2Sustain

According to a new Gallup poll, nearly half (48 percent) of Americans now believe the seriousness of global warming is generally exaggerated. That’s up from 41 percent in 2009 and 31 percent in 1997, when Gallup first asked the question.

Other findings in the annual Gallup Social Series Environment poll, which was conducted March 4-7 of this year, reinforce this discouraging trend and indicate that Americans’ global warming concerns are continuing to decline. For example: (more…)

Yesterday, Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev announced a set of aggressive three-year global environmental goals as part of its Better World commitment. By the end of 2012, the company wants to:

• Reduce water use at its plants to 3.5 hectoliters of water for each hectoliter of production. This represents a 30 percent reduction per unit of production in  AB InBev’s water usage worldwide since 2007 and would save enough water to fill 25,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Also, achieving this goal would establish AB InBev as the most water-efficient global brewer in the world.

• Achieve a 99 percent recycling and reuse rate – up from 97.2 percent in 2007 and 98 percent in 2009.

• Reach a 10 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and energy use for every hectoliter of production. Since 2007, the Company has reduced energy use per hectoliter by 10.9 percent. (more…)

“Green Procurement Day,” a conference held recently at the European Business School (EBS) and jointly organized by the Supply Chain Management Institute (SMI) and BrainNet, focused on real-life, successful and efficient sustainability management.

Results of studies presented by SMI and BrainNet showed that green procurement is not only a driver for a sustainable transformation of processes in many companies, but a factor with a direct and positive impact on the success of a company.

Unfortunately, though, the willingness to invest in ensuring sustainability remains relatively low. (more…)

Cisco is in the process of developing a comprehensive sustainable value chain strategy that includes a broad-based green packaging initiative. And, early results from this “packaging diet” are “sensational, to say the least,” reports Claudia Girrbach at Greener Computing earlier this week.

For example: (more…)

What is the environmental impact of pre-packaged sandwiches and baked goods? Are there ways businesses can work towards their sustainability goals –and cut costs –by changing the way these items are prepared, packaged and stored?

Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), an organization that works in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to help businesses reduce waste and develop sustainable products, wants answers to questions like these, and so it has launched a study into the amount of waste in the UK retail supply chain created by pre-prepared food.

The landmark study will include four representative products –sandwiches, pizza, quiches, and ready-made meals –and it aims to: (more…)