Planet: Walmart vs. Timberland

Green giants: the eco power list


Lucy Siegle | 01.16.2011


From David Attenborough to Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Town movement, the Observer Ethical Awards has honoured many movers and shakers in ecological and social justice. So it seems fitting to launch our sixth awards by profiling the 20 global figures who'll exert influence in 2011. For those on our list, the coming year might best be described as "take your partners" time, as activists and corporates scramble for power – and we're predicting some unlikely marriages ahead. Commentators have noted that big business is taking an unprecedented interest in the environment and are pushing for conservation capitalism. The really big decisions from the climate-change conference in Cancun have effectively been rolled over to December's summit in Durban when the pressure is on to come up with a successive treaty to Kyoto, and we highlight the likely stars in Durban. It also celebrates those who inform our cultural, political, business and activist lives.


From retail to politics, these are the people who will set the tone for how green issues are perceived and how the planet is protected.

Profits: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) index

Target is here for good!


A message from their CEO


"Target has always believed in strengthening the communities where we do business. It’s a commitment that began when we opened our first store in 1962, and one that now extends to more than 1,700 neighborhoods throughout the United States and nearly 30 countries around the world. Each week, we give more than $3 million and countless volunteer hours to make a positive difference in the lives of our guests and team members … and that’s just the beginning. We’re implementing rigorous programs to reduce our environmental impact; paving a path to graduation by supporting K-12 education; inspiring our guests, team members and their families as they strive to achieve well-being in every aspect of life; and operating safe stores that help our communities thrive. The way we see it, to truly be part of the community we have to play an active role in its progress, so we join you in making commitments that, together, we can keep."


sustainable retail... it's about a 'triple top line' agenda of people, the planet and corporate profits!

People: Steeler Nation still shopping!

Pittsburgh Steelers fans make themselves part of the team 
pennlive.com | 01.24.2011



In Pittsburgh, the team’s quest is known as the “Stairway to Seven,” or “Knocking on Seven’s Door.” Customized song lyrics have been written and recorded to the melodies of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.”
These tunes, along with the latest updates of old-standards such as “The Steelers’ Polka” and the “Here We Go” song, are but a few of the signs of the black and gold buzzsaw that’s revving up in this football frenzied city.
Yet, with the Steelers long ago having risen from lovable losers to NFL royalty, does Pittsburgh’s perennial playoff party ever get old?
And after converting basements to black-and-gold man caves, stuffing closets with countless Steelers coats, hats, scarves and jerseys and even redecorating bathrooms into Steelers johns, could there be any more room in fans’ lives for more memorabilia?
Might Pittsburgh’s football fanaticism have reached its limit?
“Do people ever get tired of celebrating New Year’s?” retorted Jon Rubin, director of the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University. 
‘Pervasive Steelers culture’
The Miller Gallery is running an exhibit exploring Steelers fans’ seemingly boundless enthusiasm.
Steelers faithful do not simply cheer on a football team. They see themselves and their city reflected in the team’s mixture of blue-collar work ethic, family ownership and tough-as-nails mentality.
So when Steelers fans want to show their black-and-gold allegiance, they don’t just don jerseys and leave it at that. They make themselves part of the team, intertwining their own life experiences with those of the Steelers until the two are inseparable.
After months of trolling Steelers Nation for artifacts, Rubin and co-curator Astria Suparak assembled an eclectic exhibit of fan memorabilia that doesn’t just blur the line between fan and team, it obliterates it entirely.


here we go steelers, here we go, again... never underestimate what creating fan loyalty can do for your brand!

Planet: Consumers value serious commitment to the environment

1% For The Planet®


Since 1985, Patagonia has pledged 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. We've awarded over $40 million in cash and in-kind donations to domestic and international grassroots environmental groups making a difference in their local communities. In 2002, founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, created a non-profit corporation to encourage other businesses to do the same.

1% For The Planet is an alliance of businesses that understand the necessity of protecting the natural environment. They understand that profit and loss are directly linked to its health, and are concerned with the social and environmental impacts of industry.

If you're a business owner (or have any influence over your boss), please consider becoming a member of this socially and environmentally progressive group. By contributing 1% of net annual sales to grassroots environmental groups, members of 1% For The Planet affect real change. And members receive other benefits: The satisfaction of paving the way for more corporate responsibility in the business community and the recognition, support and patronage of conscientious consumers who value serious commitment to the environment.

To learn more about 1% For The Planet, check out www.onepercentfortheplanet.org

Profits: Be more focused on long-term sustainability

Five Green Business Trends for 2011


Kelly Spors | 01.07.2011



Here’s a look at some green business trends to expect in 2011:


1. Charting progress and success. Many big corporations like Microsoft and Walmart are creating teams of employees focused exclusively on environmental sustainability and have executives to oversee those teams. This will undoubtedly raise the bar for every company, large and small. More businesses will weave environmental sustainability into their business plans and budgets, writing full-blown sustainability plans and benchmarking their progress. Don’t be surprised to see more businesses devoting sections of their Web sites to describing their carbon- and resource-saving initiatives.


2. Eco-managing the supply chain. It’s easy to unravel a company’s green image if consumers find out its products are sourced in environmentally unfriendly ways. So companies will continue to dig deeper into the green practices of their suppliers and hold them to higher standards, such as creating supplier scorecards.


3. LEDs get more play. As the New York Times reported last summer, some LED (light-emitting diodes) light bulbs’ prices dropped to less than $20 in 2010, and prices are expected to drop substantially over the next few years. With lighting one of the biggest energy costs for so many businesses, a growing number of them are likely to start replacing older, less-efficient lights with LEDs, which use at least 75 percent less energy than incandescents and even less than compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). Moreover, many utilities are introducing rebates to make the upfront costs of LED lighting more palatable.


4. Greater employee engagement. More companies are realizing they need their employees’ help identifying ways to reduce their environmental footprint. As a result, they will be communicating with employees more frequently about their green practices and soliciting new ideas, using green teams and other engagement techniques.


5. Smarter green marketing. Companies are also getting savvier about communicating their environmental sustainability initiatives with their customers and the public. More will be engaging their customers in the conversation in creative ways, launching public awareness campaigns about green issues connected to their business and helping their customers see why their green practices make a difference. Don’t be surprised to see more businesses devoting sections of their websites to describing their carbon- and resource-saving initiatives.


everybody ready... what will you be doing different with your green practices in 2011?

People: Allowing staff time off from work to do good

Give staff time off work to volunteer

Louisa Peacock | 01.12.2011


The business group made the call after nearly two-thirds of UK employers admitted to not helping their staff to volunteer, despite 58% of workers keen to get involved in local community projects. Managers were reluctant to promote volunteering because of a lack of time and money, the study of 1,010 employees and 502 managers by v, a volunteering charity, found.


However, Miles Templeman, IoD director-general, called on cash-strapped businesses to promote staff volunteering to help kick-start the Big Society. Mr Templeman said: "It's clear that in the current climate, many businesses simply can't afford large-scale financial investment programs to help communities, so allowing staff time off from work to do good is the ideal solution."


"Employee volunteering is now a major part of the corporate responsibility mix, enabling companies to leverage their most valuable assets – their staff – to address some of the most significant problems facing society."


Happy MLK Jr. Day... become a volunteer in your neighborhood and lead the way to a better future

Planet: The LEED Volume Program

How the LEED Volume Program Works



The LEED Volume Program is a certification process that allows qualified participants to leverage technical uniformity in their building design, construction and operational practices, and managerial uniformity within their organization, in order to forgo the need for a full review of every LEED project.


Technical uniformity is established with the creation of a LEED prototype. The prototype depicts the technical guidelines, specifications and LEED credits that are to be included in each volume project. Once approved, the prototype becomes each volume project's template for implementation. Its approval is contingent on the applicant's ability to demonstrate how uniformity of systems and processes will enable volume projects to yield consistent technical outcomes across the organization. 


Managerial uniformity ensures that clear procedures, roles, and responsibilities are established and followed throughout the entire volume project. It requires both a Quality Control Plan and an Education Plan.


The Quality Control Plan promotes the checks and balances that are in place to support the volume project's LEED credit strategy. It also illustrates how that LEED strategy will be systematically implemented. The Education Plan ensures that all team members not only understand their company's approach to LEED, but also appreciate how their work will affect and contribute to its success. 


The net result: Large-scale participants will achieve LEED certification for their projects in a timelier manner and at a lower cost than would be possible with individual reviews. 

marco is licensed to build your green roll-out project

Profits: Shoppers are still struggling with their finances

Shoppers to spend more, stay thrifty: Deloitte


By Phil Wahba | 01.10.2011



(Reuters) - U.S. shoppers will continue to spend more this year, spurred by a slowly improving job market and an uptick in income, but enough shoppers are still struggling with their finances that any increase will be modest, a retail industry expert said.


Consumers returned to stores en masse in 2010 and gave retailers their best holiday season since before the recession. But December sales at top retailers such as Macy's Inc and Kohl's Corp disappointed Wall Street as shoppers proved to be more sensitive to prices than expected and showed they were ready to take a break from shopping now that Christmas has passed.


"For those consumers that have jobs and are not underwater with their mortgages, there could be a slight uptick in spending," said Ira Kalish, director of global economic at consulting firm Deloitte. The International Council of Shopping Centers expects same-store sales to be up between 3 percent and 3.5 percent in 2011.


"To the extent they spend, they will be very price sensitive and more apt to spend more on small things rather than big items," Kalish told Reuters on the margins of the National Retail Federation conference that began in New York on Sunday.


business as usual is over... marco can help you adapt to the new normal by managing your bottom line thru green design

People: Chocolate in mind

How Your Brain May be a Smart Shopper

Tanya Thomas | 01.07. 2011



A new study has revealed that our brain cells can be quite the savvy shoppers, capable of finding the best candy bar we wish to eat. Rick Jenison of the University of Wisconsin-Madison said that understanding how these bean-counting neurons operate may help scientists get a better idea of how the brain assigns value to objects.



Jenison and his team studied participants who were undergoing a procedure that uses electrodes to pinpoint the origin of severe seizures. After the electrodes were in place, three participants viewed pictures of 50 different kinds of junk food, ranging from chocolate-chip cookies to M and M's to salty chips. 


The participants came up with a subjective value rating of the snack by bidding amounts between zero and three dollars for the item. "The real goal here is to get them to give us an honest bid of what they value the food item to be," Jenison said. 


food for thought... oh, i just got a craving for one of those leftover holiday truffels in the marco kitchen

Planet: A Lush Life

LUSH GREEN POLICY

from lushusa.com


At LUSH we believe in protecting people, animals and the planet. 


We take our commitment to this seriously. Since LUSH began, our founders have been conscious of how our products interact with the environment. We have always used creative and innovative solutions to make a positive impact on the planet. Our invention of the first-ever solid shampoo bar is testament to this practice. 


The core of our philosophy is based on the highest levels of ethical standards with the lowest possible impact on the environment. Sustainability is a company-wide priority that flows through our products, from our hands to yours. We are committed to becoming more sustainable the more that we grow. So, environmental and social stewardship are critical elements in the business decisions that we make on a daily basis. 


With over 700 stores worldwide and an ever-emerging global presence, we use our buying power to affect positive change in the world. We keep on top of regional and national legislation and partner with many groups to lobby for new regulations that drive and encourage a shift towards a greener future. Our loyalty to these initiatives, LUSH supports hundreds of environmental groups through our Charity Pot program and ethical campaigns, who we see as an extension of our work, taking part in the direct action needed to help motivate change. 


If you’re interested in learning more about our green initiatives, read more about the they're doing it… a wide range of initiatives!

Profits: small is the new BIG

Twin Cities on Target's short list for urban small-store expansion


 Jim Hammerand | 12.30.2010


The Twin Cities market is one of 10 urban areas in which Target Corp. wants to build small-format stores.
The list includes cities where Target (NYSE: TGT) has already announced 2012 store openings — San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles — as well as other markets with densely populated central business districts such as Boston, Chicago and New York, Target spokeswoman Jessica Carlson told the Business Journal Thursday.
Also on Target's list are Philadelphia, Miami and Baltimore/Washington, D.C., she said.


in our new economy, think urban... small is the new BIG

People: Imagine if customers were told carbon footprint of purchase?

Getting Green Products on More Retail Shelves

By Suzi Sosa | 12.23. 2010


I am an investor in an "eco start-up" based here in Austin. The company, Blue Avocado, creates green consumer products dubbed "hot products for a cool planet."  They launched in 2008 with a set of stylish, responsibly produced, reusable bags for activities such as errands, grocery shopping and toting your lunch.  So far, they've had pretty good success penetrating the mid-size retail market, gaining distribution through stores like Whole Foods, Sur La Table, and The Container Store.  


But, the break they've been looking for is shelf space in big retail.  To have any shot at reaching their goal of getting more than one million people to stop using plastic bags, they need scale—the kind of scale that comes at 20,000 square feet of retail space and thousands of customers per day.


Unfortunately, things are moving slowly. Why?  Big retailers don't work well with early stage companies.  They get nervous if you've been in business for less than three years or if your sales are lower than $10 million. They won't buy new products unless they're sure their customers want them, but often, ironically, customers don't know they want those products until they see them on the shelves. The net effect in this case is that eco start-ups are often shut out and big retailers don't carry the best, most innovative green merchandise. The consequences for our planet are millions more tons of carbon emitted, countless resources unnecessarily used, tons of excess waste dumped, and millions of people left outside of the green revolution.


This problem is intensified when it comes to consumer products, which make up both the bulk of household discretionary spending and as much as 20 percent of landfill waste. Most Americans purchase their consumer products in big retail but the green choices currently available to them are few.  Some retailers are making strides in specific categories, such as food and personal care. For example, Walmart now carries most of the major green brands including Stonyfield, Tom's of Maine, Burt's Bees, and Seventh Generation.  Several big grocery stores, like Kroger and Safeway, have launched their own line of organics.  But, as a share of what goes into each customer's cart, the number of green products remains small. 


In this quandary is the glimmer of an opportunity—an idea—that was shared with me by Amy George, Blue Avocado's founder and "Chief Ozone Officer," that could not only drastically accelerate our progress toward a sustainable future but would also support small and growing businesses such as theirs. 


[click on title link above for complete article]


trend spotting... how & what will we shop for in the future?