Last week, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) released its first “Retail Sustainability Report: Successes, Challenges and a Vision for the Future.” The report provides an industry’s reflection on the role of sustainability in the retail sector. It’s designed to showcase the industry’s progress over the past several years. This industry-led initiative demonstrates that retailers are acknowledging that sustainability is no longer simply a matter of environmental and regulatory compliance, but can also be used as a platform for growth.
The report highlights creative ideas by retailers like Staples, which, in 2010, launched their “Race to the Top” program to promote competition among suppliers to develop more efficient packaging materials; and Home Depot, which is currently piloting rainwater retention tanks in 21 of its Florida stores. It also identifies both current and future key trends in retail sustainability.
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Libby Bernick, our VP of Consulting, was asked this question during a Marketplace radio interview yesterday about how companies are opting for brown paper to look a little greener. The story was sparked by a Jan. 25 Wall Street Journal article about how more and more companies are choosing brown tissue products over white. Is the switch really greener? The answer: listen to the short podcast and find out:
Source: Marketplace
Last week’s Green Products Roundtable (GPR) meeting in Washington, DC, represented a turning point in the organization’s effort to launch a new, independent entity that will be the “judge and jury” of the more than 350 ecolabels used in the market.
For the past three years, the GPR (a multi-stakeholder group facilitated by the Keystone Center) has worked to bring clarity to green procurement. Although green pundits keep a close watch on large retailers’ sustainability efforts, it’s actually the U.S. federal government that’s the single largest buyer in North America—and one with enormous power to transform supply chains. The GPR aims to help these governmental and institutional buyers find greener products and implement Executive Order 13514 (titled Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance) in ways that bring measureable environmental improvement. What sets the GPR apart has been its unwavering commitment to engage a diverse group of stakeholders in the process, as well as its international perspective on sustainable products and green supply chains. TerraChoice, UL Environment, and GREENGUARD have been active participants in the GPR since its inception, providing financial support, thought leadership, and hands-on staff support to the various committees.
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Members of the Global Ecolabelling Network learning about each other’s country ecolabels in Tapei last month. Photo credit: EDF Taiwan.
Last month, the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) held its 17th annual general meeting in Taipei, Taiwan—and as the Secretariat Manager of the GEN, TerraChoice was there.
We’ll pause here for a moment for those not familiar with the GEN: it is a non-profit association of 28 Type I ecolabelling organizations around the world, but if you are unfamiliar with ecolabelling, you might be asking yourself what a “Type I” ecolabel really is. Type I ecolabelling programs are voluntary, their standards address multiple environmental criteria across the lifecycle of a product or service and, most importantly, Type I ecolabelling programs are transparent in their standard development process and rely on independent verification of products or services to these standards.
Now let’s return to the GEN week events in Taipei. Learn more →
Source: PAC
There are many ways to embed sustainability into a company, but how often is that sustainability thinking applied to product packaging?
Walmart Canada’s annual Sustainable Packaging Conference brings to light packaging trends and encourages its suppliers to discuss and debate ways to make this product component more sustainable. This is a critical time for many suppliers and manufacturers to begin thinking about and creating solutions that will meet retailer’s specifications and ensure longer term viability of their products. TerraChoice President Scott McDougall was at this year’s June 22 conference in Toronto as a keynote and he shares his views.
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