As an additional service for our members, GEMI has developed
the new "GEMI Environmental Sustainability
Issues Blog Monitor". The GEMI Blog Monitor
will be issued via email weekly to our members and contain
information focusing on environmental sustainability blogs.
Each issue of the GEMI Blog Monitor will also be archived
on the GEMI Members Only website starting in mid-February.
We welcome your feedback and suggestions for
additional blogs to include in future GEMI Blog Monitors.
Bill Gill, Smithfield Foods
GEMI Communications & Marketing Chair
GEMI's Meeting #1 of Networks and Forum
Day will be held on Wednesday, February 17 beginning
at 9:00am EST and conclude on Thursday, February 18 at 3:00pm
EST in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. NOTE: Meeting details
and logistics were distributed via calendar request. GEMI
member, Carnival Corporation & plc
is hosting the meeting. On February 17, the Climate Change,
Water Sustainability and Supply Chain Networks will be meeting,
followed by a roundtable discussion. We will depart the
hotel at approximately 5:45pm for the evening function.
The Forum Day will be held on February 18 and will be lead
by GEMI’s Sustainable Development Network Chair, Keith
Miller, 3M, and facilitated by
Audrey Bamberger, Pathways to Sustainability. GEMI Forum
#1 "Stakeholder Engagement and Social Media" will
explore the broader issues associated with stakeholder engagement,
such as identifying critical stakeholders, success factors,
stakeholder relationships, managing expectations and communication
methods. Discussions will include external and internal
stakeholders as well as engaging multiple types of stakeholders
and have several guest speakers. In addition, the Forum
will include an interactive exercise which will incorporate
discussed concepts and provide the opportunity for participants
to "bring home" a tool or plan for success.
The
U.S. EPA recognized the first three frozen fried potato
processing plants to earn the Energy Star for superior energy
performance, including ConAgra Foods Lamb
Weston Inc.’s Quincy, WA plant. These plants perform
in the top 25% for energy efficiency nationwide and, on
average, use nearly 20% less energy when compared to similar
plants across the country. More
Information.
Three
Duke Energy fossil stations were among
the top 20 performers in the country in 2008, according
to Electric Light & Power Magazine. The publication
recently announced the results of its annual operating performance
survey of the nation’s electric generating stations.
Heat rate is a measure of how efficiently a fossil station
can burn coal to generate electricity. More
Information.
In addition, Duke Energy is adding solar
power to its commercial renewable energy portfolio through
the acquisition of a large-scale solar photovoltaic project
under development in San Antonio, TX. Duke Energy Generation
Services (DEGS), a Duke Energy Commercial Businesses unit
that owns and develops renewable power assets, will purchase
the Blue Wing Solar Project from juwi solar Inc., based
in Boulder, CO. The 14-megawatt project will consist of
214,500 ground-mounted First Solar thin film panels. More
Information.
In
Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, the DuPont Pioneer
production team recently received the Iowa Occupational
Safety & Health Administration (IOSHA) Voluntary Protection
Programs (VPP) Star. The VPP Star recognizes exemplary excellence
in workplace health and safety. More
Information.
DuPont Performance Coatings (DPC) has
developed a field-training process that trains customers
to comply with new U.S. EPA requirements. The EPA established
a collision repair campaign to control the emissions of
targeted Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) in collision centers
and the surrounding communities. By 2011, more than 60,000
repair shop owners in the U.S. will have to follow the new
rule. More
Information.
Congratulations
to Mitch Jackson, Staff Director,
Environmental Affairs & Sustainability, FedEx
on being named to this year’s list of 100 Most Influential
People in Business Ethics – and #27 at that! Mitch
was recognized in the “Business Leadership”
category for his leading role in FedEx’s
CSR efforts. The list is put together annually by the Ethisphere
Institute, a leading international think-tank dedicated
to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices
in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption
and sustainability. More
Information.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced a major
investment by FedEx Corp. and its operating
companies to provide much-needed support to America’s
urban ecosystems. Working through a variety of programs
administered by the Foundation, FedEx will provide funding
on a competitive basis to projects that improve environmental
quality in 12 urban communities over the next two years.
Key to this initiative is the engagement of FedEx team members,
who will work with grant recipients as volunteers, helping
advance conservation projects in their local communities.
More
Information.
Eastman
Kodak Company earned three Innovations 2010 Design
and Engineering Awards from the International Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA) and an Editor’s Choice Award from
Popular Mechanics for products unveiled at the 2010 International
CES, including an award for the KODAK EASYSHARE S730 Digital
Frame in the Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology category.
The frame features an environmentally responsible design
including ENERGY STAR® qualified power adapter, mercury
free panel and programmable on-off settings to control power
consumption. More
Information.
For
the second consecutive year, Johnson Controls
has been named an Emerging Market Leader in enterprise carbon
accounting software, according to a new report from Groom
Energy Solutions, a renewable and energy-efficiency service
provider. Johnson Controls is one of eight leaders named
in Enterprise Carbon Accounting: An Analysis of Corporate-Level
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Reporting and a Review of
GHG Software Products. More
Information.
In addition, the City of Porterville, CA has selected Johnson
Controls to provide facility improvements at 16
venues, including the Porterville city hall, municipal airport
and police station. The enhancements are anticipated to
save the city more than $67,000 in energy costs annually
over the next 15 years. The project is scheduled for completion
in July 2010. More
Information.
Kraft
Foods announced it’s starting the new year
150 million pounds leaner – having eliminated enough
material from its supply chain since 2005 to exceed the
company’s packaging reduction goal two years ahead
of schedule. Kraft accomplished this goal by designing packaging
more efficiently, finding smarter source materials, thinking
differently about packaging end of life and establishing
innovative partnerships. More
Information.
Perdue
announced that at the end of 2009 its Perdue AgriRecycle
litter recycling operation had managed over 1 billion pounds
of chicken litter. Perdue AgriRecycle collects chicken litter
– a mixture of manure and natural bedding material
– providing Delmarva poultry producers another option
for their litter, other than using it as fertilizer for
crops. The plant then dries, heats and processes the litter
to produce a line of organic fertilizer products that are
approved for use by the Organic Materials Review Institute
(OMRI), under the guidelines of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
National Organic Program. More
Information.
In addition, Perdue recently became the
eighth company to receive POULTRY magazine’s Jewell
award for innovation, and the first to be recognized in
the area of environmental leadership. The magazine noted
that Perdue “has a business unit dedicated to converting
poultry litter into organic fertilizer, a large-scale poultry
grower best-practices partnership with the Environmental
Protection Agency and, among other projects, employees committed
to volunteering to clean up local waterways.” More
Information.
Southern
Company CEO David Ratcliffe and business leader
and environmentalist Ted Turner announced a strategic alliance
to pursue development of renewable energy projects in the
United States. Initially, Southern Company and Turner will
focus on developing and investing in large scale solar photovoltaic
projects in the U.S. Southwest where solar resources are
currently most efficient and in demand, with the goal of
further commercializing the technology and making it more
cost competitive. More
Information.
Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power
recently signed a two-year contract with Robins Air Force
Base to increase the amount of renewable energy the base
will use. In order to meet challenging federal renewable
mandates for military installations, Robins AFB will purchase
5% of the base's annual kilowatt-hour consumption, or more
than 16 million kilowatt-hours, of Green Energy annually.
More
Information.
In addition, Southern Company announced
that it is pledging an additional $1.08 million to the Five
Star Restoration and Power of Flight programs, extending
its sponsorship of both conservation programs through 2013.
The extended support aligns their sponsorship timelines
with Longleaf Legacy, Southern Company's third major environmental
stewardship program that helps restore the longleaf pine
ecosystem. More
Information.
If you have news and notes you would like to
share with the GEMI members, please email them to Kellen
Mahoney.
• GEMI members Abbott, Carnival Corporation
& plc, ConAgra Foods, Eastman Kodak, Ecolab, FedEx,
Johnson Controls, Kraft Foods and Perdue
each made significant contributions to Haiti relief efforts
this month, including:
• Sixty corporations – including 3M,
DuPont, Ecolab, Kraft
and JohnsonDiversey – have begun
measuring the greenhouse gas emissions of their products
and supply chains by road testing a new global framework
that is part of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative.
The Scope 3 Standard will, for the first time, allow companies
to look comprehensively at the impact of their corporate
value chains, including outsourced activities, supplier
manufacturing, and the use of the products they sell. The
final standards are scheduled to be published in December
2010. More
Information.
• Johnson & Johnson (#10) and
DuPont (#23) were listed among the U.S.
EPA’s top 50 National Green Power Partners in 2009.
Combined, the top 50 largest purchases amount to more than
13 billion kilowatt-hours annually, which represents more
than 70% of the green power commitments made by all EPA
Green Power Partners. More
Information.
• Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) kicked off the
third year of its Climate Corps program this month, with
commitments so far from more than 20 corporations to host
fellows this summer including Carnival Cruise Lines
and JohnsonDiversey. More
Information.
• On January 22, Dawn Rittenhouse,
DuPont participated in NCSE's The New Green
Economy Conference's panel, "Not Business as Usual:
Driving Change in the New Green Economy", which provided
an opportunity for attendees to hear from leading companies
advancing their sustainability strategies, their successes
and opportunities for innovation, as well as the challenges
ahead. Amy Goldman, GEMI,
also attended the NCSE conference.
• Arielle Brown, on behalf of GEMI,
attended the UNA-USA’s Council of Organizations town
hall style discussion entitled “Moving forward from
Copenhagen.” The discussion took place on January
22, 2010 and included guest speakers Angela Anderson, Program
Director, US Climate Action Network and Carole Conors, Head
of Delegation, UNFCCC COP15, League of Women Voters of the
United States. Anderson and Conors provided an overview
of the Copenhagen Conference, and then facilitated a discussion
on the outcomes of Copenhagen and what the conference could
mean to the future of climate change.
• At the end of last year, UNEP convened its annual
Business and Industry global dialogue meeting on the theme
of “Business and Biodiversity” and in partnership
with the Secretariat of the Convention for Biological Diversity,
in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event attracted over 200 participants
from business, governments, NGOs and academia and resulted
in a renewed commitment by stakeholders to work together
to address the biodiversity challenge and the identification
of recommendations for scaling-up the business contribution
to biodiversity conservation efforts. The report of the
meeting as well as a number of the meeting documents are
now available online and can be found here.
• American University’s Center for Environmental
Filmmaking Eco-Comedy video competition is now open to submissions.
The contest is open to anyone who prepares a short, funny
video for YouTube which communicates a clear message that
strongly motivates a specific behavior change (for example,
driving a fuel efficient car, turning down thermostats,
or donating to a conservation cause). Submissions are due
by March 1, 2010. More
Information.
CLIMATE
Source: EETNews.com
The vast majority of the world’s largest investment
managers are not factoring climate-related trends into their
short- and long-term investment decision-making according
to a new Ceres
report that surveyed leading assets managers in 2009 on
their responses to the increasing business risks and investment
opportunities associated with climate change.
Source: Treehugger.com
The next few months, beginning with President Obama's upcoming
State of the Union speech, will be big ones for any effort
to put a price on carbon in this country. But the active ingredient
in this dynamic is presidential leadership, and the New York
Times editorial page has called on Barack Obama to add it.
Source: Environmental Leader
Two corporate groups are turning up the heat on the government,
calling for clear action on climate legislation. One group
has sent a letter to Congress and President Obama, the other
has taken out an ad in a leading newspaper. A group of companies
took out a full
page ad in the Wall Street Journal on 1/21/10, calling
for Congress to take quick action on climate legislation.
Source: Triple Pundit
What do you get when you take the top MBA students who possess
knowledge of sustainability and place them in companies for
a summer? The answer: Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF)
Climate Corps. On January 21, 2010, EDF began the third year
of the Climate Corps program.
SUPPLY
CHAIN
Source: Triple Pundit
Much like eBay has created a global market on the consumer
items that previously sat in people’s homes or were
thrown away, Recycle Match seeks to match up those who generate
either one-time or regular streams of hard-to-recycle materials,
with those seeking that material for their own use.
Source: Environmental Leader
After an 18-month public review, the Sustainable Forestry
Initiative (SFI) Inc. has released a new standard that upgrades
the organization’s support and promotion of sustainable
forest management in North America and responsible fiber sourcing
worldwide. The SFI 2010-2014 Standard took effect on January
1, 2010, and program participants have one year to implement
the changes, according to SFI.
Source: Environmental Leader
Water efficiency, use of green building materials and HVAC
systems play a role in sustainability in the foodservice supply
chain, according to the 36-page “Sustainability in the
Food Service Environment” report developed by IFMA Foundation
and ARAMARK.
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Source: Environmental Leader
Retailers Wal-Mart and Best Buy, together with electronics
suppliers Dell, HP, Intel and Toshiba, have banded together
to create a system to help consumers identify “green”
electronics. Acting under the umbrella of The Sustainability
Consortium, the companies are working with Arizona State University
and the University of Arkansas, the same two universities
that Wal-Mart is working with on its Sustainability Index.
Source: Environmental Leader
Several market research studies released over the past four
months forecast high growth in the green building sector over
the next three to five years. The latest study from venture
capital firm Good Energies Inc. finds that about half of non-residential
building stock will be “green” buildings by 2015,
up from about 15 % today, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Source: CNBC
Even though nothing came out of Copenhagen, awareness of easily
avoidable phrases like “climate change,” “green
careers,” even “green jobs” became hugely
Googled, SEO-ed, categorized and tweeted. So, with this newfound
green knowledge, how will we as employees, consumers and maybe
more importantly, as decision-makers, inculcate sustainability
in the workplace and bring it to the attention of the executive
suite?
Source: EETNews.com
The International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Manufacturing
& Services Unit held a Sustainability and U.S. Competitiveness
Summit on October 8, 2009. Manufacturing & Services is
notifying the public of outcomes of this summit and requesting
input on next steps.
WATER
Source: EETNews.com
The U.S. EPA has completed the creation of a rigorous accountability
framework for reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and
the region’s streams, creeks and rivers. A letter
sent to the six states in the Bay watershed and the District
of Columbia outlined a series of consequences EPA could
impose if jurisdictions do not make adequate progress in
reducing water pollution.
Source: Green Inc.
With many states projecting that they’ll face water
shortages in the coming years, smart water meters that provide
real-time data on water use can help conserve dwindling
supplies. And yet, 64 % of 300 water districts surveyed
in Canada and the United States have no plans to roll out
a smart meter program, according to a study by Oracle, the
business software company.
Source: GreenBiz
The Minnesota Twins and Pentair Inc., working with sports
sponsorship agency GreenMark, are installing a rainwater
recycling system that's custom-designed for Target Field
and promises to reduce the new ballpark's need for city
water by more than half.
Source: Treehugger
A new report finds that Chinese farmers used a stunning
40% more fertilizer than necessary, resulting in 10 million
tons being discharged into China's water. The report urges
China to cut its fertilizer use by at least 50%.
