With
the 42nd Anniversary of Earth Day being celebrated this
week, hundreds of thousands of individuals, companies
and organizations around the world, including many of
the GEMI member companies, will be celebrating it by planting
trees, picking up roadside trash, conducting various programs
for recycling and conservation, etc. As this Earth Day
is celebrated there will be much talk about a wide range
of issues that are important to our global environment,
providing an opportunity to focus on what may be the biggest
issue that only the most proactive companies are now addressing,
global water sustainability.
Over the past 10 years, GEMI has consistently
recognized the importance of water to our businesses and
the communities where we operate -- from the development
of GEMI’s first water tool, Connecting
the Drops in 2002, and GEMI’s second
water tool, Collecting
the Drops in 2007. With the launch last month
of GEMI’s third water sustainability tool, the GEMI
Local Water Tool™ (LWT) takes GEMI
and the tool users to an even more sophisticated level
of understanding and implementation by creating a tool
for companies and organizations to evaluate the external
impacts, business risks, opportunities and management
plans related to water use and discharge at a specific
site or operation. This new tool was developed in cooperation
with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
(WBCSD) and IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association
for environmental and social issues.
While GEMI has created a remarkable set
of solution tools that can be used around the world to
address water sustainability challenges and opportunities,
there is more that we can do together. For example, we
are already in discussions with the U.S. Department of
State about ways that we can work with other international
governmental entities to get GEMI’s solution tool
introduced and used around the world. There are also opportunities
to drive the knowledge and information that we have gained,
through the development of GEMI’s water sustainability
tools, throughout our own supply chains.
As the late Speaker of the House of Representatives
Tip O’Neill was often quoted as saying, “all
politics is local.” We can also say that “all
activities relating to water are local.” For example,
Smithfield Foods has provided financial support and employee
participation to World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) since
2003. This past year, 92 percent of our domestic facilities
took part. Our employees distributed 200 sampling kits
and had over 750 participants at sampling events held
in 17 states across the United States. In addition, our
operations in Poland and Romania held events as well.
Since GEMI’s creation more than 20
years ago, we have always been about “Business Helping
Business.” The tools that GEMI has created to address
water sustainability and other environmental issues including
but not limited to supply chain, sustainable development,
metrics, transparency, gives us the opportunity to expand
the audiences so that GEMI can become the organization
where “Business Helps the World” for this
and future Earth Days.
On behalf of GEMI, I wish you a happy Earth
Day week, and encourage you to make every day an Earth
Day.
Bill Gill, Smithfield Foods
2012 GEMI Chairman of the Board
• April 27: GEMI conference
call regarding Green Buildings and Energy Management @ 11:00am
EDT
• May 16-17: GEMI Member Meeting
#2 in Omaha, NE – co-hosted by ConAgra Foods and Union
Pacific
• August 1-2: Annual SAC meeting
in Palo Alto, CA – hosted by Perdue Family of Companies
• November 15-17: GEMI Member Meeting
#3 in Houston, TX – hosted by Halliburton
3M
announced the introduction of Scotch Greener Masking Tapes
which are designed to provide the same great performance
as other Scotch Masking Tapes, while creating less waste
and conserving paper resources. The new tapes are made with
56% renewable resources, including paper backing made with
30% post consumer recycled content and adhesive made with
natural, regenerating latex harvested from rubber trees.
The tapes are manufactured using solvent-free and water-based
processes. The tape core contains 87% post-consumer recycled
fiber and the shipping cartons are made with 100% recycled
fiber. More
Information.
3M is helping to increase rework, repair
and recyclability of these gadgets through its Thermal Bonding
Films and Plastic Bonding Adhesives. The electronics bonding
solutions from 3M enable manufacturers to achieve higher
Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT)
criteria ratings by earning optional points for enabling
greater rework and more effective recycling. More
Information.
ConAgra
Foods, Inc. announced the winners of its 2012 Sustainable
Development Awards, an internal awards program intended
to drive and reward innovative approaches to sustainability
that produce tangible business results. The more than 100
entries collectively: reduced carbon emissions by more than
43,600 metric tonnes; eliminated 61,000 tons of landfill
waste and 4,800 tons of packaging material; and conserved
295 million gallons of water. Additionally, the projects
delivered more than $28 million in savings, demonstrating
the economic value of the company's commitment to sustainable
development. More
Information.
To
celebrate Earth Day and Earth Month, CSX Corporation
is continuing its long-standing commitment to environmental
sustainability by organizing a series of local events across
its network and remaining focused on environmentally-friendly
business practices. In addition, the company is working
to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the
environment by holding an online contest on the company’s
Facebook page. More
Information.
DuPont
Chile recently received 2011 Responsible Care® re-verification
from industry’s unique global initiative that drives
continuous improvement in health, safety and environmental
performance together with open and transparent communication
with stakeholders. DuPont is committed to this management
system and globally has been a Responsible Care® member
for many years. More
Information.
The DuPont site at Shenzhen, Guangdong
Province, China, recently was named one of South China's
“Benchmark Enterprises in Low-carbon Production”
for its outstanding efforts in reducing energy consumption
and greenhouse gas emissions, outshining 200 nominees. More
Information.
The
iconic FedEx Envelope, which is already
made from 100% recycled content and is 100% recyclable,
is getting another environmentally-friendly boost. FedEx
Express, an operating company of FedEx Corp., is launching
a carbon-neutral shipping program for its most widely-used
packaging solution for document shipping, making it the
first global express transportation company to offer carbon-neutral
envelope shipping at no extra charge to the customer. More
Information.
Johnson
Controls announced its inclusion in two Maplecroft
Climate Innovation Indexes (Maplecroft CIIs) that identify
top performers in climate-related innovation and carbon
management. Johnson Controls ranked third on the Maplecroft
CII Benchmark, which includes 346 of the largest U.S. companies
engaged in climate related initiatives. The company also
ranked third on the Maplecroft CII Leaders, which includes
the 100 top performing companies from the Maplecroft CII
Benchmark. More
Information.
Johnson Controls announced the release
of its latest Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) online sustainability
report. The online matrix provides a detailed review of
the company's environmental, social and governance performance
over the past year. More
Information.
Legrand
| Ortronics introduced EZ Patch, a new, environmentally
friendly product innovation for dispensing patch cords.
The patent pending patch cord management solution is designed
to dispense cords quickly and easily, reducing installation
time and waste and improving staging area organization.
More
Information.
The
Procter & Gamble Company announced that its
environmental sustainability scorecard analysis tool would
be made freely available for use by any company. The Excel-based
tool enables companies to measure and interpret key environmental
sustainability metrics across their supply chains and identify
progress as well as opportunities for improvement. More
Information.
The Procter & Gamble Company and leading
humanitarian organization, CARE plan to provide more than
100 million liters of clean drinking water in Kenya and
Ethiopia through an investment of over $1 million dollars.
The organizations came together on World Water Day to announce
the grant and to celebrate the milestone of the 100th school
in Kenya provided with clean drinking water through their
partnership, which focuses on enabling students to be agents
of change. More
Information.
The
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company released its 2011 Corporate
Responsibility Report, its first following the transparent
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 framework. The 2011
report provides a detailed look at the company's sustainability
priorities, goals, challenges, and achievements, as well
as its product innovation and community-based initiatives.
More
Information.
More than 32 vacant city lots will be transformed into
a community garden as part of The Scotts Miracle-Gro
Company and The U.S. Conference of Mayors nationwide
GRO1000 gardens and green spaces program. The City of Baltimore,
along with a host of philanthropic partners, will dedicate
the Upton Edible Garden that will focus on producing locally
grown and healthy food options for area residents. More
Information.
Smithfield
Foods, Inc. debuted a new video that talks about
what the company, along with others in the pork industry,
is doing to help feed the world's growing population with
food that is produced responsibly and sustainably. The video,
Producing Enough Sustainable Food, notes that the world's
population is expected to hit 9 billion by 2050, and addresses
the question, "How will we ever feed that many hungry
people responsibly?" More
Information.
Union
Pacific Railroad named 74 companies as annual Pinnacle
Award recipients for chemical transportation safety. The
award recognizes Union Pacific customers that implemented
successful prevention and corrective plans and achieved
a rate of zero non-accident releases (NARs) for regulated
hazardous materials shipments. More
Information.
Toyota Logistics Services recognized Union Pacific
Railroad as the top rail transportation provider
with its 2011 President's Award. Union Pacific received
this award for its high level of overall logistics excellence
among rail carriers. More
Information.
If you have news and notes you would like to
share with the GEMI members, please email them to Kellen
Mahoney.
-
Corporate Responsibility Magazine
released its 13th annual "100 Best Corporate
Citizens List" and the following GEMI member
companies were included:
3M,
Abbott,
Carnival,
ConAgra Foods,
ConocoPhillips,
CSX,
DuPont,
Johnson Controls,
Johnson & Johnson,
Merck,
Occidental Petroleum and
Procter
& Gamble.
More
Information.
-
On March 27-28, GEMI’s
Director, Amy Goldman attended the Carbon
War Room’s Creating Climate Wealth Summit
in Arlington, VA.
-
On April 24, GEMI’s
Executive Director, Steve Hellem, is giving
a presentation about GEMI and the new GEMI Local
Water Tool™ (LWT) at the Clean Water America
Alliance’s (CWAA) Business Advisory Council
Meeting.
-
On April 26, GEMI’s
Director, Amy Goldman is attending the
Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership's
(IGEL) The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
“Greening the Supply Chain" Conference
in Philadelphia, PA.
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The Business Roundtable has released
its 2012 Sustainability Report: “Create, Grow,
Sustain.” There were 126 CEOs who contributed
to this report.
More
Information.
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The US EPA Office of Civil Rights
(OCR), in consultation with the Office of Environmental
Justice (OEJ) and the Office of General Counsel
(OGC), have developed a draft implementation plan,
"Advancing Environmental Justice through Title
VI". The draft focuses on Title VI and its
integration with Plan EJ 2014. The EPA is asking
the public to comment on the draft supplement to
Plan EJ 2014. Comments are due no later than Monday,
June 19, 2012.
More
Information.
CLIMATE
EPA
Publishes National U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Source:
EPA
The U.S. EPA has released the 17th annual U.S. greenhouse
gas inventory. The final report shows overall emissions
in 2010 increased by 3.2 percent from the previous year.
The trend is attributed to an increase in energy consumption
across all economic sectors, due to increasing energy
demand associated with an expanding economy, and increased
demand for electricity for air conditioning due to warmer
summer weather during 2010.
Source: AP
Mexico's Senate has unanimously passed a climate change
bill aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by
2050, following Britain in creating legally binding emissions
goals.
Source: Resources for the Future
This report discusses the theory and evidence on the influence
of product labeling on consumer and firm behavior; the role
of governments and nongovernmental organizations, concluding
that global, multistakeholder organizations have a critical
part to play in setting protocols and standards; the entire
life cycle of a product being labeled and develop an international
standard for measurement and reporting; and, the potential
impact of carbon product labeling, discussing methodological
and trade challenges and proposing a framework for choosing
products best suited for labeling.
SUPPLY
CHAIN
Source: GreenBiz
Walmart is poised to transform the sustainability and retailing
world -- again -- with a significant expansion of its highly
influential supplier scorecard program.
Source: Environmental Leader
A recently released study by Coca-Cola Co. and The Carbon
Trust that investigated how people might respond to personal
carbon allowances found while easy-to-understand environmental
information changed behavior, consumers were still reluctant
to give up certain high-carbon choices in their lifestyles.
Source: PWC
A review of current investor research offers compelling
evidence that more investors are using corporate sustainability
reporting to inform investment strategies.
Source: Guardian
Systems thinking comes of age as KPMG says environmental,
social and economic problems cannot be solved separately.
Source: GreenBiz
You do all the right things: establish goals and targets,
publish an annual sustainability report, seek employee
and public input -- and then repeat the cycle. Yet despite
your efforts, those around you don’t seem to be
moving fast enough to address the world’s environmental
challenges, and you sense that real progress will require
more involvement on the part of consumers, investors and
government leaders.
WATER
Source: Sustainable Plant
Perdue has introduced a number of programs and strategies
to reduce water consumption at its plants.
Corporate
water risk tools
Source: Guardian
The term 'water risk' is new enough to draw a blank
on Wikipedia search, though the concept of measuring
and managing water-related risks dates back to antiquity.
Source: Environmental Leader
The three latest tools for identifying and assessing water-related
risks offer a variety of pros and cons, according to Bill
Baue, a senior research fellow with AccountAbility. 
