Home > Companies that are doing some "Greening"
If you have been on Michigan avenue in Chicago, you have likely seen the Wrigley Building, The John Hancock Building, and some of the best shopping in the U.S. What you probably haven't seen is the Apple Store's green roof. Though it isn't pure grass it is a nice contribution to Chicago's green roof initiative.
Apple has not been known to be in the forefront for environmentally friendly production, however they are making huge strides in removing toxic chemicals from their manufacturing.
In mid-2006, Apple became the first company in the computer industry to completely eliminate CRTs. Their first CRT-based iMac contained 484 grams of lead; their current third-generation LCD-based iMac contains less than 1 gram of lead.
Apple completely eliminated the use of CRTs in mid-2006.
A note of comparison — Dell, Gateway, Hewlett Packard and Lenovo still ship CRT displays today.
However, recent reports indicate that the new iphone contains significant amounts of lead, chlorine, bromine and other dangerous chemicals. This appears to be a set back in Apple's attempts to clean up their product line. It is a shame too becuase I was real close to getting one.
Nike - REUSE A SHOE
We are not going to say that Nike or any shoe company for that matter, is the most environmentally friendly company. However, they have come up with a cool way to reuse old shoes and for that, we applaud them. It's a start! The info below is from Nike's website.
"Reuse-A-Shoe. Simply put, athletic shoes are gathered, separated, and ground up into Nike Grind material for use in athletic surfaces and fields, called NikeGO Places, to help kids get moving. Some 16 million pairs have been recycled to date. To make this program sustainable, Nike has key partners in place.
One of those partners is the National Recycling Coalition. With the NRC we have expanded the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program to participating organizations across the continental U.S., with a goal of recycling 125,000 pairs of shoes each year. Our recycling partners take care of the logistics of collecting the shoes, leaving us to focus on the recycling process and end uses for the resulting Nike Grind material."
For more information about the National Recycling Coalition, visit their website.
Green Shift in Rental Cars!
High gas prices, slowing SUV rentals, and economic pressures are making rental cars companies shift gears and offer more fuel efficient, hybrid vehicles to their customers. Lets' face it renting a car is not usually a cheap thing to do. Customers want a nice, safe car, that gets good gas mileage. This is a much better trend then in previous years where most customers wanted big, roomy SUV's.
Toyota can't currently keep up with the demand for hybrids, especially now that rental car companies like Hertz, Enterprise are scrambling to obtain a "greener fleet".
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which promotes its "unparalleled fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles," says it has purchased 3,000 Toyota Prius vehicles this year, with another 1,500 on order. Enterprise officials say that 47 percent of its fleet, or more than 334,000 vehicles, get 28 miles per gallon or more, and the company now has 41,000 vehicles that use ethanol fuel.
Hertz purchased 1,000 Prius hybrids this year and expects to have 3,400 in its lots nationwide by the end of 2008. It also has started a "Green Collection" line of vehicles, in which the average fuel efficiency is 31 miles per gallon. Hertz distributes its E85 ethanol-fueled cars to regions in which the fuel is more widely available, mostly in the Midwest.
Avis Budget Group, which says half of its entire fleet of rental cars have fuel efficiency ratings of more than 28 miles per gallon, has purchased 1,000 Prius cars as well. It has distributed them largely to locations in California, Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C.
So things are getting better in the rental industry, but for many of you I have a much better option. There are companies like zipcar.com that offer hourly car renting. For as little as ten dollars an hour you can rent cool new energy efficient cars to run a few errands or go for a drive.
I use them as my secondary form of transportation, next to the bike of course. They are a great company, with excellent customer service, and a cool website. Give it a try!
Meetings in the Dark?
A local Arlington Heights, IL. company is taking their "greening" to the meeting room. The employees of eco friendly Paylocity actually hold their weekly "green team" meetings in the dark. This is probably more about making a point that saving energy, but I like it. They are adopting environmentally friendly business practices. At Paylocity, you will find recycling bins in every office, recycled carpet, energy efficient lights, a lot of natural light.
Employees joined the Adopt-A-Highway program and have made it easier and feasible for employees to work from home. The "green team" is also planning a day for employees to clean an area pond or other outdoor spaces in Arlington Heights.
By the way, Paylocity makes money by offering paper less payroll services to businesses. AWESOME!
Right On! Target!
It always baffled me why electronics manufacturers packaged their products with so much access stuff. I mean, sometimes you need a butcher knife and a background in orthepedic surgery just to get the damn thing open. Not only is it a hassle, but it is a ridiculous waste of plastic. And remember, many plastics used today still contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which contains chemicals linked to cancer and other major health problems.
Major retailers need to start using their leverage to enforce major changes in retail packaging. So far one major retailer is stepping up to the plate. Target, with 1,500 stores and $60 billion in annual sales, asked its packaging vendor to replace the current packaging with a recyclable cardboard package with a small plastic window. Something as small as this can prevent an estimated 5,000 pounds of PVC from entering landfills each year.
Target has also pressured its seven private-label packaging companies to get rid of unneccesary plastic and wraps. So now, packages for more than 500 items, from dog leashes to personal care products, have been redesigned to be less harmful to our environment. About 100 out of these 500 items previously contained PVC's.
So why not eliminate pvc's entirely? Well, many products are made in certain countries where alternative materials are in short supply. This is another major problem.
Containers and packaging account for approximately 32 percent of the waste that ends up inland fills, according to a 2003 report by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Before you jump down my throat about mentioning Walmart, please read this whole paragraph.Walmart is also making an effort. Walmart has pledged to eliminate all private-label PVC packaging by 2009. The company also has set a goal of producing "zero waste" by 2025; I am by no means supporting Walmart in any way, shape or form. In fact, I have boycotted this retailer for many reasons. I just wanted to be fair and mention what they are doing.
Remember, just because we write about certain companies does not mean we are affiliated with them or support them in less otherwise noted.
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