Sustainability Ranking Systems: Green Edge Publishes an Original Critique

September 19, 2011

In this post, Green Edge focuses its sustainability lens on green company ranking systems that rate how sustainable an organization is. Since 2000, close to 100 of such ranking systems have been established. Although this proliferation of green ranking systems is a testament to the remarkable transition of sustainability from a fringe movement to a [...]

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Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB)

September 19, 2011

In addition to evaluating corporate sustainability ranking systems, Green Edge has taken a careful look at another tool for ranking environmental stewardship, this time in the realm of public and private real estate funds. The result is our upcoming report entitled Greening Real Estate Funds: Navigating a New Tool with Teeth. The tool we analyze [...]

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Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Walmart’s Green Revolution

August 19, 2011

At Green Edge, we are firm believers that sustainability is a strategy for profitability as well as environmental well-being. The miraculous transformation of Walmart from PR disaster to one of the greenest companies in America, as recounted by Edward Humes’ Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Walmart’s Green Revolution, is a testament to Green [...]

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Reverse Logistics: Two for One Carbon Footprint Reduction Strategy

August 10, 2011

Every year, American companies incur costs of over $100B managing and disposing of products that have been returned by consumers. These products range from electronics to appliances to apparel. The continuing economic downturn, coupled with increasing concerns about the environmental ramifications of waste, has led to both new “extended producer responsibility” mandates and voluntary manufacturer [...]

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Preserve Transforms Yogurt Cups into Toothbrushes

August 10, 2011

Preserve, a Massachusetts-based startup, is one example of a company that has had great success with take-back and recycling programs. Since the company’s inception, one of its most impressive business strategies has been a program called Gimme 5. The name is derived from number five plastic, a plastic that—-despite being more easily recyclable and technically useful than [...]

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Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative

August 10, 2011

Another company that has eagerly embraced the opportunity provided by reverse logistics and extended producer responsibility is California-based outdoor clothing company Patagonia. This historic environmental champion launched a program called Common Threads in 2005, the goal of which is to make every Patagonia article of clothing recyclable. More than half of Patagonia products are currently [...]

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Pen Guy and “Mercedes Pens” Divert 10,000 Pens from Landfill

July 15, 2011

Green Edge recently diverted a large cache of disposable pens from the landfill when it committed to send its depleted pens to the self-declared “pen guy,” a graphic designer turned conservationist. According to Green Seal, Americans discard about 1.6 million pens annually. Despite this staggering statistic, few solutions exist for disposing so-called disposable pens in [...]

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Greening the Fleet: Promises and Progress in the Public and Private Sectors

July 7, 2011

In this post, Green Edge once again focuses its sustainability lens on transportation. In our February Newsletter we looked at how retail giant IKEA is reducing its transportation carbon footprint. This time, we take a fresh look at how and why public and private sector organizations are greening their fleets. In the United States, the transportation [...]

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Carbon Neutral Shipping 
Goes Mainstream

July 6, 2011

DHL, the global shipping company headquartered in Germany, recently announced that as of July 1, 2011 it will provide carbon neutral shipping for all deliveries within Germany at no extra charge. DHL originally introduced GoGreen, its carbon neutral shipping service — for which it charged additional fees — in 2006. Carbon neutral shipping essentially means that shipping related emissions [...]

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Not So Alternative

July 6, 2011

When commercial fleet managers think seriously about reducing emissions and increasing efficiency, they tend to turn to alternative fuel vehicles. Once marginalized technologies such as compressed natural gas, ethanol flex-fuel, electric, and hybrid vehicles are slowly moving into the mainstream. But as clean tech startup Transonic Combustion has recently demonstrated, green does not necessarily mean alternative. [...]

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