| May 25, 2009 | | | | | THIS ISSUE'S SPONSOR | Taking Care of Business By Joel Makower Greener By Design is now in the books, a highly successful two-day event last week. We were grateful for the high-quality audience, top-notch speakers, generous sponsors, and all of the others who contributed to the rave reviews we've been getting. If you were one of the unlucky ones, there's plenty of reports and blog posts left behind, from my opening remarks and William McDonough's opening keynote to the closing panel on designing for energy efficiency. In between are nearly a dozen other reports, all found here. In the coming days, we'll post video excerpts and other resources. Meanwhile, the world of green business goes on. And on. I'm Lovin' It. One of the more impressive documents I've seen come out of corporate America lately is one from McDonald's. Yes, the burger-and-fries folks. (I'm well aware that praising McDonald's not popular among the green set, but that's never been a driver for me.) Last week, the fast-food chain published a booklet documenting more than 80 green practices from locations and operations worldwide. Having followed McDonald's environmental activities for twenty years, I knew about some of these. (In the early 1990s, the company documented more than a hundred waste-reduction activities it had undertaken, the most prominent of which was banishing the polystyrene foam hamburger packaging.) But many were new to me. Example: The company had been unable to source potatoes from India despite the fact that India is the third-largest potato-growing country. Farmers there simply couldn't produce high-quality potatoes due to outdated farming and irrigation practices. By working with its supplier there to teach farmers how to use high-efficiency irrigation and other techniques, McDonald's helped producers there grow the crop with far less water. And the company is now sourcing potatoes locally, shipping far shorter distances, cutting energy use and greenhouse gases. In another instance, after Greenpeace published a report indicating that ... Read More | Sponsored Content INTRODUCING UL ENVIRONMENT Get independent, 3rd-party proof of your product's environmental claims backed by UL's century-long legacy of testing leadership and unmatched public trust. Products with UL Environment validated claims and certification give you a competitive advantage and listed in our Database of Environmentally Sustainable Products. Click here for more information. | GreenBiz Radio | Wal-Mart's Journey Toward Sustainability and Greater Value By Leslie Guevarra | Almost four years ago, Wal-Mart announced three major goals that have since driven the company's operations internally and externally. Today, Rand Waddoups, Wal-Mart's senior director of Business Strategy and Sustainability, provides an insider's update on Wal-Mart's efforts toward sustainability, its progress and its next big challenges.... Listen | | | Sponsored Content DO MORE THAN A GOOD MEETING. DO A WORLD OF GOOD @ ThinkGreenMeeting.com Meetings and conferences consume time, money and leave a nasty carbon footprint. Travel less and save more with ThinkGreenMeeting.com—a quality flat-rate audio and web conferencing plan that's good for business and the environment. Find out how much money and planet you can save with our FREE Conference Carbon Counter. CLICK HERE FOR A FREE TRIAL | Columns and Blogs | | | | | | | FEATURED RESOURCES Making Your Impact at Work: A Practical Guide to Changing the World From Inside Any Company This guide is designed to empower current and aspiring social intrapreneurs to find ways to integrate sustainability into their day jobs. The Reach and Richness of Green IT This survey of 143 organizations from Australia, New Zealand and the United States finds that some elements of green IT practices are taking off at companies of all sizes, but as a whole there is significant room for improvement.
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FEATURED EVENT Lean and Green Summit Date: June 8, 2009 - 12:00am Location: Savannah ,Ga. This highly participatory,two-day event brings together corporate and consultant sustainability professionals to explore going green from compliance to innovation.
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