U.S. Consumers, Executives Skeptical about Corporate Sustainability Commitment

U.S. Consumers, Executives Skeptical about Corporate Sustainability Commitment from Environmental Leader:

A new sustainability survey reveals that only 16 percent of U.S. consumers and 29 percent of Fortune 1000 executives believe that a majority of businesses are committed to sustainability. The Gibbs & Soell survey also finds that 54 percent of executives and 48 percent of consumers believe only "some" businesses are committed to “going green.”

The study, "2010 Gibbs & Soell Sense & Sustainability" (PDF) surveyed both U.S. consumers and Fortune 1000 executives on their views of corporate efforts to improve the health of the environment through sustainable practices, products, or services.

Read the article here and download the full report.

TerraCycle Upcycling Your Sharpie

Sharpie, Paper Mate and EXPO have formed a partnership with TerraCycle to repurpose used pens, markers and other writing instruments.

Terracycle is a New Jersey-based "upcycling" company that finds new ways to repurpose otherwise throwaway items like juice pouches, chip bags and the like.  According to the company, the partnership "will create the world's first program to collect and reuse pens, markers and other writing instruments while also helping raise funds for schools, charities, and non-profits nationwide."


Collection centers called "Writing Instrument Brigades" will be set up at participating locales, primarily in large corporations and schools where writing instruments are used most. For every writing instrument collected at a Writing Instrument Brigade collection center, two cents will be paid to a school, community group, charity or non-profit organization of the participant's choice. 


"Keeping one pen or marker out of a landfill may seem like a small contribution, but multiply that by the estimated $5 billion writing instruments sold in the U.S. each year and it is a big opportunity to reduce waste to landfills," said Ben Gadbois, President of Markers, Highlighters, Art and Office Essentials for Newell Rubbermaid Office Products, maker of Sharpie, EXPO and Paper Mate products.

The collected writing instruments will be dissembled and/or reprocessed to make new products.

TerraCycle is also working with other consumer goods manufacturers including 3M, Mars and OfficeMax, to collect and recycle their products.

Founded in 2001 by then 19 year old Princeton University freshman named Tom Szaky, TerraCycle started from Tom's dream to find way a new, more responsible way of doing business that would be good for the planet, good for people, and good for the bottom line.

Social Entrepreneurs: Bill Gates Talk on "Creative Capitalism" at Davos

Readers of The Green Skeptic know that I believe in the concept of market-based social change or doing good and making money; what Muhammad Yunus is now calling "social business" and what Bill Gates spoke about at Davos this week, "Creative Capitalism." Here is the video of Bill Gates from Davos:

Clean Tech: A VC Going Carbon Neutral

Neal Dikeman, founding partner at Jane Capital Partners LLC, a boutique merchant bank advising strategic investors and startups in cleantech, and founding contributor of the Cleantech Blog, writes about Bessemer Ventures' new carbon friendly initiative.

"Their logic is simple, if they are investing in cleantech because they believe in being part of the global warming solution, not only making money, then they should practice what they preach. While still early days, they are targeting both their power and travel usage, and expect they will likely implement an internal reduction plan as well as purchasing offsets...Bessemer is also going to be buying offsets for their smaller portfolio companies (those under 50 people)."

"'The goal is that when these companies grow into bigger companies and leave the nest, they will continue the tradition. We want them (our portfolio companies) to lead the next generation environmentally responsible enterprises,' said Bessemer's Ted Lin, who also told Neal that they are looking for a good offset provider, because as with any venture capitalist, they are looking for the 'best of breed'."

If you can help Bessemer, Neal suggests emailing Ted at Ted@bvp.com.

Let's hope this is a trend, not just among cleantech VCs, but others.

Social Entrepreneurs: TOMS Shoes - Buy One Pair, Give a Kid Some Shoes

The other day, Seth Godin pointed us to TOMS Shoes, an innovative shoe company with a social cause: Buy One Get One

“Inspired by a traditional Argentine shoe and challenged by continent’s poverty and heath issues, I created TOMS with a singular mission: To make life more comfortable,” says Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS "Shoes for Tomorrow."

For every TOMS shoe sold, the company sends a pair to a child in need. It's that simple.

TOMS was born in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie out of a commitment to produce stylish, comfortable, and practical footwear while improving the lives of children around the world.

Available in eighteen colors and combinations for both men and women, TOMS debut collection is inspired by Alpargatas, the trusted utility shoe of Argentine workers.

“I was overwhelmed by the spirit of the South American people, especially those who had so little,” Mycoskie says. “And I was instantly struck with the desire – the responsibility – to do more.”

The shoes are composed of high quality, durable materials including lightweight, breathable canvas, resilient soles and soft leather in soles for maximum comfort.

After losing on the reality show, "The Amazing Race," Blake Mycoskie "put his life on hold and took a well deserved extended vacation," according to a press release on TOMS web site. A whirlwind tour of South America ended in Argentina, where Mycoskie "immersed himself in Argentine culture: sailing, tango, competitive polo. Nice life.

But Mycoskie soon "became aware of the difficulties of the impoverished people in Argentina. He was challenged emotionally as he visited villages without fresh water and where few, if any, of the children had shoes. The lack of basic needs contributed to many health issues, infections, and in the most extreme circumstances, even death."

So, he came up with the idea to found a shoe company and give back by sending shoes to children from families who can't afford them. Last October, he returned with a bunch of volunteers to distribute 10,000 pairs of shoes.

Check out TOMS Shoes, enter their "design a shoe" contest, and buy a pair online at: TOMS Shoes

More on Blake from TIME Magazine.

And an interview: Quick Stop Questions

Global Climate Change: Business Leaders Call for Action

According to an article by Scott Malone at Reuters, "a major U.S. industry body said on Tuesday that human activity is changing the Earth's climate and urged Washington to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nationwide.

"But the Business Roundtable, representing 160 of the largest U.S. companies with $4.5 trillion in combined revenue, stopped short of advocating a specific policy to accomplish that, saying its members did not yet agree on methods.

"'The thinking of U.S. CEOs on climate change is evolving significantly,' said Charles Holliday, chairman and chief executive of U.S. chemicals group DuPont, and a Roundtable member. 'A growing number of CEOs view it as a major issue for their companies.'

"In recent years, corporate America has dropped arguments that there is no proof human activity causes warmer patterns across the world, putting some business executives at odds with the Bush administration which rejected the Kyoto Protocol, the main U.N. plan until 2012 for curbing greenhouse gases.

"Many scientists say rising emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels, are linked to rising world temperatures. Many fear the warming trend could lead to more droughts, floods, heat waves and more powerful storms.

"'Some of our members like the idea of a cap-and-trade,' said John Castellani, president of the Washington-based organization, referring to programs in which companies could buy and sell the right to emit carbon dioxide.

"'Some members like a tax approach, we don't know which works best. So at this point we're calling for flexibility,' Castellani said in a telephone interview.

"The Roundtable's members include some of the biggest names in U.S. business, such as General Electric Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and General Motors Corp.

"Environmental group the Sierra Club dismissed the Roundtable's statement as an attempt to appear environmentally sensitive while actually seeking to ensure any new regulations accommodate its members.

"'Businesses understand that any regulation that is going to pass this Congress and get signed by this president is going to be something very weak,' said Sierra spokesman Josh Dorner. 'It's no coincidence that a lot of huge emitters are tripping over themselves to call for some action on climate change.'"

Read More: Business Roundtable Climate Action

Global Climate Change: Seizing the Day on Climate Change

What do we need to do to take action on climate change in the current climate of heightened awareness? A session I organized at the ELP/NJIT Climate Change Conference, "Emerging Leaders, Emerging Solutions" tried to address that question.

The panel, "Seizing the Day: What We Need to Do to Take Advantage of Climate Change Awareness and Move to Action," fostered a robust conversation moderated by Eugene Linden, whose book Winds of Change is one of two essential books on the issue (the other is Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers).

Baruch Fischhoff from Carnegie Mellon kicked off our discussion after Eugene's insightful remarks. He identified a clear need for more social science research on the issue and its frame. He also reminded us that it is more difficult to achieve cognitive mastery over the "solution space" than the awareness of the problem. In addition, I found his remarks on the personal nature of choice to take action very insightful, as was his reminder that if people feel they are being manipulated or taken advantage of awareness of the issue may be hard to sustain.

Gavin Schmidt of RealClimate.org suggested that we need to pay attention to the way the issue is framed and avoid allowing the frame to be changed from a science discussion to a "freedom of speech issue." This was one of a number of valuable insights Gavin offered from the trenches of the science "debate."

Trina Chattoraj Mallik of The Climate Group offered her perspective on the nature of conversations and innovative solutions coming out of the corporate sector. Especially valuable were her insights on how corporations are now viewing this issue as a strategic growth opportunity and the importance that will play in the future.

Gary Guzy from Marsh took a look back at the "radical enterprise" of "environmental and public health protection," drawing on his experience at the EPA under Clinton and his coming of age during the era of proliferation of important protections and laws. He also took stock of the corporate environment where the climate change has moved from compliance issue to a C-suite opportunity.

Finally, Jacky Grimshaw highlighted the impacts at the municipal and national level as cities and communities seek to set baseline data to measure progress on reductions. In particular, the Center for Neighborhood Technology's efforts to develop technology to help cities collect and track their data.

The bottom line? We need a variety of approaches from a variety of sectors and partnerships to define and implement solutions, we need to demonstrate how choices don't have to be onerous, and we need a more scientific approach to how we make choices about solutions for which we need more research and less intuition.

Social Entrepreneurs: Philanthropy and the Changing Business of Giving

Over on the Enterprising Ideas blog, part of the PBS NOW series on social entrepreneurs, they are talking about the latest report on giving in America. According to the report, charitable giving by Americans rose 4.2% to $295.02 billion in 2006, setting a record for the third-straight year.

Great news, of course. But what really got my attention in this blog post comes from blogger Lucy Bernholz, who writes the excellent blog about the "business of giving" called Philanthropy 2173. I track Lucy's blog and am always intrigued by her observations.

The blog post begins with commentary from the Enterprising Ideas staff, following up on a description of "product and service innovation" and the "commercialization of philanthropy."

"Not surprisingly, social entrepreneurs —- entrepreneurs with a humanitarian mission -— are also behind many of the new projects that facilitate donations and investments. Bernholz said social entrepreneurs are playing a major role in how the tools and mission of philanthropy are changing:

'There’s this whole industry of giving that social entrepreneurism is a part of largely because very smart businessmen have entered the field and are very excited about it.'

The post goes on to say, "Now that it's becoming 'more and more possible to make money by doing good,' as Bernholz puts it, there should be more willingness to invest in social entrepreneurs and their projects. After all, the social entrepreneurs are the people who are creating financial opportunities for doing good, says Bernholz. Like Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and South Shore Bank in the Midwestern United States."

“'We’ve entered a period of philanthropy like no other,' explains Bernholz, 'because the federal government has gotten out of the business of funding domestic programs.' Foundations and individuals are picking up the slack by providing resources to projects—and many social entrepreneurs. Even if the government increases its commitment to domestic programs, Bernholz believes social entrepreneurship and its hybrid approach—drawing on strategies from the market as well as the public sector—to solving serious problems is here to stay:

"'The problems people are trying to solve are not caused by any single sector so no single sector can solve them.'"

Read the full blog post (and check out other posts and information about the program): Enterprising Ideas and Better Ideas.

And check out Lucy Bernholz's Philanthropy 2173 (You can also find out why it's called what it is...although Woody Allen fans can probably make a good guess.)

Global Climate Change: HSBC Backs $100m Climate Partnership

From the BBC Wednesday: HSBC is setting aside $100m (£50m) for an initiative to tackle climate change.

The funding by the UK's largest bank will help charities and environmental groups to research some of the global causes and effects of climate change.

The partnership will look at ways to protect the world's most important rivers and identify how cities can respond to environmental threats.

HSBC also said it would create "a green taskforce", to ensure climate awareness was central to its own business.

HSBC is the latest UK company to pledge changes to the way it operates in the face of calls for big business to do more to prioritise environmental concerns.

HSBC is teaming up with climate campaigners the Climate Group, environmental groups the Earthwatch Institute and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and the conservation charity WWF in a five-year partnership

"We believe we can tackle the causes and impacts of climate change," said HSBC chairman Stephen Green.

HSBC, which will spend $5m of the $100m on managing the project, said it would enable the four bodies to expand their climate-related research and undertake work in new countries such as China and India.

Read the full article in BBC: HSBC Climate