Green Options » study

The top ten office environmental pet peeves and why Xerox went green

Olga Orda — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:28:10 +0000

According to Patricia Calkins, Xerox vice-president for Environment, Health and Safety, being smarter about paper use is a win for the environment and for the bottom line, so it is no surprise businesses would zero in on improving their performance in that area.

While long an “evangelist” for greener operations, Xerox is, at its core, a global document management company, which manufactures and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies.

And so, the question that Jeff McIntire-Strasburg asked in April still hovers: “can a company that manufactures copy machines, and sells more paper than any other single brand, really walk the talk on sustainable business practices?”

Study Shows Shoppers Aren’t Buying Wal-Mart’s Green Marketing

Alex Goldschmidt — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:08:07 +0000

It will take more than promises and glossy marketing campaigns to convince consumers that Wal-Mart is green, a recent study has found.

The largest retailer on earth finds itself the subject of Environmental Leader’s latest study on green marketing. Despite Wal-Mart’s massive green marketing campaign over the last year, consumers still don’t consider the retailer a sustainable company, explaining:

Brands that have spent significant marketing dollars communicating green initiatives such as Wal-Mart and GE are not connecting.

Environmental Leader’s report focuses specifically on the effectiveness of green marketing campaigns, but it implies a much larger truth: consumers aren’t buying Wal-Mart’s greenwashing. The chart above (click here for a larger version) explains that in the minds of socially-conscious shoppers, social responsibility goes far beyond Wal-Mart’s current definition. Employee treatment, community connection and supply chain practices are equally important as environmental issues. But Wal-Mart has a track record of trouble in each of these categories, leading conscientious consumers to rightfully distrust the company’s green overtures.

Wal-Mart’s habit of making cosmetic changes instead of systematic improvements to its business practices aren’t fooling any shoppers. If Wal-Mart wants its green message to stick, it needs to address its sustainability problems from the ground up. Corporate transparency, employee friendliness, and fair, sustainable product sourcing aren’t just footnotes to an advertising campaign - they’re necessary parts of the modern responsible corporation. Wal-Mart would be better served to use the millions it currently spends on marketing to make holistic changes to its business model.

Green Marketing Campaigns Don’t Always Stick [Marketing Vox]

Switchgrass Could Displace 30% of US Petroleum Usage With 94% GHG Reduction

Clayton B. Cornell — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:07:30 +0000

In January, USDA researchers completed a five-year evaluation of another biofuel feedstock with the potential to make a serious dent in US petroleum usage. In the largest study to date, switchgrass has been shown to produce 540% more energy than was used to grow, harvest, and process it into cellulosic ethanol, while reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 94% when compared to gasoline.

USDA geneticist Ken Vogel commented that the study demonstrates switchgrass’s potential to be a major renewable biofuel that reduces GHGs and could “potentially displace 30 percent of current U.S. petroleum consumption.”

Study: Your Car Can Run On 20% Ethanol

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:21:16 +0000

A University of Minnesota study found that using higher blends of ethanol (20%) blended into gasoline did not cause damage or cause performance problems when used in standard gasoline engines.

Over half the gasoline sold in the US is already blended with 10% ethanol (E10), but higher blends were thought to run the risk of causing engine damage. Higher blends of ethanol, up to 85% (E85), will only work properly in engines converted to accept the fuel.

Using 40 pairs of vehicles commonly found on American roads, a year-long research effort found that increasing ethanol blends from 10 percent (E10) to 20 percent (E20) in a gallon of gasoline provided an effective fuel across a range of tests focusing on driveability and materials compatibility.

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Study: Buying Biodiesel May Be A Gamble

Clayton B. Cornell — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:02:43 +0000

If you ever buy retail biodiesel for your diesel vehicle, it turns out you might not be getting exactly what you paid for—or you may be getting quite a bit more.

In a new study, researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution used highly accurate radiocarbon testing on samples from 20 different biodiesel blenders to determine the biodiesel content of their fuel (so-called “splash blenders” mix pure biodiesel and diesel together before selling it at the pump).

The study found that blends sold as B20 biodiesel (20% biodiesel, 80% diesel) varied from 10% to 74% in actual biodiesel content.

“It’s a huge problem for the industry,” says Teresa Alleman of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, who recently completed a study showing that biodiesel manufacturers have improved the overall quality of pure biodiesel over the past year. If consumers pay a premium for biodiesel that they aren’t getting, she says, public confidence could be shaken. Also, blenders receive a tax credit based on the amount of biodiesel used, which could mean some sellers have received larger credits than they merit.