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Green Surprises at Apple’s Shareholder Meeting
Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by admin.
Who would have thought that one of the world’s hottest, richest companies would spend about a third of its annual meeting discussing sustainability, melting glaciers and the finer points of reporting about greenhouse gas emissions? That’s what happened at today’s Apple Inc. shareholder meeting.
There were two shareholder proposals on the proxy, one of them from As You Sow, where I work, calling for the company to set greenhouse gas reduction goals and do a better job of environmental and corporate responsibility reporting in general. A second proposal, from Harrington Investments, asked the company to establish a permanent board committee on sustainability.
Normally we get our two minutes to speak and then the meeting veers back to more pressing matters such as how Apple should spent $25 billion in cash it’s sitting on. However, a politically conservative investor started off the meeting commenting that the glaciers were not melting, climate change was not real, and Board Member Al Gore had become a laughingstock. This prompted a swift rebuttal from another shareholder in support of Mr. Gore, and the company’s social and environmental performance went on to curiously pervade much of the meeting.
A question about our proposal, suggesting that the company do a better job on sustainability reporting, led CEO Steve Jobs to minimize the value of reporting, commenting that sustainability groups like to have companies generate lots of reports, make specific commitments, and schmooze at conferences.
Read the entire article at GreenerComputing.com
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How Green is that app?
Posted on 22. Feb, 2010 by admin.
1) GreenMeter GreenMeter measures your vehicle’s acceleration and computes engine power, fuel efficiency, your carbon footprint and how many barrels of oil you’re consuming. You can also input info on driving conditions, your driving habits, weather conditions and fuel type. Price: $5.99
2) GoodGuide With over 70,000 item ratings, GoodGuide recommends safe, healthy and green products, ranging from household cleaners to food to toys. Price: Free
3) Ecobee Smart Thermostat Use your iPhone or iPod Touch to remotely adjust your Ecobee thermostat temperature, schedule a vacation, change the system and fan settings and receive alerts. Price: Free
4) Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch The official list published by the aquarium to help make sustainable seafood choices wherever you are. Choose a region and it provides a list labeled “Best Choice,” “Good Alternative” or “Avoid.” Price: Free
5) Find Green Find Green assists you in locating green and sustainable businesses by industry (i.e., health and wellness), type (fitness, nutrition, doctors, etc.) and distance (walking, biking or driving). Powered by the GenGreenLife.com database. Price: Free
6) iRecycle Find recycling locations anywhere in the U.S. with this search engine, based on what item you need to recycle. Price: Free
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100 Million Users Access Facebook via Mobile
Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by admin.
A recent entry on Facebook’s official blog states that more than 100 million people are “actively using Facebook from their mobile devices every month.” This figure is growing fast, and it’s not just limited to those entering via a Facebook app on the iPhone and AT&T. From the blog post: “This usage happens on almost every carrier in the world and comes less than six months after we announced 65 million people on Facebook Mobile.”
Contributing to the uptick in mobile users are the Facebook mobile apps available across a variety of carriers and mobile devices, enhanced Facebook mobile-ready Web pages (m.facebook.com, for example) and the ability for users to post to Facebook via SMS (including Facebook’s new link-shrinking capability with FB.ME). Should Facebook start providing analytics to users with their URL-shortening service, you might see even more mobile activity.
For businesses, this news puts even greater importance on marketing within the world’s largest social network. Mobile is a tricky proposition. But if you can merge mobile with social - and with Facebook, you can - you have a win-win situation. You gain access to the social sphere, as well as mobile users. Consider this when updating Facebook Pages for your business.
To target the Facebook mobile user, keep updates relatively brief and include mobile-friendly calls-to-action, such as brief blog posts, links to maps, and links to specific, mobile-friendly Web pages. Want users to call your business? Link to an offer on a landing page with a highly visible phone number. Many devices will automatically enable click-to-call. Brick and mortar businesses have a great opportunity here to drive foot traffic by providing instant coupons through Facebook updates, for example.
Source: Web Site Magazine
