Known for their quality line of bioplastic resins, Cereplast Inc. has bowed to consumer demand by introducing eleven new grades of bioplastic resins.
I’ve written a few posts on the varied use of bioplastics in consumer products (see http://3.ly/bQ3P and http://3.ly/GKcW). Cereplast’s resins are used to produce products as diverse as tableware and cutlery, toys, healthcare/hygiene products, bottles/containers, bags, packaging, gift cards, printed displays, straws, and pipes, conduits.
In the wake of the disastrous BP oil spill, consumers are demanding more sustainable solutions that rely less on petroleum, says the company.
Cereplast anticipates this demand will result in the company shipping approximately 16 million pounds of bio-plastic resins to customers this year, a 400 percent rise in shipments and 190 percent [...]
Cereplast meets consumer demand with new bioplastics
Kohl’s recognied as 2010 Energy Star® Partner of the Year
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have named Kohl’s Department Stores the 2010 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Energy Management for the company’s commitment to energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Selected from more than 17,000 organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program, Kohl’s will receive the award March 18th at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Kohl’s has implemented a wide range of sustainable business practices. This commitment led Kohl’s in December 2009 announce their plan to reach net zero carbon emissions by the end of 2010. Last year the Environmental Protection Agency recognzied this family-focused Wisconsin-based company as a 2009 Green Power Partner of the Year.
Expect to hear more about Kohl’s [...]
Slowing Ships, Cutting Costs and Decreasing Emissions
It has long been known that reducing speeds limits decreases fuel consumption. During the oil crises in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the U.S. Federal Government reduced speed limits in an effort reduce fuel demands. This train of thought is now being applied to the shipping industry. As recently reported in a New York Times Article, shipping companies are beginning to concentrate more on reducing their carbon footprint and less on the speed of shipment. They are doing this by slowing cruising speeds, which can increase shipping time by up to one week.
It took more than a month for the container ship Ebba Maersk to steam from Germany to Guangdong, China, where [...]
No wonder the environment is losing
There’s been much lamenting across the media about the apparent failure of the Copenhagen Summit last month. Yet in reading today’s headlines, it really couldn’t have ended any other way.
Take for instance the following:
“European Manufacturers Rally Against 30% Reduction in GHG Emissions”
“FirstEnergy Asks to Exceed Mercury Limits in Wastewater Discharges”
And then there’s yesterday’s headline:
“Alaska senator moves to bar EPA rules on greenhouse gas emissions“
With so much pressure and financial backing coming from so many directions, how could the Summit’s outcome been otherwise?
Balance this against continued evidence that climate change is indeed speeding along, with the Arctic northwest passage now being tussled over for a variety of development projects – from laying underwater telecommunications cable to prospective oil [...]
Cisco cuts net 40% greenhouse gas emissions
In several previous posts I’ve poked at corporations that boasted cuts in their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when they’ve been only around 2 to 5 percent. This time, however, one company has cuts that are substantial.
Cisco Systems has succeeded in cutting their net emissions by 40 percent, compared against 2007. These figures include what’s termed Scope 1 direct emissions from Cisco-owned or controlled sources), Scope 2 (emissions from Cisco’s energy purchases) and Scope 3 (emissions from Cisco’s business air travel ( both corporate wide and worldwide).
According to Darrel Stickler of Cisco’s Sustainable Business Practices, few companies include Scope 3 of any type in an absolute reduction goal.
This success comes as part of Cisco’s overall sustainability practices, as reported in their fifth annual corporate social [...]
KLM to boldly test the first biofuel passenger flight
Taking airline passenger flights to a new height, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will test their first passenger-filled flight on November 23rd, using a 50-50 mix of biofuel and regular fuel.
With the aviation industry’s recent commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this is a big step forward.
KLM plans to use biofuel made from camellia crops, which don’t impact the food chain and don’t require large amounts of water or fertilizers. The bigger “plus” is this biofuel produces 84 percent less emission than other jet fuel. That’s a pretty dramatic decrease.
You can be sure the aviation industry will be watching this test closely. If all goes well, [...]
Eli Lilly achieves energy efficiency goals 2 years early
Eli Lilly and Company, a worldwide pharmaceutical company, has reached and surpassed their energy reduction goals two years ahead of schedule.
Although the reductions are modest – cutting absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4.4 percent, cutting absolute energy use by 5.8 percent from 2004 to 2008 – Lilly did improve their energy use per dollar of sales by 35 percent.
Lilly has set a new goal of reducing GHG emissions by 15 percent by2013, which will cut CO2 emissions by nearly 340,000 metric tons per year.
Lilly’s continuing environmental efforts on a variety of fronts include:
reducing water intake 25 percent by 2013
reducing waste disposed in landfills by 40 percent by 2013
Both are compared to a [...]
Environmental Facts & Possibilities at Bioneers
More from Bioneers 2009
Nina Simon gave tribute to Spokane, Washington, which has achieved a real environmental transformation from their previous insular status.
“They’ve come a long way in creating an ecological, healthy and socially just world,” Simon said.
Her partner/co-founder Kenny Ausubel commented on the upcoming Copenhagen environmental summit. Even should we be able to reach the rigorous goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, he said, the world would still reach a 7 degree Farenheit (4 degree Celsius) rise in temperature.
He outlined a bleak picture of climate chaos as seen by Mark Linas in his book Six Degrees.
For balance, Ausubel spoke of a global “first” – that climate leadership will be a presidential issue in Brazil’s [...]
European Union’s tough environmental rules
The European Union has set some pretty tough environmental goals for businesses to achieve over the coming decade.
The news agency Reuters released a draft report from the European Commission stating that 15 million European buildings need to have energy-efficient renovations over the next decade to cut energy use.
Airlines are in this energy-saving boat too. Commercial airlines, private jet operators and air forces around the globe are on a list of 4,000 companies released by the EU that will have to reduce their emissions or face a European airport ban.
With the first flight of a plane partially fueled by natural gas completed, theInternational Air Transport Association has pledged to cut air emissions in half by 2050.
These stringent goals are designed to force companies [...]
Activeion taps water to clean
Water. We drink it, bathe in it, swim in it. We even fight over it. But use it to clean?
Activeion Pro (as in active ion) is a hand-held sprayer. With its ec-H2O (electronic converted water) technology, its electrical charge “activates” tap water, converting it into a multi-purpose general cleaner. Acting like a magnet, the activated water attracts and loosens dirt from a variety of surfaces for easy cleaning, leaving no residue.
Introduced last February and verified by the Environmental Protection Agency and an independent laboratory, this chemical-free cleaning system eliminates 99 percent of bacteria and organisms including e-coli, salmonella and the MRSA virus from hard non-porous surfaces. It cleans stains, dirt [...]