Archive for the ‘eco’ tag
Green Products Going Strong Despite Economy, Studies Find
It’s true, as GreenBiz.com executive editor Joel Makower wrote last month, that even during rough economic times like these, marketers’ surveys of consumers almost always report exceedingly optimistic returns of how likely shoppers are to choose green products.
Whether or not that assessment is true, three new reports out in recent days certainly continue the trend: reports from Forrester Research, the Carbon Trust Standard and IRI find anywhere from 15 to 62 percent of shoppers in the U.S. and U.K. take environmental considerations to heart before they purchase a product or service. Read more
Source: GreenBiz.com
European Commission powers up green IT strategy
The European Commission last week called on the IT industry to step up efforts to cut emissions, announcing plans for a wide-ranging green IT strategy designed to ensure economy-wide emission reductions of 15 per cent by 2020.
Announcing the new strategy, which is to be formally adopted in the second half of this year, commissioner for information society and media Viviane Reding said that while the IT sector had already made significant commitments to reduce its environmental impact, it still had “enormous untapped potential for saving energy right across the economy”.
“I would recommend to the IT sector to show the way for the rest of the economy by reducing its own carbon footprint by 20 per cent by 2015,” she said. “I see from the response of European IT companies to the Commission’s ongoing work that Europe is already well ahead in using IT for greening the economy.” Read more
Source: Business Green
Consumers Buying Sustainable Despite Battered Economy – Survey
Four out of five people say they are still buying sustainable products and services today—which sometimes cost more—even in the midst of a U.S. recession, according to a new survey.
Half of the 1,000 people surveyed say they are buying just as many sustainable products now as before the economic downturn, while 19% say they are buying more sustainable products. 14% say they are buying fewer environmentally sustainable products. Read more
Source: Sustainable Business
U.S. Firms Buy Record Amount of Renewable Energy in 2008
Voluntary purchases of certified renewable energy by businesses in the Green-e Marketplace program hit a record high last year, according to the Center for Resource Solutions, the nonprofit that administers the third-party certification service.
Intel Corporation and PepsiCo Inc. claim first and second place respectively on the lists of purchasers of Green-e Energy Certified renewable power. Intel made the largest single buy in history when it purchased 1.3 million megawatt hours of green power last January. Read more
Source: GreenBiz
Magazines’ eco-friendly special issues wither with the economy
Two years ago, spurred on by a groundswell of interest in all things eco-friendly, green-related content was sprouting everywhere. For magazines, that meant a flurry of green-themed issues. But the economic downturn, coupled with cooling consumer interest, have some publishers pulling the plug on those products.
Among titles holding off on green issues in ’09 are Conde Nast’s Domino, Time Inc.’s Sunset, Mariah Media’s Outside and independent title Discover. Read more
Source: Adweek
We need sustainable capitalism, Al Gore says
“The financial crisis has reinforced our view that sustainable development will be the primary driver of economic and industrial change over the next 25 years,” according to a Wall Street Journal article by former US vice president Al Gore and David Blood, managing partner of Generation Investment Management.
Gore and Blood call for a change in the current model of market capitalism which has been too focused on the short term - ”quarterly earnings, instant opinion polls, rampant consumerism and living beyond our means”.
“At this moment, we are faced with the convergence of three interrelated crises: economic recession, energy insecurity and the overarching climate crisis. Solving any one of these challenges requires addressing all three.” Read more
Source: WSJ
Consumers Loyal To Brands That Support Good Cause During Recession
The results of the second annual Edelman goodpurpose study tell us that that across the globe people’s sense of commitment to helping others—and to brands and companies that share that commitment—remains strong. The study shows that 83% of consumers are willing to change their own consumption habits to help make tomorrow’s world a better place. Read more
Source: Edelman
UK: Firms urged to re-think recycling approach as prices plummet
Businesses are being urged to think carefully about how best to dispose of their recyclable materials, following the recent collapse in prices for materials such as paper, cardboard and plastics.
The spot price for many recyclable materials plummeted last month after recycling plants in China largely stopped buying material from Europe, amid fears that the global economic slowdown would dampen demand for their end products. Read more
Source: Business Green
Energy saving key to consumers’ green actions
The economic downturn could soon force companies selling green products and service to shift their marketing focus from highlighting environmental benefits to touting the energy and cost savings they can deliver.
According to a major new survey of over 2,000 British adults the looming recession looks set to undermine some environmental commitments, while simultaneously encouraging mroe people to curb energy and transport use.
The survey from green advisory website and search engine, Click4Carbon.com, which makes a contribution to offsetting schemes for every search users carry out, found that only 13 per cent of consuemers were happy to pay directly to offset their carbon emissions, while a fifth had still not undertaken even simple measures to cut their environmental impact such as using energy efficient lightbulbs. Read more
Source: Business Green
Taking Corporate Eco-Strategy to the Next Level
Companies weren’t even thinking about eco-strategies thirty years ago. Coverage of environmental issues was so scarce that if there was an article in the newspaper, I would cut it out. Today, you can’t read the news, listen to the TV or scan a blog that doesn’t have a “green” story.
The environmental community and business leaders didn’t used talk to each other. There was debate among environmentalists about whether to work with business. As the years passed, the conversation started to include the need for environmentalists to get on corporate boards in order to influence corporate environmental practices.
Source: The EcoInnovator