By Reenita Malhotra •
August 23, 2009
This column highlights the top economic stories of the week.
Reports of the demise of the U.S. dollar may be premature. But when some of the world’s most powerful investors are warning of the currency’s decline, investors take notice. More on this story here.
There are many cynics out there that critique and question the future of sustainable products and businesses. It’s easy to side with them, mostly because it’s difficult to understand what comprises a “sustainable” product which in turn creates a domino chain of skepticism about achievability. The industry is in self-defining mode and most of us lack the degrees in chemistry, biology, natural sciences or any other course of study that might support our inclination to trust what marketers tell us is “safe” and what is not. More on this story here.
Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, has grown quickly in recent decades - at the expense of its estuaries, environmentalist advocates say. More on this story here.
By Robin Shreeves •
July 31, 2008
A new study titled Green AMPlified is aimed to “uncover how the growing ‘Green’ movement is impacting the way consumers perceive, evaluate and talk about companies and brands,” according to Anastasia Toomey of the AMP Agency which conducted the study of 18-49 year olds in April of this year.
The results of the study are very interesting, and at least one of the findings I find both interesting and frustrating. According to the survey, the majority of American consumers feel that corporations hold more of a responsibility to create environmental changes than individuals do.
According to the findings:
close to all American consumers (90%) believe that acting in an environmentally responsible way is important, but feel corporations hold most of the responsibility to implement change over their own personal efforts and are increasingly implementing eco-friendly evaluation into their product purchasing decisions.
and
over half (53%) of consumers factor a company’s social and environmental activities into their purchasing decisions and while overall, consumer’s personal actions to protect the environment show minimal sacrifice in terms of changing one’s lifestyle, consumers are ready to reward those companies that prove their commitment to the cause
With the summer coming on strong, I thought of Wheatware(TM) products, which were one of my ‘editor’s’ picks for the 2007 holiday issue of Relevant Times. I was so impressed, I gave literally EVERYONE I knew one or a combination of these great bio-compostable, non-toxic, non-plastic products.
Wheatware is on a mission to save virgin forests and reduce our dependence on oil through the use of surplus wheat to create many items traditionally made from wood or plastic, such as: disposable flatware, guitar picks, golf tees, chop sticks, hangers among other items. AND, they are bio-compostable and are are designed to biodegrade in 45 to 90 days in microbially-active soil or a commercial compost facility. To bring things even more full-circle, Wheatware bio-compostable products are indeed recyclable and they are developing their own process to reclaim and create second generation products that originated from Wheatware.
The disposable flatware and golf tees particularly appealed to me at this time of year.
Does Wheatware have a negative effect on the wheat-based food supply?
By Sara Holt •
March 19, 2007
Photo Credit: EcoHome Improvement
They weren’t kidding when they said living green ain’t easy. With all of the toxic home design products out on the market today, it’s often difficult to locate products that are environmentally-friendly, non-toxic, affordable, and importantly, aesthetically beautiful.
In the world of green design however, the times are a-changin’, and with the birth of Berkeley’s own EcoHome Improvement, a crucial green scene player is now giving us the gift of a
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