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The Eight Biggest Myths about Sustainability in Business
"In our research, and in engagements with dozens of Fortune 1000 companies, we are sometimes surprised at the reluctance to pursue environmental sustainability initiatives, because of misconceptions about their cost or benefits. But we have also seen how some companies have embraced sustainability whole-heartedly, and are profiting from it.
As a way of helping to get every company on the journey to sustainability, here are some of the most common myths we have heard from otherwise successful companies. As surprising as some of these might sound -- like the idea that there is no money to be had from sustainability efforts -- these ideas persist in companies large and small and in any industry."
UPS to FedEx: We're Greener Than You | ClimateBiz.com
These days, to my delight (and, I hope, yours), big companies are battling over which one is more sustainable. I'm sure Michael Dell wasn't happy to read that Hewlett Packard landed atop Newsweek's new sustainability rankings of the S&P 500 companies, even though Dell was right behind at No. 2. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo monitor each other's environmental initiatives nearly as closely as they vie for shelf space at Wal-Mart, which, not coincidentally, keeps an eye on the greening of all of its suppliers.
Now UPS and FedEx, longtime and intense rivals, are going at it.
NASA - NASA Ames Breaks Ground for 'Greenest' Federal Building Ever
NASA today held a ceremonial groundbreaking and dedication event for what is expected to become the highest-performing building in the federal government.
The new, environmentally friendly building at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. is being named 'Sustainability Base' in honor of the first humans to walk on the surface of another world from their Tranquility Base Apollo 11 lunar landing site 40 years ago. It will serve as a highly efficient collaborative support facility providing workspace for a wide range of NASA’s aeronautics and space exploration missions.
Samsung Investing $4.3 Billion Towards Greener Gadgets : TreeHugger
In its Eco-Management 2013 report, the South Korean company Samsung says it is investing $4.3 billion in greening its gadgets and its facilities by, you guessed it, 2013. That's a whole lot of pocket change to be thrown into positive change.
Walmart's Sustainability Index: The Hype and the Reality | Joel Makower on GreenBiz.com
Walmart has just unveiled its new Sustainability Index, a project that's been in the works for more than a year, but which is -- finally, after much anticipation and more than a little handwringing by industry, activists, and others -- part of the public discourse. The advance stories over the past few days have been amped up to the point of breathlessness, involving adjectives like "huge" (perhaps) and "audacious" (probably), with one story suggesting the Index will "shake the world" (um, no comment). Such hyperbole is understandable: any green commitment that Walmart makes is potentially a big deal.
But now that reality has hit, it's time to take a more sober assessment of what's really going on here.
Demystifying Sustainability: How to Understand, Live and Measure it for a Greener World : Planet Green
Sustainability is a big, big concept. Attempts to define it feel nearly impossible since it encompasses philosophy, ecology, economy, sociology and more.
Treehugger's Jaymi Heimbuch writes a great essay on sustainability.
Ideas to drive UK to sustainability
The Breakthroughs for the 21st Century project by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has selected 19 ideas which it thinks could make the biggest difference in tackling climate change, depletion of resources and inequality in the UK.
Telecom firms back standard phone charger in Europe | Technology | Reuters
Top mobile telephone suppliers have agreed to back an EU-wide harmonisation of phone chargers, the European Commission said on Monday, hailing the pact as good news for consumers and the environment.
The Commission said the agreement would involve the creation of an EU norm, and that the new generation of mobile phones would use a standard micro-USB socket to ensure compatibility.
Nike Quietly Goes Green - BusinessWeek
The brand's eco-friendly products are cheaper to make, but its buyers are more interested in design and performance than sustainability
Why Earth Day Matters to Microsoft - Microsoft On The Issues
Environmental Sustainability Strategy, which focuses on three core areas:
Using information technology to dramatically improve energy efficiency
Accelerating research breakthroughs and
Demonstrating responsible environmental leadership at home.
Sustainable Energy - without the hot air, David MacKay
A free e-book (or available to buy on paper) about Sustainable Energy
James Governor’s Monkchips » An Open Memo to Sam and Mark: Who is the real leader?
One of the big battles of this depression is going to be HP versus IBM. But we live in a new business environment and you need to rethink strategy accordingly. The Street can’t promise you anything. Only the government can do that right now. So why not cut out the middleman? Forget namby pamby corporate social responsibility. Just contract with government on the basis you won’t cut jobs. Its not a bail-out: its an employment strategy. This is real sustainability.
Four Dimensions of Sustainability - CSR Perspective
Reducing impact on climate change is a challenge many corporations are trying to tackle. Many organizations are up for the challenge but many are unsure of where to begin among the myriad of activities on the table.
Due to these challenges, I’ve developed a white paper which I hope will provide more insight on how to navigate these challenges. The Four Dimensions of Sustainability evolved from my trying to put BT’s and other company’s many sustainability activities into a logical set of categories for a presentation I had to give.
Best practice sharing: Supplier engagement in Brazil - CSR in Europe, Middle East and Africa
ArcelorMittal, a global leading steel company, participated in a supplier engagement programme in Brazil with a focus on sustainability and environmental issues and presented lately first results: Of the participating suppliers
Wal-Mart's campaign to protect the environment, poor - Dec. 3, 2008
Children who are forced to pick cotton in Uzbekistan, farmers scratching out a living in Guatemala and salmon fishermen in Bristol Bay, Alaska, would not seem to have much in common. But all are feeling the global impact of Wal-Mart.
As the world's largest retailer, with $379 billion in revenues last year, Wal-Mart has long been a powerful force in the global economy - a bully, its critics would say. For years, they assailed Wal-Mart for squeezing suppliers over costs, driving mom-and-pop stores out of business or crushing efforts to organize its workers.
These days, though, the company is winning praise for using its leverage - that's a polite term for bullying - to protect the environment and help the poor.
Joel Makower: Two Steps Forward: Sustainable Business circa 2018: Will It Be Nasty or NICE?
an intriguing new report from the U.K.-based Forum for the Future and the consultancy Capgemini. The free report, Acting Now for a Positive 2018, Preparing for Radical Change: The Next Decade of Business and Sustainability, examines four scenarios of what the world might look like from a sustainability perspective and offers advice on how to be ready for any of them.
Earth 3.0: Solutions for Sustainable Progress: In-Depth Reports
Solutions to environmental problems ranging from global warming to peak oil--and how the environment is playing a role in this year's elections
Computational Sustainability Institute launched in Cornell with $10m from NSF
Many of today's problems in ecology and conservation involve juggling large numbers of variables, often to find the optimum way to balance them. Some are so complex, the researchers say, that they will require new advances in computer science. The Computational Sustainability institute hope to create a new field of computational sustainability, analogous to computational biology, that will stimulate new developments in the computer science areas of constraint optimization, dynamical systems and machine learning. The researchers are also launching a new Journal of Computational Sustainability.
MailTribune.com: Defining sustainability is a slippery job
"When you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers; you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind." I used Lord Kelvin's words in January's column about science, because measurement — unbiased measurement — is fundamental to science. However, having a measureable definition to work from is more than fundamental, it is essential.
Lately ecologists, educators, politicians, environmentalists, and developers have been touting sustainability. Yet I doubt they would all agree how it is defined or measured.
Sri Lanka Breaking News-Daily Mirror Online
Climate change, sustainability and corporate social responsibility have risen inexorably in the public and corporate minds over the last decade, says Ernst & Young. They go on to state that while businesses and consumers are vying to out do each other’s green claims, the scientific community is issuing increasingly stark warnings about the urgency and depth of cuts required to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change.
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