Big Business Sends a Green Message

June 16, 2009

When Big Business decides to "go green," the result could be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions totaling 3.0 to 4.5 gigatons of Equivalent carbon dioxide in the United States alone. We've selected a few companies that are making a big difference today by using tested approaches and/or developing emerging technologies to place themselves ahead of the green curve. These companies are changing the way Big Business does business.

Shake Hands with Shaklee

Shaklee Corporation, based in Pleasanton, California became the first company in the world to be Climate Neutral(TM) certified. It totally offsets its greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in a net-zero impact on the environment. Shaklee uses 100% green power and has planted one million trees in three years. One of the company’s popular products, the best-selling Get Clean Starter Kit, has eliminated 88 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions this year alone.

Don’t Dream It, Be It

GE has taken the idea of sustainability to a new level with their Ecomagination project. The goal of the project is to “help solve the world’s biggest environmental challenges while driving profitable growth for GE.” GE set a 2008 goal to reduce its operational greenhouse gas intensity by 30%. Rarely an underachiever, the company succeeded in meeting, then surpassing the goal by an additional 11% with a total reduction of 41%. GE has expanded its Ecomagination products and services by a third and has increased its investment in research and development of clean technology solutions by 27%.

Rolling Back Energy Consumption

Wal-Mart appears to be expanding its alternative energy initiative. It has announced it will be adding solar panels on 10-20 Wal-Mart facilities within eighteen months. This is in addition to the existing eighteen solar arrays currently installed at Wal-Mart facilities in California. Wal-Mart also uses wind energy at 350 of its Texas locations. Short term plans call for solar energy panels to be installed at five Puerto Rico store locations – a number that is expected to quadruple within the next five years.

Music to Our Ears

Warner Bros. Music Group is greening its entire supply chain of paper products. This includes all paper used as inserts in CDs and DVDs. It also includes all office and printing paper. The paper used will be made from recycled fiber and wood harvested by FSC certified vendors. This represents a bold move that will reach beyond the music industry to other companies considering a change in their packaging procedures.

Intel as Energy Star

Intel (and other) chips can be damaged by intensive heat thrown off by desktop computers. Sadly, manufacturers have solved the problem by adding energy consuming fans to the hardware. In an energy saving move, Intel has recently incorporated efficiency specifications into the design guidelines it provides to desktop manufacturers. The federal government has added the Intel guidelines into its Energy Star program. Since large companies purchase equipment with an Energy Star rating, once widely adopted, the new specifications have the potential to cut the nation’s electric bill by more than $1 billion per year and eliminate about 10 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

Big Blue, Big Green