Archive for 'Green Business'
10 Best Practices for Building Green Teams
Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by admin.
GreenBiz.com and Green Impact have partnered to release a new report, “Green Teams: Engaging Employees in Sustainability.” Based on interviews with green team leaders from Intel, Yahoo!, eBay and Genentech, as well as a review of the latest literature on employee engagement and green teams, the report provides an overview of the best practices companies are using to support and guide green teams.
It is divided into four key sections: making the business case for green teams; getting started; four emerging trends; and green team best practices.
It is a great resource for companies and organizations just beginning to think about creating a green team and for those ready to take their existing program to the next level.
What is a Green Team?
Green teams are self-organized, grassroots and cross-functional groups of employees who voluntarily come together to educate, inspire and empower employees around sustainability. They identify and implement specific solutions to help their organization operate in a more environmentally sustainable fashion. Most green teams initially focus on greening operations at the office, addressing such issues as recycling in the office, composting food waste, reducing the use of disposable takeout containers and eliminating plastic water bottles.
This focus on operations is evolving and some green teams are beginning to focus their efforts on integrating sustainability into employees’ personal lives, while others are bringing consumers into the equation and aligning their efforts to support broader corporate sustainability objectives.
Continue Reading
Dell Protects Laptops With Bamboo Packaging
Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by admin.
Round Rock, TX — Dell will start shipping two of its products padded with bamboo cushioning, a part of the company’s broad plan to reduce its packaging while using more recyclable material.
The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and Mini 10v netbooks will be cradled in cushioning made from bamboo instead of the typical paper pulp, foam or corrugate that is used to protect electronics. The outer cardboard box for the netbooks will contain 25 percent post-consumer recycled material.
Dell is sourcing its bamboo from a forest in China’s Jiangxi Province that is not near known panda habitats and follows Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) principles and criteria. Dell is working with bamboo packaging supplier Unisource Global Solutions to receive FSC certification for the full chain of custody, from forest to manufacturing plant, for the bamboo.
Dell is also in the process of certifying the packaging for recycling so that recyclers will clearly known that the material can be recycled instead of tossed in the trash.
The bamboo cushioning is another step in Dell’s larger plan, announced in December 2008, to shrink its packaging volume by 10 percent (which equates to 20 million pounds), increase the amount of recycled content in packaging by 40 percent and increase the amount of recyclable material in packaging by 75 percent, all by 2012.
While its starting off using bamboo with just the two netbook items, Dell says it plans to expand the bamboo cushioning to more products starting in early 2010.
Source: GreenerDesign.com
Continue Reading
Nike Debuts Considered Design Products
Posted on 09. Nov, 2009 by admin.
BEAVERTON, OR — Nike will launch on Saturday a new shoe collection sporting green features such as environmentally preferred rubber, recycled content and less materials.
The Nike H7 Collection was created with an eye toward a smaller environmental impact based on Considered Design, a set of internal principles devised to help Nike make wiser design choices with fewer toxics and less waste.
The shoes also feature a social component: They include graphics and color schemes inspired by the Native American community, which will benefit from a portion of the shoes’ sale proceeds via the N7 Fund aimed at supporting Native American youth sports.
The collection includes an update of an old favorite, the 26-year-old Air Pegasus running shoe. The N7 Air Pegasus + 26 ($85, shown above) includes a waffle outsole made with recycled athletic shoe and manufacturing scrap called Nike Grind. The materials are environmentally preferred whenever possible, while the Nike Air bags have 83 percent recycled content. Water-based adhesives were used to attach the air bag with the midsole components.
The N7 Huarache ($110), an existing basketball shoe created using Considered Design, has also been given the N7 treatment. The model uses Nike Grind and is made with a carefully designed pattern and stitching that reduces the amount of material used. The cutting efficiency of the upper, for instance, is improved by 70 percent, while the embroidery design boosts the structural support, reducing overlays, embellishments and backing materials.
A children’s shoe, the N7 SMS RT ($21-$47), also uses environmentally preferred materials with high-recycled content.
