighting, ultra low-flow lavatory faucets, low-flush toilets, recycling bins, a green roof, bike racks and preferential parking for high-mileage cars.
The team isn't the only one stepping up to the plate when it comes to reducing environmental footprints. Last summer the Cleveland Indians put up solar panels at Progressive Park - and the Boston Red Sox are in the process of installing them up at Fenway Park. The Seattle Mariners recycle food waste, as well as paper and plastic containers. And when you buy a beer at an Oakland A's game this season, expect a cup made of biodegradable cornstarch.
The Pittsburgh Pirates probably won't reach the top of the league standings, but they just may be baseball's environmental mascot. The Pirates use corn-based cups, toilet paper made from 100% recycling input, and game-day programs printed with soy-based inks. Their scouts even drive flex-fuel cars. (Quick aside: Did you know that Pirates owner Bob Nutting comes from a newspaper family that also publishes Mother Earth News and the Utne Reader? Me neither.)
Much of the impetus for these changes comes from a partnership between Major League Baseball and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has also worked with the NBA, the National Hockey League, and organizers of the Oscars and Grammy Awards.
"By getting America's pastime to embrace environmentalism, we can move beyond the debates about left, right and politics," says Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at NRDC, longtime Mets fan and manager of his son's little league team. Hershkowitz is especially hopeful that baseball's green drive will influence fans too. "There's nothing comparable to the brand loyalty that professional sports teams generate."
The NRDC began working with baseball several years ago after Robert Redford, one of the group's trustees, suggested during a board meeting at his Sundance Resort that NRDC work more in entertainment and sports. Robert Fisher, a trustee whose family owns a stake in the Oakland A's, offered to connect the group with the baseball commissioner's office, according to Hershkowitz.
Since then, Hershkowitz has spoken with more than 20 teams and visited numerous parks. (He's been invited to throw out the first ball at Fenway on Earth Day next month, when the Red Sox gets an award from the Environmental Protection Agency.) NRDC is asking teams to look at their ballpark operations, which consume energy and generate greenhouse gases, and their supply chains, where opportunities abound to buy recycled paper, organic cotton T-shirts or locally-grown food. Soy dogs, anyone?
Most of baseball's greening happens behind the scenes. The new Washington Nationals ballpark, for instance, is built on a "brownfields" site, which was once home to an asphalt factory, according to Susan Klumpp, one of 22 architects and designers on the project. Construction waste was recycled, and a sophisticated water treatment facility is built under the stadium, so that wastewater doesn't pollute the nearby Anacostia River. "How to pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification without additional construction dollars was the tough part," she says.
Still, there's an obvious way that teams could save energy: by scheduling more day games to reduce the need for power-sucking field lights. (Most teams play at night to attract more TV viewers.) I'm looking forward to my first trip to the Nationals park on Sunday, but I could do without the 8 p.m. start time and the 30-degree temperatures. Baseball should play more games in the afternoon - for the fans and for the earth.
By Mark Gunther, Fortune
The Washington Nationals' new $311 million stadium, built by the District of Columbia, is the first big league ballpark to meet standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will have energy-efficient lighting, ultra low-flow lavatory faucets, low-flush toilets, recycling bins, a green roof, bike racks and preferential parking for high-mileage cars.
The team isn't the only one stepping up to the plate when it comes to reducing environmental footprints. Last summer the Cleveland Indians put up solar panels at Progressive Park - and the Boston Red Sox are in the process of installing them up at Fenway Park. The Seattle Mariners recycle food waste, as well as paper and plastic containers. And when you buy a beer at an Oakland A's game this season, expect a cup made of biodegradable cornstarch.
The Pittsburgh Pirates probably won't reach the top of the league standings, but they just may be baseball's environmental mascot. The Pirates use corn-based cups, toilet paper made from 100% recycling input, and game-day programs printed with soy-based inks. Their scouts even drive flex-fuel cars. (Quick aside: Did you know that Pirates owner Bob Nutting comes from a newspaper family that also publishes Mother Earth News and the Utne Reader? Me neither.)
Much of the impetus for these changes comes from a partnership between Major League Baseball and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has also worked with the NBA, the National Hockey League, and organizers of the Oscars and Grammy Awards.
"By getting America's pastime to embrace environmentalism, we can move beyond the debates about left, right and politics," says Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at NRDC, longtime Mets fan and manager of his son's little league team. Hershkowitz is especially hopeful that baseball's green drive will influence fans too. "There's nothing comparable to the brand loyalty that professional sports teams generate."
The NRDC began working with baseball several years ago after Robert Redford, one of the group's trustees, suggested during a board meeting at his Sundance Resort that NRDC work more in entertainment and sports. Robert Fisher, a trustee whose family owns a stake in the Oakland A's, offered to connect the group with the baseball commissioner's office, according to Hershkowitz.
Since then, Hershkowitz has spoken with more than 20 teams and visited numerous parks. (He's been invited to throw out the first ball at Fenway on Earth Day next month, when the Red Sox gets an award from the Environmental Protection Agency.) NRDC is asking teams to look at their ballpark operations, which consume energy and generate greenhouse gases, and their supply chains, where opportunities abound to buy recycled paper, organic cotton T-shirts or locally-grown food. Soy dogs, anyone?
Most of baseball's greening happens behind the scenes. The new Washington Nationals ballpark, for instance, is built on a "brownfields" site, which was once home to an asphalt factory, according to Susan Klumpp, one of 22 architects and designers on the project. Construction waste was recycled, and a sophisticated water treatment facility is built under the stadium, so that wastewater doesn't pollute the nearby Anacostia River. "How to pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification without additional construction dollars was the tough part," she says.
Still, there's an obvious way that teams could save energy: by scheduling more day games to reduce the need for power-sucking field lights. (Most teams play at night to attract more TV viewers.) I'm looking forward to my first trip to the Nationals park on Sunday, but I could do without the 8 p.m. start time and the 30-degree temperatures. Baseball should play more games in the afternoon - for the fans and for the earth.
By Mark Gunther, Fortune
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