This Week's Business News
Method Laundry Detergent Wins Award for ‘Behavior Changing Design’
Method has won an International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for its innovative pump-action laundry detergent bottle that combats consumers’ tendency to use too much detergent. Although it seems counter-intuitive, it’s actually better for your clothes (not to mention your washing machine, your wallet, and the environment) to use less soap. Method’s new bottle only needs four pumps to dispense the optimal amount of detergent, and it also manages to squeeze every last drop out of the bottle so there’s nothing wasted when it hit the recycle bin.
To the IDEA jurors, the effectiveness of Method’s innovation is magnified by the product as a whole. "Even though the pump structure is nothing new in cosmetic packaging, combining it with ultra-concentrated detergent prompted new consumer behavior that reduces both resources and water use," says Starbucks executive Fumi Watanabe, a judge in the packaging category. "Why hasn't anybody done this before?"
While Method is thrilled that their efforts are being recognized, they aren’t wasting any time further improving their product line. They believe that sustainability is an ongoing process, and are seeking to increase the percentage of recycled plastic used in their bottles, as well as replace the 5% remaining non-plant-based ingredients in the detergent with more natural sources.
Pittsburgh Wins Big with Green Initiatives
Pittsburgh has just been ranked sixth on Site Selection magazine’s inaugural sustainability index for metro cities. Rankings are based on Green Industry; number of LEED Certified projects; LEED Certified projects per capita and level of incentives support for green projects. From the 2003 Gold-LEED certified David L. Lawrence Convention Center to its #1 ranking in farmers markets and community gardens per capita, this former steel town is surprising residents, visitors and green-savvy entrepreneurs with its new-found eco-status.
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Going Beyond the Living Wage: Can Nobility Be Profitable?
Knights Apparel CEO Joseph Bozich joins the raft of business leaders who don’t believe boosting market share and doing good are mutually exclusive.
For example, Bozich has just aquired a new facility in the Dominican Republic’s free trade zone. Even though the government defines the monthly “living” wage as $176, Bozich is paying each of his 120 employees three times that amount.
Knights t-shirts will retail for the same $18.00 as its premium brand competition in Addidas, Nike and Reebok. As UC Berkeley professor of CSR Kellie McElhaney explains: “A lot of college students would much rather pay for a brand that shows workers are treated well.”
This socially responsible move is putting pressure on Bozich’s competitors, and has even prompted Nike to reveal they are keeping an eye on Knights to see how their strategy works out.
Harvesting Personal Energy to Create Ohio’s Clean Energy Future
Kinetic energy is the inspiration behind a new clean energy business in Cleveland, Ohio called Tremont Electric. Less well-known than solar or wind, kinetic energy is created by movement -- in Tremont’s case, using small-scale, everyday activities like walking or running.
The company was formed in 2007 after founder Aaron LeMieux went for a hike on the Appalachian Trail and was forced to make frequent stops in towns along the way to recharge his CD player.
His new device, the nPower PEG (personal energy generator), is the size of a glasses case and can be tossed into your backpack or purse to harvest the energy you generate as you walk. The device can then be used to power small electronics like your cell phone.
Google Energy Signs 20-Year, 114 MW Wind Power Contract
Google Energy has just closed a 20-year deal to buy 114 megawatts of power from the NextEra Energy Resources Story County II wind farm in Iowa. This move not only creates a great PR opportunity for Google, but more importantly gives the wind producer incentive to continue to make investments in renewable energy.
Google has adopted a number of strategies to become a carbon-neutral company, from minimizing energy consumption to using renewable energy to power facilities to purchasing carbon offsets.
Compost Conundrum Muddies Market
The number of compostable dishware products available in Seattle has grown 900% in less than three years, due to a new law requiring restaurants to use only recyclable or compostable single-use items. The law aims to reduce the more than 6,000 tons of plastic dishware that hits the landfill each year.
This shift in the plastic dishware marketplace is creating an issue for product manufacturers: The existing standard -- a certification by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)-- isn’t always sufficient to break down materials because each compost facility has its own unique conditions. According to a report from the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, manufacturers making the switch to compostable technology may not find it worth the hassle unless a national standard that uses BPI as its starting point can be developed. In order to be effective, a national standard should address both the compostability of a product and grade the quality of the compost produced.
What Will Green Air Travel of the Future Look Like?
Robin Mannings, independent futurologist, and Charles Champion, executive vice president of engineering at Airbus, spoke to Businessgreen.com about how aviation is trying to move away from its traditional association with high energy consumption, and Airbus’s grand schemes for a greener future of air transport.
According to Mannings and Champion, there are several possibilities for alternative fuels, although none has emerged as the de facto winner:
- Hydrogen power is bulky to store
- Algae-based fuels are in testing and could potentially replace fossil fuel
- Solar is unlikely to be the main propulsion for passenger airliners, although it could be useful in powering electrical devices onboard
- Potential for energy recovery during descent
Mannings also suggests it might be time for a more radical shift in airline culture by returning to a more spacious and leisurely approach to travel. He mentions the concept of using airships, similar to cruise liners, that would burn less fuel by focusing less on speed and more on experience.
Champion points out that a first step in greening the airline industry is to replace fossil fuels with biomass fuels, as this can keep current fleets operational rather than requiring a massively expensive complete replacement. Part of the solution could be integrating more closely with Air Traffic Management (ATM). Time spent circling the airport waiting for clearance to land burns fuel, and he believes he can significantly reduce fuel consumption by improving the ATM process.
Airbus has published a report, The Future, speculating on these ideas and more. “We drew a lot from our discussions with young people, to find out if, maybe, they thought air travel would be a thing of the past,” says Champion. “But what they told us is that they expect to travel even more than people do today. However, they also want to travel in a more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way.”
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