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January 27, 2011
In an interview by BBC, Dan Matthews, Chief Technology Officer of IFS, a sweden-based company with $336m net revenue in the full year, answered to three questions. Bellow is the part he talks about the growing need for companies to be environmentally conscious. You can also click here to read the full article.
What's the next big tech thing in your industry?
The big challenge for us, and our colleagues in the industry, is to look at how we can help businesses account for the environmental impact of their business, just as they account for the financial impact.
This is really quite serious, because it's driven not just by consumer pressure, but we're seeing a lot of pressure now coming from investors.
You have schemes like the PRI, the Principles for Responsible Investment, which is used by a lot of investment organisations, and the big pension funds and those sorts of things. And as if this wasn't enough, then you have the regulatory stuff coming in, the cap and trade regulations.
And this really is a challenge, because all of a sudden it's no longer just the cost that matters when you do something.
When you design a product it's not just what it's going to cost to build it, it's how much CO2, how much by way of emissions, how many toxins. When you source something, it's not just which supplier is cheapest, it's which has the least imprint.
Where we're used to measuring cost all of a sudden you need to track environmental impact as well. It's a huge challenge for businesses and something that's critical is that we make software to help them address this.
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category : Topics
January 20, 2011
You’ve heard the old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” well, when used correctly, Flickr can make that saying a marketing reality for your green business or organization. Did you think Flickr was just for hobbies or sharing photos with friends? Think again. Try using Flickr for some of the following and see how it can help you market your green business.
1. Tell Your Story
The best use for Flickr by far is to use it to tell your business or organization’s story.
2. Connect with Others
Flickr isn’t just a place to deposit photos. It’s one of the fastest growing social media tools being used just behind Facebook and Twitter.
3. Find Stock Photography
Flickr can be a great resource for green marketers because there are literally thousands upon thousands of images that you can access and use for free.
4. Share Stock Photography
On the flipside, Flickr is a great place to share stock photography, which can drive more exposure to your business.
5. Organize and Share Your Media
Flickr can be a great way to organize your media for later use and sharing.
6. Link Building
A final use for Flickr is link building, which can be really useful in terms of search engine marketing.
Click here to read the article.
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category : Topics
January 20, 2011
Most businesses have at least part of their staff involved in programs that promote green initiatives. For the most part they are doing it because it is good for business. Occasionally there are businesses that have a true, vested interest in a better global climate. Many restaurants have been going greener as time goes on. Many of the efforts have resulted in better cuisine while others are done because they simply make sense. The restaurants that have been investing in green initiatives have been seeing more income from increased patronage.
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category : Topics
January 13, 2011
People, Planet and Profits
When evaluating your supply chain, you can rely on virtually the same set of criteria for everything from the cups in the break room to the packaging of your products. Most certifications apply the following attributes when determining a product’s environmental impact:
-Clean. Emits the least amount of pollution possible for its category.
-Energy-efficient. Energy is not wasted in producing or operating the product.
-Water-conscious. Water is not wasted in manufacturing and/or the product itself is a water-saving device.
-Resource-efficient. Goods are made with recyclable content.
-Recyclable. At the end of its life, some or all of the product’s parts can be recycled.
-Streamlined. Not over-packaged.
-Fair trade.The environment is half the battle. People matter too. Are those who make the product compensated fairly and are their working conditions safe?
-Necessary. No product can be green if you can easily do without it.
Certified. A third party validates the manufacturer’s claims.
Click here to read the article by Ann Clark.
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category : Topics
January 13, 2011
Kenya on Thursday outlawed the manufacture and import of plastic bags from March for damaging the environment, the environmental agency said.
"Our country has many colours and when God was creating the world, he only allowed plants to give us flowers, so when our landscape becomes flooded with many artificial flowers of varied colours due to poor management of plastic bags and wrappers, then it becomes a problem," said Macharia.
Of all five members of the East African Community - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda - only Rwanda has so far successfully banned all plastic bags since 2008, and replaced them with paper bags.
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category : Topics
