Phil Gutis's Blog
Could it be Real?
November 8, 2007
Posted by Phil Gutis in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably
A few weeks ago, one of NRDC's trustees sent around a link to a site called "Environmental Leader." Described as "daily news for corporate decision makers," the site seems mostly to be a warehouse for news releases from various corporations touting their latest green news. Despite the lack of a journalistic filter -- or perhaps because of the unfiltered perspective -- I find it a fascinating read.
Today's "news," for example, includes the following:
-- Fujitsu Siemens Says Entire Product Line Will Be Energy-Efficient
-- Simon & Schuster Purchases Paper With More Recycled Fiber
-- Kohl’s To Pursue LEED Certification On 80+ Stores
The Simon & Schuster release seems genuine.
Simon & Schuster purchases approximately 70,000 tons of paper annually. At current production levels, the shift to 25 percent recycled fiber will result in saving approximately 483,000 trees annually and reducing greenhouse gases by nearly 85 million pounds, the company reports.
Simon & Schuster says it “will endeavor” to eliminate the use of paper that may contain fiber from endangered and old-growth forest areas. It has set a goal that by 2012 at least 10 percent of its purchased paper will derive from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
The company says it will also purchase shipping cartons made from 100% recycled post-consumer paper (the company expects that it will purchase 1.2 million cartons in 2007), the recycling of all inventory destruction as mixed-use paper, and the use of recycled office materials.
And that's just one release from among the dozens that I've seen over the last few weeks. Even with the "will endeavor" caveat, that sounds like progress. Real progress in fact.
Or am I just being naive?
(bookmark or email this entry)
- Phil Gutis
- Director of Communications
- New York City
- I'm NRDC's Director of Communications so Switchboard and NRDC.org are ultimately my responsibility. (Cheers or...
- more→
