Honor Roll
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
” In August 2010, Crayola plugged in its new 15-acre solar farm in Pennsylvania. The farm’s 26,200 solar panels will generate renewable power to produce one-third of the company’s 3 billion crayons.
” The investor-owned energy company Consolidated Edison, Inc. scored the highest among S&P 500 companies on the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index from the Carbon Disclosure Project. The “A” rating and score of 96 reflects Con Ed’s emission-reduction plans, governance and communications.
” In August 2010 the U.S. Department of Energy finalized a $117 million loan guarantee to Kahuku Wind Power in Hawaii to build a 30-megawatt wind power project on the island of Oahu that will power 7,700 homes and create 200 jobs.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
” Motel 6 is the first economy hotel to earn a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for a lodging in Northlake, Texas.
” Outdoor footwear maker Teva committed $100,000 to the Waterkeeper Alliance in June 2010 to support cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
” Cereplast is releasing the Eko BIO pen—a compostable, biodegradable pen made from bioplastics. Some 10 billion ink pens are thrown away each year and take 400 years to break down.
JULY/AUGUST 2010
” More than six acres of ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays are now in use at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield, California. SunEdison installed and operates the solar panels, which generate 3% of the brewery’s electricity needs.
” Baseball teams are stepping up their green initiatives, particularly when it comes to waste. The Cleveland Indians recycle 20% of their waste; the San Francisco Giants recycle 45% of their waste and the Seattle Mariners are aiming to recycle more than 50% of their waste this year.
” LG Group—a South Korean conglomerate that makes everything from televisions to washing machines to solar panels—announced plans to invest $17.9 billion over the next decade to reduce emissions by 40%.
MAY/JUNE 2010
” In February, tea company Tetley committed to purchasing all of its tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by 2016.
“This past Earth Day, SunChips introduced the world’s first 100% compostable snack chip bag.
” The new fast-casual vegetarian restaurant chain Otarian, which opened in New York City late April, is the first to provide the carbon footprint for all menu items.
MARCH/APRIL 2010
” On January 11, Ford Motor Company announced it would be investing an additional $450 million into its electric vehicle plan, paving the way for its next-generation hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
” The Minnesota Twins baseball team and Pentair, Inc. have joined forces for the first water solution sponsorship in major league sports. Pentair is donating and installing a custom rainwater reuse system at Target Field and installing a drinking water filtration system to lower bottled water use.
” The company Greenscape is planning to build the world’s “greenest parking facility,” a 4,200-stall lot at the Denver International Airport built to LEED Gold standards that will include alternative fuel shuttles, solar and wind technologies, porous pavement and geothermal energy.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010
” Kraft Foods announced it is launching a dark chocolate—Cote d”Or—from sustainable cocoa farming, meeting Rainforest Alliance Certified standards.
” Technology company HP joined the World Wildlife Fund’s Global Forest & Trade Network, setting a target of 40% of its paper sales from Forest Stewardship Council-certified sources by 2011.
” Allied Tube & Conduit Corporation, a company owned by Tyco Inter-national, has opened the flagship’s first LEED-certified facility in Illinois—a 514,000-square-foot expansion that in-cluded 75% salvaged construction waste, 20% reduced water consumption and high-efficiency heating and ventilation.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009
” The 18-million square-foot resort CityCenter in Las Vegas, opening in December, will be one of the world’s largest sustainable developments, using an on-site cogeneration plant, conserving 39% of water and recycling 95% of construction waste.
” Tissue company Kimberly-Clark, long a campaign target of Greenpeace, has committed to purchasing 100% of its wood fiber from eco-friendly sources by 2011.
” Office supply chain Staples has signed an agreement with the Rainforest Alliance to move most of its paper products to Forest Council Certified sources by the end of 2010.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009
” The San Francisco Public Library began testing compostable corn-based library cards in May 2009 with the hope of one day replacing all its plastic cards.
” The 31,600-square-foot Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation synagogue in Evanston, Illinois, was the first house of worship in the world to achieve LEED Platinum—the highest green certification—from the U.S. Green Building Council in June 2009.
” An independently owned McDonald‘s restaurant in Cary, North Carolina, is the first U.S. location of the fast food chain to offer electric car recharging as of July 2009.
JULY/AUGUST 2009
” Exelon and SunPower Corp. announced an agreement to develop the nation’s largest urban solar power plant on Chicago’s South Side. The 10-megawatt, $60 million facility should be running by the end of 2009.
” Naked Juice is now collaborating with the Rainforest Alliance to ensure all the fruit used in its juice is sustainably produced, supporting wildlife and workers. The juice now bears the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal.
” The Walt Disney Company announced plans to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2012 and then to zero. It also has plans to cut its waste—some 300,000 tons in 2006—to zero through better recycling and composting. Conservation International will monitor the company’s progress.
MAY/JUNE 2009
” Honda’s auto plants in Ohio and Alabama received ENERGY STAR awards from the Environmental Protection Agency for reducing CO2 emissions during manufacturing through efficient lighting, chiller systems, metering and other measures.
” Eight wind turbines from Scottish manufacturer Proven Energy are now spinning at the Princess Elisabeth Station in Antarctica, withstanding -60 degrees C temps and winds over 200 miles per hour. It’s the only polar base operating solely on renewable energy.
” In late February 2009, the Mascoma Corporation announced that its test facility in Rome, New York, is now producing ethanol from cellulosic biomass. Mascoma is the first company to process wood into ethanol at this scale—the facility can produce up to 200,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year.
MARCH/APRIL 2009
” In December 2008, Bank of America announced it would phase out financing for companies that practice mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining.
” Dell has committed to reducing 20 million pounds of computer packaging materials over the next four years, equivalent to saving more than 150,000 trees.
” The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released the first online nitrogen calculator, where you can calculate your nitrogen footprint, at www.cbf.org/yourbayfootprint. Nitrogen is to water pollution what carbon is to air pollution.
” Toyota supports the No Child Left Inside initiative, giving $5 million and 23 vehicles to national parks across the country.
” The Dow Chemical Company formed a partnership with the Nature Conservancy to restore Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, pledging $1.5 million.
” TheGreenOffice.com became the first national office supply retailer to go PVC-free, removing close to 2,000 products from their catalog.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
” Dell and Goodwill have partnered on Reconnect, offering 606 drop-off locations around the country for free computer recycling.
” Last fall, General Motors built the largest rooftop solar power installation on their car assembly plant in Zaragoza, Spain—85,000 solar panels covering 2,000,000 square feet of roof for $78 million.
” Greenline Paper Company is offering green office certification to organizations who qualify via an online questionnaire at www.greenlinepaper.com that covers energy use, building construction, supplies, recycling and transportation.