Green Options

Still have bottled water as a regular item on the grocery list? Or just pick up the occasional bottle when you’re out? It’s so convenient…

As you probably know, that convenience comes at an environmental and social price: documentaries such as FLOW and Thirst, organizations such as the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund, and even a few of us lowly bloggers, have reported on the costs created by water’s transformation from a freely-available resource to a multi-billion dollar commodity. That bottle of water you buy now contributes to the world’s third-largest industry.

“A new energy economy is going to be part of what creates the millions of new jobs,” President Barack Obama said recently.

That’s because a climate bill, once passed, will act like the starting gun in a business innovation race. To illustrate how capping carbon pollution will stimulate the economy and create jobs, EDF designed this graphic (see below the jump).

As discussions open in Congress today surrounding the American Clean Energy and Security Act (the Waxman-Markey Bill), I started to wonder what environmental advocacy groups’ attitudes are about the climate change/green jobs/clean energy/energy independence legislation. Here is a quick rundown of statements from some of the biggest and most influential environmental groups in the country.

Today’s post is by Sam Parry, EDF’s Director of Online Membership and Activism.

Hats say a lot. They can show what we do for a living, what teams we root for, even what part of the country we live in.

Today, your hat can make another statement: Express your support of a cap on carbon pollution by showing EDF your carbon cap.

Please submit your photo today. We’ll feature Action Network favorites in our upcoming Earth Day video.

With climate legislation moving in the House, there is no better time to show your full support of a cap on carbon pollution.

It’s easy and fun to take part. Here’s all you need to do:

Many eco-conscious families struggle with buying seafood that is both healthy for themselves and the environment.

“Choosing eco-friendly seafood is not only good for the oceans, it’s good for your family too,” says Katharine Burnham, spokesperson for the Environmental Defense Fund.

So what exactly is eco-friendly seafood? Anchovies are the Eco-Best Seafood, according to the Environmental Defense Fund’s research.  In its health facts, the fund says anchovies are high in heart-healthy omega-3s and have low contaminant levels.

Anchovies can be safely eaten by adults and children for more than four meals per month, research indicates.  They have “short life spans and reproduce quickly (and) are resilient to fishing pressure and remain plentiful.”

With several new GO blogs launching in March, a few of sustainablog’s regulars moved on to other posting assignments. We were fortunate that a number of friends, such as the folks at Life Goggles, Environmental Defense Fund, and Eco-Libris, did admirable jobs in filling the gap.  Additionally, we were pleased to republish several posts from the University of Kansas’ “Media and the Environment” course blog.

The original content we did publish was great stuff, of course.  Take a look below, and see a few of the goodies from March (and not a single post on green beer!).

March 2008

• Maria Surma Manka took a look at the Saudi’s interest in solar power.
• Victoria Everman reviewed online shopping guide thepurplebook’s green edition.
• Kyle Weatherholtz examined issues with wind power in Texas.
• Carol McClelland profiled some intriguing green companies.

Environmental activists represent the planet against the interests of corporations and human greed, all in an attempt to preserve our natural world for future generations. Tactics vary from radical to judicial, yet they share many of the same goals and dreams.

For every new coal plant, for every new species facing extinction, and for every newly polluted stream, there is a victory of equal importance. This list compiles the most significant progress made by the environment and conservation movements in 2008.

Now sushi lovers can make informed seafood choices that please the palate and safeguard the oceans. Environmental Defense Fund’s new Sushi Selector lists choices by Japanese and English names, and ranks them according to whether fish are caught or farmed in an environmentally responsible way and if their contaminant levels pose a health risk.

For sushi aficionados, that means both pleasant surprises — and some disappointments. Popular items like toro (bluefin tuna) and unagi (freshwater eel) are on the Eco-Worst list, as is most sake (made with farmed or Atlantic salmon). These species are either overfished, caught in ways that destroy ocean habitats or kill large amounts of other sea life, or they are farmed with methods that pollute the ocean or threaten nearby wild fish populations.

But such choices as sake made from wild-caught Alaska salmon, hotate (farmed scallops )  and hirame (Pacific halibut ) are Eco-Best choices, in part because they come from abundant, well-managed fisheries or — in the case of scallops — are raised using eco-friendly aquaculture methods.

In what is being called the “the most ambitious private sector drive yet” to go green, Wal-Mart told hundreds of the chain’s top Chinese suppliers this week that the store intends to raise standards and “green” its supply chain.

You read correctly.  At this week’s “sustainability summit,” in Beijing,  Lee Scott, Wal-Mart’s CEO,  told top Chinese suppliers that the chain “intends to use its market power to get more than just low prices.” At the gathering: Procter & Gamble, FedEx, Kimberly-Clark, Coca-Cola and Rubbermaid.

The Financial Times called the summit “the most ambitious private sector drive yet to reduce waste and pollution in China’s export-focused manufacturing industries.”

“Our environmental footprint is primarily through our supply chain as a company,” says Matt Kistler, head of Wal-Mart’s global sustainability efforts. “So we have the ability to really build a world-class, better quality, better value supply chain.”

A few weeks back, I was writing about CO2-friendly supply chains and saw the hefty list of U.S. companies that the Environmental Defense Fund had helped switch to recycled content in a drive to reduce paper waste across the nation.

Now, paper is back under the public eye in fuller force than ever because of its significant climate change footprint.
“Paper is a tremendously resource-intensive product to produce,” explains project manager Victoria Mills, “and the decomposition of paper in landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas with 23 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide.”

Ecoprenuerist exist in small companies and large as they spearhead efforts to make the world a greener place. The Environmental Defense Fund in their first Innovations Review, subtitled, “Making green the new business as usual” makes just that point.

Environmental sustainability is no longer the purview of boutique eco-brands. And it is no longer just about compliance with regulations or securing positive press coverage. It’s about driving cost savings through efficiencies, creating new markets and securing competitive advantage. Smart companies realize that what is good for the environment is also good for business.

At the launch, attended by California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the EDF called attention to the moves made by big companies toward saving the environment.